Emily Rosa
Encyclopedia
Emily Rosa is the youngest person to have a research paper published in a peer review
ed medical journal. At age nine Rosa conceived and executed a scientific study of therapeutic touch
which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association
in 1998. She graduated from the University of Colorado at Denver in 2009 with a major in psychology. Her parents, Larry Sarner and Linda Rosa, are leaders of the advocacy group Advocates for children in therapy
.
(TT) practitioners claiming they could feel a "Human Energy Field" (HEF) emanating from a human body and could use their hands to manipulate the HEF in order to diagnose and treat disease. She heard Dolores Krieger, the co-inventor of Therapeutic Touch, claim that everyone had the ability to feel the HEF, and Rosa heard other nurses say the HEF felt to them "warm as Jell-O" and "tactile as taffy." Rosa was impressed by how certain these nurses were about their abilities. She said, "I wanted to see if they really could feel something."
Using a standard science fair display board, Rosa devised a single-blind protocol, later described by other scientists as "simple and elegant," for a study she conducted at age nine for her 4th grade science fair. There were two series of tests. In 1996, 15 practitioners were tested at their home or office on different days over a period of several months. In 1997, 13 practitioners, including 7 from the first series, were tested on a single day. The second series was observed and videotaped by the producers of Scientific American Frontiers. Stephen Barrett
, MD, of Quackwatch
helped Rosa, her mother (Linda Rosa, RN), and stepfather (Larry Sarner) write up the experiment for JAMA. The study was published April 1, 1998. George Lundberg, editor of JAMA, aware of the uniqueness of the situation, said: "Age doesn't matter. It's good science that matters, and this is good science.
The study tested the ability of 21 TT practitioners to detect the HEF or "aura
" when they were not looking. Rosa asked each of the practitioners to sit at a table and extend their hands through a screen. On the other side of the screen, Rosa randomly selected which of the TT practitioner's hands she would hold her hand over. The TT practitioners were then asked which of their hands detected Rosa's HEF. Subjects were each given ten tries, but they correctly located Rosa's hand an average of only 4.4 times. Some subjects were asked before testing to examine Rosa's hands and select which of her hands they thought produced the strongest HEF. Rosa then used that hand during the experiment, but those subjects performed no better. The results showed that TT practitioners could not detect the hand more often than chance, and Rosa et al therefore concluded that there was no empirical basis to the HEF and by extension therapeutic touch:
Carol Wells-Federman, a registered nurse and co-director of the Chronic Pain Management Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston commented that it was quite disturbing that a child's school project should be published in a major medical journal, and if the daughter of a therapeutic-touch practitioner submitted an article in support of the therapy, it wouldn't get to first base.
David J Hufford, Professor in the Department of Humanities at the Penn State College of Medicine (teaching courses in spiritual belief and in alternative medicine), felt the study presented serious ethical problems because the authors of the study enlisted the cooperation of the TT operators by presenting the study as just a "fourth grade science fair project." Hufford felt that this was not just failure of full disclosure, but actual deceit. Hufford pointed out that research by CAM proponents is often treated with skepticism because of the investigators' commitments, yet this experiment, in an unrefereed setting, was run by people with known negative bias toward the subject. Hufford asked "would we react to the positive study of therapeutic touch carried out as a science fair project by the granddaughter of Dolores Krieger, the creator of the practice? Would JAMA publish it?"
The first round of tests was only a fourth grade science fair project done with no thought of future publication. Publication was suggested by Dr. Stephen Barrett months afterward when he learned that the study had taken place. The second round of tests was done at the request of Scientific American Frontiers, with the participants fully aware that they were being videotaped. No subsequent experiment has been undertaken overturning her findings.
Peer review
Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...
ed medical journal. At age nine Rosa conceived and executed a scientific study of therapeutic touch
Therapeutic touch
Therapeutic touch , also known as Non-Contact Therapeutic Touch , is an energy therapy which practitioners claim promotes healing and reduces pain and anxiety. Practitioners of therapeutic touch state that by placing their hands on, or near, a patient, they are able to detect and manipulate the...
which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association
Journal of the American Medical Association
The Journal of the American Medical Association is a weekly, peer-reviewed, medical journal, published by the American Medical Association. Beginning in July 2011, the editor in chief will be Howard C. Bauchner, vice chairman of pediatrics at Boston University’s School of Medicine, replacing ...
in 1998. She graduated from the University of Colorado at Denver in 2009 with a major in psychology. Her parents, Larry Sarner and Linda Rosa, are leaders of the advocacy group Advocates for children in therapy
Advocates for Children in Therapy
Advocates for Children in Therapy is a U.S. advocacy group opposed to attachment therapy and related treatments. The organization opposes a number of psychotherapeutic techniques which it considers potentially or actually harmful to children who undergo treatment...
.
Therapeutic Touch study
In 1996, Rosa saw a video of Therapeutic TouchTherapeutic touch
Therapeutic touch , also known as Non-Contact Therapeutic Touch , is an energy therapy which practitioners claim promotes healing and reduces pain and anxiety. Practitioners of therapeutic touch state that by placing their hands on, or near, a patient, they are able to detect and manipulate the...
(TT) practitioners claiming they could feel a "Human Energy Field" (HEF) emanating from a human body and could use their hands to manipulate the HEF in order to diagnose and treat disease. She heard Dolores Krieger, the co-inventor of Therapeutic Touch, claim that everyone had the ability to feel the HEF, and Rosa heard other nurses say the HEF felt to them "warm as Jell-O" and "tactile as taffy." Rosa was impressed by how certain these nurses were about their abilities. She said, "I wanted to see if they really could feel something."
Using a standard science fair display board, Rosa devised a single-blind protocol, later described by other scientists as "simple and elegant," for a study she conducted at age nine for her 4th grade science fair. There were two series of tests. In 1996, 15 practitioners were tested at their home or office on different days over a period of several months. In 1997, 13 practitioners, including 7 from the first series, were tested on a single day. The second series was observed and videotaped by the producers of Scientific American Frontiers. Stephen Barrett
Stephen Barrett
Stephen Joel Barrett is a retired American psychiatrist, author, co-founder of the National Council Against Health Fraud , and the webmaster of Quackwatch. He runs a number of websites dealing with quackery and health fraud. He focuses on consumer protection, medical ethics, and scientific...
, MD, of Quackwatch
Quackwatch
Quackwatch is an American non-profit organization founded by Stephen Barrett with the stated aim being to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct" and with a primary focus on providing "quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere."...
helped Rosa, her mother (Linda Rosa, RN), and stepfather (Larry Sarner) write up the experiment for JAMA. The study was published April 1, 1998. George Lundberg, editor of JAMA, aware of the uniqueness of the situation, said: "Age doesn't matter. It's good science that matters, and this is good science.
The study tested the ability of 21 TT practitioners to detect the HEF or "aura
Aura (paranormal)
In parapsychology and many forms of spiritual practice, an aura is a field of subtle, luminous radiation surrounding a person or object . The depiction of such an aura often connotes a person of particular power or holiness. Sometimes, however, it is said that all living things and all objects...
" when they were not looking. Rosa asked each of the practitioners to sit at a table and extend their hands through a screen. On the other side of the screen, Rosa randomly selected which of the TT practitioner's hands she would hold her hand over. The TT practitioners were then asked which of their hands detected Rosa's HEF. Subjects were each given ten tries, but they correctly located Rosa's hand an average of only 4.4 times. Some subjects were asked before testing to examine Rosa's hands and select which of her hands they thought produced the strongest HEF. Rosa then used that hand during the experiment, but those subjects performed no better. The results showed that TT practitioners could not detect the hand more often than chance, and Rosa et al therefore concluded that there was no empirical basis to the HEF and by extension therapeutic touch:
Reaction
Publication of Rosa's experiment in JAMA was an international media sensation (see Awards and Appearances below). In a New York Times article, Rosa was likened to the child in the story "The Emperor's New Clothes". The Times article noted that Emily's parents and helpers on the project were Linda Rosa, a registered nurse who had been campaigning against TT for nearly a decade, and Larry Sarner, chairman of the National Therapeutic Touch Study Group, an anti-TT organization. While previously TT had been a growing practice, and especially popular among nurses, after the publication of the paper in 1998 it declined in both mention and recognition, and has been rarely included in surveys of "alternative medicine" since.Carol Wells-Federman, a registered nurse and co-director of the Chronic Pain Management Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston commented that it was quite disturbing that a child's school project should be published in a major medical journal, and if the daughter of a therapeutic-touch practitioner submitted an article in support of the therapy, it wouldn't get to first base.
David J Hufford, Professor in the Department of Humanities at the Penn State College of Medicine (teaching courses in spiritual belief and in alternative medicine), felt the study presented serious ethical problems because the authors of the study enlisted the cooperation of the TT operators by presenting the study as just a "fourth grade science fair project." Hufford felt that this was not just failure of full disclosure, but actual deceit. Hufford pointed out that research by CAM proponents is often treated with skepticism because of the investigators' commitments, yet this experiment, in an unrefereed setting, was run by people with known negative bias toward the subject. Hufford asked "would we react to the positive study of therapeutic touch carried out as a science fair project by the granddaughter of Dolores Krieger, the creator of the practice? Would JAMA publish it?"
The first round of tests was only a fourth grade science fair project done with no thought of future publication. Publication was suggested by Dr. Stephen Barrett months afterward when he learned that the study had taken place. The second round of tests was done at the request of Scientific American Frontiers, with the participants fully aware that they were being videotaped. No subsequent experiment has been undertaken overturning her findings.
Publications
- L Rosa, E Rosa, L Sarner, S Barrett, "A Close Look at Therapeutic Touch," Journal of the American Medical AssociationJournal of the American Medical AssociationThe Journal of the American Medical Association is a weekly, peer-reviewed, medical journal, published by the American Medical Association. Beginning in July 2011, the editor in chief will be Howard C. Bauchner, vice chairman of pediatrics at Boston University’s School of Medicine, replacing ...
, April 1, 1998; 279(13):1005–1010. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/279/13/1005?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Close+look+at+therapeutic+touch&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT - "TT and Me," by Emily Rosa, Jr. Skeptic, 1998; 6(2):97–99.
- "A Different Way to Heal," Science Hotline: Scientists Answer Your Questions, with Emily Rosa, Scientific American Frontiers, PBS http://www.pbs.org/saf/1210/hotline/hrosa.htm. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
- "How to Make an Alien Autopsy Cake," by Emily Rosa and Linda Rosa, Jr. Skeptic, 1999; 7(3):105.
- "Growing Up Godless: How I Survived Amateur Secular Parenting," by Emily Rosa, in Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion, Dale McGowan, ed., AMACOM, 2007. ISBN 0-8144-7426-8. (Other contributors included Richard DawkinsRichard DawkinsClinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
, Julia SweeneyJulia SweeneyJulia Anne Sweeney is an American actress, comedian and author best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for her autobiographical solo shows.-Personal life:...
, and Penn JillettePenn JillettePenn Fraser Jillette is an American magician, comedian, illusionist, juggler, bassist and a best-selling author known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller in the team Penn & Teller, and advocacy of atheism, libertarian philosophy, free-market economics, and scientific skepticism.-Early...
.)
Awards
- 1998: "Skeptic of the Year" James RandiJames RandiJames Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...
Award from the Skeptics Society. - 1998: James Randi Educational FoundationJames Randi Educational FoundationThe James Randi Educational Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 1996 by magician and skeptic James Randi. The JREF's mission includes educating the public and the media on the dangers of accepting unproven claims, and to support research into paranormal claims in controlled...
$1000 prize. - 1999: Recognition by Guinness Book of World Records (ISBN 1-892051-01-X) as youngest person to publish original research in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
- 2000: Colorado Science and Engineering Fair: 1st Place Earth & Space Sciences ("Geodesy: Measuring the Circumference of the Earth with Original Instruments") http://www.csef.colostate.edu/2000_Special_Award_Winners.htm with additional awards and prizes from:
- Space Imaging
- National Geophysical Data Center
- US Dept. of Interior Geological Survey
- Colorado Geological Survey
- Colorado Scientific Society
- Nomination to National Discovery Challenge, Washington DC
- 2003: Atheist Alliance International: "The Future of Free Thought" Award.
Appearances
- ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS evening news; John Stossel specials; BBC, Fox, CNN, MSNBC; Nick News; Brazil Idea; I've Got a Secret; Denver TV; Scientific American Frontiers (three programs); Discovery Channel (two programs); ABC radio; NPR "All Things Considered," etc.
- Keynoted the 1998 Ig Nobel CeremoniesIg Nobel PrizeThe Ig Nobel Prizes are an American parody of the Nobel Prizes and are given each year in early October for ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. The stated aim of the prizes is to "first make people laugh, and then make them think"...
at Harvard, and accepted the Award in Science Education for an absent Dolores Krieger, who "could not or would not attend" herself. Krieger, a nursing professor and co-inventor of Therapeutic Touch, was cited "for demonstrating the merits of therapeutic touch, a method by which nurses manipulate the energy fields of ailing patients by carefully avoiding physical contact with those patients." In her keynote, Rosa expressed her gratitude that Dr. Krieger had, for two decades, left basic research in TT for her to do. The next day, Rosa delivered an "Ig Nobel" Address at MITMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. - Rosa appeared on "The Power of Belief" with John Stossel, first aired October 6, 1998, ABC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG_bm0vthg4&feature=related Retrieved 11 March 2009
- Penn & Teller: Bullshit! episode "New Age Medicine,” 2008.
Further reading
- "The 'Emily Event': Emily Rosa and the Therapeutic Touch Wars," by Larry Sarner, Skeptic, 1998, 6(2):32–34. http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/10-11-17/#feature
- "A Child's Paper Poses a Medical Challenge," by Gina Kolata, New York Times, April 1, 1998; p. 1. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E6DF1F3BF932A35757C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all, retrieved 11 March 2009.
- "Fourth-grade science project casts doubt on 'therapeutic touch'," by Brenda Coleman, Associated Press, March 31, 1998. http://www.junkscience.com/news/touch.html, retrieved 11 March 2009.
- "Therapeutic Touch: Responses to Objections to the JAMA Paper," by Larry Sarner, Quackwatch, November 11, 1999. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ttresponse.html, retrieved 11 March 2009.
- "Therapeutic Touch Study Data," by Larry Sarner, Quackwatch, 1998. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ttdata.html, retrieved 11 March 2009.
- "Why Therapeutic Touch Should Be Considered Quackery," by Stephen Barrett, M.D., Quackwatch. http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/tt.html, retrieved 11 March 2009.
- "Emily's Little Experiment," by Michael D. Lemonick, Time, April 13, 1998. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988122,00.html, retrieved 11 March 2009.
- "Roger Ebert Diary, " Slate, April 11, 1998. http://www.slate.com/id/3770/, retrieved 11 March 2009.
- "Emily Rosa's Experiment," in Psychological Research: The Ideas Behind the Methods, by Douglas G. Mook, W.W. Norton, NY, 2001; pp. 44–47. ISBN 0-393-97620-3.
- "Therapeutic Touch," by Larry Sarner, in The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, Michael Shermer, ed., ABC-CLIO, 2002; 1:243–252. ISBN 1-57607-653-9.
- "More on the Emily Rosa experiment,” Steve Simon, Children’s Mercy Hospital and Clinics, March 10, 2006 http://www.childrensmercy.org/stats/weblog2006/EmilyRosaExperiment.asp, retrieved 11 March 2009.
- "Experiments: Not Just for Adults" in How to Measure Anything, by Douglas W. Hubbard, Wiley, 2007; pp. 12–18. ISBN 0-470-11012-0.
- "Gary Schwartz’s Energy Healing Experiments: The Emperor’s New Clothes?" by Harriet HallHarriet A. HallHarriet A. Hall is a retired family physician, former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and skeptic who writes about alternative medicine and quackery for Skeptic and Skeptical Inquirer.-Career:...
, Skeptical Inquirer, March/April 2008. http://www.csicop.org/si/2008-02/hall.html, retrieved 11 March 2009. - "Touched by a Touched Healing Toucher" by Kimball Atwood, June 6, 2008. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=135, retrieved 11 March 2009.
- "Editorial controversies and courage: pushing the envelope in medical journalism," by Andrew A. SkolnickAndrew A. SkolnickAndrew A. Skolnick is an American science and medical journalist and photographer. He was an associate news editor for the Journal of the American Medical Association.-Education:...
. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/21stC/issue-4.2/skolnick.html, retrieved 11 March 2009. - "Rubbing the Right and Wrong Way: Massage and Therapeutic Touch" in Psychology, by Daniel L. Schacter, et al., Worth, NY, 2009. ISBN 1-4292-0264-5.
- "State-Sponsored Quackery" Feng Shui and Snake Oil for California Nurses" in Skeptical InquirerSkeptical InquirerThe Skeptical Inquirer is a bimonthly American magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry with the subtitle: The magazine for science and reason....
, by Owen Hammer & James Underdown., November/December 2009, 33(6):53–56.
External links
- material about TT and critics
- http://www.quackwatch.org/search/webglimpse.cgi?ID=1&query=Emily+rosa&case=&whole=&lines=&errors=&age=&maxfiles=25&maxlines=20&maxchars=3000&filter=&cache=yes&rankby=DEFAULTEmily Rosa's material described on Stephen BarrettStephen BarrettStephen Joel Barrett is a retired American psychiatrist, author, co-founder of the National Council Against Health Fraud , and the webmaster of Quackwatch. He runs a number of websites dealing with quackery and health fraud. He focuses on consumer protection, medical ethics, and scientific...
's QuackwatchQuackwatchQuackwatch is an American non-profit organization founded by Stephen Barrett with the stated aim being to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct" and with a primary focus on providing "quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere."...
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