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PsychicPowers&TalkingtotheDeadChapter8

TypesofPsychicPowers

•  Whiletheword“psychic”isonly150yearsoldorso,storiesaboutthesedatebackmillienia

•  Today,theyareoJenlumpedtogetherunderthetermpsiandtendtobethreemainthings:– ExtrasensorypercepNon– Psychokinesis– AJer-deathcommunicaNon

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ExtrasensoryPercepNon

•  Includestelepathy,ordirectmindtomindcommunicaNonofinformaNon

•  LikeProfessorXoftheX-Men

ExtrasensoryPercepNon

•  Anotherkindisclairvoyance,beingableto“see”thingsnotactuallypresent,eitherphysicallyortemporally– PrecogniNon– RetrocogniNon– Remoteviewing

Psychokinesis

•  Alsocalledtelekinesis,thisisthemanipulaNonofphysicalobjectsusingonlymindpower

•  Bendingobjects,stoppingwatches,makingdicefallacertainway,levitaNng…

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AJerDeathCommunicaNon

•  Speakingtothedead,usuallydonebya“medium”

•  Storiesofthisthroughouthistory,buttherewasamajorresurgenceinthelate1800s

BeliefinPsychicPowers

•  Storiesaboutthesesortofthingsforthousandsofyearsacrossallcultures

•  41-50%ofpeopleinUSandUKbelieveinESP,some15-21%believeinADC

•  Butwhatdoestheevidencesay?

StudyingthePsychics

•  LonghistoryofskepNcalandscienNficinquiry,daNngbacktoLucianofSamosata

•  2ndcenturysaNristwhoexposedapriestwhohad“amazingpowers”asafraud

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SpiritualismandScience

•  TheriseofSpiritualismintheU.S.causedmassiveinterestinpsychicpowersinmid-1800s

•  ThissameNmeincludedariseisuseofscienNficmethodstostudyallphenomena

•  Thesecollidedin1882withtheformaNonoftheSocietyforPsychicalResearchinLondon

RiseofParapsychology

•  TheSPRwasoriginallydedicatedto“exactandunimpassionedenquiry”aboutpsi

•  Ledtosimilargroupsbeingformedinothercountries,aswellastheinternaNonalParapsychologicalAssociaNonin1957

•  Severaljournalsstarted,dedicatedtothetopic

J.B.Rhine

•  Mostprominentearlyresearcher,hadgraduatedegreesinbotany,butswitchedfieldsandstudiedpsychologyatHarvard– ChangewasinspiredbyatalkontheparanormalgivenbySirArthurConanDoyle

•  CoinedthetermparapsychologyandfoundedtheDukeParapsychologyLabinlate1920s

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Rhine’sResearch

•  Earlyonheexposedtwofamousmediumsasfrauds,earningthewrathofDoyle

•  EarliestresearchoJeninvolvedtheuseofZenercardstotestpsiinvariousways

Psi-PosiNveResearch

•  Intwobookspublishedby1940,RhinedetailedtheresultsofstudiessupporNngpsi

•  Numerousstudies,somebyquitewell-knownscienNsts,havebeenpublishedsincethenthatalsosupporttheexistenceofvariouspsi

•  Notlimitedtopsychology,includesworkbyphysicists,engineers,andmanyothers

DarylBem’sResearch

•  CornellprofessorandoneofthemostinfluenNalsocialpsychologistsintheworld

•  Beganresearchonpsiinlate1980s,hisfirstmajorpublicaNonexaminedGanzfeldprotocols

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Bem’sGanzfeldStudy

•  Reviewed20yearsworthofresearch,concludedthattherewasstrongevidence

•  Expectedratesof“hits”wouldbe25%,andthenfoundratesof32-35%intheliterature

•  Bemwasconvincedthedatashowedevidencefortheexistenceoftelepathy

Bem’sPrecogniNveStudy

•  NextmajorpublicaNoninpsitestedretrocausality–ifsNmulipresentedaJerthefactcouldinfluenceone’scurrentbehavior

•  Of9reportedstudies,8showedevidencethatprecogniNonexisted

•  PublishedintopNersocialpsychologyjournal

CriNcallyExaminingPsiResearch

•  Over80yearsworthofresearchhavehadposiNvefindings

•  But,mostscienNstsdonotthinkpsiisreal,like98%oftheNaNonalAcademyofScience

•  Tounderstandwhy,weneedtouseourcriNcalthinkingskillstoexaminethestudies

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CriNcallyExaminingPsiResearch

•  Replicabilityandrulingoutrivalhypothesesneedtobeexaminedfirst

•  Rhine’sresearchwasreplicatedbyfiveotheruniversityteams,eachfindingnoevidenceforESPinthousandsoftrials

•  SowhydidRhinefindit?

MethodologicalProblems

•  Rhine’sfindingsseemtobeanarNfactofhavingpoorlycontrolledtrialsandanalyses

•  Hugeamountsofsensoryleakage– Samecardswererepeatedlyused– Cardswereverythin,almostsee-through– Frontsofcardswereabletobeseenineyeglassesofexperimeter

ARepeatedPanern

•  Poorexperimentalcontrols,methodologicalflaws,andlackofreplicabilityareanalltoocommonpanerninpsi-posiNveresearch

•  Allofthemajorstudiespointedtobybelievershavemassiveflawsandcannotbetakenseriouslybyoutsideresearchers

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DebunkingthePsychics

•  Propercontrolshelppreventusfromfoolingourselveswhenitcomestopsychics

•  LonghistoryofskepNcshelpingpeopleavoidbeingfooled,fromLucian2000yearsagotoHarryHoudiniintheearly1900stoJamesRandioverthepast40years

Houdinivs.thePsychics

•  Houdiniknewallthetricksofthemediumsfromhisdaysinatravelingcircus

•  Evendemonstratedthemtostaunchbelievers,likeSirArthurConanDoyle

Houdini&Doyle

•  Theywereclosefriends,butDoyle’swifewasa“channeler”andmedium

•  LadyDoyleeven“channeled”Houdini’smotherforhim– ThemessagewasinEnglish,whichhemotherdidn’tspeak,andincrediblygeneric

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Houdini&Doyle

•  TheirfriendshipcompletelydissolvedaJerHoudinipartneredwithScien6ficAmericantoinvesNgateandacNvelydebunkclaims

•  TimeandNmeagain,hefound“mediums”usingcommonmagician’strickstolevitatetablesorhave“spirits”ringbells

JamesRandi&ProjectAlpha

•  MagicianslikeJames“TheAmazing”Randihadforyearstriedtohelpparapsychologistsetupprotocolstopreventbeingfooled

•  Inlate1970s,helearnedofthenewlyfundedMcDonnellLaboratoryforPsychicalResearchandsetinmoNon“ProjectAlpha”

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ProjectAlpha

•  Randiaskedtwoyoungmagiciansheknewtosaytheyhad“psychicpowers”andapplytobestudiedatthelab

•  Healsoofferedhisfreehelptotheresearcherstomakesuretheyweren’ttrickedbymagicians

•  Hisofferwasturneddown,butthetwomenwereaskedtocomeinandbetested

ProjectAlpha

•  Overthenext4years,thetwomenwentthroughover160hoursoftesNng– Randirepeatedlywrotetothelab,suggesNngcontrolstouseinthetestsandwasignored

•  Then,Randidemonstratedhowtheir“powers”couldbeduplicatedattheParapsychologicalAssociaNon’sconference

ProjectAlpha

•  Thewholeaffairwasrevealed,tomixedreacNons

•  Manypraiseditasexposingthepoorrigorinparapsychology,otherdeemeditasunethical

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Lessons(Not)Learned

•  Emphasizedtheneedtoforresearcherstocollaboratewiththoseskilledinfoolingothers

•  FrequentlydonebyskepNcsandthoseconducNngresearch,butinfrequentlybytheparapsychologists

SpeakingtotheDead

•  Mediumspurporttobeabletospeaktothosewhohavediedandrelaymessagesfromthem

•  Longhistoryofpeopleclaimingthesepowersandmakingothersbelieve,fromtheFoxsistersandMadamBlavatskyinthelate1800stoJohnEdwardandTeresaCaputotoday

InvesNgaNngMediums

•  Equallylonghistoryofthembeingexposedasfraudsandhoaxers

•  EventheFoxsisters,foundersoftheSpiritualistmovement,adminedtheirtricks

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ModernMediums

•  Tendtorelylessondarkroomsandmagictricks,andmoreon“reading”people

•  Coldreadingandhotreadingexploitournaturalbiases,canbelearnedbyanyone,andhavenothingtodowiththesupernatural

•  Canbeusedtomimicdifferentpsipowers

ColdReading

•  ExploitstheForereffect–  IfsomeoneisgivengenerallyposiNvestatementsthatsupposedlyaretailoredtothemfromatrustedsource,theyratethemasbeingaccurate

•  Rowland(2002)outlinesseveralaspectstomakingacoldreadingworkwell

MakingaColdReadingWork

•  Beinghighlypersonableandlikable

•  EncouragingcooperaNonandvolunteeringofinformaNon

•  EstablishingaritualisNcatmospherethatisinNmatebutalsodissuadeschallenges

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MakingaColdReadingWork

•  Mediumconveysthattheyareexperienced,knowledgeable,andconfident

•  Discussexactlyhowtheprocess“works”

•  Makesexcusesinadvanceforanyfailuresthatmayoccur

MakingaColdReadingWork

•  BeginswithabarrageofstatementsandquesNons(the“shotgun”)

•  Whenyougeta“hit,”focusonthatandignoreanythingelseyouhavepreviouslysaid

•  Usestatementsthatseemspecific,butrelyonstaNsNcalortrivia-typeknowledge

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MakingaColdReadingWork

•  Turnyourmissesintohitsviaexcuses

•  Rememberthe“goldenrule”–alwaystellpeoplewhattheywanttohear!

AnActualExample

•  ThisvideoshowspurportedmediumJohnEdwardperformingagroupreading

•  Watchhowheexploitsthecoldreadingtechniquesdiscussed

•  PsychicMediumJohnEdwardReadsOurAudience|TheMeredithVieiraShow

HotReadings

•  WhenthemediumhasgainedinformaNonbeforehandandusesitasifitisfromthedead

•  Manydifferentwaystodothis– Onlinesearchesforestablishedclients– Accomplicescirclinginaudience– Havingaudiencemembersfillingoutcards

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Conclusions

•  Theevidenceisnotonthesideofpsychicpowersbeingreal

•  Weseeaconsistentpanernof– Claimedpowersbeingfoundoutashoaxes– PsiposiNveresearchnotbeingwellcontrolledorreplicable

– Lackofpsychicpowersmakingthemselvesknowninthelab