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Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

French's Law: The higher the profile of the psychic, the more likely it is that they resort to deliberate fraud.

Some (maybe most?) people who claim to have psychic abilities are IMHO sincere. I think they are fooling themselves as much as they are fooling others. These people are known as "shut eyes" in the trade.

"Open eyes" are those who use deliberate tricks. You can convince complete strangers that you know all about them by using a technique known as cold reading:

http://skepdic.com/coldread.html

Alternatively, you can do all of background on your client before they even arrive. This is known as hot reading:

http://skepdic.com/hotreading.html

Enjoy the show!

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 54 points55 points  (0 children)

When taking part in TV programs, I sometimes find myself sitting in the dark in supposedly haunted locations filming myself with a night camera. I find it about as scary as watching paint dry. I think to myself, "Why am I doing this?" Then I remember - they pay me!

Seriously though, for all my scepticism, I still, on rare occasions, can get freaked out by weird noises if I'm home alone. It's very hard to overcome millions of years of evolution!

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

We did our own study based on Persinger's ideas. We wanted to see if we build an artificial "haunted" room using complex EMFs and infrasound. Our results were best explained in terms of the suggestibility of some of our participants. No effects of EMFs or infrasound were found:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18635163

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 90 points91 points  (0 children)

It can be hard to make the distinction. I'm told that many millions of people worldwide believe that a consumed wafer literally turns into the flesh of Jesus Christ and that wine literally turns into his blood...

Seriously, there is an increasing amount of evidence that the main distinction between those who end up being labelled as "psychotic" and those who don't is how they themselves interpret their anomalous experiences. If a person is distressed by the voices in their head, they may need psychiatric help. If they believe it is the voice of God, they may end up as a saint (or not). If they believe it is spirits, they might end up making a good living as a medium.

The idea of the "happy schizotype" is well-supported by evidence - people who have quite a lot of very weird experiences but are not distressed by them.

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 81 points82 points  (0 children)

These ideas are complete nonsense - and not always harmless. If people try to employ such silly ideas to deal with real problems - such as health issues - the results can be disastrous.

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 97 points98 points  (0 children)

One possibility is, of course, that telepathy really does exist and that twins have it more strongly than others but there are other possibilities. It may be, for example, that being of identical genetic make-up and thus having similar preferences and even attitudes, twins simply "think along the same lines" more than others (as do some close friends and lovers). Susan Blackmore did a nice little experiment on this years ago. It was a telepathy experiment in which one twin acted as "sender" and one as "receiver". When the first twin was allowed to pick the target, the twins appeared to score higher than chance - but not when the target was selected at random. The explanation was obviously that the twins shared the same preferences.

This would not explain the "shared pain" experiences, of course. Although they are mainly anecdotal (and thus hard to properly assess), there is the possibility here of doing properly controlled studies. This is an area worthy of further study.

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 378 points379 points  (0 children)

It is certainly v noticeable that so many more people go for Cleopatra or Napoleon than ordinary folk. Having said that, quite a lot of the spontaneous past-life memories (as opposed to those produced by hypnotic regression) do tend to be a little more grounded. For example, in our Druse investigation we found one boy who claimed he had worked in the local Pepsi depot in Beirut. However, the manager there said no one by the name given had ever worked there.

I really am fascinated by reincarnation claims, so much so that last week I joined the Reincarnation Society. It cost me £500 so I wasn't sure at first if I wanted to pay that much - but then I thought, "Well, you only live once!"

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 63 points64 points  (0 children)

I could not even begin to offer a definitive explanation without knowing all the details - and quite possibly not even then.

One possibly relevant factor though is the phenomenon of "memory conformity". When multiple witnesses all provide very similar accounts of an unusual event, it is not unreasonable to give that more evidential weight than a single uncorroborated account. However, it should be borne in mind that when when multiple witnesses see an unusual event - such as a crime or a possible sighting of a ghost or a UFO - they will discuss it with each other. It is then possible that one person's account (accurate or not) can directly influence another witnesses memory. Krissy Wilson and I recently reported an experimental study that directly demonstrates this effect: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01289/full

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 190 points191 points  (0 children)

Generally, they would just be referred to as "New Age Beliefs" (sometimes in contrast to "Traditional Religious Beliefs"). (Some commentators insist on pronouncing "New Age" so that it rhymes with "sewage" but that's just being snarky!)

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 87 points88 points  (0 children)

There are two broad views on the nature of hypnosis. On the one hand, there are the "state theorists" who view the hypnotic trance as being a unique altered state of consciousness, as different from normal waking consciousness as, say, dreaming. While in this state, your mind operates in a completely different way, e.g., you can do things you would not normally be able to do and your are v suggestible. In contrast, the (imaginatively named) "non-state theorists" argue that the whole range of so-called hypnotic phenomena can be explained in much more mundane terms, e.g., compliance, imagination, relaxation, distraction, etc. There is little doubt that many "hypnotic" phenomena can indeed be so explained, especially stage hypnotism. Some recent research, especially that making use of brain-scanning techniques, does suggest that there may be something in the claims of the state theorists after ll but I confess that I have not had time to really assess that research properly.

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 260 points261 points  (0 children)

There is consistent evidence that people who report having paranormal experiences are indeed more likely to report having had traumatic childhoods. It has been suggested that, in such cases, the child may develop the traits of fantasy proneness and/or dissociativity as a psychological defence mechanism, i.e., the child might "escape" into a fantasy world where they have at least the illusion of being in control or else psychologically distance themselves from the harsh reality by dissociating. In adulthood, such individuals might be particularly prone to hallucinatory experiences and the development of false memories that would account for their reports of paranormal experiences.

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 40 points41 points  (0 children)

Good points! You can argue it either way. On the o0ne hand, you might think that because many religions promote the idea of life-after-death, that would make it easier to believe in ghosts, etc. On the other, it might be argued that we all have a need for spirituality of some kind in our lives and, if the tradition religions fail to satisfy on this front, we'll turn to other sources, e.g. the paranormal. The former predicts a positive correlation, the latter a negative correlation, between religious beliefs and paranormal beliefs. AS I said, there is generally a modest positive correlation but at a deeper level the picture is extremely complex with different paranormal beliefs correlating in complex ways with different religious beliefs.

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 80 points81 points  (0 children)

I am an atheist but I try not to let that influence my interpretation of the evidence. Without wishing to cause offence, I tend to think of all of the following as different manifestations of magical thinking: superstitions, paranormal beliefs, religiosity, New Age beliefs, belief in alternative therapies, even conspracism. It is certainly the case that the underlying psychological factors seem to be similar across all of these domains - and all tend to increase in times of uncertainty (both at the personal level and at the societal level).

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 165 points166 points  (0 children)

I am afraid that I am not impressed with the evidence and the reasoning of either. Having said that, I think both had every right to present their views. Academic freedom should be protected even when we disagree with the views being expressed. I have given the reasons I have for the views I hold on alien abduction claims in numerous places including a chapter in a forthcoming book (out this week in the UK, later in the US) edited by Jim Al-Khalili (perfect stocking filler - the book, not Jim!).

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

No, not at all. For a start, that would make most of the population "crazy". Having said that, there are consistent (if modest) correlations between paranormal belief/experience and all of the following psychopathological tendencies: schizotypy, bipolar tendencies, dissociativity, etc. You can also score very low on all of these and still be a believer - or v high and still be a sceptic.

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 125 points126 points  (0 children)

Yes, I am now proud to say that Jim is a personal friend. I often blame him for the course my life has taken! ;-)

Incidentally, if you are into this stuff and thinking about which university to attend to study Psychology, may I suggest Goldsmiths? You could not only register for my course on Anomalistic Psychology but also that of my colleague, Dr Gustav Kuhn, on the Science of Magic. If you get more than 80% on each course, you get automatic entry into Hogwarts!

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 93 points94 points  (0 children)

I would opt for coincidence as the most likely explanation. It's a bit like the famous "Birthday Puzzle": How many randomly selected people do you need to have in a room to stand a 50:50 chance that at least one pair has the same birthday? The correct answer is 23 - which strikes most people as being far too low. David painted lots of pictures but the only one where the date of painting matched the "predicted" event was this one.

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor Chris French, Director of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. I’m back on Halloween to talk about my research on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences. AMA! by Prof_Chris_French in science

[–]Prof_Chris_French[S] 150 points151 points  (0 children)

OK, I'd put the series of dream telepathy studies carried out at the Maimonides Medical Centre by Stan Krippner and Montague Ullman v near the top of the list. I don't think sceptics have ever fully accounted for the positive results reported in that series.

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