Psychic Mediumship Flashcards
What is the explanation for mediumship?
Self deception
What is self-deception?
Where people’s cognitive biases prevail and they draw the wrong conclusions from the available evidence because they want to believe.
What theory is linked to self-deception?
The sheep-goat effect
In what ways do people self-decisive?
Seeing significance in things that are just coincidence
Having an uncritical approach to research which undermines mediums
Remembering elements that support our beliefs and rejecting those that don’t
Why is it easy for mediums to make people believe in them?
Because some people believe in paranormal phenomena or want to believe. They are highly motivated to accept paranormal existence and it’s easier for mediums to manipulate this
What is psychic mediumship?
Where mediums claim to be able to communicate with the spirits of dead people, they then pass on these messages to the living.
Why do psychics make people in believe in them?
It gives them a sense of purpose or power
Fraudulent mediums may do it for money or fame
They may genuinely believe they have special powers
Why do clients believe in mediums?
Because it may bring them comfort, particularly to those who are grieving
Briefly, what are the problems with mediumship?
Cheating
Techniques used by the medium
Difficult for a sitter to be objective
Sitters opinions are often bias in some way
What are some of the techniques used by mediums?
Barnum statements
Fishing for details
Cold reading
Cheating
How do mediums cheat?
If they have the name of the person they will be reading they can research them in advance
What are Barnum statements?
General statements which could likely apply to anyone
What clues may the sitter provide?
Body language
Verbal cues
What is the main problem of research into psychic mediumship?
It can be very difficult for the sitter to objectively asses whether the statements are correct because they can be quite general. Most people also have some sort of opinion on the matter so they may be more or less likely to say if they are relatable
What studies are relevant to psychic mediumship?
Schwartz et al
O’keefe and wiseman