Rational Guide to

Psychics

Brought toyou by

Jeff Wagg demonstrates cold reading at The Amazing Meeting 8 in Las Vegas, NV - Photo courtesy of Dave Fayram

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davefayram

Cold Reading

Cold reading is a series of techniques used by mentalists, illusionists, fortune tellers, psychics, mediums and other con artists to determine or express details about another person, often in order to convince them that the reader knows much more about a subject than they actually do. Cold readers commonly employ high probability guesses about the subject, quickly picking up on signals from their subjects as to whether their guesses are in the right direction or not, and then emphasizing and reinforcing any chance connections the subjects acknowledge while quickly moving on from missed guesses.

What YouCan Do

If you go to a psychic, record your session. You can use this later to review your reading and check for accuracy. You will eliminate Confirmation Bias and minimize the effects of the Forer Effect. If you canʼt record your session try to take detailed notes. If the person youʼre going to doesnʼt allow either, reconsider who youʼre going to see.

The James Randi Educational Foundation offers a $1,000,000 Paranormal Challenge to anybody that can offer up proof of paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event under proper observable conditions. Ask the psychic if theyʼve heard of this challenge and if they plan to go for the prize. If not, find out why. More info can be found at http://randi.og

Finally, realize that thereʼs a reason that most psychics include the term “For Entertainment Only”. This is there for a reason and take it to heart. If you feel like going to a psychic, accept it for what it is, entertainment. Donʼt take the reading seriously and have a good time while youʼre there.

Photo courtesy of A. Currell http://www.flickr.com/photos/23748404@N00/

Hot Reading

Hot reading is the use of foreknowledge when giving a psychic reading in stage magic performances, or in other contexts. The reader can gain information about the person receiving the reading through a variety of means, such as background research or overhearing a conversation. Hot reading is commonly used in conjunction with cold reading (where no foreknowledge is available) and can explain how a psychic reader can get a spec ific c la imed "h i t " o f accurate information.

A 2001 Time article reported that psychic John Edward allegedly utilized hot reading on his television show, Crossing Over, where an audience member who received a reading was suspicious of prior behavior from Edward's aides, who had struck up conversations with audience members and asked them to fill out cards detailing their family trees. (Leon Jaroff (2001-02-25). "Talking to the Dead". Time Magazine. Retrieved 2006-06-14.)

Confirmation Bias

One factor in the appeal of psychic "readings" is that listeners apply a confirmation bias which fits the psychic's statements to their own lives. By making a large number of ambiguous statements in each sitting, the psychic gives the client more opportunities to find a match. This is one of the techniques of cold reading, with which a psychic can deliver a subjectively impressive reading without any prior information about the client. Investigator James Randi compared the transcript of a reading to the client's report of what the psychic had said, and found that the client showed a strong selective recall of the "hits".

Forer effect

The Forer effect (also called the Barnum Effect after P.T. Barnum's observation that "we've got something for everyone") is the observation that individuals will give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically for them, but are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people. This effect can provide a partial explanation for the widespread acceptance of some beliefs and practices, such as ast ro logy, for tune te l l ing, re l ig ious counseling and some types of personality tests.

Photo courtesy of Alieen Virayhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/aileenrobot/