FACTORS UNDERLYING ANOMALOUS EXPERIENCE
Why do some believe and others don’t Sheep and goats do questionnaire on paranormal
beliefs. Must ask how valid are the scales used to judge e.g. belief- results differ depending
on which scale you use, scales used e.g. to measure neuroticism have low validity and some
are too artificial.
COGNITIVE FACTORS
1. Misattribution hypothesis Alcock and Blakemore – belief in anomalous phenomena
comes about when people think that events were caused by supernatural powers
rather than normal occurrences. Several reasons for this; Wiseman and Watt
 Poor cognitive abilities – many e.g. Gray suggest that believers have lower
intellect. Studies in America have shown a link between IQ (SAT scores) and
level of belief. Not all agree
On syllogistic reasoning tasks non believers perform better
o All cheats are immoral
o This psychic is a cheat
o Therefore this psychic is immoral
Logical conclusion
o If government is engaged in a cover up into existence of UFO’s it will
deny landings have taken place
o The government does deny UFO landings
o Therefore the government is engaged in a cover up
Conclusion is not logical
Winkleman – children in remote Mexican village found that formal education
Tends to reduce effects of ESP –belief related to educational level and
Cognitive ability.
Evaluation – results are inconsistent, many researchers have not replicated findings –
Thalbourne although some have
In studies most participants are uni students not representative. Belief also seems to be
discipline dependant – Otis and Alcock – science students lower levels than humanities
students generally.
 Probability misjudgement e.g if you randomly think of a friend you have not heard of
in long time and they suddenly phone you might think it has a psychic basis rather
than chance. Underestimate statistical likelihood on probability tasks – do probability
questionnaire. Barnum statements.
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Evaluation poor probability judgements may be due to poor cognitive abilities and
not a component of paranormal belief.
Tendency to find links in distantly related material – Morris –individuals who believe
they have had a psychic experience think this because there appears to be an
inexplicable association between their thoughts and events in real world. E.g. seeing
spherical object in sky and believing it is a UFO
Evaluation Blackmore and Moore found believers more able to identify images in
random dot patterns than non believers. Own text book seeing faces on the moon
Fantasy proneness psychic experience in some due to difficulty in separating reality
from fantasy. Wiseman mock scéance actor suggested table was levitating (it wasn’t)
afterwards more believers than non believers reported table had moved.
Evaluation Marks fantasy prone people more likely to have unusual perceptual
experiences e.g. visions, hear voices, seeing apparitions.
Research found a link between psychic ability and ability to be hypnotised however
results have been difficult to replicate
Creativity possibly a link between psi ability and creativity e.g. artistic needs more
research
PERSONALITY FACTORS
Personality traits and ESP performance (Ramakrishna 2001)
Warm, sociable
Tense
Good natured
Excitable
Assertive, self assured
Frustrated
Tough
Demanding
Enthusiastic
Impatient
Talkative
Dependent
Cheerful
Sensitive
Quick, alert
Timid
Adventuresome, impulsive
Threat-sensitive
Emotional
Shy
Carefree
Withdrawn
Realistic, practical
Submissive
Relaxed
Suspicious
composed
Depression prone
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Neuroticism – Palmer observed neurotic subjects tended to score at chance or below
on ESP tasks, well adjusted tended to score above chance. Williams – various studies
have found a positive relationship between neuroticism and paranormal beliefs.
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Paranormal beliefs may create a distance from reality as a defence mechanism against
negative emotional states.
Schizotpy personality traits related to schizophrenia Irwin and Green found a link
Evaluation. Research appears to imply belief in paranormal is pathological and links
have not be found with all mental disorders e.g. bipolar disorder. Link with schizotpy
not surprising as a characteristic is ‘having magical or superstitious belief’. Auton –
some research accentuated the positive e.g. positive correlation between self
actualisation and psi belief.
Extraversion – Honorton meta analysis of 60 studies found overall positive correlation
between extraversion and ESP performance.
Locus of control – people with external locus of control more likely to believe in
paranormal than those with internal locus of control
Evaluation – Tobacyk relationship between belief and locus of control depends on
type of belief. Superstition and spiritualism positive for external PK negatively. Davies
however found positive correlation with internal locus and belief. Unreliability of
results may be in part due to the way belief is measured.
BIOLOGICAL FACTORS
 Right hemisphere over activation has been found in believers more than
disbelievers. Research has also found right hemisphere activity is associated
with processing links between distantly related material (link between
biological and cognitive factors)
 High levels of dopamine – it plays an important role in brains reward system
and may help people decide if information is relevant. Brugger provided
evidence that high levels of dopamine may underlie paranormal experience
and belief
 Genes twin studies suggest belief may be inherited. Koenig – MZ twins were
more likely than DZ to have same religious beliefs. In other research Bouchard
found religious belief is related to belief in paranormal
Evaluation – quite a leap from finding a right-hemisphere preference to
assuming that it links to pattern detection. The dopamine effect has not been
replicated in subsequent research by Brugger’s team.
There appears to be a link between all the factors so artificial tom separate
them out. All the above ignore the larger social influences that shape are
anomalistic beliefs. The cultural background of an individual often shapes their
beliefs in anomalistic experiences.