PSYA4 REVISION
Anomalistic Psychology
Syllabus
Anomalistic Psychology
The Study of Anomalous
Experience
•Pseudoscience and the scientific status of
parapsychology
•Methodological issues related to the study of
paranormal cognition (ESP, inc. Ganzfeld)
•Methodological issues related to the study of
paranormal action (PK)
Explanations for anomalous
experiences
•The role of coincidence and probability judgements
in anomalous experiences
• Explanations for superstitious behaviour and
magical thinking
• Personality factors underlying anomalous
experience
Research into exceptional
experience
• Psychological research into and explanations for
* psychic healing,
* near death and out of body experiences,
* psychic mediumship
FEATURES of a SCIENCE and a PSEUDOSCIENCE
SCIENCE
PSEUDOSCIENCE
•
Clearly OPERATIONALISED terms are
used which are objective do not allow
for BIAS
•
•
Research is analysed and scrutinised by
experts (PEER REVIEW) before being
reported in reputable journals
Vague, Specialist terms are used which
have no clear operationalisation,
increasing the opportunity for bias and
SUBJECTIVITY. This also makes it difficult
to replicate research to check the validity
of findings
•
A lack of adequate scrutiny of research
(no peer review) with findings are
reported directly to the public via the
open access internet sites
•
Theories/hypotheses are developed to
‘fit’ research findings. Theories are often
never revised, even in the light of failed
research. Negative results are suppressed
which puts a bias on positive results which
support theories (FILE DRAWER EFFECT)
•
•
Theories allow for the generation of
FALSIFIABLE hypotheses which are then
investigated using controlled,
OBJECTIVE, EMPIRICAL methods.
Hypotheses and theories are revised in
light of research findings
Findings and research can be
REPLICATED (i.e. they are reliable) to
ensure accuracy
Is Parapsychology a Science or Pseudoscience
(the ‘scientific status’ of parapsychology)
PSEUDOSCIENCE because…
•
Many concepts are abstract, unfalsifiable,
poorly operationalised and do not adhere
to the law of parsimony. Theories are not
rejected even in the light of contradictory
research
–
•
Much of the research lacks adequate
controls and standardisation. Specialist
terms with no objective definition are
often used which makes research difficult
to replicate and prone to bias
–
•
E.g…
E.g. of research which lacks control?
Standardisation?
The way the results and theories are
communicated lacks scientific rigour as
there is often no peer review and results
are communicated directly to the public
with no academic scrutiny, e.g. using open
access journals or public websites
SCIENCE because…
• Some of the research and
theories have scientific
aspects. Some research is
highly controlled and uses
objective methods and
standardised procedures
which eliminate the
possibility of bias and fraud
– E.G autoganzfeld procedure
Outline how parapsychologists have investigated ESP
(paranormal cognition)
ZENER CARDS
GANZFELD (must know this)
• Sender and Receiver
• 5 symbols
• Sender ‘sends’ image;
receiver has to say which
image is being sent
• HIT is when the receiver
gets the image right!
• Above 25% accuracy is
evidence of ESP
• Could mention the later
(more controlled) versions
• Sender and Receiver in
separate rooms
• Sender selects a target image
randomly from four
• Receiver in a room with red
lights, has ping pong balls
over eyes and white noise
played (say why)
• Sender ‘sends’ image
• Receiver free associates,
which involves…
• Receiver then presented with
the four possible images and
judges which image was being
sent
Methodological Issues with ESP Research
(e.g. ‘discuss issues with the study of paranormal cognition’)
• SECURITY ISSUES
– ESP studies influenced by a lack of adequate controls.
– PPTS may be given the target images by fraudulent
means (e.g…)
– However, these issues were overcome by…
– Positive ESP results cannot be replicated, especially
under controlled conditions, suggesting fraud
– BUT THIS MAY BE DUE TO PSI-BLOCKAGE…
• INADEQUATE RANDOMISATION OF TARGET
IMAGES
Outline how parapsychologists have investigated PK
(paranormal action)
CASE STUDIES of individuals with
the abilities
DICE THROWING / REGS (MUCH
BETTER – use these!)
• RHINE
– Participants asked to influence the
roll of a dice
– HIT rate above 1 in 6 = evidence of
PK. Radin found reported this
• Electronic version (e.g. SCHMIDT)
– asked participants to influence the
falling of a electronic coin [heads
or tails].
– Randomisation achieved on the
basis of decay of radioactive
particles
– Found evidence for PK as
participants were more successful
than what would be expected by
chance alone.
Methodological Issues with PK Research
(e.g. ‘discuss issues with the study of paranormal cognition’)
• SECURITY ISSUES
– PK apparatus may be BIASED so may not reflect
actual PK ability (how do we achieve this?)
– Lots of examples of fraud from the case studies (e.g…)
– Positive PK results cannot be replicated, especially
under CONTROLLED conditions, suggesting fraud
– BUT THIS MAY BE DUE TO PSI-BLOCKAGE…
• Problems with SELECTIVE ANALYSIS and
SELECTIVE REPORTING
Role of Coincidence and Probability
• Basically, you have to be able to explain why
people who believe (sheep) are more likely to
attribute strange/weird/unexpected
occurrences to the paranormal and not to
simple coincidence (the ‘misattribution
hypothesis’)
• Likely to be STIMULUS DRIVEN
Role of Coincidence and Probability
Believers misunderstand
probability (MUST KNOW)
– Believers do not understand
probability because they
underestimate the fact that
every event has a possibility of
occurring BY CHANCE
– They do not understand the
law of truly large numbers
– This makes them more likely to
think a strange coincidence has
a paranormal explanations as
they cannot understand the
logic of probability!
– This could be underpinned by a
poor general cognitive ability
and a lack of logical thought
(indicated by poor performance
on syllogistic reasoning tasks)
OTHER reasons why believers do
not simply think ‘coincidence’
– Believers do not understand the
gamblers fallacy
– Selective memories (von restorff
effect)
– Subjective validation and the ego
centric bias
– They create illusions of
connection
NOTE the evaluation and
research for this in your
workbook
Superstitions and Magical Thinking
MUST BE ABLE TO DEFINE
SUPERSTITION
• A SUBJECTIVE belief that
one act/event affects
another, even though there
is no logical relationship
between the two (Kida,
2006)
MAGICAL THINKING
• When people attribute
special powers or properties
to certain objects
EXPLANATIONS
- Superstitions
BEHAVIOURAL (learning)
• Classical Conditioning
– Superstition becomes associated
with a positive outcome
• Operant conditioning
– Superstition is followed by a
positive consequence (positive
reinforcement)
– Superstition removes anxiety
associated with an event (negative
reinforcement)
– Punishment occurs if a person
does not do a superstition and
something negative happens
– SKINNERS PIGEONS
• SOCIAL LEARNING
– Observe and imitate the
superstitions of models
– Vicarious reinforcement,
characteristics of models
COGNITIVE
• Superstitions provide an illusion of
control over an event which is
difficult to predict and control (e.g.
sport, exam)
• Superstitions may have a placebo
effect
• Selective memories and other
cognitive biases (e.g. ego centric
bias) may reinforce the superstition
EXPLANATIONS
Magical Thinking
COGNITIVE
• Law of contagion: some
people believe objects
retain the essence / power
of things / people they were
associated with
• Because of this, a person
believes the object may
provide / lead to the same
outcome for them!
• Could also apply the ideas
from before (illusion of
control, placebo effect, etc)
BEHAVIOURAL
• As before, just applied
differently
The role of PERSONALITY in anomalous beliefs
• Here, explain what personality characteristics
have been linked with paranormal beliefs
• Be specific to specific beliefs if you can
• Explain WHY the personality types lead to
belief in the paranormal
• Again, likely to stimulus driven but this ‘lends’
itself more to a ‘classic’ essay question
The role of PERSONALITY in anomalous beliefs
EXTROVERSION
EXTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL
• Linked to ESP belief
• Extroversion is associated with
characteristics such as sociability,
sensation seeking, impulsivity,
recklessness and optimism.
• Research seems to suggest that
extroversion is associated with
paranormal beliefs, especially ESP
(HONORTON (1998)
• Extroverts are more likely to
believe in the paranormal
because a belief in the
paranormal may satisfy an
extroverts need for sensation and
may make the person the centre
of attention
• Linked to superstitions and
magical thinking and ESP
(IRWIN 1986)
• People with an ELOC believe
that circumstances and
events are controlled by
factors outside of
themselves (external
factors) such as ‘luck’, ‘fate’
or ‘the paranormal’,
The role of PERSONALITY in anomalous beliefs
• OTHER PERSONALITY FACTORS LINKED TO
PARANORMAL BELIEF
– Sensation seeking
– Neuroticism (may provide escapism)
– Creativity and Fantasy Proneness
EXCEPTIONAL EXPERIENCES
• You must be able to discuss AT LEAST TWO STUDIES
into
–
–
–
–
PSYCHIC HEALING
PSYCHIC MEDIUMSHIP
OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCES
NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES
Likely to be asked together;
if not, research can be
applied to both at a push
• You should be able to DEFINE each term
• In the CONCLUSIONS of the studies, include
EXPLANATIONS
• Essays = 4+6 (e.g. ‘discuss what research has shown
about…’)
Psychic Healing
Keller and Bzdek
EVALUATION
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Investigated therapeutic touch on tension
headaches (assessed via a standardised test)
Volunteer sample (adverts)
PPTS assigned to either TT or non TT
condition; single blind employed
In the TT condition, a healer used TT; in the
non TT condition, nothing happened
PPTS reported immediately after if the pain
had decreased
90% said they experienced a reduction in
pain, significantly higher than in the control
(non TT group)
THIS SHOWS TT is a genuine ability which can
lead to a reduction of pain. This explained by the
idea that psychic healers possess a special kind
of PK ability which allows them to stimulate a
persons immune system which leads to healing
•
•
•
•
Use of a single blind is an advantage as
this eliminates placebo effects (or does
it?)
Independent measures design used so
we cannot be sure individual
differences didn’t play a role (perhaps
those in the TT condition just happened
to have headaches which naturally
subsided during the study)
Sample issues – Volunteer sample so…
(smash this – Believers likely to
respond!); also only tested effect of
psychic healing on tension headaches
so we cannot be sure psychic healing
doesn’t work for other problems
Operationalisation of ‘improvement’ –
Questionnaire / interview may be prone
to social desirability and investigator
effects / demand characteristics
Long term effects?
Psychic Healing
LYVERS
EVALUATION
•
• Use of a double blind is an
advantage (eliminates
expectancy / placebo
effects in the PPTS and
possible bias in researchers)
• Some questions about the
operationalisation of
improvement
• Sample issues (Small,
volunteer, only tested one
type of ailment so…)
Investigated psychic healing can help
back pain
• Volunteer sample (advert in an
Australian newspaper)
• PPTS assigned to either a healing or non
healing condition
• Double blind employed (researchers
recording results ALSO didn’t know
which condition was which)
• Results = no significant difference
between the two groups. BUT did find a
POSITIVE CORRELATION between belief
in psychic healing and reported
reduction of pain (regardless of the
condition they were in)
THIS SHOWS psychic healing is not a
genuine ability and that any positive
effects can be explained through
psychological factors (e.g. placebo effects
or expectancy effects)
Psychic Mediumship
BEISCHEL and SCHWARTZ
EVALUATION
•
• Use of a triple blind is a major
methodological advantage as it
eliminates investigator bias and
other demand characteristics. It
also eliminates the notion of
fraud
• Limited sample – only eight
mediums used, so this does not
mean ALL mediums are genuine
• Why did they have trial runs?
• Poor operationalisation of
accuracy; it is unclear how the
researcher defined an accurate
reading. This may not stand up to
scrutiny and lowers the validity of
conclusions
•
•
•
Eight university students (‘sitters’) and 8
mediums
Triple blind employed – No one had any
information about anyone or anything
else!
A number of trial runs took place
before the mediums gave their readings
The accuracy of the readings was
assessed by the sitters as ‘very high’
THIS SHOWS that mediumship is a genuine
ability and can be explained by the idea
that some people have a special kind of psi
ability that allows them to communicate
with the dead, see into the future or
conduct telepathy
Psychic Mediumship
O’KEEFE and WISEMAN
EVALUATION
•
• Use of a triple blind study is an
advantage because…
• Poor operationalisation of
accuracy – readings judged on
a scale (ordinal data) which
may be a problem as it is
difficult to define / understand
what each point is worth
• Sample issues…
• There is a possibility that
negative results were due to
Psi Blockage. However,
according to the law of
parsimony…
•
•
•
Study in response to Beischel and
Schwartz
Five mediums gave a reading to five
sitters
The sitters read ALL readings and rated
each one with relation to how relevant
it was to them.
Overall, the ratings given by sitters were
the LOWEST for the readings about
them!
THIS SHOWS mediumship IS NOT a
genuine ability. It indicates that any
success in psych mediumships can be
attributed to clever FRAUD, including
techniques such as hot and cold reading,
the use of Barnum statements, fishing,
pregnant pauses, etc…
OBEs and NDEs
ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE of OBEs
RING - NDE
•
•
Mrs Z – was able to read a number which
was placed in another room
• Maria and the sneaker – When in hospital,
Maria was able to give details about a
sneaker which was on top of a cabinet in
another room. This could not be seen from
Maria’s room
Both studies suggest people can have OBEs. This
supports the ideas of DUALISM (the body and
soul / conscience are separate and can become
disconnected
EVALUATION
• Case studies so…
• Other non paranormal explanations are
more likely and parsimonious
–
–
Mrs Z: FRAUD. She may have gotten the info
via sensory leakage from researchers
Maria: Investigations proved that she COULD
actually see the sneaker from her room. Also,
she may have heard nurses talking about it
(NB. She may not have remembered this
however due to the drugs she was on)
Conducted interviews with people who
reported having an NDE
• Established the CORE FEATURES of an
NDE (moving towards a light, meeting
loved ones, feelings of euphoria, etc)
• Later research identified CULTURE
SPECIFIC elements too
This suggests NDEs are a genuine
paranormal experiences due to the
unlikely fact that people report very
similar accounts. Also supports the notion
of DUALISM…
EVALUATION
• Problems with interviews (bias, social
desirability, etc) so reports may lack
validity
• Sample issues – cannot apply the
results to everyone (cannot say ALL
NDEs have the same features)
OBEs and NDEs
RESEARCH INTO BIOLOGICAL BASIS
PERSINGER
EVALUATION
•
• A scientific, objective, empirical
study…
• Ethical but Sample issues…
• Problems with the ecological
validity – was Persinger’s actually
a genuine OBE/NDE? Arguably
not as it wasn’t as intense as
other reported OBEs/NDEs
• Incomplete to suggest ALL
OBEs/NDEs are a result of
abnormal activity in the TPJ as
some people report having
OBEs/NDEs but have normal
neurological activity
• Was supported/validated
however by BLANKE…
Wanted to investigate the idea that
abnormality in the temporal
parietal junction may lead to
OBEs/NDEs (note the TPJ is
responsible for integrating
environmental info, making the
self-other distinction and
monitoring/controlling visual,
auditory and somatosensory
systems).
• Used transcranial magnetic
stimulation to artificially stimulate
the TPJ
• Reported that he experienced OBE
/ NDE like experiences
THIS SHOWS that OBEs/NDEs are not
a paranormal phenomena and are
instead a result of abnormal
neurological activity
OBEs and NDEs
• You may have used other research
– Anoxia (lack of oxygen) and Hypercarbia (high CO2 in the
bloodstream)
• e.g. often experienced by fighter pilots who often report OBE / NDE
like experiences, suggesting that anoxia / hypercarbia are the cause of
OBEs/NDEs
– Raised GLUTAMATE levels
• e.g. as a result of drug [e.g. Ketamine] use; this is often accompanied
by OBE / NDE type experiences, suggesting that raised glutamate
causes the experiences
• All studies suggest that OBEs / NDEs have a BIOLOGICAL
BASIS
• Remember to evaluate; stick to the classics!