1. Talking about anomalous experiences with sustaining ‘explorability’ Yasushi OHASHI Shukutoku University yohashi@soc.shukutoku.ac.jp

2. Outline Difficulties of representing anomalous experiences – An approach focusing on these difficulties – Another approach focusing on instability of remembering From remembering to expecting: A study of fortune-telling – Social constructionism approach – Talking with exploring the future

3. Traditional psychology of anomalous experiences Traditional two approaches – Affirmative: They have investigated original events, which had produced memory of anomalous experiences – Negative: They have investigated psychological mechanisms of false representations Both sides have supposed either existence or absence of original events

4. Discursive construction of anomalous experiences Robin Wooffitt (1992) analyzed how people describe their anomalous experiences as factual experiences He focused on the ways in which accounts are organized in order to warrant the speaker’s claim that the experiences actually happened and were not the product of misperception, wish fulfilment or psychological aberration

5. ‘I was just doing X…when Y’: ‘X then Y’ memory formulations X → routine or everyday activities Y → anomalous experiences – For example: ‘I was going through the doorway, I was just dammed against the doorpost’ Compatibility between normality of the speaker and abnormality of the experience

6. 1.Res: And ˙hh um having put a bag out at the entrance 2. for nursery school (.) When I went to get it- 3. it was night time and the lights were off in my room 4. and the entrance hall ˙hh hh (0.2) and as I went to get it 5. I just sort of glanced quickly into my room 6. sort of ˙h (0.2) five - (.) there were about five people 7. >but< rather than people.hh white dotted lines in the form of 8. human beings (.) turning around and around 9. in a circle.h >and sort of< like in a game 10. young children play  ka:::gome  ka:::gome 11. [like that game with one person sat in the middle= 12.Int: [hmmmm 13.Res: =like this ˙hh And theer were about five people were turning round 14. and round, round in a circle Excerpt #1: Apparition

7. 1.Res:though it wasn't particularly high 2. at that moment I woke up because of it (0.2) ˙hh hh 3. and I said to myself oh now my body just floated 4. at this first time I woke up 5. And the second time was err ˙hh when I left the door of my room 6. open (.) h when I was sleeping in the corridor by my room ˙hh 7. the same thing happened then like this bong bong 8. [happened 9.Int: [hmm hmm 10.Res: And when I suddenly woke up- I have a brother 11. as my brother was just going to ˙hh (.) his room 12. it happened to me ˙h he froze suddenly looking at me Excerpt #2a: Levitation

8. Organization of ‘factual discourse’: Representational approach to remembering Discourse analysis, Conversation analysis Discursive devices for representing speaker’s anomalous experiences with assuring his/her normality – ‘X then Y’ formulation – Direct reported speech (using voices) – Trouble management of conversation

9. Focus on instability of remembering Instable descriptions of anomalous experiences Not convergent to fixed original events A speaker is trying to orient to anomalous past experiences

10. 1.Res: And ˙hh um having put a bag out at the entrance 2. for nursery school (.) When I went to get it- 3. it was night time and the lights were off in my room 4. and the entrance hall ˙hh hh (0.2) and as I went to get it 5. I just sort of glanced quickly into my room 6. sort of ˙h (0.2) five - (.) there were about five people 7. >but< rather than people.hh white dotted lines in the form of 8. human beings (.) turning around and around 9. in a circle.h >and sort of< like in a game 10. young children play  ka:::gome  ka:::gome 11. [like that game with one person sat in the middle= 12.Int: [hmmmm 13.Res: =like this ˙hh And theer were about five people were turning round 14. and round, round in a circle Excerpt #1: Apparition

11. 1. Res: And when I suddenly woke up- I have a brother 2. as my brother was just going to ˙hh (.) his room 3. it happened to me ˙h he froze suddenly looking at me 4.Int: hmmmm 5.Res: And I'd just woken up erm ˙hh oh:: now 6. my body floated again and when I asked him eh::: 7. did you see that? ˙hhh 8. he replied like  well (.)  yeah. and that was it. 9. but that second time I was ˙hh seen by him while my body was 10. [floating and falling [bong 11.Int: [umm [hmm 12.Res: Eh:: he also ˙hh looked amazed but as I was asleep 13.Int: Yeah 14.Res: however I didn’t know how high or how long my body floated was 15. floating ˙hh it was enough to surprise him (.) probably hh ˙hh 16.Int: hmm hmm 17.Res: e::r (.) I was sort of shocked out of sleep 18. it was not like bong it was °like° > BONG. BONG.< 19.Int: Ah you didn’t (sleep) as usual [but 20.Res: [but like >  BONG (.3)  BONG< 21. and the same thing happened twice in the second time it was observed 22. by him by cha-he saw it by chance and was 23.Int: umum Excerpt #2b: Levitation

12. R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Locus of remembering We can observe a locus of remembering, even if objects of remembering are anomalous experiences

13. From remembering to expecting Talking about anomalous experiences – Difficulties of representing them Talking about person’s future – We cannot make an accurate of his/her future However, a fortune-teller can tell his/her client’s fortune

14. Traditional psychology of one’s future Internal representation of future Internal cognitive process – A study of goals – A study of planning – A study of future time perspective

15. Discursive approach to fortune-telling Social interaction between a fortune-teller and his/her client Sequential organization of fortune-teller=client interaction – Even if a client talks about his/her own future, the fortune-teller (palmist) attributes his/hers to the lines on his/her palm in the end – Relationship between the fortune-teller and his/her client is similar to the one between a doctor and his/her patient – The fortune-teller manages both probability and uncertainty of his/her client’s future

16. Focus on instability of fortune-telling Their talk does not often come to a fixed conclusion or future – Various possibilities are presented in their talk – Topics are briefly changed in their talk Interaction with a fortune-teller carves out his/her client’s future

17. E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 Locus of expecting We can observe a locus of expecting, even if we don’t know real future of the client

18. Fortune-telling as a talk for exploring the future We cannot have complete representations of future Making a good guess is not necessarily all of fortune-telling activities Fortune-telling activities encourage a client to start exploring his/her future further

19. Thank you yohashi @soc.shukutoku.ac.jp