Thursday:ESP Myth Monday:Review Notebook Preparation Sheet Papers Returned Wednesday:Test – Myths 1 – 3/Mythbusting/Love Notebook DUE Personality Quizzes DUE Missing/Late Work and Notes DUE

Myth #3: Extrasensory Perception (ESP) is a Well-Established Scientific Phenomenon

What is ESP?  ‘PSI’ phemonena, or “paranormal”  3 varieties: #1: Telepathy (communication mind-mind) #2: Clairvoyance (gain info without senses) #3: Precognition (future events) *Psychokinesis (levitating a table)

Why Do People Believe In ESP?  3 in 4 Americans believe in ESP phenomena

Why believe? Reason 1 – Easily persuaded by vivid anecdotes and experiences.  Mythbusting Toolkit #3 – We forget the “misses” and remember the “hits”  Confirmation Bias  Overconfidence Theresa Caputo, the Long Island Medium medium

Why Do People Believe In ESP? Reason 2 - We are unaware of factors that influence our thought processes

David Copperfield  DpzyIQ ard_trick5.htm DpzyIQ ard_trick5.htm  Change Blindness  Derron Brown, person swap  Whodunnit?

Why Do People Believe In ESP? Reason 3 - We fail to recognize chance occurrences for what they are King James version of the Bible was completed when Shakespeare was 46 years old. In Psalms 46, the 46 th work is “shake” and the 46 th word from the end is “spear.” WOW….really?

Why Do People Believe In ESP? Reason 4 - We want to! Belief Perseverance – We continue to believe in something even after it has been discredited

Putting ESP to the Test

Your Turn – Test Your Group the Way the Experts Do!

What Are the Odds?  15 correct = 25% (same odds as guessing)  10 – 20 is average  Anything more than 25 correct considered “above chance” occurrence.  Anyone telepathic?  Replication?

How Do Psychologists Ask & Answer Questions? Psychologists, like all scientists, use the scientific method to construct theories that organize, summarize and simplify observations.

Theory A theory is an explanation that integrates principles and organizes and predicts behavior or events. For example, low self-esteem contributes to depression. OR People with telepathy can communicate mind-to- mind.

Hypothesis A hypothesis is a testable prediction, often prompted by a theory, to enable us to accept, reject or revise the theory. People with low self-esteem are apt to feel more depressed. OR People with telepathy can “see” the suit of a card that another person is looking at.

Research Observations Research would require us to administer tests of self-esteem and depression. Individuals who score low on a self-esteem test and high on a depression test would provide EVIDENCE for our hypothesis. OR People who get more than 30% correct in a card suit reading REPEATEDLY are EVIDENCE of our hypothesis.

Putting ESP to the Test What parapsychology needs is REPRODUCIBLE phenomena AND a THEORY to explain it. How can we TEST ESP? An experiment differs from a staged demonstration. In the lab, an experimenter CONTROLS what the “psychic” sees & hears. On stage it is the “psychic” in control.

How to test ESP  Zener test  20% correct  Ganzfield test

Putting ESP to the Test  Scientific American Frontiers “Water, water, everywhere”  The experiment

Testing ESP claims Researching paranormal claims since 1957 “Parapsychology will achieve scientific acceptability only when it provides a positive theory with…independently replicable evidence. This is something it has yet to achieve after more than a century.”  Ray Hyman (2010)

Psychologist Daryl Bem  9 experiments, seemed to show precognition (2011) When an erotic scene was about to appear on screen in 1 of 2 randomly selected positions, Cornell U participants guessed right 53.1% of the time (barely beat 50%). Replication begins!