The Assessment of Psychic Claimants

This thesis aims to construct, evaluate, and apply a cognitive proto-model which accounts for the trickery involved in the fabrication ofjust one type of psychic ability, namely; macro-PK. This cognitive proto-model describes how an observer analyses a demonstration of ostensible macro-PK. The model accounts for how an observer: construes such phenomena as either a magic trick or a display of genuine psychic ability, develops counter-explanations which account for how the phenomena may be fabricated, enforces measures designed to counter such trickery, and assesses the outcome of the demonstration. The proto-model is then used to categorise the stratagems employed by magicians, and pseudo-psychics, to fabricate macro-PK. The thesis discusses how an observer may be deceived into: misconstruing a magic trick as genuine macro-PK, developing incorrect counter-explanations, employing ineffective safeguards against trickery, and incorrectly assessing the outcome of the demonstration. One small part of the model is then experimentally tested via one pilot study and two formal experiments, all concerned with the effect that observers' belief in psi has on the observation, and recall, of pseudo-psychic demonstrations. The proto-model is then used to produce recommendations for researchers wishing to investigate individuals claiming macro-PK ability. These recommendations are designed to help researchers: maximise the development of their counter-explanations, construct effective counter-deception measures, and accurately assess and report the outcome of a study. Two case studies are presented to explore the application of this model and its recommendations. First, they are employed to help assess a present day psychic claim made by the Society for Research in Rapport and Telekinesis (SORRAT). This group claimed that 'spirit entities' were able to divine the order of a sealed deck of ESP cards. The thesis outlines the design, and running, of the investigation, emphasising the controls that were employed to counter potential subject cheating. Second, the thesis describes how the recommendations were used to reassess the 'Feilding Report', a well-respected publication describing in detail an investigation into Eusapia Palladino (a well known Italian medium operating around the turn of this century). This reassessment revealed that Palladino may have used an accomplice during investigation, as the controls described by the investigators would not have prevented such trickery. Finally, the thesis discusses the implication of the above work for parapsychology, and the directions which future research in this area might take.