Anomalistic Psychology
Extrasensory Perception, psychokinesis,
haunted houses.
YouTube - Only Fools And Horses
Sickness And Wealth Part 3
AO1: Pseudoscience Pseudoscience: It has been argued that parapsychology is
a pseudoscience. That is it does not follow as rigorous research methods as some of the other psychologists.
AO1: Pseudoscience Lacks Falsifiability: Paranormal psychologists claim the
phenomenon does not happen around sceptics therefore when people try and disprove the existence of unusual activity paranormal psychologist say just because it didn’t happen this time does not mean it doesn’t exist
Absence of self-correction: Ignoring empirical scientific evidence against their beliefs
Burden of proof: Lies with the sceptics. Just because someone doesn’t see it doesn’t mean it does not exist.
AO1: PseudoscienceReliance on anecdotal evidence: Individual case studies.
Lack of peer review: Pseudoscience avoids, when it can, peer reviews.
Lack of controlled replicable research:Studies conducted by non-believersHave not been able to replicateParapsychologist’s work.
Richard Wiseman Interview -PsychExchange.co.uk - Resources, -Ideas, Inspiration - Free Psychology -Teaching Resources & Videos
AO1: Theory Construct
Lacks explanation of theory:
Most scientific research looks
at the how and why of research;
paranormal psychology lacks an
explanation of how phenomenon
works.
Ability to change: In
Psychology if you have to accept
the Null Hypothesis you readapt your
theory in parapsychology there
has been no change over the centuries.
AO2: Accreditation
The American Association for the Advancement of Science allowed the Parapsychological Association to join as fully affiliated member giving parapsychology accreditation
AO2: Scientific Status It is difficult to evaluate a whole genre of a
philosophy on the terms of scientific content.
Therefore the Journal of Parapsychology and the Parapsychological Association were researched to see if they were
more of a pseudoscience.
Evaluation: In some cases
they were more of a science
than regular psychology
AO2: Respectable Research
Mousseau found that articles that were peer reviewed were better than mainstream science as they reported all results including negative results and not just positive results.
Although she also found; only 43% of research used empirical data and
24% used experimental methods which was a lot lower than mainstream research.
AO2: Three important issues
1: People change a lot of money for psychic activities
2: As a society we should
always question what
3: Finding creditable
research will help to improve
the value of parapsychology.
i.e acupuncture is now accredited
AQA Questions
1 (a) What are the main characteristics of pseudoscience?(5
marks) 1 (b) Evaluate the scientific status of parapsychology
(10 marks)
1 (c) Discuss issues of reliability and validity of research into
parapsychology. (4+6marks) 1 (d) Discuss issues of pseudoscience in the study of
anomalous experience. (5+10marks)
2 (a) A researcher wanted to test the ability of a known ‘psychic healer’. Ten volunteers suffering from chronic back pain were selected through newspaper adverts. The volunteers were all given a questionnaire which rated their belief in psychic healing and another questionnaire which rated their levels of pain. They were then randomly assigned to either a treatment group or a control group. Afterwards, all the volunteers filled in the pain questionnaire again. The researcher found that there was no significant effect on pain relief as a result of psychic healing. Answer the following questions, using your knowledge about research into psychic healing.
(i) The researcher wanted to know whether there was a correlation between belief
in psychic healing and improvement in pain ratings. What statistical test could the researcher use? Justify your answer. (2 marks)
(ii) Outline one ethical issue in this study and suggest how the researcher could
have
dealt with it. (3 marks)
3 Explain what is meant by pseudoscience. (5 marks)
Learning Objectives
Describe the Ganzfeld Technique for researching ESP
Construct criticism using the sheep-goat effect
Evaluate the methodology used in the Ganzfeld technique
Ganzfeld Studies of ESP
Do we as human possess any abilities beyond that of our
5 senses.
The Ganzfeld Method Parapsychologist use the Ganzfeld method to prove the existence
of ESP.
Two participants in two different
rooms. One has a picture the
other lies on a couch and talks
into a machine. Impartial judges
then analyse the tape and the
picture to see if there is any link
between the two.
Criticisms The Problems: The Results: there are as many anti as there are pro results
= Low reliability. Investigators who believed ask more question giving participants a greater chance of getting it correct.
Methodological problems: Security, poor soundproofing
statistical analysis: subjective therefore Investigator bias
Random presentation Of pictures to be communicated
Sheep-Goat effect: Schmeidler split participants into believers and non-believers, showing that non believers did a lot worse than believers.
Sargent (1979): It has been argued that Sargent made errors in his methodology. He is unwilling to show his data to his critics and therefore his results have been discredited.
Psychokinesis:
Macro PK- large items are bent/levitatedWorks by moving an object from the outside
Micro PK- When the inside of an item is effected,
stronger methodology
Macro PK Most research looks at individual
case studies of people who demonstrate Psychokinesis however very few have been able to demonstrate their talents under controlled conditions
Uri Geller: Is generally well respected. However, Randi demanded he demonstrate his talents on a TV program and Uri was unable to perform.
uri geller - Google Videos
Micro PK The electronic coin flipper:
Schmidt (1969) discovered a good methodological way to gain positive results when influencing dice throws.
He created a random event generator (REG) and asked people to influence the flip of a coin so that more heads than tails were seen.
Meta Analysis Studies Nelson and Radin looked at 832 experiments by 68
investigators and found a small but significant effect.
Stevens asked participant to control the path of a laser beam through a computer and found support for the existence of PK.
Lack of Control
Well Controlled studies used at least two researchers, true randomisation of targets and independent recordings of targets.
Hansel found that positive results came from research that lacked control, and used small sample sizes
While research that had negative results applied high control over variables in the study and had lots of participants.
A02: Evaluation Parapsychologists complain the controls expected of
them are higher than those for main stream psychology.
Abelson claims that
extraordinary
phenomenon requires
extra evidence as it is
so far removed from
mainstream thought.
AQA questions 4: A class of psychology students plan to study
ESP. Outline methodological issues that they need to be aware of and suggest how they might deal with these (8 marks)
5: During a public demonstration of ‘psychic powers’, a psychologist witnessed what appeared to be the ability of one person to read the thoughts of another. Explain how the psychologist could use the Ganzfeld procedure to investigate this apparent ability. (6 marks)
AQA Questions
6: The ganzfeld is a technique used to investigate extra-sensory perception (ESP). Outline and critically evaluate findings from ganzfeld studies. (6 marks + 10 marks).
7: Discuss methodological issues in the study of psychokinesis. (4 marks + 6 marks)
8: Outline and evaluate the Ganzfeld technique as a way of investigating ESP. (4 marks + 4 marks)
Psychic Healing
Psychic Healing and Mediumship
Lesson Objective:
By the end of the lesson you will be able to:
Outline one piece of research supporting psychic mediumship.
Outline one piece of research criticising psychic mediumship.
Outline evaluation points for these research studies.
Back ground to Illness
1: There is always fluctuation in the healing process.
2: Our bodies heal on their own
3: The Placebo effect
Support for Psychic HealingWirth (1990) conducted a
controlled lab study on participant with wounds. Half got healing the other half were placebo. No one knew which group they were in.
The Miracle Study: Wirth also was involved in a field experiment. Women who were prayed for increased fertility over those that weren’t.
Research Against Psychic Healing
Lyvers (2006): looked at a Australian TV show were he discovered Healing made no significant impact in reducing pain. However he found a correlation between believers and pain reduction.
Rosa discovered that Healers were unable to feel the energy in their hands, when they were restricted from seeing where her hand was.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNoRxCRJ-Y0&feature=related
Evaluation for Healing Determinism: True science is carried out by
scientist not mediums, 1/ no connection with reputable institutions and 2/ no peer reviews.
Wirth’s work was scientific however he was unable to replicate his results. A colleague withdrew his support in the study. Wirth was convicted and sentenced to 5 years in prison for fraud and the author Cha was accused of plagiarism. (flamm 2005)
The Placebo affect: Success is due to a belief in psychic healing instead of an actual ability to heal.
Psychic Mediumship
Support for Psychic Mediumship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3zooEOxWdo The Psychic Twins Terry and Linda Jamison
The scole report (Keen et al 1999)Captured on film over 500 experiments showing flying object & voices.
Schwartz et al (2001) tested 5 mediums and found they made accurate statements 80% of the time.
Criticism of Psychic Mediumship
Wiseman (2003) Found even though people knew it was fake
they were still take in by mediumship
Wiseman and O’KEEFFE (2005)5 mediums gave reading for 5 sitters, Sitters found that reading for other people were more appropriate than the ones for themselves.
Evaluation Cold reading: A medium first makes
general statement and then used the sitters replies later in the reading to convince them of authenticity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xswt8B8-UTMDerren Brown Interview (1/6) - Richard Dawkins
Schwartz used students in his study and found because they did not have as many deaths in their lives the mediums questions were not relevant to them.
Hines (2003) believes that many mediums to make money will stalk their sitters to find evidence to show their powers of awareness.
AQA questions
9: Discuss what research into exceptional experience has shown us about psychic mediumship. (4 marks + 6 marks)
10: There has not been a question directly in psychic healing in past exams.
Out of Body Experiences
Out of Body Experiences
Out of body experiences and Near-death experiences. Lesson objective:
By the end of the lesson you will be able to; Outline two different types of OBEs & NDEs
Describe a physiological study of OBEs.
Describe psychological and paranormal explanations for OBEs & NDEs.
The Science of Out of Body Experiences YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.#v=B-mrL7fhWi0&feat
ure=related
Out of Body Experience
Natural occurring OBE Green (1968) Case studies Para somatic = see another body Asomatic: No sense of other body
Artifically induced OBE Alvarado (1982) conducted lab
research using relaxation and hypnosis
Participant had to say what was in the other room.
Evidence was week. YouTube - Virtual out-of-body ex
perience
Physiological studies
Early studies by Blakemore showed that during OBEs subjects were definitely awake and not dreaming.
Stimulation of the temporal-parietal junction using transcranial magnetic stimulation can create OBEs where as stimulation of other areas of the brain does not (Blanke 2005)
Evaluation
Case studies, very subjective.
No sceintific evidence
Reported by people who are already paranormal believers
People who have OBE also score high on the prone to fantasy scale and hypnotisability.
Ehrssen demonstrated that you can create the illusion of having an OBE
Natural Occuring NDEs 20% of heart attack patients
report having had NDEs (fox 2006)
Ring interviewed 100 people who has had NDEs
60% reported a sense of peace.
33% reported leaving their bodies. 25% reported entering
a tunnel
Nelson (2006) studied 55 NDEs and 55 controls. Of those who had NDEs, many experienced a sensation of falling and had REM intrusions – the brain is awake but has signs of dreaming.
Artificially induced states
Both Ketamine and hypoxia (lack of oxygen) cause NDE states.
They cause a flood of the neurotransmitter glutamate which causes neuronal death so the brain creates a protective blockage.
Neurological explanations
It is argued that endorphin released at the time of pain or stress cause euphoria and detachment
It has also been shown that although some areas of the brain have shut down the brain stem which stimulates REM sleep is activated
Evaluation
OBE Difficult to test natural occurring + low validity for artificially
induced Out Of Body Experience Video
Our sensery perception is effected and we compensate by using our memories of ourselves. We then project those images on our perception
NDE Paranormal state NDE
support the existence of an afterlife. This is a non scientific statement as it is non falsifyable.
Neuroscientific theory: They argue that “the dying brain hypothesis”
Activity:
Discuss the following questions in small groups then present your arguments back to the class.
1. Could OBEs and NDEs just be dreams while awake?
2. Is the research methodology used valid or reliable?
3. What adaptive function could NDEs have for the individual?
4. If we can induce NDEs does this dismiss the possibility of them being really psychic in nature?
5. Are NDEs and OBEs biological or psychological phenomena?
AQA questions
11: Outline and evaluate psychological research into belief in out-of-body experiences and/or near-death experiences. (4 marks + 6 marks)
12 Discuss what research into exceptional experience has shown us about out-of-body experience. (4 marks + 6 marks)
Personality Factors
Lesson Objectives
Identify the questions from the paranormal belief scale
Describe internal and external locus of control
Explain the link between at least two personality types and paranormal beliefs.
Personality Factors Neuroticism: look at life
negatively: People use fantasies to escape negative thoughts and distance oneself from negative reality. ( Eysenck)
Williams looked at 300 Welsh school children and found a positive correlation between neuroticism and paranormal beliefs
AO2
When looking at the paranormal belief scale a lot of the superstition questions are negative “Black cats bring bad luck”
It may be a correlation between negative occurences in the PBS.
Wiseman and Watt found a positive correlation between negative superstition and neuroticism but not positive superstition and neuroticism.
Personality Factors Extraversion: Has a need for extra
stimulation, and is also able to adapt to knew situations.
Honorton et al; did a meta analysis and found a strong positive correlation between the two variables.
Locus of control: Relationship between external locus of control and paranormal belief.
Schizotypy: Tendency to have hallucinations and disordered thinking. Link found by Irwin and Green (1999)
Personality Factors
Fantasy Proneness Fake Séance, believers
stated that a table was moving even when they knew the whole séance was fake, more likely to get carried away
Suggestibility: More easily deceived Hergovich found correlation between hypnotise and paranormal belief scale
Evaluation of Personality Neuoticism and schizotype:
Auton argues that is a mistake to portray
paranormal belief with abnormality.
Definition of schizophrenia is belief of
magic and superstitions. Also correlation
between self actualisation and paranormal
beliefs.
Locus of control: Evidence showing link between external
and believers. Low in reliability.
AQA questions
1 3: Harry had a dream last night about his aunt Susan. She emigrated to Canada years ago and he has not heard from her for three years. This morning, he received a letter from his aunt saying that she was going to visit. He thinks that he might have psychic powers.
1 4 Discuss how Harry’s anomalous experience can be explained by personality factors. (6 marks)
AQA questions
13 What has research shown about personality factors underlying anomalous experience? (5 marks)
Leon wore a green T-shirt when he sat a mock GCSE exam and got an
unexpectedly good result. Since then he has always worn the same T-shirt when he has had to sit an exam. This morning he is feeling distressed because he cannot find his T-shirt and he has an A-level psychology exam today. Abbie, Leon’s friend, cannot understand why he is so upset. She has worked hard and revised thoroughly and does not feel that she needs a T-shirt or anything else to get her through the exam.
14: Suggest how personality factors might explain why Abbie does not have anomalous beliefs. (5 marks)
Superstitious Behaviour and Magical thinking?
Superstition Superstitions are beliefs
that are not based on reason or knowledge. OCD http://animatedminds.com/the_films/over_and_over__and_over__again/
Behavioural – operant conditioning Skinner looked at pigeons who displayed strange behaviour before being fed.
Evolutionary- type one and type two errors.
Cognitive – Lack of control
Behavioural – operant conditioning Skinner looked at pigeons who displayed strange behaviour before being fed.
The pigeons
developed random
behaviour i.e. one
started repeatedly
turned anti-clockwise
as a ritual in the
that the behaviour would proceed food.
Evaluation for behaviourist
Staddon and Simmelhag Studied birds and found that ritualistic
behaviour happened before they were reinforced with food.
Matute found that participant developed a ritual behaviour in the hope they could stop a loud nose as a form of superstition. They assumed there was cause and effect when non existed
type one and type two errors
Type one error is when we think there is a link between events however the evidence is not strong enough = a superstition is created.
Magical Thinking
Evolutionary approach Paranormal believes seem to be innate as they are reported all
over the world in a wide variety of cultures.
Adaptive: Less
questions, reduced worry
over the meaning of life.
This then means more
time to focus on productive
life and maximising
reproductive ness.
Evaluation of Adaption
It is the believe that is adaptive
and not paranormal abilities.
If it was the abilities then those
with them would have reported
positive experiences.
These abilities would have been
selected and be more prevalent.
McClenon (2002) discovered that
students reported more negative
than positive experiences
Psychodynamic approach Defence Mechanism: Help us feel that we have some sort of
control over our anxieties
Sense of control: Watt et al (2007)
found a link between negative
childhood experiences and
paranormal beliefs.
Abuse and fantasy proneness:
Childhood trauma leads to
fantasies of escape = paranornal belief.
Evaluation of Psychodynamic
There is support for our need for control.
During the gulf war belief in superstition
rose as Iraqi missiles increased.
Wiseman and Watt argue that
paranormal beliefs are a positive way
of adapting to difficult situations.
Most people find childhood trauma
difficult to accept, those who
experience it might open the door
to other possibilities.
AQA questions
(iii) ‘It is interesting why, even today in the modern age of science and technology, some people still believe in psychic healing.’
Discuss factors underlying belief superstitious behaviour and magical thinking healing. (5 marks + 5 marks)
Coincidence and Probability Judgement
Coincidence
1: Think of three situations which appear
linked but which could just be coincidence.
2: Is there a link between those who make probability misjudgement and coincidence?
Probability misjudgement: Believers know less about the significance of probability.
ilIusion of causality: A Co-incident is when two things happen at the same time.
People who believe in the paranormal see more links even when they are not there.
Biological Evidence High levels of
Dopamine have been
found to correlate
with linking events
and believers in
paranormal activity.
When non believers were given the drug L-dopa (which increases dopamine) they say more faces/words, when there was nothing there.
General cognitive ability
Intelligence: It has
been argued that
Believers are less
intelligent than
non-believers.
Gray found that non
believers scored less on
a reasoning test than believers
Evaluation of Intelligence
General cognitive ability: It was found that intellectual people reading New Scientists were open to the phenomenon of ESP
Linking distantly related materials: Believers
are creative and this is not negative.
Probability misjudgement: Musch and Ehrenberg (2002) linked probability knowledge with intelligence. May not be a separate categories
AO2: An adaptive significance
Evolutionary theory: We see
a link between 2 thinks which
may help us survive. We
avoid accepting the Null
hypothesis
There is no correlation
between 2 things as a type
two error might be fatal.
i.e. Eating wild mushrooms will be linked with death.
Homework
“Even if paranormal phenomena
do not exist, paranormal
experiences do, as surveys have
shown a considerable number of
people report experiences which they interpret as paranormal “
Discuss the cognitive factors underlying paranormal beliefs (10 Marks)
1: State the point
2: Provide evidence for the claim.
3: Explain its significance
The Synoptic Toolkit
Debate Free will and Determinism:
People are either free to structure their behaviour or it is determined by external/internal forces. Deterministic people are not responsible for their behaviour. i.e biological
approaches
Reductionism: Complex phenomena are reduced to simple explanations. They miss out a lot of important information.
The Nature/Nurture debate: The result of genetics vs the result of experiences during life. There is however often a combination of
both
Issues Gender bias: Men and
women are very different and behaviour for one group might not be the same for the other
Culture Bias: Psychology more often that not represents the
culture of the west.
Ethical issues: Socially sensitive issues. Is it ethical to produce results that are undesirable from the point of view of one group of people.
Approaches The biological
approach: Looks at the physical body.
S = easy to test scientifically.
W= reduces complex behaviour to a simple function
The cognitive approach: Looks at our thought processes.
S = Easy to test scientifically. W = lacking social motivational and
emotional factors
The evolutionary approach: We have adapted behaviour to enhance survival.
S = it is able to explain behaviour that might not work for us today W = It fails to acknowledge cultural influences.
Approaches The behavioural
approach: All behaviour is learned
S = They provide clear predictions which are easy to test.
W = Does not
include the
higher
thought
processes,
emotions or expectations
The psychodynamic approach: Our behaviour is a combination of our drive/desire and our morals.
S = It incorporated the unconscious mind.
W = It is not
Truly scientific
As it is difficult to
Falsify.