Psychics Fail to Show their Abilities under Laboratory Conditions

Rebecca Lewis November 05, 2012

Are there individuals who can really read other people’s minds? In an attempt to answer this question, researchers from the Goldsmiths, University of London conducted a study which involved performing “blind readings”. However, the two mediums who participated in the trial failed to demonstrate their psychic abilities.

They didn’t see it coming

For the study, the psychic readers had to perform readings on 5 individual volunteers (these people were asked to think about thoughts that will best describe them). No oral or visual communication was allowed between the volunteer and the psychic reader, whilst during each session the volunteer has to stay seated in a chair behind a curtain. The team invited many well-known British Psychics to take part in the test but only two of them participated. They were Patricia Putt and Kim Whitton.

Prior to the reading, Putt and Whitton were asked to rate their level of confidence in obtaining accurate results, based on the scale of 1 to 7. Putt’s level of confidence averaged 5.8 while Whitton’s was 5.2.

The goal of the psychic readers was to “capture” the thoughts of the volunteers. They were asked to write down what they believed those thoughts were. After all the readings have been performed, the volunteers were invited back to try to identify which among the written commentaries were based on the reading of their thoughts. The experiment was designed by Chris French, leader of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths.

Out of 10 readings performed, only one was identified by the volunteer as having matched their thoughts – a rate that the researchers described as a failure because of it being as good as random chance.

According to the researchers, the results of the test failed to show any psychic abilities as a single correct match of reading with the volunteers. French explained that the test did not prove that some people have the ability to read minds, or such abilities are non-existent. Their study shows that at least some of those who claimed they have psychic abilities are fooling not just themselves, but also the people who pay them for their readings.

What the psychics had to say

Both Whitton and Putt expressed sadness of having failed the test. However, they suggest that having no chance to see the volunteers while performing readings might have prevented them from getting accurate results, despite the high level of confidence they had.

“Working blind is extremely daunting for the medium”, Putt said on her interview with the BBC. In her practise, she performs readings with the client face-to-face. "Scientists are very closed-minded," she added. She argued that the experiment was to prove the scientists’ preconceptions about psychic reading.

Whitton, on the other hand, felt that the test was fair but too difficult to do under the circumstances. She said she had spoken with some of the volunteers after the test and found that there were pieces of information that they could relate to, such as the countries from where they were raised. And for Whitton, this could not just be a “chance” as what the study suggests.

Sources of this article:

Psychics fail ’Halloween Challenge’ at Goldsmiths

Psychic pair fail scientific test, BBC News