| Title |
The cold reading technique
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, April 1988
|
| DOI | 10.1007/bf01961271 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
D. L. Dutton |
| Abstract |
For many people, belief in the paranormal derives from personal experience of face-to-face interviews with astrologers, palm readers, aura and Tarot readers, and spirit mediums. These encounters typically involve cold reading, a process in which a reader makes calculated guesses about a client's background and problems and, depending on the reaction, elaborates a reading which seems to the client so uniquely appropriate that it carries with it the illusion of having been produced by paranormal means. The cold reading process is shown to depend initially on the Barnum effect, the tendency for people to embrace generalized personality descriptions as idiosyncratically their own. Psychological research into the Barnum effect is critically reviewed, and uses of the effect by a professional magician are described. This is followed by detailed analysis of the cold reading performances of a spirit medium. Future research should investigate the degree to which cold readers may have convinced themselves that they actually possess psychic or paranormal abilities. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profile of 1 X user who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 32 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Taiwan | 1 | 3% |
| Unknown | 31 | 97% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 5 | 16% |
| Researcher | 4 | 13% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 4 | 13% |
| Student > Bachelor | 4 | 13% |
| Lecturer | 2 | 6% |
| Other | 7 | 22% |
| Unknown | 6 | 19% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 10 | 31% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 4 | 13% |
| Social Sciences | 3 | 9% |
| Immunology and Microbiology | 2 | 6% |
| Neuroscience | 2 | 6% |
| Other | 5 | 16% |
| Unknown | 6 | 19% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 37. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 07 June 2023.
All research outputs
#1,091,965
of 25,374,917 outputs
Outputs from Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences
#96
of 5,877 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#111
of 12,483 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences
#1
of 16 outputs
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So far Altmetric has tracked 5,877 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.8. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 16 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 93% of its contemporaries.