Title |
Magic and memory: using conjuring to explore the effects of suggestion, social influence, and paranormal belief on eyewitness testimony for an ostensibly paranormal event
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Published in |
Frontiers in Psychology, November 2014
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DOI | 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01289 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Krissy Wilson, Christopher C French |
Abstract |
This study uses conjuring to investigate the effects of suggestion, social influence, and paranormal belief upon the accuracy of eyewitness testimony for an ostensibly paranormal event. Participants watched a video of an alleged psychic seemingly bending a metal key by the power of psychokinesis. Half the participants heard the fake psychic suggest that the key continued to bend after it had been put down on a table and half did not. Additionally, participants were exposed to either a negative social influence (a stooge co-witness reporting that the key did not continue to bend), no social influence, or a positive social influence (a stooge co-witness reporting that the key did continue to bend). Participants who were exposed to the verbal suggestion were significantly more likely to report that the key continued to bend. Additionally, more participants reported that the key continued to bend in the positive social influence condition compared to the other two social influence conditions. Finally, believers in the paranormal were more likely to report that the key continued to bend than non-believers. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 5 | 31% |
United States | 3 | 19% |
Finland | 1 | 6% |
Switzerland | 1 | 6% |
Unknown | 6 | 38% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 8 | 50% |
Scientists | 4 | 25% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 3 | 19% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 6% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 1 | 2% |
France | 1 | 2% |
Unknown | 55 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Bachelor | 17 | 30% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 9 | 16% |
Researcher | 6 | 11% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 4 | 7% |
Lecturer | 3 | 5% |
Other | 11 | 19% |
Unknown | 7 | 12% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 35 | 61% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 3 | 5% |
Social Sciences | 3 | 5% |
Computer Science | 2 | 4% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 2 | 4% |
Other | 5 | 9% |
Unknown | 7 | 12% |