Wiseman Richard, Greening Emma
Psychology Department, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Herts., UK.
Br J Psychol. 2005 Feb;96(Pt 1):115-27. doi: 10.1348/000712604X15428.
Some alleged psychics appear to be able to deform metallic objects, such as keys and cutlery, by thought alone. This paper describes two studies that examined whether one aspect of these demonstrations could be created by verbal suggestion. In the first study, participants were shown a videotape in which a fake psychic placed a bent key on a table. Participants in one condition heard the fake psychic suggest that the key was continuing to bend, whilst those in the other condition did not. Participants in the suggestion condition were significantly more likely to report that the key continued to bend. These findings were replicated in the second study. In addition, participants who reported that the key continued to bend displayed a significantly higher level of confidence in their testimony than others, and were significantly less likely to recall that the fake psychic had suggested the continued bending of the key. Neither experiment revealed any differences between participants who expressed a prior belief in the paranormal compared with those who did not. The paper discusses the implications of these results for the psychology of suggestion and the assessment of eyewitness testimony for anomalous events.
一些所谓的灵媒似乎仅靠意念就能使金属物体变形，比如钥匙和餐具。本文描述了两项研究，探究这些展示中的一个方面是否可以通过言语暗示来实现。在第一项研究中，向参与者展示一盘录像带，录像中一个假灵媒把一把弯曲的钥匙放在桌子上。其中一组参与者听到假灵媒暗示钥匙还在继续弯曲，而另一组则没有听到。听到暗示的参与者更有可能报告说钥匙在继续弯曲。这些结果在第二项研究中得到了重复。此外，报告钥匙在继续弯曲的参与者对自己证词的信心明显高于其他人，并且明显不太可能回忆起假灵媒曾暗示过钥匙继续弯曲。与没有超自然现象先验信念的参与者相比，两项实验均未发现有此类信念的参与者之间存在任何差异。本文讨论了这些结果对暗示心理学以及对异常事件目击证人证词评估的意义。
