Investigating the fit and accuracy of alleged mediumistic writing: a case study of Chico Xavier's letters.

CONTEXT

The study of mediumship is important because if mediumistic abilities were real, they would provide empirical support for non-reductionist theories of the mind, thus having major implications to our understanding of the mind-brain relationship. This study investigated the alleged mediumship of Chico Xavier, a very prolific and influential "medium" in Brazil.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the accuracy of the information conveyed in Xavier's "psychographed" letters (i.e., letters allegedly authored by a deceased personality) and to explore the possible explanations for it.

METHOD

After a systematic search for Xavier's psychographed letters, we selected one set of 13 letters allegedly written by a same spiritual author (J.P.). The letters were initially screened for the identification of items of information that were objectively verifiable. The accuracy of the information conveyed by these items and the estimated likelihood of the Xavier's access to the information via ordinary means were rated using Fit and Leak scales based on documents and interviews carried out with the sister and friends of J.P.

RESULTS

We identified 99 items of verifiable information conveyed in these 13 letters; 98% of these items were rated as "Clear and Precise Fit" and no item was rated as "no Fit." We concluded that ordinary explanations for accuracy of the information (i.e., fraud, chance, information leakage, and cold reading) were only remotely plausible. These results seem to provide empirical support for non-reductionist theories of consciousness.