Massullo Brandon Jon, Houran James, Escolá Gascón Alex, O'Keeffe Ciarán, Drinkwater Kenneth Graham, Dagnall Neil
Wooster Community Hospital, Wooster, OH, United States.
Integrated Knowledge Systems, Dallas, TX, United States.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jul 1;16:1585437. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1585437. eCollection 2025.
'Apparitions, hauntings, and poltergeists' are universally reported phenomena with significant psychological and social implications. Despite their prevalence, the scientific study of these anomalous experiences remains fragmented, and misinformation is widespread. To address this gap, a resource titled "Fact Sheet: Ghostly Episodes at a Glance" was developed to provide an evidence-based summary for educational and clinical use.
This preliminary study evaluated the Fact Sheet's content validity through an AI-based verification procedure. Additionally, we assessed its accessibility, utility, and global favorability among four groups: lay percipients, lay non-percipients (information-seekers), clinical practitioners, and amateur paranormal investigators (information-providers).
The Fact Sheet demonstrated strong content validity, accessibility, usefulness, and favorability across all groups. However, participants suggested refinements to enhance readability and contextual depth. Statistical analysis revealed small but significant differences in global favorability scores, with information-providers more strongly endorsing the resource than information-seekers.
These findings underscore the importance of scientifically-grounded, accessible resources in educating diverse audiences about anomalous experiences. The study highlights the value of data-driven public education in this domain and offers specific recommendations for improving future iterations of the Fact Sheet to boost engagement and comprehension in both educational and clinical settings.
“幽灵、闹鬼和吵闹鬼现象”是普遍报道的现象，具有重大的心理和社会影响。尽管这些现象很普遍，但对这些异常经历的科学研究仍然零散，错误信息广泛传播。为了填补这一空白，开发了一份名为《情况说明书：幽灵事件概览》的资料，以提供基于证据的总结，供教育和临床使用。
这项初步研究通过基于人工智能的验证程序评估了该情况说明书的内容效度。此外，我们评估了它在四类人群中的可及性、实用性和整体受欢迎程度，这四类人群分别是有超自然体验者、无超自然体验者（信息寻求者）、临床从业者和业余超自然现象调查者（信息提供者）。
该情况说明书在所有群体中都表现出很强的内容效度、可及性、实用性和受欢迎程度。然而，参与者建议进行改进，以提高可读性和背景深度。统计分析显示，整体受欢迎程度得分存在微小但显著的差异，信息提供者比信息寻求者更强烈地认可这份资料。
这些发现强调了以科学为基础、易于获取的资源在向不同受众普及异常经历方面的重要性。该研究突出了这一领域数据驱动的公共教育的价值，并为改进该情况说明书的未来版本提供了具体建议，以提高教育和临床环境中的参与度和理解度。
