The Psychology of Ghosts and Hauntings Professor Chris

The Psychology of Ghosts and Hauntings Professor Chris French Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit Goldsmiths, University of London Twitter: @chriscfrench www. goldsmiths. ac. uk/apru

Plan of Presentation • • • Introduction Hoaxes Sincere misinterpretations Seeing things that are not there Not seeing things that are there The fallibility of memory Electromagnetic fields and infrasound Objective evidence? The media

Opinion Poll Data n Gallup poll of US adults (2005) – 37% believe in haunted houses – 32% believe in ghosts n MORI poll of UK adults (1998) – 40% believe in ghosts – Of these, 37% claim to have personally experienced a ghost

Are ghosts spirits? n Reasons for doubt – Based upon anecdotal evidence – Details of ghostly encounters vary from culture to culture

Deliberate Hoaxes • Poltergeists – “Noisy spirits”? – RSPK? – Hoaxes? • The Fox Sisters • The Amityville Horror

Sincere misinterpretation • Some initial event triggers the belief that a house is haunted – Sleep paralysis – “Inexplicable” movement of objects • Mundane occurrences then interpreted as further evidence

Obscure Non-Paranormal Causes of “Hauntings” • Tandy & Lawrence (1998) – – – water hammer in pipes and radiators (noises) electrical faults (fires, phone calls, video problems) structural faults (draughts, cold spots, damp spots, noises) seismic activity (object movement/destruction, noises) exotic organic phenomena (rats scratching, beetles ticking)

Context n Lange & Houran (1997) asked two groups of participants to walk around a disused cinema and to note whether they experienced any cognitive, physiological, emotional, psychic, and spiritual responses. n One group told site about to be renovated n Other group told paranormal activity had been reported there n Latter group reported more anomalous sensations than former

Belief in Ghosts • Wiseman et al. (2002) collected data from 678 participants walking around Hampton Court Palace • Those who believed in ghosts reported more unusual experiences and were more likely to attribute these experiences to ghostly intervention.

On seeing things that are not there • Hallucinations – much more common in the non-clinical population than generally realised • Pareidolia

The Sleep Paralysis Project • Link to “Devil in the Room” film by Carla Mac. Kinnon: • http: //www. thesleepparalysisproject. org/thefilm/

Top-Down Processing • According to cognitive psychology, our interactions with the world around us are based upon an internal model of that world and our current position in it.

Pareidolia • “a type of illusion or misperception involving a vague or obscure stimulus being perceived as something clear and distinct. ” (Robert Todd Carroll, Skeptic’s Dictionary, 2003; visit skepdic. com)

Lion cub cloud

Flying Saucer Cloud

Jesus Cloud

Marlon Brando Cloud

Nun or Bun? The Immaculate Confection

The Father, the Son … and the Holy Toast!

“Would you want to share a scrotum with that? ”

‘Gorillas in our midst’ Simons & Chabris (1999)

IB task n Developed by Anne Richards (based upon a task used by Most et al. , 2001) n Participants instructed to ignore the four black letters, and to count (in their head) every time one of the four white letters 'hit' the frame of the display. n Red cross appears moving from left to right across the centre of the display

Richards, Hellgren, & French (2014) n Experiment 1: IBs scored significantly higher than NIBs on – Absorption – Paranormal belief/experience n Experiment 2: IBs scored significantly higher than NIBs on – Absorption – Paranormal belief/experience – But lower on working memory capacity

Eyewitness Testimony n Eyewitness testimony for actual or staged crimes is often extremely unreliable n Even memory for simple everyday stimuli can be surprisingly unreliable

How is the 4 represented? French & Richards (1993)

Memory for Anomalous Events • Eyewitness accounts of ostensibly paranormal phenomena such as those that occur at séances are very inaccurate (Wiseman, Greening, & Smith, 2003) • Believers in the paranormal appear to be more susceptible to suggestion in this context

Victorian Séances

Levitation of Objects

Materialisation

Memory for Anomalous Events • Wiseman & Morris (1995) presented results relating to the accuracy of eyewitness reports of conjuring tricks, such as metal bending • Believers in the paranormal tended to rate such demonstrations as being more likely to involve genuine paranormal forces and to be less accurate in remembering important details of the demonstration

Memory Conformity (Wilson & French, 2014) n The phenomenon whereby the testimony of one eyewitness directly influences the testimony provided by a second eyewitness n Replicated Wiseman & Greening’s (2005) “It’s still bending” n Believers more susceptible n Added memory conformity element

Memory for Anomalous Events and Experiences n French, C. C. (2003). Fantastic memories: The relevance of research into eyewitness testimony and false memories for reports of anomalous experiences. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 10, 153 -174. n Variables that correlate with susceptibility to false memories (e. g. , dissociativity, fantasy proneness, absorption, hypnotic susceptibility) also correlate with paranormal belief and tendency to report paranormal experiences

False Memories for News Coverage n Wilson & French (2006) gave 100 participants a “News Coverage Questionnare” n Four items relate to actual news footage, one relates to non-existent footage (i. e. , CCTV footage of first Bali bombing) n 36% “remember” Bali footage n These individuals score higher on measures of paranormal belief and experience n Effect has been replicated

Complex Electromagnetic Fields and the Temporal Lobes • Michael Persinger (e. g. , 1990) believes that many ostensibly paranormal experiences reflect unusual activity in the temporal lobes • Temporal lobe epilepsy is associated with odd sensations, déjà vu, hallucinations, out-ofbody experiences.

Inconsistent Evidence • Persinger claims he can artificially induce similar firing patterns in the temporal lobes leading to reports of unusual sensations (e. g. , Blackmore, 1994) and even the subjective appearance of apparitions (Persinger, Tiller, & Koren, 2000). • But Granqvist et al. (2005) failed to replicate such effects and claimed that Persinger’s results were best explained in terms of suggestibility of participants and poor double-blind procedures (Persinger rejected this)

Naturally Occurring Complex EMFs • There is evidence to suggest that reputedly “haunted” locations are associated with unusual patterns of electromagnetic activity (see French, Haque, Bunton-Stasyshyn, & Davis, Cortex, 2009) but results inconsistent

Infrasound • Too low for human hearing • 18. 9 Hz standing wave reported in “haunted” factory (Tandy & Lawrence, 1998) • 19 Hz infrasound present in “haunted” cellar in Coventry

The “Haunt” Project • 79 volunteers exposed to unusual EMFs, infrasound, both or neither for 50 mins • Unusual sensations and experiences recorded • Many participants reported unusual sensations (e. g. , sense of presence, terror, etc) but… • … unrelated to condition! • Was related to score on TLS scale – which correlates with suggestibility

Objective Evidence? • The Ghost Watcher’s Kit – EMF meters – Infrared cameras – Camcorders – Digital cameras – Thermometers – EVP recorders – Motion detectors…

Spirit Photographs

Electronic Voice Phenomenon • It is claimed (e. g. , Raudive, 1971) that by leaving a tape-recorder in record mode or by recording from a radio set between stations, messages from the spirit realm can be recorded • Interpretation of the vague sounds recorded is often entirely subjective (Smith, 1972; Ellis, 1975)

Examples of EVP (1) • “The coward” • “We’re sorry” • “Get out, get out of my house”

Examples of EVP (2) • “Come and find the cake” • Supposed to say “Someone’s in the way”!

Other evidence for life-after-death? • Mediumship – Physical – Mental • • Reincarnation Ouija boards Dowsing NDEs

Thank you for listening! • @chriscfrench • www. goldsmiths. ac. uk/apru • C C French & A Stone (2014) Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and Experience. Palgrave. • N Holt, C Simmonds-Moore, D Luke & C C French (2012) Anomalistic Psychology. Palgrave. • W Grossman & C C French (eds. ) (2011) Why Statues Weep: The Best of the Skeptic. Philosophy Press