Misinformation Effects for Psychic Readings and Belief in the Paranormal

Abstract

Forty participants watched a video of an alleged psychic giving a reading to a client, followed by 1 of 2 versions of a post-reading interview with the client, describing her reaction to the reading. In fact, both the reading and the post-reading interviews were scripted. In one version of the interview, the client incorrectly recalled an item of information that the psychic had given her, and in the second version she correctly recalled what the psychic had said. Participants' level of belief in the paranormal and recall of the reading were assessed. It had been hypothesized that believers would be more susceptible to a misinformation effect in this context. In fact, the believers' recall of the reading was inaccurate even without exposure to misinformation. Non-believers remembered the reading quite accurately when not exposed to misinformation but their recall was as poor as that of the believers when exposed to misinformation.