We report, in 40 healthy right-handed men, an association between perceived sensitivity to weak electromagnetic fields and scores on the Magical Ideation scale, assessing experience of and beliefs in forms of causation that are nonexistent according to current scientific standards (r = .48, p=.002). Based on our previous research, we interpret this finding as reflecting human subjects' propensity to assume connections between own organismic state and (objectively unrelated) environmental variables. We emphasize, however, the need for studies which directly assess accuracy in detection of electromagnetic fields as a function of self-rated electrosensitivity.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BruggerP.DowdyM. A.GravesR. E. (1994) From superstitious behavior to delusional thinking: The role of the hippocampus in misattributions of causality. Medical Hypotheses, 43, 397–402.
2.
BruggerP.GravesR. E. (1997) Testing vs. believing hypotheses: Magical ideation in the judgment of contingencies. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 2, 251–272.
3.
EckbladM.ChapmanL. J. (1983) Magical ideation as an indicator of schizotypy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51, 215–225.
4.
FosterK. R.BernstenD. E.HuberP. W. (1993) Phantom risk: Scientific inference and the law. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
PersingerM. A. (1999) Increased emergence of alpha activity over the left but not the right temporal lobe within a dark acoustic chamber: Differential response of the left but not the right hemisphere to transcerebral magnetic fields. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 34, 163–169.
7.
PillaA. A.MarkovM. S. (1994) Bioeffects of weak electromagnetic fields. Reviews on Environmental Health, 10, 155–169.
8.
StixG. (1998) Closing the book: Are power-line fields a dead issue?Scientific American, 279, 19–20.
9.
StöckeniusS. (1999) Self-recognition: A neuropsychological perspective. Unpublished diploma thesis, Univer. of Zurich, Institute of Zoology.
