Paranormality: Why we see what isn't there (5 page)

Now it is time for you to master the psychological techniques used by professional psychics for your own wicked purposes. Before you start, decide what ‘skill’ you are going to appear to possess. It is best to choose something that appeals to the person that you are trying to impress. So if, for example, you think they are open to the idea of palmistry say that you can tell a great deal about them from the lines on their hand. If they are into astrology, explain that you can determine their past and future from their date of birth. Or, if they are sceptical about all matters paranormal, ask them to draw a picture of a house and use this as the basis for a ‘psychological’ reading.
 

Next, practice using the following three techniques:

1. Flattery

Start by telling them what they want to hear. Look at their palm, date of birth or drawing of a house, and explain that it reflects a very well-balanced personality. Try your best to keep a straight face as you appear to dig deeper, explaining that they appear to be terribly caring, responsible, friendly, creative, and polite. Also, don’t forget to mention that they also seem to be highly intuitive, and so would be good at providing readings for others.

2. Double-headed statements

If you describe any trait and its exact opposite, people will only focus on the part of your description that makes sense to them. Work your way through the following five key personality dimensions using these double-headed sentences:

Openness:
‘At times you can be imaginative and creative, but are more than capable of being practical and down-to-earth when necessary.’
 

Conscientiousness:
‘You value a sense of routine in some aspects of your life, but at other times enjoy being spontaneous and unpredictable.’
 

Extroversion:
‘You can be outgoing when you want to, but sometimes enjoy nothing better than a night in with a good book.’

Agreeableness:
‘Your friends see you as trusting and friendly, but you do have a more competitive side that emerges from time to time.’
 

Neuroticism:
‘Although you feel emotionally insecure and stressed, in general you are fairly relaxed and laid-back.’ 

3. Keep it vague
 

Although it is fine to drop in the odd specific statement (‘Do you have a sister called Joanne, an irrational fear of porridge, and have you recently bought a yellow second-hand car. . . I thought not’), in general it is better to keep your comments vague. To help account for this vagueness, tell people that you sometimes struggle to understand the thoughts and images that cross your mind, and therefore they have to help you figure out what is going on.
 

In terms of actual statements, try, ‘I am getting the impression of a significant change, perhaps a journey of some sort or an upheaval in the workplace’, ‘You have recently received a gift of some sort – perhaps money or something that has sentimental value?’, ‘I have a feeling that you are worried about a member of your family or a close friend?’ Similarly, feel free to come out with abstract statements, such as ‘I can see a circle closing – does that make sense to you?’, ‘I can see a door shutting – no matter how hard you pull it won’t open’ or ‘I can see cleaning – are you trying to remove something or someone from your life?’
 

END BOX

Let’s resume our exploration of the principles of cold reading by going fishing.

4. Using the ‘F Words’

During everyday conversations most people try their best to communicate their thoughts and opinions. However, even if just one person is speaking and another person is listening, information is not only flowing from the speaker to the listener. Instead, the conversation will always be a two-way process, with the listener constantly providing feedback to the speaker. Perhaps they will let the speaker know that they understand, and perhaps agree with, what is being said by nodding, smiling or saying ‘yes’. Or maybe they will let the speaker know that they are confused, or don’t agree with a comment, by looking confused, shaking their head, or saying ‘you are a fool, please go away’. Either way, such feedback is vital to the success of our everyday conversations.
 

Psychics and mediums take this simple idea to the extreme. During a reading they will often make several comments, see which gets a reaction and elaborate on the selected option. Like a good politician or second-hand car salesman, they are not saying what is on their mind, but rather testing the water and then changing their message on the basis of the feedback they receive. This feedback can take many different forms. They may look at whether their client nods, smiles, leans forward in their seat, or suddenly become tense, and alter their comments accordingly (this is one of the reasons that palmists are keen to hold your hand during a reading). The technique is referred to as ‘fishing and forking’, and Mr D was a master practitioner.
 

People tend to consult psychics about a relatively small number of potential problems, such as their health, relationships, travel plans, career, or finances. As Mr D worked his way through the Tarot cards he mentioned each of the topics and surreptitiously observed Lisa’s reaction. She looked in good health and didn’t really respond when he mentioned her having a few aches and pains. Questions about her career didn’t produce much of a reaction. He then mentioned travelling but Lisa remained unmoved. Finally, he moved onto Lisa’s emotional life. The moment he mentioned companionship Lisa’s entire demeanour changed, and she suddenly looked very serious. Mr D immediately knew he was onto something and started to drill deeper. He looked at the lines on Lisa’s palm, remarked on an imaginary blip in the heart line, and said that he wasn’t certain whether it reflected a death in the family or a relationship that didn’t work out. Lisa was completely unresponsive when he mentioned the death, but nodded as soon as she heard about the broken relationship. Mr D secretly noted the response and moved on. About ten minutes later he picked up another Tarot card and confidently announced that it showed that she had recently broken up with her partner. Lisa was stunned.
 

BOX

ARE YOU A GOOD JUDGE OF CHARACTER?

In addition to using the techniques described in this chapter, some cold readers say that they often get an intuitive feeling about a client, and these hunches have an uncanny knack of being accurate. What could account for these strange sensations, and are you a good judge of character?
 

A few years ago, psychologists Anthony Little from the University of Stirling and David Perrett from the University of St Andrews carried out a fascinating study into the relationship between people’s faces and their personality
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The researchers had almost 200 people complete a personality questionnaire that measured each of the five dimensions described earlier in this chapter (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism). They then took photographs of those men and women who had the highest and lowest scores in each of the dimensions and used a computer program to blend each group of faces into a single ‘composite’ male and female image. They ended up with four separate composite images: one representing female low scorers, one representing female high scorers and vice versa for the male high and low scorers. The principle behind this technique is simple. Imagine having photographic portraits of two people. Both have bushy eyebrows and deep-set eyes, but one has a small nose while the other has a much larger nose. To create a composite of their two faces, researchers first scan both photographs into the computer, control for any differences in lighting, and then manipulate the images to ensure that key facial attributes – such as the corners of the mouth and eyes – are in roughly the same position. Next, one image is laid on top of the other, and an average of the two faces calculated. If both of the faces have bushy eyebrows and deep-set eyes, the resulting composite would also have these features. If one face has a small nose and the other has a large nose, the final image would have a medium sized nose.
 

The research team then presented these male and female composites to another group of 40 people and asked them to rate each of the faces on the different personality dimensions. Remarkably, their ratings were often highly accurate. For example, the composite image that had been made from the highly outgoing people was judged as especially extroverted, the composite created from the highly conscientiousness people was seen as particularly reliable, and so on. In short, your personality is, to some extent, written all over your face.
 

I have used the female composites created during this research to put together a quick and fun test to help discover whether you are a good judge of character
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To take part, simply answer the following five questions.
 

1. Which of these two composites looks the friendliest?

2. Which of these two composites looks the most reliable?

3. Which of these two composites looks the most outgoing?

4. Which of these two composites looks the most anxious?

5. Which of these two composites looks the most imaginative?