Citation

A common procedure to encourage self-claimed psychics is to use iconic representations (photographs) as inductors. The aim of this study was to compare 2 conditions – “mental” and “motor” – using images of the faces of persons as targets. Specifically, we wanted to determine if the scores were different based on 2 kinds of stimulus (diseased and healthy). Participants were clustered as psychics and nonpsychics. The sample consisted of 224 participants, recruited through an e-mail list, and their ages ranged from 18 to 75 (M = 44.19 years old). Eight photographs included 4 of subjects “sick” with a medically diagnosed disease and 4 of healthy persons (the “controls”). All of the images of sick persons were taken from 6 months to 2 years before the diseases were discovered. The results of the 2 procedures were significantly above chance: the mean “mental” score = 2.32 (p < .001, 1-tailed), and the mean “motor” score = 2.15 (p = .016, 1-tailed). A second analysis was carried out to determine if the mental and motor procedures led to different scores; indeed, mental scored significantly higher than motor (the mean “mental” score = 2.32 vs. the mean “motor” score = 2.15 (p < .001).