Cold reading strategies.docx
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Coldreadingstrategies
Coldreadingstrategies
ChrisA.Roe
PsychologyDivision,
UniversityCollegeNorthampton
1.Introduction
Therecanbelittledoubtthattherelativelyhighlevelsofbeliefinparanormalphenomenaamongmembersofthegeneralpopulationaredueinparttoimpressiveexperienceswhichtheywereunable,afterconsideration,toaccountforintermsofmoremundaneprocesses(cf.Schmeidler,1985).Irwin(1985),forexample,reportspersonalexperiencetobetheprimaryfactorloadingonbelief,irrespectiveofthebreadthofthemeasure.OnepotentiallyimportantsourceofimpressiveexperiencesisthroughinteractionswithprofessionalpsychicssuchaspalmistsandTarotreaders(Schouten,1993),andanumberofscepticalcommentatorshaveclaimed(withoutcitingparticularempiricalevidence)thatclientsaretypicallyimpressedwiththecontentofreadingstheyhavesolicited(Dutton,1988;Frenchetal..1991;Hyman,1989).
Indeedtheredoesseemtobesomesupportfortheclaimthatpsychicreadingsarewell-regardedbyconsumers(e.g.Haraldsson,1985;Palmer,1979).Onerecentsurvey(Roe,1997)foundthatasurprisinglyhighproportion(29.5%)ofthesampledpopulationhadattendedareadingatsometime.Althoughsomeoftheseclientshadattendedonlyforentertainmentorothersocialreasons,theirreadingswereneverthelesstypicallyregardedasrelativelyaccurateandspecific,with50%ofattendeesbelievingtheexperiencetobeofsomevaluetothem.Thispicturecontrastsquitesharplywithresearchinvestigatingprofessionalpsychicreaders,whichprovideslittleexperimentalevidencetosupporttheviewthattheyhaveparanormalaccesstoinformationabouttheirclients.Inthemostrecentandmostextensivereviewofquantitativestudiesevaluatingmaterialproducedduringostensiblypsychicreadings,Schouten(1994)concludedthat"thereislittlereasontoexpectmediumsmoreoftentomakecorrectstatementsaboutmattersunknownatthetimethan...canbeexpectedbychance"(p.221).
Howcanthesefindingsbereconciled?
Often,successesbypsychicshavebeenexplainednotasaconsequenceofpsychicability,butintermsoftheexploitationofcommon(butsubtle)channelsofcommunicationusingwhathasbeentermed"coldreading"(e.g.Schwartz,1978;Randi,1981).Theconceptisnotnew;Whaley(1989)forexampledescribesitas"Originallytheargotofpsychicmediumsby1924...fromthefactthatthecustomerwalksin'cold'-previouslyunknowntothefortune-teller"(p.173),andthestratagemwasprobablyfirsthintedatinthewritingsofConanDoylethroughtheinstantface-to-facedeductionsofSherlockHolmes,publishedfrom1887.
Amorerecentdefinitionofcoldreading,takenfromRayHyman'sclassicaccountoftheeffect,describesitas"aprocedurebywhicha'reader'isabletopersuadeaclientwhomhehasnevermetbeforethatheknowsallabouttheclient'spersonalityandproblems"(Hyman,1977:
20).Unfortunately,thisdoesnotgiveusmuchinsightintotheactualprocessofcoldreading,andaperhapsmoreusefuloperationaldefinitionisgivenelsewherebyHyman:
Thecoldreadingemploysthedynamicsofthedyadicrelationshipbetweenpsychicandclienttodevelopasketchthatistailoredtotheclient.Thereaderemploysshrewdobservation,nonverbalandverbalfeedbackfromtheclient,andtheclient'sactivecooperationtocreateadescriptionthattheclientissurepenetratestothecoreofhisorherpsyche.(1981,p.428)
Inpractice,thetechniquesidentifiedasexamplesofcoldreadingcanvaryinformfromcasetocase;fromasimplerelianceonusingstatementswhicharetrueofmostpeople(Dutton,1988)throughtoabroaderdefinitionwhichincludespre-sessioninformationgatheringaboutaclient(Hyman,1977;Couttie,1988).Techniquessuchas'fishing'(tobedescribedlater)areregardedascentraltosomeaccounts(e.g.Randi,1981)butasseparate,supplementarymethodsbyothers(Whaley,1989).Thereisarealdangerthatoverliberalandinconsistentapplicationofthetermwillcauseittoloseanyexplanatorypowerithas.
Therearealsoclearindicationsthatthecoldreading'process'actuallyconsistsofanumberofdiscreteandindependentstrategies.Hyman(1981)hintsatthiswhenhedistinguishesbetweentwo'types'ofreading-staticanddynamic-whichexploitquitedifferentpsychologicalmechanisms.Theformermakesuseofcommonalitiesbetweenclientstoallowthereadertolaunchintoastockspielwhichshouldapplyequallywelltoall,whereasthelatterdependsuponinteractionwiththeclienttogeneratematerialwhichismoretailor-madetohisorherspecificcircumstances.Aninitialattemptwillbemadeheretoidentifyandcharacterisetheactualtechniquesbroughttobearincoldreading,andtospecifytheirinterrelationships.Themodelwhichhasbeendevelopedisinformedbytwosources:
1.1Pseudopsychicliterature
Thereexistsasubstantialspecialistliteraturedescribingthetechniquesinvolvedinsettingupasapseudopsychic,runningundertitlessuchasMoney-makingColdReading(Hobrin,1990)andCashinginonthePsychic(Ruthchild,1978).Thisliteratureistypicallyproducedtoallowthepeudopsychicfraternitytoshareresourcesandexpertise,andisnotintendedtobegenerallyavailable.Booksareprivatelypublishedorproducedbyspecialistpublishersofmagicliterature,andtendtobeadvertisedinprivatecirculationmagicsocietycataloguesandmagazines.AccesstothesesupplierswasmadepossiblewiththeassistanceofProfessorRobertMorrisandDrRichardWiseman.Thelatterisaproficentclose-upmagicianandmemberofanumberofmagicsocieties,whowasatthattimeamemberoftheparapsychologyunitatEdinburgh.Together,wewereabletobuildareasonablepseudopsychiclibraryfromwhichtodevelopadescriptionofcoldreadingpracticesasarticulatedbypseudopsychicsthemselves(Cain,1991;Corinda,1984;Earle,1990a,1990b;Fuller,1975,1980;Hester&Hudson,1977;Hobrin,1990;Jones,1989;Lewis,1991;Martin,1990;Ruthchild,1978,1981;Webster,1990).
1.2Interactionswithapracticingpseudopsychic
Anexploratorystudy,conductedincooperationwithpseudopsychicMalcolmDavidson,allowedustoinvestigatethemechanicsofcoldreadinginsitu.DavidsonhadworkedasapsychicreaderintheYorkshireregionforover15years,butwasatthattimesemi-retiredandwashappytosharesomeofhisexpertisewithus.Aone-dayinitialexploratorystudywasarrangedinwhichhewasfilmedgivingseparatereadingstothreeindividualsinthemorning,andgaveacommentaryonthetechniquesbeingusedintheafternoon.
Threesitters(allfemale)wereselectedtorepresentabroadagerange,andwereinvitedtoparticipatein'apreliminaryevaluationofapsychicreader'.SittingstookplaceintheUniversity'stelevisionstudio,andwerefilmedusingthreevideocameras.Thefirstofthesegaveaside-onlongshot(fullbody)ofthesitterandreader.Camerastwoandthreegavemid-shots(waistup)ofthesitterandreaderrespectively.Recordingsfromcamerastwoandthreewereeditedtogethertogiveaverticalsplit-screenviewoftheinteraction,withonehalfshowingthereaderandtheotherthesitter.
Uponcompletionofthereading,eachsittergaveimmediatefeedback,ostensiblytoallowustodecidewhetherfurthertestingwouldbefruitful.Ssgavethreeratings,indicatinghowimpressedtheywerewiththereading'scontent,howrelevantitwastoworriesorconcernstheyhad,andhowpsychictheythoughtthereaderwas.Responsesweregivenusinga7-pointLikertscale,where1=notatall,and7=verymuch.Sitters'actualratingsarereproducedinTable1:
sitter
impressed
relevance
psychic?
One
6
5
5
Two
6
6
7
Three
1
1
1
Table1:
Sitters'ratingsoftheirreading
Twoofthereadingswereverywellreceived,suggestingthatthepseudopsychictechniquesbeingusedweresuccessfulinpersuadingtheseclientsthatthereaderdidhaveparanormalaccesstoinformationaboutthem.Subjectthreewasanacademiccolleaguewhoworkedinthedepartment.ItseemslikelythatshedidnotconformtothestereotypesDavidsonusuallyuseswithwomenofherage.Sheisalsomostlikelyofthethreetobegenerallyscepticalofclaimsofpsychicability.Immediatelyaftersupplyingratings,sittersweredebriefedastothetrueobjectiveoftheinvestigation.
Intheafternoon,wemetwithDavidsontoreviewthevideorecordings.Davidsonwasvideotapedgivingacommentaryonthethreereadings,andansweringquestionsabouttheactualmethodsused.CopiesofallvideomaterialarelodgedwiththeKoestlerChair,andareavailableforinspection.Videofootagewasstudiedtocomparetheoreticalaccountsofcoldreadingasgivenintheliteraturewithactualexamplesoftheprocessinpractice.WehadintendedtoconductfurtherworkwithDavidson,butsadlyhediedbeforethiscouldbearranged.
2Anexpandedmodelofcoldreading
Theabovesourcesofinformationaboutthepseudopsychictechniquesuggestamodelinwhichcoldreadingactuallyencompassesanumberofdiscreteoperationswhichappeartorepresentahierarchy(seeFigure1).
Alltheseprocessesinvolvethegatheringofintelligenceabouttheclient,butaredistinguishableonthebasisofwhenandhowtransferofinformationoccurs,andofwhatformthatinformationtakes.Thoseatthebaseofthehierarchyrequirelittle,ifany,interactionwiththeclient,butthereadingso-producedremainsrelativelyvagueorgeneral.Astheopportunityforinteractionincreases,sothereadingcanbemademorespecifictotheclientinattendance.Knowledgeofalloftheprocessesenablesthereadertoproduceareasonablesketchwhateversituationhe