Executive Functioning: Assessing the Role of Perceived Paranormal Ability

This study examined whether scores on self-report measures of executive functions varied in accordance with level of self-professed paranormal ability. The investigators compared three groups varying in attribution of paranormal facilities: practitioners (Mediums, Psychics, Spiritualists and Fortune-Tellers), self-professed ability and no ability. Consistent with recent research on cognitive-perceptual factors allied to delusional formation and thinking style, the researchers anticipated that practitioners would score higher on paranormal belief and self-reported executive function disruption. Correspondingly, the investigators also hypothesised that the self-professed ability group would demonstrate greater belief in the paranormal and higher levels of executive function disruption than the no ability group. A sample of 499 (219 males, 279 females) respondents completed the measures online. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) found a large effect size, alongside significant differences on all variables apart from Cognitive Reappraisal. Pairwise comparisons indicated that Paranormal Belief increased as a function of level of ability; practitioners scored higher than self-professed, who in turn scored higher than the no ability group. For executive functioning, significant differences emerged only for the no ability vs. self-professed ability and no ability vs. practising groups. Collectively, outcomes indicated that perception of ability, regardless of intensity of paranormal conviction, influenced subjective appraisal of executive functions. Failure to find consistent differences between practitioner and self-professed ability groups suggested that discernment of ability was sufficient to heighten awareness of executive functioning disruptions.

Pseudoscientific Health Beliefs and the Perceived Frequency of Causal Relationships

Beliefs about cause and effect, including health beliefs, are thought to be related to the frequency of the target outcome (e.g., health recovery) occurring when the putative cause is present and when it is absent (treatment administered vs. no treatment); this is known as contingency learning. However, it is unclear whether unvalidated health beliefs, where there is no evidence of cause–effect contingency, are also influenced by the subjective perception of a meaningful contingency between events. In a survey, respondents were asked to judge a range of health beliefs and estimate the probability of the target outcome occurring with and without the putative cause present. Overall, we found evidence that causal beliefs are related to perceived cause–effect contingency. Interestingly, beliefs that were not predicted by perceived contingency were meaningfully related to scores on the paranormal belief scale. These findings suggest heterogeneity in pseudoscientific health beliefs and the need to tailor intervention strategies according to underlying causes.

Thinking Style and Paranormal Belief: The Role of Cognitive Biases

This study investigated the degree to which cognitive bias mediated the relationship between thinking style and belief in the paranormal. A sample of 496 participants completed the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS), the Belief in Science Scale (BISS), the Cognitive Biases Questionnaire for Psychosis, and the reality testing subscale of the Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO-RT). The BISS and IPO-RT served as proxy indices of preferred thinking style; the BISS assessed rational-analytical (objective) processing, and the IPO-RT intuitive-experiential (subjective) processing. Cognitive biases (Jumping to Conclusions, Intentionalising, Catastrophising, Emotional Reasoning, and dichotomous thinking) correlated positively with belief in the paranormal. Mediation using path analysis indicated that Emotional Reasoning and Catastrophising exerted indirect effects in relation to BISS, IPO-RT and RPBS. Direct relationships existed between IPO-RT and RPBS, and BISS and RPBS. Of the biases, only Emotional Reasoning and Catastrophising predicted RPBS. The contribution of Emotional Reasoning and Catastrophising to belief in the paranormal were consistent with previous research and the cognitive model of psychosis, which asserts that there are strong relationships between defective reality testing, emotional reasoning and delusional beliefs.

The Role of Cognitive Control in Paranormal Beliefs: A Study Based on Performance in Go/No-Go Task

Cognitive control plays a role in human behavior and mental processes, and paranormal beliefs seem to be affected. This study aimed to investigate the role of cognitive control in Paranormal Beliefs using the Go/No-Go Task. Ninety-two people were selected based on low, middle, and high scores in the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale(R-PBS) (Tobacyk, 2004) and were classified into three groups. This produced 30 Severe Paranormal Believers (13 females, mean age 25.3 years), 31 Mild Paranormal Believers (14 females, mean age 26.4 years), and 31 Skeptics (16 females, mean age 25.8 years). All participants were tested on the Go/No Go Task. A multivariate analysis of variance was conducted with the group (Severe Paranormal Believers, Mild Paranormal Believers, and Skeptics) as the independent variable and the Go/No Go subscales scores as dependent variables. The findings show that there is a significant difference between the mean scores in Errors( Go) (F2,89=7.20, p=0.01) , Errors(No- Go) (F2,89=11. 81, p=0.01) and Reaction Time (F2,89=21.46, p=0.01) between the groups. The Severe Paranormal Believers and Mild Paranormal Believers had lower accuracy and slower RT than the Skeptics group. Therefore, Severe Paranormal Believers and Mild Paranormal Believers had a weakness in all Go/No-Go subscale scores. This finding suggests that paranormal beliefs may related to poor cognitive control.

Paranormal Belief, Thinking Style and Delusion Formation: A Latent Profile Analysis of Within-Individual Variations in Experience-Based Paranormal Facets

This study examined the degree to which within-individual variations in paranormal experience were related to belief in the paranormal, preferential thinking style, and delusion formation. A sample of 956 non-clinical adults completed measures assessing experience-based paranormal indices (i.e., paranormal experience, paranormal practitioner visiting, and paranormal ability), paranormal belief, belief in science, proneness to reality testing deficits, and emotion-based reasoning. Latent profile analysis (LPA) combined the experience-based indices to produce six underlying groups. Inter-class comparison via multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that both breadth and intensity of experiential factors were associated with higher belief in in the paranormal, increased proneness to reality testing deficits, and greater emotion-based reasoning. Belief in science, however, was less susceptible to experiential variations. Further analysis of reality testing subscales revealed that experiential profiles influenced levels of intrapsychic activity in subtle and intricate ways, especially those indexing Auditory and Visual Hallucinations and Delusional Thinking. Collectively, identification of profiles and inter-class comparisons provided a sophisticated understanding of the relative contribution of experiential factors to differences in paranormal belief, belief in science, proneness to reality testing deficits, and emotion-based reasoning.

Differences in Cognitive-Perceptual Factors Arising From Variations in Self-Professed Paranormal Ability

This study examined whether scores on indices related to subclinical delusion formation and thinking style varied as a function of level of self-professed paranormal ability. To assess this, the researchers compared three groups differing in personal ascription of paranormal powers: no ability, self-professed ability, and paranormal practitioners (i.e., Mediums, Psychics, Spiritualists, and Fortune-Tellers). Paranormal practitioners (compared with no and self-professed ability conditions) were expected to score higher on paranormal belief, proneness to reality testing deficits, emotion-based reasoning, and lower on belief in science. Comparable differences were predicted between the self-professed and no ability conditions. A sample of 917 respondents (329 males, 588 females) completed self-report measures online. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed an overall main effect. Further investigation, using discriminant descriptive analysis, indicated that paranormal practitioners scored higher on proneness to reality testing deficits, paranormal belief, and emotion-based reasoning. Belief in science did not meaningfully contribute to the discriminant function. Overall, results were consistent with previous academic work in the domains of paranormal belief and experience, which has reported that paranormal-related cognitions and perceptions are associated with factors related to subclinical delusion formation (i.e., emotion-based/intuitive thinking).

Tales From the Dark Side: The Dark Tetrad of Personality, Supernatural, and Scientific Belief

Theories such as the psychodynamic functions hypothesis, attribution theory, and the just world theory have been used to explain different types of supernatural belief. This study aims to examine “dark” personality traits and how they link to different beliefs using the Dark Tetrad. The Dark Tetrad” comprises narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism. Relationships have been found between dark personality traits and religious belief, but no studies have examined the Dark Triad or Tetrad and paranormal and scientific belief directly. An opportunity sample of 199 participants completed an online survey including scales measuring Dark Tetrad traits, religious and paranormal belief, and belief in science. Path analysis revealed five significant relationships. Belief in psychokinesis was negatively related to Machiavellianism, as was belief in common paranormal perceptions, which was also positively related to psychopathy. Religious belief was negatively related to psychopathy but positively related to sadism. Findings suggest some links between Dark Tetrad traits and elements of supernatural belief. The unexpected positive relationship between religiosity and sadism indicate that religious believers believe in a just world where people get what they deserve. These findings indicate that religious and paranormal experience, and dark personality are avenues for future research.

The Psychology and Parapsychology of Spiritual Emergency

A defining aspect of Spiritual Emergency (SE) is ‘psychic opening’ which may predict psi performance. This study tested paranormal (psi) performance of individuals who have or have had experiences of spiritual emergency (i.e., ‘SE-Experients’), and compared their performance against controls. The study also assessed psychological aspects of SE to differentiate it from psychosis and other proposed psi-inhibitive symptoms—namely, alogia (i.e., poverty of speech), depression, anxiety, and stress. Two groups of participants were formed: controls (mainly Psychology students) and SE-Experients. Participants either completed the study on computer in the laboratory or online. Questionnaires on spiritual emergency (which includes a subscale on psychic opening), positive symptoms of psychosis, alogia, spiritual identity, paranormal belief, mysticism, depression, anxiety, and stress, were administered to participants, who then completed the Imagery Cultivation (IC) picture-identification psi task, which uses a shamanic-like journeying protocol (Storm & Rock, 2009). The differences between controls and SE-experients on the psi measures, direct hitting (as a percent hit-rate) and mean rank scores, were not significant, but the sum-of-ranks difference was highly significant. Also, SE-experients had a marginally significant mean rank score. Direct hitting did not correlate significantly with any variable, except rank scores, which correlated significantly with psychic opening, spiritual identity, and paranormal belief, and marginally significantly with spiritual emergency. Direct hitting, rank scores, and SE did not correlate significantly with alogia, depression, anxiety, or stress, but the psychosis measure did correlate significantly with alogia, depression, anxiety, stress, and SE. The statistical evidence suggests some proportion of SE-experients experience psychic opening. While SE and psychosis overlap, only SE was predicted by spiritual identity, extrovertive mysticism, and paranormal belief (but not alogia), whereas psychosis was predicted by alogia only.