Priming psychic and conjuring abilities of a magic demonstration influences event interpretation and random number generation biases

Abstract

Magical ideation and belief in the paranormal is considered to represent a trait-like character; people either believe in it or not. Yet, anecdotes indicate that exposure to an anomalous event can turn skeptics into believers. This transformation is likely to be accompanied by altered cognitive functioning such as impaired judgments of event likelihood. Here, we investigated whether the exposure to an anomalous event changes individuals’ explicit traditional (religious) and non-traditional (e.g., paranormal) beliefs as well as cognitive biases that have previously been associated with non-traditional beliefs, e.g., repetition avoidance when producing random numbers in a mental dice task. In a classroom, 91 students saw a magic demonstration after their psychology lecture. Before the demonstration, half of the students were told that the performance was done respectively by a conjuror (magician group) or a psychic (psychic group). The instruction influenced participants’ explanations of the anomalous event. Participants in the magician, as compared to the psychic group, were more likely to explain the event through conjuring abilities while the reverse was true for psychic abilities. Moreover, these explanations correlated positively with their prior traditional and non-traditional beliefs. Finally, we observed that the psychic group showed more repetition avoidance than the magician group, and this effect remained the same regardless of whether assessed before or after the magic demonstration. We conclude that pre-existing beliefs and contextual suggestions both influence people’s interpretations of anomalous events and associated cognitive biases. Beliefs and associated cognitive biases are likely flexible well into adulthood and change with actual life events.

Superstition predicts perception of illusory control

“…For example, Brugger, Landis, and Regard (1990; see also Mohr, Koutrakis, & Kuhn, 2015) studied perceptions of randomness in low-and high-superstitious individuals (assessed using the AS-GS). For example, Brugger, Landis, and Regard (1990; see also Mohr, Koutrakis, & Kuhn, 2015) studied perceptions of randomness in low-and high-superstitious individuals (assessed using the AS-GS).…”

“…Disruptions in conjunctive reasoning are consistent with broader cognitive biases observed in people with high levels of paranormal beliefs. For example, Brugger, Landis, and Regard (1990; see also Mohr, Koutrakis, & Kuhn, 2015) studied perceptions of randomness in low-and high-superstitious individuals (assessed using the AS-GS). They had participants inspect or generate a series of random numbers.…”

A framework for using magic to study the mind

“…However, when asked to put their own hand in the device, most asked the experimenter not to cast the spell ( Subbotsky, 2001 ). In another study, simple conjuring tricks portrayed as a demonstration of genuine psychic ability were found to enhance people’s beliefs in the paranormal ( Mohr et al, 2014 ; see also Benassi et al, 1980 ). Such experiments are wonderful examples of how magic tricks can help study the formation of beliefs, and possibly superstitions.…”

“…Magic has also been used to investigate higher-level processes, such as belief formation and reasoning. For example, Benassi et al (1980) showed that exposure to magic tricks (portrayed as demonstrations of psychic powers) increased belief in psychic phenomena (also see Mohr et al, 2014 ). Subbotsky (2010) used magic demonstrations to investigate magical thinking in both children and adults.…”

Conjuring cognition: a review of educational magic-based interventions

“…Around a third of those who had been told that they would definitely be watching a magician nevertheless decided that the performer was psychic, prompting the researchers to conclude that magic-based interventions may have a limited impact on those with a strong belief in the paranormal because they tended to ignore disconfirming evidence. Mohr, Koutrakis & Kuhn (2015) also examined whether observing a magician fake psychic ability affects students' paranormal beliefs. A performer was introduced as either a magician or a psychic, and then carried out several 'psychic' feats.…”