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Secrets of the Psychics

Classroom Activity

Objective
To test the validity of psychic skill.

• copy of "Can You See What I See?" student handout ( HTML)

1. Challenge the class to test the validity of psychic skill. "Remote viewing" is the ability to "see" images from a different location.

2. Make a photocopy of the collection of pictures on the "Can You See What I See?" student handout.

3. Cut one set of the pictures apart. Turn them face down and select two pictures from the assortment. Without looking, seal these two pictures into separate envelopes.

4. Select three or four students to be "transmitters." They will go to another place in the building with one of the pictures. The rest of the class will be "receivers." Distribute a copy of the picture page to each "receiver."

5. Without letting students know that there are two sealed envelopes, hand Envelope 1 to the transmitters. This will be the target image. Once the transmitters have arrived at their destination, they should open Envelope 1, answer the "remote viewing questions" from the student handout about the image, and send their written answers back to the class. The receivers will use the answers to predict which of the pictures is the target image.

6. Once the receivers have selected an image, hand them Envelope 2 and tell them that this was the image that the transmitters were describing. Ask students to explain how well the picture fits their predictions.

7. Invite the transmitters back to the room with the real target. Discuss the differences between the two target images. What happened when the receivers compared the picture in Envelope 2 with the answers from the transmitters? How did they interpret the answers from the transmitters to make them fit with the decoy target image?

One issue that arises in investigating many alleged psychic experiences is a phenomenon known as subjective validation. An example of subjective validation is seen in the program when an entire class of college students receives identical astrological charts, and each student finds large portions of the chart that seem extremely accurate. Your students may have engaged in subjective validation when they tried to match their predicted target image to the description given by the transmitters. This experience presents a double-blind test by giving the students a decoy image, showing them how easy it is to misinterpret information.