As it turns out–not that far off base from reality.
At least, that’s the claim of one scientific paper soon to be published in the peer-reviewed Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology. The report covers years of work from Cornell University Professor Daryl Bem.
The report describes the fascinating results of basic tests run backwards from the typical cause-and-effect sequence. For example student volunteers were 1) shown a list of words, and then 2) asked to recall words from that list, and then 3) asked to type words randomly chosen from that same list. Oddly enough, the students were better at recalling the words in step two that they were later randomly asked to type in step three.
Another test took on the well-documented phenomenon of “priming.” This is the process by which a concept will subliminally effect how a person reacts to a subsequent concept. For example, if a person is briefly show the word “hot” and then shown an image of a glacier, it takes the subject longer to describe what kind of clothes they would need if they were on the glacier than if the word “cold” were shown to them. This is a basic psychological concept that is near-universally accepted. However, Dr. Bem’s research showed that when the test is run in reverse, the same priming effect seems to occur.
It should be noted that the results of the work aren’t overwhelming, but they are statistically relevant. So, the takeaway is: we are all kinda psychic. I don’t know if that fact will effect our day-to-day in the slightest, but it is kind of cool.
via New Scientist
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