Belief has persisted in special mental powers such as mind reading, clairvoyance (seeing that which is hidden), fortune telling, and psychokinesis (mind-over-matter). A term for these alleged powers was introduced in 1934 by Dr. J.B. Rhine at Duke University. He and his colleagues conducted experiments with test subjects that supposedly verified "extrasensory perception" (or ESP). However, skeptics pointed out numerous flaws in the test procedures, a problem that has plagued successive ESP research.Outside the laboratory, self-styled psychics demonstrate their alleged powers in various ways. Some claim to use only concentration to move or physically alter objects, but magicians repeatedly expose their tricks. Others practice fortune telling and seem to know all about their clients, but skeptics point to a clever technique called "cold reading" (an artful method of fishing for information) and the tendency of people to interpret the psychic’s generalized pronouncements to apply to themselves. |