Construct · 1 fields · 1 citations

cold reading: a standalone construct

One name. One construct. A landmark on the map.

● anchor · a standalone construct Nearest construct by meaning·not indexed
coldreading1 CONSTRUCTCold reading (psychic)BARNUM · PSYCHIC

A single standalone construct; nearby constructs are located against it in the Collider. Tap a field for its definition, unit, and measures.

Psychology of deception

Faking personal knowledge of a stranger

In the psychology of deception cold reading is a set of techniques by which a performer, such as a purported psychic or mentalist, creates a convincing impression of knowing specific private facts about a stranger with no prior information, using high-probability guesses, generic Barnum statements, cues from the sitter, and selective feedback. Dutton's The cold reading technique analyses how these methods manufacture apparent accuracy. The referent is a manipulation technique and the cognitive illusions that make it work, measured by how readily people accept generic statements as personally true, and it is unrelated to an actor sight-reading a script.[1]

Unit
The impression of specific personal knowledge produced with none
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Studied through acceptance of Barnum statements and perceived accuracy of staged readings

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Nearby constructs

accuracy3 fields · 6 citationsjingle · one word, three constructsdeception6 fields · 14 citationsjingle · one name, six constructs

References

  1. Dutton, D. L. (1988). The cold reading technique. Experientia, 44(4), 326–332. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01961271

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