Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Conspiracist beliefs are widespread and potentially hazardous. A growing body of research suggests that cognitive biases may play a role in endorsement of conspiracy theories. The current research examines the novel hypothesis that... more
Conspiracist beliefs are widespread and potentially hazardous. A growing body of research suggests that cognitive biases may play a role in endorsement of conspiracy theories. The current research examines the novel hypothesis that individuals who are biased towards inferring intentional explanations for ambiguous actions are more likely to endorse conspiracy theories, which portray events as the exclusive product of intentional agency. Study 1 replicated a previously observed relationship between conspiracist ideation and individual differences in anthropomorphisation. Studies 2 and 3 report a relationship between conspiracism and inferences of intentionality for imagined ambiguous events. Additionally, Study 3 again found conspiracist ideation to be predicted by individual differences in anthropomorphism. Contrary to expectations, however, the relationship was not mediated by the intentionality bias. The findings are discussed in terms of a domain-general intentionality bias makin...
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Three experiments are reported comparing high and low-trait anxious subjects in terms of their patterns of semantic activation in response to ambiguous primes, with one threat-related and one neutral meaning. Such primes were followed by... more
Three experiments are reported comparing high and low-trait anxious subjects in terms of their patterns of semantic activation in response to ambiguous primes, with one threat-related and one neutral meaning. Such primes were followed by targets related to either their threat or neutral meaning, or by unrelated targets, in a lexical decision task. Experiments 1 to 3 employed stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of 750 msec, 500 msec, and 1250 msec, respectively. At 500-msec SOA all subjects showed facilitation for both meanings. At 750-msec SOA the only significant priming effect was that for the threat-related meaning in the high-anxiety group, and a similar trend was found at 1250-msec SOA. Consideration of the patterns of priming for targets following ambiguous threat/neutral primes suggest that at the longer SOAs, high-anxiety subjects consciously “lock on” to a threatening interpretation if one has been made available by earlier automatic spreading activation.
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Research Interests:
In this experiment we sought to provide evidence for transliminality from a test of subliminal perception that was disguised as a computerised ESP card-guessing task. It was predicted that highly transliminal individuals would outperform... more
In this experiment we sought to provide evidence for transliminality from a test of subliminal perception that was disguised as a computerised ESP card-guessing task. It was predicted that highly transliminal individuals would outperform those with low levels of transliminality when given subliminal primes or ‘clues’ to the correct choice of card, but not when no primes were given. In line with the prediction, higher levels of transliminality were found to be associated with a greater number of correct selections of the target card on the primed trials, but not on the unprimed trials. In addition, a positive correlation was obtained between transliminality and detection accuracy, suggesting that higher levels of transliminality are associated with a greater sensitivity to visual stimulation. The results are discussed with reference to the possibility that transliminality might offer an alternative explanation for some ostensibly psychic perceptual experiences if subliminally acquire...
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Recent research has demonstrated that when participants are required to draw from memory a standard clock with numbers represented by Roman numerals, they typically misrepresent the four as "IV" rather than as the... more
Recent research has demonstrated that when participants are required to draw from memory a standard clock with numbers represented by Roman numerals, they typically misrepresent the four as "IV" rather than as the correct "IIII." Participants do not make this mistake when they simply copy the clock while it remains in full view. A reanalysis of the data presented by Richards, French, and Harris (1996) is reported in which we investigated the representation of the orientation of the Roman numerals on the clockface and found that participants in the memory conditions (surprise and forewarned) were more likely than participants in the copy (control) condition to draw the numerals vertically rather than in their correct centripetal orientation. In addition, we found this error was even more likely to occur for participants when they had no warning that a memory task would take place.
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Research Interests:
Abstract Three hundred and eighty-six participants were interviewed about their experience of dreams that seem to predict an event in the future, and their belief about whether such dreams can be explained naturally or paranormally. For... more
Abstract Three hundred and eighty-six participants were interviewed about their experience of dreams that seem to predict an event in the future, and their belief about whether such dreams can be explained naturally or paranormally. For those without university education, participants who had had a dream that seemed to predict the future (termed experiencers) and believers in paranormal explanations for such dreams (termed believers) made more errors on a probabilistic reasoning task about a lottery. Contrary to the chance baseline ...
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Abstract Subjects high and low in test-anxiety were presented with an inferential reasoning task requiring the verification of necessary and unnecessary inferences. The task was performed whilst holding either two or six digits in memory.... more
Abstract Subjects high and low in test-anxiety were presented with an inferential reasoning task requiring the verification of necessary and unnecessary inferences. The task was performed whilst holding either two or six digits in memory. On the verification task, the ...
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This experiment examined the viewpoint and other phenomenal characteristics of childhood memories based on both personal recollections and self-knowledge. Participants were asked to provide examples of remember, know, and uncertain... more
This experiment examined the viewpoint and other phenomenal characteristics of childhood memories based on both personal recollections and self-knowledge. Participants were asked to provide examples of remember, know, and uncertain memories, and to rate each memory on a number of dimensions. Remembered events were generally viewed from a field perspective, while known-about events were generally viewed from an observer perspective. In line with earlier research, remembered events received the highest ratings for sensory and contextual detail, emotional content, and memory accuracy, while known-about events were given the lowest ratings. The results are discussed with reference to their possible implications for memory recovery or enhancement techniques that ask people to adopt a different viewpoint. Consideration is given as to whether a switch to a field perspective might encourage the acceptance of suggested details or events.