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- For the theatrical training technique, see Cold reading (theatrical).
Cold reading is a technique used by salespeople, interrogators, hypnotists, psychics, psychologists, graphologists, palmists, astrologers, con men and others to convince another person that they know more about them than they actually do.
Even without prior knowledge of a given person, a cold reader could still quickly obtain a great deal of his subject by carefully analysing his or her clothing or fashion, hairstyle, gender, religion, race or ethnicity, education level, manner of speech, and place of origin. This is called profiling.
Cold reading is sometimes not intended to defraud or deceive. Former New Age practitioner Karla McLaren said, "I didn't understand that I had long used a form of cold reading in my own work! I was never taught cold reading and I never intended to defraud anyone — I simply picked up the technique through cultural osmosis." *
Performers such as Ian Rowland, Mark Edward, Lynne Kelly, Kari Coleman and Derren Brown have posed as psychics offering either private fortune-telling sessions or open forum "talking with the dead" sessions in the manner of alleged psychic John Edward. Only after receiving acclaim and applause do they reveal that they needed no psychic power for the performance, only a knowledge of psychology and cold-reading. Similarly, in an episode of his Trick of the Mind series broadcast in March 2006, Derren Brown demonstrated how people can be influenced through cold reading techniques by repeating the famous experiment in 1948, by psychologist Bertram R. Forer.
Before starting the actual reading, the reader will typically try to elicit cooperation, saying something like, "I often see images that are a bit unclear and which may sometimes mean more to you than to me; if you help, we can together uncover new things about you."
The reader will then ask a number of questions, typically using variations of the methods noted below. The subject will typically reveal some information with their replies, and the cold reader can continue from there, pursuing promising lines of inquiry and abandoning unproductive ones. In general, while some of the information comes from the reader, most of the facts and statements come from the subject, and are then refined and restated by the reader.
Even very subtle cues such as changes in facial expression or body language can indicate if a particular line of questioning is effective or not.
Combining the techniques of cold reading with information obtained covertly is called "hot reading".
Cold reading techniques
Shotgunning
"Shotgunning" is a common cold reading technique, often used by purported psychics and mediums. The psychic offers a huge quantity of information (some of which is certain to be correct, near correct or evocative), observes the subject's reactions, and then refines the original statements according to those reactions. This technique is named after a shotgun, which usually fires a spray of many small projectiles ("shot") rather than a single, larger projectile, in hopes that one or more of the shot will strike the target.Edgar Cayce, Sylvia Browne, James Van Praagh, and John Edward have all been accused of shotgunning.
Shotgunning might include series of statements such as:
- "I see a heart problem with a father-figure in your family, a father, a grandfather, an uncle, a cousin... I'm definitively seeing chest pain here for a father-figure in your family."
- "I see a woman that isn't a blood relative. Someone around when you were growing up, an aunt, a friend of your mother, a step-mother with blackness in the chest, lung cancer, heart disease, breast cancer..."
The Forer Effect/Barnum Statements
"Barnum statements" named after P.T. Barnum, the American showman, are also used. These statements seem personal, yet apply to a great many people. And while seemingly specific, such statements are often open-ended.These rather vague statements will elicit responses from most people, which can then be developed into long paragraphs which seem to reveal great amounts of detail about a person.
Statements of this type might include:
- "I sense that you are sometimes insecure, especially with people you don't know very well."
- "You have a box of old unsorted photographs in your house."
- "You had an accident when you were a child involving water."
- "You're having problems with a friend or relative."
- "You find your present line of work unsatisfying."
- "Your father died of problems in his chest or abdomen." — if the client is old enough, his or her father is likely to be dead, and this statement would apply to heart disease, pneumonia, diabetes, most forms of cancer, and in fact to the great majority of deaths.
See also
- Clever Hans - a horse who learned to cold read.
External links
- Shotgunning from the Skeptic's Dictionary
- Cold Reading from the Skeptic's Dictionary
- The Art of Cold Reading from the James Randi Educational Foundation
- Guide to Cold Reading by Ray Hyman
- Lynne Kelly's "The Skeptic's Guide To The Paranormal" (see "Tauromancy")
- Actress Kari Coleman: "My Psychic Adventure"
- "How come TV psychics seem so convincing?" from The Straight Dope
"Cold reading"