BBC Focus

MY LIFE SCIENTIFIC

Halfofthe population say they believe in some sort of
paranormal phenomenon.I’ve never experienced one.

My work examines the evidencefor psychic abilities, like mind
reading.I’malso interestedin thepsychology ofghostly
experiences. I get sent loads of photos of supposed
‘ghosts’ and‘evilfaces’but more often than not, I can’t see
the ‘thing’ that I’m meant to see.

No one knows what a ‘ghost’is,soit’strickytosetupstudiesto
lookforthem.Somepeople r un a round wit h meters t hat
detect electromagnetic activity, then when they get a blip
theysaythey’vefoundaghost.Butplug sockets, fridges
andother things emit electromagnetic activity. It’s abig
leap for these people to say they have detected a ghost.

We’ve run experiments in Hampton Court Palace and the
vaults in Edinburgh, both places that are said to be haunted.
We found that people were more likely to experience
unusualsensations –likethehairsrisingonthebackof
their neck or a general feeling of unease – in places that
were relativelylarge andpoorlylit. It makes sensefrom
an evolutionaryperspective as these areplaces where
you mightfeelvulnerable. But it isn’t evidencefor ghosts.

I suspect that when people think they’ve seen or ‘felt’ a ‘ghost’,
they are primarily responding to normal but subtle physical
cues in the environment, then they misattribute these feelings
tosomething else.There’s also apsychological
phenomenon called‘pareidolia’, where themind
perceives faces and figures in random or ambiguous
patterns. Ifyou’re in aplace that’s misty orpoorlylit, it
doesn’t takemuchto imagine aface in thegloom. This
couldexplain some ghostlyexperiences.

We’ve done experiments to see if dreams canpredict the
future.In one study, we a skedparticipants to try and
dream aboutarandomlychosenfilmclip that they were
going to be shown in the morning, and recorded their
dream reports. Theexperimentfoundno evidence to
support theidea ofdream precognition. Other
researchers,however,havefoundthe opposite.

So dopsychic abilities exist??Some parapsychologists say
the matter is already settled, that well-designed
experimentshave shown theydo. But Idon’t think we

have a definitive answer. I think the standard of evidence

isn’t high enough. That’s something we’re trying to sort out.

ProfCaroline Watt

“No one knows what a ‘ghost’ is, so it’s

tricky to set up studies to look for them”

ILLU

STRATI

ON:

ORLA

GH MURPHY

Ilove communicatingwhat I do to the

public.I’ve written abook,run an

online course,anddidashow at

2 015’s EdinburghFringe where we

openedtheunittothepublic–

there werequeuesdown the street.

I’ve beenat theKoestler

ParapsychologyUnitfor30yearsand

was recentlyappointedprofessor.It

feelslikeanachievement, not just

because it’s a controversial area,

butalso becauseI’veraised two

sons, went to a comprehensive,

andwasfirst in myfamily to go to

university.

CarolineWattisafounding

member of Edinburgh University’s

Koestler Parapsychology Unit.

To listen to episodes

ofThe Life Scientific

with top scientists, visit

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NEXT ISSUE: PETER LOVATT

DISCOVER MORE

Caroline Wattis professor of

parapsychology at Edinburgh University.

This Halloween sheexplains to

HelenPilcherwhy there’s more to

parapsychology than ‘ghostbusting’!