The areas of so-called magical thinking, belief in the paranormal,
experiences interpreted as paranormal, as well as class emphases on critical
thinking are of interest to me. I am not now teaching Gen. Psych, but want
to use the following the next time I teach the class.
Ask the class if they have ever felt the stares of others they can't
see. Ask next, if they felt there might be some kind of energy wave or rays
coming from the starer's eyes. This should lead to some good discussion
when you talk about what people think they know about their own psychology,
intuitive beliefs, and actual knowledge of the visual system. It might also
be fun to see if this correlates, not so much with general belief in the
paranormal, but with specific ideas regarding ESP and particularly,
telepathy. I think the exercise is also useful in a social psychology class
regarding discussion of interpersonal communication, and the influence of
shared social understandings affecting interpersonal behavior. The role of
everyday experience and the influence of cultural beliefs regarding "making
contact" with our eyes can also lead to some useful discussion---this can
dovetail nicely with discussion of popular movies, romance novels, etc.,
where the eye-contact is often described magically and even as a kind of
ESP. For some sound empirical references on belief in "extromissions" see
the Winer and Cottrell article below. While beliefs in rays emanating from
the eyes should be low if asked separately, Winer and Cottrell found such
beliefs easily expressed in combination with the more common experience of
feeling someone is staring at you. This latter ability to "feel the stares
of others" increases with age. .
For advanced classes, this phenomenon might make for useful
discussion/detective work regarding the role of psychology, culture, and
social psychology in the kinds of attributions and beliefs resulting from
feeling yourself (correctly or not) the object of others' eyes. If you try
this, let me know how it works as I won't be teaching General Psych for a
while. Gary Peterson
Gerald (Gary) L. Peterson, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychology
Saginaw Valley State University
University Center, MI 48710
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
1-517-790-4491
Coover, J. E. (1993). The feeling of being stared at. __American
Journal of Psychology,__24, 570-575.
Cottrell, J. E., Winer, G. A., & Smith, M. C (1996). Beliefs of
children and adults about feeling stares of unseen others. __Developmental
Psychology,__32, 50-61.
Peterson, G. L. (1998). Why I believe in (the social psychology of)
mind-reading. Unpublished class materials.
Titchener, E. B. (1898). The feeling of being stared at.
__Science,__8, 895-897.
Winer, G. A., & Cottrell, J. E. (1996). Does anything leave the eye
when we see? Extramission beliefs of children and adults. __Current
Directions in Psychological Science,__5(5), 137-142.
