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[Moderated] Skeptikids Project

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Ryan O'Dine said:
Welcome Skeptikids!

The simplest protocol, it seems to me, would follow an Apology type test, perhaps simply asking, over multiple trials, whether there’s a dog in the next room. Protocols for this kind of thing have been worked out for people “psychics” in the past. In this case, you might have to be more careful that the test subject could neither hear, smell, nor be allergic to (:boggled:) a dog in the next room. Otherwise, it shouldn’t be a difficult procedure.

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I think there are many types of tests that can be arranged, but it can be disappointing after going through all the work to set it up, the Psychic finds some kind of excuse for it not to have worked. That is why so many people above have emphasized the importance of first getting the Psychic to clearly explain their claims, and even to get advice, from the Psychic themselves, how they would like to be tested.

A couple excuses you could expect, for example, in the dog-in-the-next-room test, is 1) Oh, I can only tell if there is a dog in the next room if the dog wants me to know it. 2) Oh, even though you really had a cat in the room and I thought it was a dog, it is because the cat thinks its a dog. 3) Oh, even though the room was empty, there was a dog in there, and wherever that dog is, it is still thinking about the room.

And the list goes on...
 
Denver said:
I think there are many types of tests that can be arranged, but it can be disappointing after going through all the work to set it up, the Psychic finds some kind of excuse for it not to have worked. That is why so many people above have emphasized the importance of first getting the Psychic to clearly explain their claims, and even to get advice, from the Psychic themselves, how they would like to be tested.

A couple excuses you could expect, for example, in the dog-in-the-next-room test, is 1) Oh, I can only tell if there is a dog in the next room if the dog wants me to know it. 2) Oh, even though you really had a cat in the room and I thought it was a dog, it is because the cat thinks its a dog. 3) Oh, even though the room was empty, there was a dog in there, and wherever that dog is, it is still thinking about the room.

And the list goes on...
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I agree that the details of the protocol should be worked out in partnership with the psychic.

Also, the psychic should be asked to sign a statement after the tests are conducted, but before the results are revealed that say something like, “I agree that the trials I have just undertaken represent a fair and accurate test of my abilities as a psychic,” or some such thing.
 
Idea for a test

I have a good idea for a test, and a pet psychic may agree to this one because they believe in their ability to read animal facial expressions.

Have someone behind a screen where they cannot be seen showing a pet various objects related to their life. The pet will notice these objects and have thoughts about them. See if the psychic can pick up on these thoughts.

You need to be careful not to choose obvious objects such as a bone to a dog. The dog would probably start drooling and this would be a dead give away. Spend time and consideration on choosing unique objects which the psychic may not thing of. One example may be: Showing a scratching post to a cat. The cat will look interested but the psychic won’t know it's a scratching post. Maybe they will guess pet mouse? I'm sure you guys can think of better ideas than this.

A psychic may agree to this because initially they will believe they can read animals expressions well. Actually, you could trick them during your initial phone call by using an example like "we will show a dog a bone and see if you can read the dogs thoughts.. or something like that", and the psychic will think "ha-ha foolish kids, I can do that!".

Just beware the psychic will try to over-generalize everything such as "the cat sees excitement, exercise, fun, blah blah" so try to pick some very interesting objects. Good luck!
 
Good start. You have hinted at one of the problems of this sort of test. Vague answers. Who is to say that such a answer is wrong? If you want to show the dog an object and then ask what object did we show the dog then the psychic should be given a list of possible objects. To make it double blind the person with the psychic would not know the answer themselves.

Homework - Find the meaning of double blind and work out how to impress the teacher by using it. Warning - Teachers may not know what double blind means especially if they are not trained in science.

rjh01 runs away from the teacher.
 
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One thing I haven't seen anyone mention yet is the Clever Hans effect. This is named after a horse from the beginning of the 20th century that was thought to be able to solve maths problems. It was found out that the horse was actually responding to clues from his owner and not doing the maths himself. This is now known to be a very important problem that must be avoided, especially when performing any tests on animals and babies. In fact, it was referenced in an episode of The Simpsons, where Maggie seemed to be very intelligent because Lisa was subconciously giving her the answers.

When you are performing tests on pets, you will need to be very careful to make sure that you are actually testing the pet, and not their owner.
 
This is rather late, but another note for pet psychics and dogs...

The psychic is naturally going to attempt to describe emotional states of the dog and try to convey them in human-like ways. The best counter for testing that is to use a dog that has a very established personality, and an owner who knows that personality very well (preferably from knowing the dog from a very young age). Dogs do have emotions, but we humans love to interpret those emotions the way we would other people, and that just isn't realistic. There are loads of books out there explaining how dog emotions work: they're really simple, actually!

I'm very impressed at your focusing on a pet psychic. I've had a mind to challenge some local to my city, because I know my dog so well and have established a very good communication with him through much training (for us both!) and body language. He's a larger breed of dog (German shepherd) and has a very expressive looking face (but it's just colors of fur!), even though his actual expressions don't come from his face, they come from his ears, his tail, and the way he stands (or sits). If you know someone who has done a lot of this kind of training with their dog or with dogs in general, you will have found someone who can not only challenge the pet psychic, but can explain in very descriptive terms for an audience exactly what they are seeing in the dog's behavior.

I can't wait to see how things go!
 
Testing a pet psychic huh?

First, be real clear about just what they say they can do...the psychic not the pet. Then you just need to get them to do it.

Maybe you should all inventory you own pets various toys, get someone impartial to verify the inventory and let the psychic "read" your pets. If the psychic can get the pets to describe their toys then he/she should be able to pick out which toys belong to which pets or at least do better than chance.

Good luck guys.
 
Hi All--The kids have been meeting but I have had a few major crisis issues going on, so I've been absent from the forum and haven't had time to get the kids on. They have a lot to discuss and will be doing so in the near future!
 
I look forward to it. In my opinion, the skeptikids are the most important members of this forum.
 
Hello skeptikids. Glad to see that young minds are scientifically/critically thinking about topics that rational adults should be pondering in the same way. Unfortunately, most do not!
 
Good to have you back, Ms. A. In the meantime, I'm really looking forward to hearing from the skeptikids!

ETA: I'm an idiot--I didn't look at the date.
 
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She's not back yet. I've sent a letter to see if everything's ok.
 
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