Named after psychologist Betram R. Forer. In 1948 he created an experiment that showed that if people receive general descriptions that could apply to anyone, they will accept it as specifically applying to themselves. Debunkers use this phenomenon to explain away the methods of people claiming to give psychic readings. Examples of phrases used to represent this effect are sometimes called Barnum Statements.
Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Alice Markham-Cantor, author of the new Once & Future Witch Hunt.
My 9x-great-grandmother, Martha Carrier, was hanged in the Salem witch trials. She wasn't a witch. She wasn't an herbalist or a...