Confirmation Bias

The more I have researched the paranormal over the years, the more I realised just how much psychology of the mind plays a significant role.  I have already written a whole lot about it, and I am still only scratching the surface. I am no psychologist of course, and I certainly don’t claim to be. What I do know however, is that the human brain is so complex that Scientists don’t even know all there is to know about how and why it works the way it does. We can sit and argue about all the things that we don’t know, but it is important to look at what we do know, especially when we know that it links in with the way we experience and understand paranormal phenomena. I am not suggesting that all experiences are in our heads because you will know that is not what I believe at all. I do however believe that not everything we experience is paranormal. Sometimes our brain does play tricks on us, and it is important to know if what we have experienced is simply a product of our brain or potentially something more. Once you can eliminate these factors, it makes our experiences all the more interesting and significant. We all know that weird stuff happens and that is what a lot of us are looking for. So how do we know what is just ‘normal‘? It starts with understanding cognitive bias.

What is Cognitive Bias?

A cognitive bias is an error in the way that we think. It means we are not necessarily thinking with a ‘clear mind’. Our experiences, our beliefs, and our intentions all influence the way we think, the way we make decisions, and the way we interpret our surroundings. Just the fact that we believe in the paranormal makes us biased. It means we are more prone to ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ where our brain is likely to interpret certain things to be paranormal when they are not. We go in looking for the paranormal, and our ‘brain’ makes us find it even if it is not really there. At the other end, a full sceptic is also biased and will tend to look for a rational explanation, discounting any sort of ambiguous event without even looking into the possibility it could be something we don’t quite understand.  No one is immune, however, by applying critical thinking and taking a moment to really think things through instead of reacting or responding rashly can make a huge difference. 

Psychology itself is full of ‘effects’.  They all demonstrate the different ways we are influenced by our brains. Whether we see things that aren’t there, hear things that aren’t there, misinterpret information right through to how we behave, it can all be tied back to one of these ‘effects’. While you may think they seem irrelevant, they can be beneficial tools when it comes to investigating the paranormal. While a lot of people complain about electronic equipment not being reliable during an investigation, the same thing could be said about our brains. Knowledge is power, and just knowing about these things makes us more aware and in turn, makes us better paranormal investigators. An experience could be so much more significant when we can in fact rule out all the little things that trick us into thinking something is happening. Only then can we truly start asking questions.

Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias is the tendency to notice and remember things that support what we already think is true, while we gloss over or quietly ignore the things that don’t. In short, we see what we want to see to support our beliefs and disregard the things that don’t.

Some of the signs of confirmation bias are:

• Only seeking out information that confirms your beliefs and ignoring or discredit information that doesn’t support them.
• Looking for evidence that confirms what you already think is true, rather than considering all of the evidence available.
• Relying on stereotypes or personal biases when assessing information.
• Selectively remembering information that supports your views while forgetting or discounting information that doesn’t.
• Having a strong emotional reaction to information (positive or negative) that confirms your beliefs, while remaining relatively unaffected by information that doesn’t.

There are a few ways in which confirmation bias can present itself.

Biased attention: This is when we selectively focus on information that confirms our views while ignoring or discounting data that doesn’t.
Biased interpretation: This is when we consciously interpret information in a way that confirms our beliefs.
Biased memory: This is when we selectively remember information that supports our views while forgetting or discounting information that doesn’t.

Confirmation Bias and the Paranormal

So when we apply this to the paranormal, just the very notion of believing can affect the way we interpret things. As an example, once someone believes a place is haunted, their brain starts filtering their reality through that belief. Every noise, every shadow, and an odd feeling feeds this bias. They may unconsciously choose to ignore the open window or the way the light casts a shadow. A paranormal investigator will often collect what they see as evidence to prove that what they are experiencing is paranormal. As this evidence builds up, so too does their belief in it. While it could very well be something paranormal, we also have to consider that it’s not that more paranormal things are happening, it’s that more signs linked to them are being noticed. You are picking up on a pattern that supports what you believe, while disregarding the other pieces of the puzzle that tells the full story. When someone who believes strongly attends an investigation hoping for an experience, every knock, flicker, or movement becomes meaningful. Their mind is leading to them find exactly what they are looking for, even if it is not necessarily what is actually happening. It is why two people can be in the same place and experience the same thing yet walk out with completely different accounts of what happened.

As someone who hosts public investigations, I am in the unique position of not only getting to investigate my favourite location week in and week out, I get to observe people. I see how they react to things and as I am removed from the excitement of the situation, I can often see things others don’t. I also see how some people get so wrapped up and want an experience so badly that they essentially make it happen. When people use a device like the ovilus for example it may spit out a random word such as ‘Course’. Suddenly, someone in the room makes the connection. “I am studying a course right now it is referring to me!” (This is an actual example I have witnessed.) 

There are so many examples I can provide, but I think you get the idea. We have all seen it happen to a certain degree, but what we have to admit is that it is something that is a part of the human brain, meaning it happens to all of us. Thinking it doesn’t apply to us at all in some ways is a form of confirmation bias in itself as you are dismissing the possibility that it is affecting you.

How to overcome confirmation bias?

No one is immune to any kind of cognitive bias, but just being aware it exists and employing critical thinking can help immensely. Consider everything and take the emotion of it. We tend to cling onto paranormal experiences because they mean something to us. When someone comes along with an explanation, we can let our emotions and attachment to the experience get in the way so we don’t take on board their critique. Seeking out the opinion of others should be a standard process. Moreso, it is important to seek out the opinion of people with varying views. If you just ask your friends with the same beliefs, you are not really putting something to the test. Most importantly, you have to be willing to accept that maybe it wasn’t you thought it was.

We can’t help the way we are wired. It is how our brain works. We can be aware of things to a certain extent, but ultimately, we tend to act on our instincts. Our instinct is influenced by our belief systems and contributes to cognitive bias. If we take a step back and think about things, consult our peers (who will have a different perception) and look at things objectively, it may tell us a different story.  At the end of the day, if you do find what you are looking for and you can eliminate these things, it makes this all the more compelling!

References:

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-confirmation-bias-2795024

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11495861/

https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/confirmation-bias

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