Psychology experts urge caution over ‘ghost’ house

Professors say there are often mundane explanations for reports of paranormal activity

Two of the UK’s leading experts specialising in the psychology of paranormal beliefs have urged caution in the case of a Fife ‘haunted house’.

Perthshire-raised St Andrews University graduate Professor Caroline Watt, who holds Edinburgh University’s Koestler Chair of Parapsychology, and Professor Christopher French, head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at the Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, said there can often be mundane explanations for reports of paranormal activity.

The Courier told yesterday how Fife novelists and part-time ghost hunters Leonard Low and Greg Stewart are investigating paranormal experiences at a former 17th Century flax mill near Kennoway.

The property’s caretaker, members of his family and colleagues have reported incidents including strange noises, TV volume fluctuations and even reports of ghostly apparitions.

Professor Watt, whose research includes near-death studies, says: “Research has shown that people’s expectations can influence how they react to naturally occurring ambiguous sights and sounds in their environment.

“For example, one study by researchers from Illinois University at Springfield took two groups on a tour of a disused theatre.

“One group was told the theatre was haunted, while the other was told it was under renovation.

“Both groups reported unusual sights and sounds, however more intense paranormal-type experiences were reported by the ‘haunted’ group.

“In that study, each group member toured the theatre individually.

“However the same researchers have found evidence to support their theory that fear and anticipation of ghostly experiences can be socially ‘contagious’, leading to an increased number of ‘false perceptions’ of ghosts.”

Professor French, who specialises in conspiracy theories and false memories, said sceptics would be right to accept there are often “mundane explanations” for such incidents.

“Sometimes, just by chance, you’d expect to get a run of such mildly “anomalous” events over a relatively short time period,” he says.

“Some of the events probably have physical explanations – for example, the TV volume fluctuating is probably nothing more than a fault in the equipment.

“The nocturnal apparitions may well be examples of sleep paralysis, a scary but harmless hallucinatory experience that is common in both children and adults.

“As for the ghost-hunters, as your report says, the photograph is ‘inconclusive’.

“In my experience, such people, despite referring to themselves as ‘sceptics’, are in fact true believers desperate to find any evidence, no matter how shaky, to support their belief in the paranormal.” malexander@thecourier.co.uk