- Couple the re-release of "The Exorcist" and
the up-coming Halloween broadcast of "Possessed," a TV documentary
about a purported exorcism in a mental hospital, and you've got a prescription
for a sudden jump in the number reported demonic possessions.
-
- "Quite a number of people who watch these exorcism
films will be affected and develop symptoms of hysteria. These films will
be a full-employment bill for exorcists," said Elizabeth Loftus, a
University of Washington psychologist and memory expert.
-
- Loftus recently completed a demonic possession study
that is to be published in The Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied.
She conducted the study with Giuliana Mazzoni, a Seton Hall University
psychology professor and a UW visiting scholar, and Irving Kirsch, a University
of Connecticut psychology professor. The research demonstrated that nearly
one-fifth of those who previously said that demonic possession was not
very plausible and that as children they had not witnessed a possession
later said possession was more plausible and they may have witnessed one.
These changes in belief and memory were accomplished in several steps.
Subjects read several short articles that described demonic possession
and suggested it was more common than believed. Later they were asked to
list their fears and then were told that witnessing a possession during
childhood caused those fears.
-
- "When you realize what we did with a few stories
and a suggestion and then think of the very vivid depictions that are in
these movies, I know these films are going to have a very powerful effect,"
Loftus said. The publication of the book "The Exorcist" in 1971
and the film's release at the end of 1973 generated reams of publicity
and a mini-epidemic of people requesting exorcisms, she added. Loftus will
talk about demonic possession and the results of the study in a campus
seminar on Halloween. In the study, the researchers recruited nearly 200
college students in Italy, where the idea of demonic possession is considered
somewhat more plausible than it is in the United States. All of the students
initially rated possession as highly implausible. They also had strong
beliefs that they had not witnessed one as a child.
-
- The researchers conducted three experiments. In the first
and key experiment, students filled out questionnaires that rated the plausibility
of a number of events and asked about their life experiences. Students
were divided into three groups, two of which were exposed to a plausibility
manipulation a month later. The two groups were given a series of 12 short
articles to read. Among the articles given to the first or "possession"
group were three that promoted the idea that demonic possession is quite
common in Italy and that many children witnessed such events. They also
described typical possession experiences. The second or "almost choked"
group was given three similar articles to read about choking. The third
or control group was not exposed to the manipulation.
-
- A week later the first two groups filled out questionnaires
about their fears, such as being afraid of spiders. Then the students were
told that their individual "fear profiles" signaled that they
probably had witnessed a possession or had almost choked in early childhood.
After another week these students and the control group filled out the
original two questionnaires. The researchers found that the manipulation
not only increased feelings of reality about an already plausible event,
"almost choked," but also of an initially implausible event "witnessed
possession." More important, according to Loftus, 18 percent of the
students now believed that the events had probably happened to them. There
was no change in the control group.
-
- The other two experiments tested variations of the manipulation.
-
- Loftus said the three experiments tell a consistent story.
When people are exposed to a series of articles describing a relatively
implausible phenomenon, such as witnessing a possession, they believe the
phenomenon is not only more plausible but also are less confident that
they had not experienced it in childhood.
-
- "We are looking at the first steps on the path down
to creating a false memory," said Loftus. "There is controversy
about whether you can plant memories about events that are unlikely to
happen. As humans we are capable of developing memories of ideas that other
people think occurred. Just being exposed to credible information can lead
you down this path. This shows why people watching Oprah or those in group
therapy believe these kinds of things happened to them. People borrow memories
from others and adopt them as their own experiences. It is part of the
normal process of memory." In addition, she said the study reinforces
the idea that therapists need to be careful in using potentially suggestive
procedures that could change a patient's perceived likelihood of unremembered
events. These include UFO abductions, serious trauma suffered in a past
life, or participating in or witnessing satanic rituals (common elements
in abuse claims).
-
- "This study can help us understand how you can take
normal people and create this kind of effect - make demonic possession
seem plausible," Loftus said. "It normalizes this process and
shows it can happen to a lot of people, not only to those who are considered
to be 'kooks.'"
-
-
- Note: This story has been adapted from a news release
issued by University Of Washington for journalists and other members
of the public. If you wish to quote from any part of this story, please
credit University Of Washington as the original source. You may also
wish to include the following link in any citation:
-
- http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/10/001018073952.htm
-
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