CPI CPI Witness Psychology & Debunking

Question 1

What is 'pareidolia' and why is it relevant to paranormal investigation?

Accepted Answer

The brain's tendency to perceive familiar patterns (like faces) in random stimuli, which can produce false paranormal evidence

Answer

A type of EMF interference pattern

Answer

A classification of EVP audio artifact

Answer

A legal term for trespassing on investigation sites

Question 2

Which factor most significantly affects the reliability of a witness's paranormal account?

Accepted Answer

The time elapsed between the experience and when it was reported, along with the witness's emotional state

Answer

The witness's age and physical fitness

Answer

Whether the witness has a college degree

Answer

The number of social media followers the witness has

Question 3

What is the 'ideomotor effect' and how can it influence paranormal investigation results?

Accepted Answer

Unconscious muscular movements that cause devices like dowsing rods or talking boards to move without conscious intent

Answer

A camera lens distortion that creates orb artifacts

Answer

A type of infrasound resonance in old buildings

Answer

A method of mapping electromagnetic hotspots

Question 4

When interviewing a witness who is visibly distressed, what is the best CPI approach?

Accepted Answer

Allow the witness to calm down, use open-ended non-leading questions, and document their account without suggesting answers

Answer

Skip the interview and rely on physical evidence only

Answer

Ask leading questions to speed up the interview

Answer

Immediately tell the witness their home is haunted to validate their feelings

Question 5

What is 'confirmation bias' and how should a CPI investigator guard against it?

Accepted Answer

The tendency to favor information that confirms pre-existing beliefs, guarded against by applying consistent skeptical analysis to all evidence

Answer

A tendency to disbelieve all witness reports

Answer

A bias toward expensive investigation equipment

Answer

A preference for nighttime investigations over daytime ones

Question 6

Which psychological phenomenon can cause multiple witnesses to report the same paranormal experience after hearing each other's accounts?

Accepted Answer

Social contagion / suggestion, where one person's account influences others' memory and perception

Answer

Mass hypnosis

Answer

Collective ESP

Answer

Synchronized biorhythms among the witnesses