The Role of Cognitive Control in Paranormal Beliefs: A Study Based on Performance in Go/No-Go Task

Abstract

Cognitive control plays a role in human behavior and mental processes, and paranormal beliefs seem to be affected. This study aimed to investigate the role of cognitive control in Paranormal Beliefs using the Go/No-Go Task. Ninety-two people were selected based on low, middle, and high scores in the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale(R-PBS) (Tobacyk, 2004) and were classified into three groups. This produced 30 Severe Paranormal Believers (13 females, mean age 25.3 years), 31 Mild Paranormal Believers (14 females, mean age 26.4 years), and 31 Skeptics (16 females, mean age 25.8 years). All participants were tested on the Go/No Go Task. A multivariate analysis of variance was conducted with the group (Severe Paranormal Believers, Mild Paranormal Believers, and Skeptics) as the independent variable and the Go/No Go subscales scores as dependent variables. The findings show that there is a significant difference between the mean scores in Errors( Go) (F2,89=7.20, p=0.01) , Errors(No- Go) (F2,89=11. 81, p=0.01) and Reaction Time (F2,89=21.46, p=0.01) between the groups. The Severe Paranormal Believers and Mild Paranormal Believers had lower accuracy and slower RT than the Skeptics group. Therefore, Severe Paranormal Believers and Mild Paranormal Believers had a weakness in all Go/No-Go subscale scores. This finding suggests that paranormal beliefs may related to poor cognitive control.