Jameel Ahmed Bios 101-Sonny Bleicher October 12, 2011 Medieval Science Lab Introduction The modern belief in the supernatural power of crystals probably stemmed from alchemical beliefs since alchemy's focus was on the idea that a substance's metaphysical power can be transferred from one object to another. Folk beliefs, on the other hand, were ideas that were similar in nature to that of alchemy, but were usually spread through word of mouth. The idea of some objects bringing fortune is based on folk belief. When dealing with objects such as lucky charms or substances, an experiment can be conducted to test whether or not these objects can change outcomes. It has also been believed that these supernatural powers reside as psychic capsules within people everywhere. Experiment 1 tests the hypothesis that we have some psychic power to correctly guess the right cards. Therefore, the null hypothesis is that our “psychic abilities” do not have any affect on us guessing the correct card. If this paradigm is …show more content…
Astrology is based on celestial bodies and its influence on people. Whether or not astrology works is still largely unknown. Astrology is generally agreed to rarely make falsifiable predictions, but when it can be tested, the predictions are no more correct than random guessing . One part of astrology that can be tested is the predictive power of horoscopes. Horoscopes are the simplest form of astrological prediction based only on a person's zodiac sign. Zodiac signs are based on the position of the sun at the time of birth of the person (HowStuffWorks, What is Astrology). Experiment 2 tests the hypothesis that horoscopes cannot predict a person's future. Therefore, the null hypothesis is that horoscopes can predict the future. If this paradigm is valid we should see that the outcomes predicted by the horoscopes are not correctly matched with the person's description of their