Protocol for Test of Sally Morgan’s Mediumship

Merseyside Skeptics in association with
Dr Simon Singh and Professor Chris French

Background

We have designed a test for Sally Morgan based on what she does on stage and her previous claims. She has said: “I’ve always worked with photographs, since I was that high. And I’d be taken out on a Sunday to some of my mum and dad’s friends that I used to call uncle and auntie, even though they weren’t. I’d pick photographs up and would just blurp out about the place in the photograph. I’ve always worked with images and maps, and things like that. So people give me them!” Also, during Sally’s stage shows, the audience are encouraged to hand in photos. Sally apparently randomly takes a photo out of a box on stage, sees the person who provided the photo in the audience, and is then apparently immediately able to communicate with the spirit in the photo. This is why we have chosen to ask Sally to match names to pictures of deceased individuals. This challenge is something that fits her own description of her own ability. We hope that this test gives her the best possible opportunity to prove her claimed mediumistic ability under controlled conditions.

The test is very simple. Sally will be given ten pictures of deceased individuals and a list of first names corresponding to those individuals. Her task will be to match each picture with the corresponding name. To be deemed to have passed the test, Sally must correctly identify at least seven of the ten individuals. The test will be carried out under double-blind conditions.

Full details of the test will be provided to Sally in advance. If she is willing to take part in the test, she must publicly state before the test begins that she believes it to be a fair test of her claimed mediumistic abilities and she must also sign a written statement to that effect.

Details of Protocol

Sally will be given 10 good quality (i.e. recognisable by anyone familiar with that person) A5-sized black and white copies of photos of deceased individuals (all women, all aged over 50, all died since 1991, all similar ethnicity). She will also be given 10 first names, all different, and in each case the name will be that by which the photographed individual was most commonly known. She will attempt to match the names to the pictures. The individuals who provided the photographs will be present in the room during the test. Before Sally Morgan enters the room and before the formal test begins, they, along with anyone else involved in setting up the test who knows the identity of any of the individuals in the photographs, will be instructed to go to the back of the room and sit facing away from the test space. The test will be administered by Professor Chris French, who will have no knowledge of the identity of the people in the photographs.

The test space will be at the front of the room, and Sally will have a simple table and chair. Prof French will sit nearby, conducting the test and observing the proceedings. All of the pictures, in a random order sealed in an envelope with the words “TEST STIMULI” clearly written on the front, will be kept by an individual, who will not be conducting the test itself. This individual will hand the envelope to Prof French at the start of the test. This envelope will also contain ten sheets of paper with a different name written clearly on each sheet – the name sheets will be in alphabetical order. The individual will also hand Prof French a second sealed envelope, which he will place in full view at this point with the word “ANSWERS” written clearly on the front. This envelope will contain a sheet with copies of all ten photographs presented, each labelled with the corresponding name of the person in the photograph. This sealed envelope will remain in full view throughout the test and will not be opened until the scoring phase.

At the start of the test, Professor French will open the TEST STIMULI envelope and further shuffle the picture sheets. He will then hand the picture sheets and name sheets to Sally. Sally will be instructed not to mention the names or describe the people in the pictures or interact with anyone in the room (except Professor French) during the test. She will be asked to place the name sheet that corresponds to the pictured individual on the picture itself. No other information about the person is required and any such information will be ignored during the scoring phase if provided. She will be instructed that she can change her mind at any point if she so chooses up until the end of test. Sally will be instructed that if she has no idea of the name of the person in a picture she should make her best effort at matching.

It is envisaged that, given the speed with which Sally appears to be able to contact spirits using photographs during her stage show, the test should only take around 20 minutes for her to complete. However, she may take up to an hour if required. Once she indicates that she has completed this phase of the task, Prof French will go through all of the sheets with her and the name sheets will be stapled to the matched pictures to avoid any subsequent misunderstanding.. He will then open the “ANSWERS” envelope and tally the total number of correct responses obtained. Sally will sit next to him and observe the scoring procedure throughout. The result of the test will then be announced.

The entire proceedings will be video-recorded and Sally will be provided with a complete unedited record of the proceedings should she request one.

This protocol has been drawn up in consultation with the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), which has endorsed this as a special “Psychic Celebrity Invitational pre-Million Dollar Challenge”. Passing the test protocol outlined above will not win her the $1 million prize, but crucially it will allow Sally to apply for the formal JREF $1 Million Challenge and cooperate with JREF on a protocol that will suit both parties.

If Sally is able to match 7 (or more) out of 10 names to pictures, then this will be deemed a significant result with respect to qualifying for formal discussions leading to taking the $1 Million Challenge.