hypersensory perception (HSP)

A term coined by Theodore Schick, Jr. and Lewis Vaughn  to describe what some people mistakenly call intuition (1998: 116). A person with HSP is very observant and perceptive, and may appear to be psychic. Some mentalists either have HSP or use magic to appear to have it, e.g. Banacheck and Marc Salem. The hypersensitive may be adept at reading body language or simply be more attentive to detail than most people. He or she may pick up subtle behavioral cues, cues that are unconsciously given. He or she may be very sensitive to facial clues that reveal emotions. Nonverbal influence can be quite profound and has been demonstrated in a number of psychological experiments (Rosenthal 1998).

See also Clever Hans phenomenon, cold reading, and experimenter effect.

Jo Ellen Demetrius Reads Body Language

further reading

Ekman Paul & Erika L. Rosenberg, eds. 1997. What The Face Reveals: Basic and Applied Studies of Spontaneous Expression Using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). Oxford University Press.

Gladwell, Malcolm. 2007. Blink: the Power of Thinking without Thinking. Back Bay Books.

Rosenthal, Robert. 1998. "Covert Communication in Classrooms, Clinics, and Courtrooms," Eye on Psi Chi. Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 18-22.

Schick, Jr., Theodore and Lewis Vaughn. How to Think About Weird Things 5th ed. (McGraw-Hill 2007).

Last updated 27-Oct-2015