There is a close linkage between memory, thought patterns, human perception, and why we believe we have had supernatural and paranormal experiences and encounters. Some scholars have suggested that cognitive biases that distort perception and memory are at the foundation of many paranormal beliefs (Goode 2012: 296).

Memory, Cognition, and Supernatural and Paranormal Ideation

One such set of cognitive biases are “quick and dirty rules of thumb” called heuristics (see Kahneman 2011: 97– 195). These allow us to rapidly sift through messy, random, and ambiguous data and arrive at workable solutions. There are several such rules. The “representative heuristics” permit us to recognize patterns and categorize data by assessing the similarities between objects and events according to some common striking attribute. Thus, when trying to determine cause-and-effect relationships, we use such guidelines as “like goes with like” or “big events must have big causes.” Another set of rules is known as the “availability heuristics” and entail the tendency to use past examples or events that come to mind immediately to render judgments in a current situation, such as using a recently viewed paranormal television show to explain an anomalous event one has encountered (French and Stone 2014: 126).