Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter One You Have Great Unfulfilled Potential: Cold (Psychic) Reading What is Cold Reading? Tarot Cards Cold Reading and Psychological Science How does it Work? Why does it Work? How Much Does it Cost? Bibliography Chapter Two "They Love you and you know that": Astrology An Overview of Astrology Astrology and Science Bibliography Chapter Three Show me your handwriting and I'll tell you who you are: Graphology Science and Pseudo-Science History of Graphology The Use of Graphology Is Handwriting Truly a Mirror of our Personality? The Validity of Graphology Bibliography Chapter Four Pinocchio's Nose: The Truth behind the Lie-Detector Oops, an Innocent Man has been condemned to Life Imprisonment Lying, Honesty and the Desire to Tell them Apart The Truth will out: A Brief History of the Polygraph The Relevant/Irrelevant Question Test (R/I) The Control (Comparison) Question Test (CQT) The Direct Lie Test (DLT) The Concealed Information Test (CIT) The CQT versus the CIT - where is the Scientific Basis? Accuracy of the CQT versus the CIT The Use of the Polygraph in Screening and Classification Processes The Use of the Integrity Test as an Alternative to the CQT Bibliography Chapter Five "Since Man Cannot Live without Miracles, he will Provide Himself with Miracles of his Own Making": The belief in Practices based on Cold Reading, Mysticism, and Pseudo-Science The Need to Believe Abuse of the need to believe Popular Beliefs Bias in Human Judgment The Clients' Belief The Burden of Doubt and Incertitude The Need to Remove Personal Responsibility The Influence of the Barnum Effect Bias for Positive Evidence Social and Cultural Influences (Conformity) Shifting the Burden of Proof The Practitioners' Belief The Confirmation Bias Illusory Validity Bibliography A Final Word.