Electronic voice phenomenon

A waveform of white noise plotted on a graph

Within ghost hunting and parapsychology, electronic voice phenomena (EVP) are sounds found on electronic recordings that are interpreted as spirit voices. Parapsychologist Konstantīns Raudive, who popularized the idea in the 1970s, described EVP as typically brief, usually the length of a word or short phrase.^[1]

Enthusiasts consider EVP to be a form of paranormal phenomenon often found in recordings with static or other background noise. Scientists regard EVP as a form of auditory pareidolia (interpreting random sounds as voices in one's own language) and a pseudoscience promulgated by popular culture.^[2]^[3] Prosaic explanations for EVP include apophenia (perceiving patterns in random information), equipment artifacts, and hoaxes.^[4]^[5]

^ Cite error: The named reference bretf was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ William F. Williams (2013). Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: From Alien Abductions to Zone Therapy. Taylor & Francis. pp. 382–. ISBN 978-1-135-95529-8. Archived from the original on 29 April 2018.
^ Anderson, Nicole D. (2015). "Teaching signal detection theory with pseudoscience". Frontiers in Psychology. 6: 762. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00762. PMC 4452803. PMID 26089813.
^ Nees, Michael A.; Phillips, Charlotte (2014). "Auditory Pareidolia: Effects of Contextual Priming on Perceptions of Purportedly Paranormal and Ambiguous Auditory Stimuli". Applied Cognitive Psychology. 29: 129–134. doi:10.1002/acp.3068. S2CID 6024062.
^ Shermer M, Gould SJ (2002). Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time. New York: Holt Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0-8050-7089-7.

[bretf-1] Cite error: The named reference bretf was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Williams2013-2] William F. Williams (2013). Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: From Alien Abductions to Zone Therapy. Taylor & Francis. pp. 382–. ISBN 978-1-135-95529-8. Archived from the original on 29 April 2018.

[Anderson-3] Anderson, Nicole D. (2015). "Teaching signal detection theory with pseudoscience". Frontiers in Psychology. 6: 762. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00762. PMC 4452803. PMID 26089813.

[Applied_Cognitive_Psychology-4] Nees, Michael A.; Phillips, Charlotte (2014). "Auditory Pareidolia: Effects of Contextual Priming on Perceptions of Purportedly Paranormal and Ambiguous Auditory Stimuli". Applied Cognitive Psychology. 29: 129–134. doi:10.1002/acp.3068. S2CID 6024062.

[Shermer-5] Shermer M, Gould SJ (2002). Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time. New York: Holt Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0-8050-7089-7.

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