Uploaded July 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This activity is simply amazing -- and I have had excellent feedback every time I have used it. The first part of this audio clip contains the instructions. Students are asked to imagine they are walking in the woods. They are then asked to make brief notes of what the scene is like and to describe various items. This is supposed to reveal something about their 'inner self'.
In the second part, we have a short recording from a phone-in radio programme. The listener tells the host about how he imagined the whole experience and the host tries to analyse his personality on the basis of his responses. The way he does this is a perfect illustration of the Forer Effect. Students (in pairs) can take it in turns to do the same for their partner. There are a number of variations of this idea which can be found on the internet if one googles 'Personality -- A Walk in the Woods'.
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
This activity is simply amazing -- and I have had excellent feedback every time I have used it. The first part of this audio clip contains the instructions. Students are asked to imagine they are walking in the woods. They are then asked to make brief notes of what the scene is like and to describe various items. This is supposed to reveal something about their 'inner self'.
In the second part, we have a short recording from a phone-in radio programme. The listener tells the host about how he imagined the whole experience and the host tries to analyse his personality on the basis of his responses. The way he does this is a perfect illustration of the Forer Effect. Students (in pairs) can take it in turns to do the same for their partner. There are a number of variations of this idea which can be found on the internet if one googles 'Personality -- A Walk in the Woods'.
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
