Hot Reading
From SkepticWiki
[edit] Definition
Hot Reading refers to giving a seance or other exhibition of psychic power in which the psychic has researched beforehand the details he or she is expected to supply, by researching the dead relatives of prospective suckers, studying newspaper obituaries and other public documentation on the recently deceased, examining graveyards for recent tombstones, and exchanging information with other mediums, or even buying it. Nowadays, presumably, the Internet is also a useful tool for this purpose.
[edit] Discussion
The phrase "hot reading" distiguishes this technique from cold reading, in which information is fished from the audience by the psychic and then recounted back to them. Unlike the cold reader, the hot reader must be perfectly conscious of his or her fraud.
One interesting modern technique of hot reading, suited to the television age, is breathtaking in its simplicity. This is to ask audience members, before the show, for details of the person they wish to communicate with. During the show the medium can repeat the information: "You want to talk to a lady called Daisy? Your grandmother? Passed over within the last six months or so? Her mesage is 'Susan,' --- your name is Susan, isn't it? --- 'Susan, I'm very happy here'." From the point of view of the audience member, the medium is merely confirming that she's got the right person, and has done nothing special; but from the viewpoint of the television audience, the psychic is getting "hits" at a rate which cannot be explained by cold reading.
