Selective thinking is the term used to describe the process whereby one selects out favorable evidence for remembrance and focus, while ignoring unfavorable evidence for a hypothesis. This kind of thinking is the basis for most beliefs in the psychic powers of so-called mind readers. It is also the basis for many, if not most, occult beliefs, including mind reading, astrology, graphology, and personality tests such as the Myers-Briggs.
James Randi gives the following example of selective thinking. Peter Hurkos was astonishing people with his ability to recite intimate details about their homes and their lives. Two of the persons who had their minds read by Hurkos and who were amazed at his accuracy were invited by Randi to watch a tape of the mind readings. It was "discovered by actual count that this so-called psychic had, on the average, been correct in one out of fourteen of his statements!....Selective thinking had led them to dismiss all the apparent misses and the obviously wrong guesses and remember only the "hits." They were believers who needed this man to be the genuine article, and in spite of the results of this experiment they are still devoted fans of this charlatan." [Flim-Flam! p. 7]
see related articles on cold reading and the Forer effect.
further reading
Randi, James. Flim-Flam! (Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books,1982).