Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego
Study: déjà vu is a game of the mind
Just one unconsciously noticed element: grandma’s lamp or a familiar coffee cup is
enough to "infect" our mind and trigger a feeling of déjà vu, according to a study
by Marcin Małecki, doctoral student at the University of Social Sciences and
Humanities.
He demonstrated that déjà vu is the result of a game of the mind.
New place, strange people and strange feeling telling us that we have already seen it? Most of us know the
feeling of déjà vu. Marcin Małecki from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities decided to investigate
the feeling, which some consider evidence of a second life or telepathy, according to the university release sent
to PAP.
"It has never been proven before that déjà vu is the result of a game of the mind, involving the transference of a
sense of familiarity from one object to another" - says Marcin Małecki, who has studied about 200 people and
showed the intricate mechanism of this phenomenon.
The results show that the one familiar element can transfer a sense of familiarity to the whole situation. This
created the feeling that the whole event is familiar, even though objectively we perceive it as new. "Therefore,
in our mind there is the conflict between the feeling of +familiarity+ and the knowledge that we can not know
the situation" - said Małecki.
The experiment proved that one familiar stimulus can "infect" the second previously unknown element. "If you
fly on a fascinating trip to Bora Bora and enter the hotel, where you've never been, the room where you have
never slept, and begin to get the feeling of déjà vu, look for a lamp similar to the one your grandmother had, or
a picture that reminds you of a scene from your childhood. Look for something familiar, because this object
accidentally triggered déjà vu in your mind" - explained the author of the study.
Studies show that the phenomenon of déjà vu can be used in advertising. "Only positively associated items are
likely to anchor in human memory permanently, resulting in a well-functioning commercial message" - reads the
release sent to PAP. Neutral and repeatedly displayed object, anchored in our consciousness, does not make us
start to like it.
The study was conducted as part of the doctoral thesis "Experimental model of déjà vu" under the scientific
supervision of Dr. Jerzy Karyłowski, professor at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland
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