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Natasha Demkina

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Natasha Demkina (Russian: Наталья Демкина; born 1987) is a female from Saransk, Russia, who claims to possess a special vision that allows her to look inside human bodies and see organs and tissues, and thereby make medical diagnoses. Since the age of ten, she has performed readings in Russia. In 2004 she appeared on television shows in the United Kingdom and on the Discovery Channel.

Since 2004 Demkina is a full-time student of the Semashko State Stomatological University, Moscow.

Discovery Channel Appearance

In May 2004 she was brought to New York City by the Discovery Channel to appear on a documentary titled The Girl with X-Ray Eyes,[1] and to be tested by researchers under partially controlled conditions. The preliminary test was arranged by Ray Hyman and Richard Wiseman of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) and Andrew Skolnick of the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health (CSMMH). The test required Demkina to correctly match six specified anatomical anomalies resulting from surgery to six volunteer subjects and one "normal" control. [2]

The test was designed to look only for a strongly pronounced ability. The researchers believed that a weak and erratic effect would be useless for medical diagnosis, but would still be of theoretical interest. Because of a lack of resources and time, the researches chose to test only for a strong effect. In addition, the influence of the "Clever Hans effect" cannot be ruled out under the lax conditions of the preliminary test.[2]. Demkina and the investigators had agreed before the test that the threshold would be 5 of 7 correct identifications.[2]

In the 4-hour-long test, Demkina correctly identified four subjects, including the control subject. The researchers concluded that she had not demonstrated evidence of an ability that would warrant their further study.[3][4] The design and conclusions of the experiment were subsequently the subjects of considerable dispute between Demkina's supporters and those of the investigators.[5][6]

In the Discovery Channel program[1], Demkina offered a number of explanations for why she failed to see the specified conditions in three of the subjects and reported seeing those conditions in three wrong subjects. She said that she should have looked longer and deeper to find the subject who has a metal plate covering a missing section of his skull, even though the outline of the large metal plate could be seen beneath the scalp from up close. She said surgical scars interfered with her ability to see the resected esophagus and removed appendix, though the the researchers countered that those surgical scars should have helped her identify the correct subjects, . Demkina also claimed that appendixes can grow back after an appendectomy, a claim the investigators dismissed as untrue.[1][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c The Discovery Channel, 2004, The Girl with X-Ray Eyes
  2. ^ a b c Hyman R, Skeptical Inquirer, May 2005, Testing Natasha
  3. ^ a b Skolnick AA, Skeptical Inquirer, May 2005, Testing Natasha: The Girl with Normal Eyes
  4. ^ Hyman R, CSICOP, Statistics and the Test of Natasha
  5. ^ CSMMH, Answer to Critics
  6. ^ Scientists fail to see eye to eye over girl's "X-ray vision", Times Higher Ed. Supp., 10 Dec 2004
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