Derek Ogilvie
Encyclopedia
Derek Ogilvie is a self-proclaimed psychic medium and self-styled baby mindreader from Paisley, Scotland. He lives in Kilbarchan, near Glasgow.
He performs live shows around Europe in his capacity as a medium and has filmed TV programmes showcasing his talents for Ireland's RTÉ
, where he has appeared weekly on The Afternoon Show, and has recorded Derek Ogilvie - The Baby Whisperer for Dutch Television station RTL4.
children, especially those with autism
.
challenged Ogilvie to prove he has psychic abilities. Ogilvie failed the test.
Ogilvie then flew to Miami, to participate in a controlled laboratory experiment, constructed by skeptic James Randi
, to test for psychic ability. If Ogilvie could correctly guess 6 out of 10 randomized toy choices made by a toddler in another room, then he would have proven his psychic ability to the satisfaction of Randi, thus winning one million dollars. Ogilvie correctly guessed 1 toy choice out of 10, thus failing the test and losing the challenge. A correct guess of 1 out of 10 random toy choices was expected by chance alone.
In a final test, Ogilvie subjected himself to a quantitative electroencephalogram
(QEEG), insisting to Coral Springs psychotherapist and neurofeedback therapist, Dr. Gerald Gluck that Ogilvie was not faking his abilities. Ogilvie pointed to his forehead, saying he thought his ability was related to activity located in the "frontal lobe." Gluck produced charts and graphs that seemed to support the possibility that Ogilvie's brain was sensitive to emotional and non-verbal communication. In the film, Gluck did not interpret the data to mean Ogilvie possessed telepathy or mind reading ability. Gluck did not conclude on the basis of the EEG results that Ogilvie was a mind reader.
He performs live shows around Europe in his capacity as a medium and has filmed TV programmes showcasing his talents for Ireland's RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
, where he has appeared weekly on The Afternoon Show, and has recorded Derek Ogilvie - The Baby Whisperer for Dutch Television station RTL4.
Baby mindreading
According to his website, Derek communicated best with children who have not yet developed talking skills. 'Children who are talking fluently are much harder to connect with telepathically'. His book, The Baby Mindreader is published by HarperElement. Ogilvie claims on his website to have had great success communicating with special needsSpecial needs
In the USA, special needs is a term used in clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. For instance, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International...
children, especially those with autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
.
Scepticism
In 2008, he applied to be a candidate on the 'Five' programme, Extraordinary People: The Million Dollar Mind Reader. In the show, sceptic James RandiJames Randi
James Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...
challenged Ogilvie to prove he has psychic abilities. Ogilvie failed the test.
Film documentary
In the TV documentary, Extraordinary People: The Million Dollar Mind Reader Ogilvie participated in and failed two experiments that tested his claim that he could read babies' minds. In one experiment at Goldsmiths College, London, Ogilvie was tasked to produce some unique knowledge about the baby's parents under conditions where the baby was brought in by a child minder. Ogilvie did not get to meet the parents. In the opinion of the researchers, Ogilvie appeared to cold read the child minder, but failed to produce any valid information pertaining to the baby's parents. Ogilvie failed to demonstrate mind reading ability that test intended to validate. Ogilvie argued that he could only report what the baby was telepathically projecting.Ogilvie then flew to Miami, to participate in a controlled laboratory experiment, constructed by skeptic James Randi
James Randi
James Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...
, to test for psychic ability. If Ogilvie could correctly guess 6 out of 10 randomized toy choices made by a toddler in another room, then he would have proven his psychic ability to the satisfaction of Randi, thus winning one million dollars. Ogilvie correctly guessed 1 toy choice out of 10, thus failing the test and losing the challenge. A correct guess of 1 out of 10 random toy choices was expected by chance alone.
In a final test, Ogilvie subjected himself to a quantitative electroencephalogram
Electroencephalography
Electroencephalography is the recording of electrical activity along the scalp. EEG measures voltage fluctuations resulting from ionic current flows within the neurons of the brain...
(QEEG), insisting to Coral Springs psychotherapist and neurofeedback therapist, Dr. Gerald Gluck that Ogilvie was not faking his abilities. Ogilvie pointed to his forehead, saying he thought his ability was related to activity located in the "frontal lobe." Gluck produced charts and graphs that seemed to support the possibility that Ogilvie's brain was sensitive to emotional and non-verbal communication. In the film, Gluck did not interpret the data to mean Ogilvie possessed telepathy or mind reading ability. Gluck did not conclude on the basis of the EEG results that Ogilvie was a mind reader.