Suspending My Disbelief: The Barnum Effect

In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true either is true or becomes true.
-John Lilly

The assignment required me to assess the possible outcome of the Barnum Effect on people by means of performing a simple experiment entitled The Person-Tree Test. The test was relatively simple: I looked for a participant, and given a pencil and a sheet of paper, I allowed my participant to freely draw a person and a tree, saying that the said drawing will more or less reflect his personality. Upon receiving the accomplished sheet of paper, I asked my participant to wait awhile for 30 minutes as I “evaluate” his work. I returned to him after the said time, his “personality assessment”, which consists of 6 general statements I have copied verbatim from a reading, at hand. I gave him the sheet of paper, and as he reads his “personality sketch”, surprisingly, he nods in total agreement.
The exercise required a participant who has not taken Psych 101 (the Introductory Ps...