First, there has been lots of press recently about the new Bem ESP study that will be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Lots of people are saying that they are going to try to replicate the study and so it is important that they pre-register their experiments. For that reason, we have started a registry of experiments here. If you know anyone who might be doing this work, please bring the registry to their attention. Many thanks.
It’s inkblot time again! I am always fascinated to discover how people see different things when they look at an inkblot. So, take a look at this and tell me what you see….
Post your thoughts in the comments below and let’s see what common themes emerge, and therefore how strange you are!
Richard Wiseman 
A sheep’s head with two rabbits on either side.
Same for me.
Me too
Me too. Looking longer, I saw a couple of pigs (looking like the space captain pig muppet in the ‘Pigs In Space’ skit), and a few faces
me too!
I see a rabbit on the left and right with a flower or ice cream cone in the middle.
Ice cream cone.
A sheep’s head.
i agree
I see a bear and two bunnies. Yay, bunnies!
That’s what I saw
A poodle between two rabbits.
I see a big bear thing giving the rocker fists out : \../ ^^ \../
Yeah – I’m also seeing the fists, but more of a surfer’s Hang 10 (http://bit.ly/dgj1T4), with a shouting face in the middle.
me too, bear face & fists
I saw the fists, but it looked like a goat/demon to me. Awesome.
The Bee Gees! Spicks and specks 🙂
A rams skull with two chocolate easter bunnies on either side.
It’s a sheep – at least in the middle. After some more work I found the two dots on either side were bunnies, rather oddly floating in midair and looking at the sheep.
Kabuki player
A woman thrusting both fists out, fingers pointed rocker style.
I see a goat looking animal in the center with a crown on its head and a mouse on each side of it and the bottom the of ink blot looks like either the goats nick or another mini face bellow it
Yup, I’m another sheep’s head seeing fellow.
Bunnies lining up to commune with the lion Buddha.
rabbits on the side, alien or skull at bottom, all seeing eye on the top
I see a sort of doll-like (but humanoid) face holding up two fists or flags.
That’s a Gremlin I think.
I see the sheep and bunnies, too.
Jeff Goldblum in “The Fly.”
a teddybear with two bunnies.
I see a Mother bear/animal figure with her arms toward me in a gesture of embrace. Two disfigured faintly humanoid guardians flank her, each bearing what looks like a club. Hmmm… Club/Cub/Bear/Mother/Violence/Embrace/ No need to page Dr. Freud or Jung on this one where I’m concerned. Making my reservation at Bellevue now.
A frog and he is pointing his index finger and pinky at me.
And there is another frog sitting on a chair inbetween his legs.
I see 2 rabbits either side of a dog, with an extra eye on top of its head 🙂
I see the Queen of Hearts. Crown, nostrils, eyes, odd hair, ruffled collar, her friends the White Rabbit and the March Hare to either side. Very Alice.
I can see the same things and I thought that was alice inkblot
I see the Queen of Hearts too, though didn’t get the rabbits. I just saw them as an extension of her collar
A beer company logo??
penis
Gnarles Barkley – Crazy. Although i don’t say that to make a joke, that is genuinly the first thing i thought of.. but looking at it again, some sort of dog with a beard. Normal? Lol
Sheep#s head
Charlie Chaplin in the lower spot
A teddy bear that is reaching out for a hug.
I see the Rebel fleet setting off to attack the Death Star.
Snap!
Two bunnies on the sides. A teddy bear towards the top. A dog with arms stretched and legs close, in the middle.
An Aztec priestess surrounded by two bunnies.
It looks like a partial outline of a giant moth
A rather nice sheep with a bouffant hairdo looking through foliage
Sheep face, with detatched ears 🙂
I see the face of a giraffe with a mullet, surprised by the two chocolate bunnies that have inexplicably materialised either side of it.
A bear between two mice! 🙂
Is it ok if I saw nothing at first? I literally just saw it as a series of dots/blots.
You should seek medical help immediately!
Ok, kidding. Me neither. I had to stair at it for a while before form a pattern out of it. Then I saw this creep insect head in the negative space.
A bear with two rabbits one on each side
A wolf and bunnies
I see nothing more or less than a suggestion of the old Dr Who titles…
Papa & baby panda with 2 small, fat men watching.
I never see anything but distorted CT scans of abdomen. 😦
Two rabbits either side of a bearded guy in a carnival style head-dress.
A fat cat sitting on the base of its spine, showing its tummy, and two big mice or rabbits – one each side.
That’s what I get – a cat lying on its back, legs splayed, and two cartoon-style mice with big ears looking at it.
It looks like the mask from that super hero Rorschach.
In quick succesion a skull, a clown’s heard, and the face of a man with a pointed beard (probably from a playing card) surrounded by some unidentifiable black blots
two mice on both sides of a rose in a vase
I see a woman dancer doing a plie, with large rabbits on her left and right sides.
vagina/sheep
Totally a sheep. I saw the bunnies on either side on second look.
a sonogram of a fetus, frog in suits and two bunnies, an old woman’s face..
A woman with crown who cries, and 2 bunnies.
A psychology test.
I see an Oriental woman with a dwarf with a large nose, there are two of them, one on each side of her looking out 🙂
A furry, agitated hamster with wings…
A king throne with decoration and two guardians.
A lion
1) some creature crawling downward in the middle
2) a frontal dogs face in the bottom
3) two bunnies on the left and right
or
A picture of roses made monochrome with the computer settings set very badly.
A sheeps head, facing me
An old, gnarly man with a wild hair and a beard. And two rabbits.
Two rabbits having a gossip around a dead mans decapitated head.
Two mice on their hind legs, looking at a cow’s head. The cow is consuming a doll, head first, and has got to its thighs. Its legs are hanging out of the cow’s mouth.
I see a bear holding 2 rabbits
Jez! Nice one Geoff!
I just got the two rabbits, but with a camel’s head in the middle.
It reminds me greatly of the end boss of a game I played about 15 years ago called The Illusion of Gaia. You can see a picture of what I’m talking about here.
a woman with her hands out…so basically a powerpuff girl front on
The Mad Hatter in the centre flanked by two approaching white rabbits
I’m with the sheep and rabbit crowd
Ok, that link didn’t work. Try this link or just look up “Illusion of Gaia Dark Gaia” and you’ll see what I mean.
An owl with open wings.
I see Jimi Hendrix giving me the thumbs up.
two ladies leaning forward and kissing the claws of a lobster. there is definitely a lobster in the middle of this picture. unmistakable.
a dragon, two big-nose dwarfs, and a man who look like a cat with big eyebrows below the dragon
Pelvis
Definitely the happy head of a lamb in between two dancing rats. Isn’t that what everyone sees?
a frog or a geisha
2 rabbits playing marbles.
A teddybear with a lizard’s tail, and two rabbits on either side.
Alternatively, a mushroom cloud.
A super hero with a cape and his bunny sidekicks…
Teddy bear flasher (with his trench coat open either side of him)
I can see two teddy bears and two rabbits!
A poodle-sheep escorted by two mice (or a demi-god with 2 sets of horns)
I just see a sheep’s head
Bunnies on the side, and a female face in the middle.
A dog or sheep face
Kind of see a dog with a rose on its head with 2 big blocks (maybe rabbits?) to each side of it.
Or boring answer: I see black and white pixels 😛
A ram’s skull. Or a vagina, obviously.
I saw just the sheep’s head looking straight at me!
In the middle image I see a Shogun in battle armor. The images on his left and right are nothing to me. I stare and stare and nothing comes to me, they just look blobs of ink.
It looks like 2 mice either side of a racoon, after beimg run over by an HGV.
It’s a sheep, but with hands instead of hooves, and beside his face he is throwing the rock horns. It is a rock and roll sheep.
I see bunnies, three of them, with the one in the middle putting on a samurai helmet.
Cat pouncing on 2 mice!
a big bear with arms streched out saying goooood! with thumbs up!
its an explosion with two aliens watching and waiting
A Queen Bee
A satyr wearing one of those Russian fur hats and pointing 2 handguns
When I look at these, all I see – not being facetious – are inkblots.
When looking at these things I always tend to view the black parts as the background and the white parts as the foreground, hence I look for the patterns in the white parts. Prior to this example I’ve always seen *something* using this method but this time? Nothing.
I’m seeing the head of a sheep and a standing rabbit on each side.
It’s the teddy bear’s picnic, in which the teddy bears, sitting on opposite sides of the table, have artistically laid out the food in the shape of a larger teddy bear.
shaun the sheep! XD
Well, a sheep head and the baby sheep from “Shaun the Sheep” at both sides…
I see a Frog (soft toy) in the middle and a rabbit on each side.
Saw a sheep’s face.
A king charles spaniel
A frog with its two fingers pointing towards me!
Teddy bear with arms outstretched but facing towards you, with thumbs up
two clowns’ Heads facing each other, or a kind of insect face, or three figures facing each other, or a barely dressed femal having tow bellybuttons, or an insect face, or the black spot on top at the midde seem to be some kind of mite crawling upward… barely can integrate the black spots at the left and the right
Two rabbits on either side of a shape that just plain refuses to fit any conceptual model in my head. This is strange, because I usually get quite strong pareidolia.
I see a face in the centre, a girl’s face with a crown on. On a second look she seems to have a beard! With two blobs either side of her.
Rorschach’s face.
A woman wearing a head dress (more like an angry tribal goddess) dancing in the centre. I see two bunnies on either sides too 🙂
A lions head, or maybe a little kittys’ 🙂
A teddy bear
A small bear, a cuddly one too.
Two mice looking at a dandelion.
I see a goat looking straight forward with a rabbit, looking inward, on either side.
Koala Bear wanting a cuddle
A sheeps head and two splodges I cannot decipher on either side. Is that why I killed all those people?
Immediate first thought (which is what these tests are based on): a sheep looking at me head-on.
two mice and a fat-tailed gopher
2 lesbians kissing
sheep or dog looking at me or a kitten dancing
A sheep looking towards me. A tree on the sides.
Dancing sheep
Snake spitting globs of venom which appear large because of the POV.
I see a woman in the middle with a hat and two rabbits on each side
I see mice watching a gig at Glastonbury…
Freud’s father, naked.
MOTHER. I meant to say ‘Freud’s Mother’…
Two bunnies in a field of flowers.
Goat with his hooves up, possibly at gunpoint.
2 suspended alienoid figures (one on each side); a body spread out in the shape of an X and a face (of a man?) beneath that
Sheep’s head
An owl pointing two automatic pistols.
A poodle’s face.
I see two mice, and between it I see a female Alien.
:S
A ram
A bear with it’s arms outstretched and fingers pointing in a kind of ‘Yo Dude’ position!
I see a black sheep pointing two guns at me!
i see the fat tailed gopher now too
2 rabbits and a not very happy sheep
A flesh-eating dragon with two lilabyrds on each side
I see Garfield with a dog in front and 2 rabbits either side
Two mice looking at a dead flat cat ? .. possibly run over by a truck
An open legged bear sided by 2 mice
I see a sheep with two hand grenade-shaped foghorns.
It’s a sheep that has just won a beauty pageant. It’s wearing a crown, make-up and is quite disturbing. There is a dwarf on either side, facing away from the sheep. They are wearing belts and have their hands clasped behind their backs.
Fist impression is a sheep looking face on. Then that with two black rabbits either side. There is then a dog’s (?) face straight on under the sheep’s chin.
This all with a second or two – not prolonged examination
Queen giving the thumbs up!
First I saw rabbits in a field of flowers.
Then, looking more closely, a demonic skull, that brings to mind both the aliens from the”Predator series” and the dinosaur triceratops
It’s a sheep and it’s looking right at me!
I see a man with a beard or goatee, rasta hair, fisted hands, with the index finger of each hand pointing towards me.
At first glance it looked like a coat of arms. You know, heraldry sort of stuff.
Two mice sitting on some thing trying to work up their courage to dissect an outstretched dead baby tiger
In the white space in the middle, there’s a lobster, which is resting on seaweed with rocks either side.
Otherwise an evil teddy bear wearing body armour and firing pistols with a friend either side each wearing an ammo belt while firing a rocket launcher.
at last! somebody else saw the lobster
now i am convinced that i am sane
The first thing I saw was a sheep’s face
I see two cartoon bears blowing trumpets and between them the face of a very large lion. (It’s possible that this interpretation is informed by the fact that I read aloud three chapters of Prince Caspian for bedtime story last night…)
Looks like a panda bear about to give me a hug
Two rabbits staring at a vase of flowers.
I didn’t see the sheep’s head at all until I’d read some of the comments and looked again.
A lions head, but he’s looking at the camera and with two hands up pointing at the audience… or… is he pointing at me?… something like this guy: http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/10893574/2/istockphoto_10893574-hey-you-happy-excited-young-guy-pointing-at-camera.jpg
I saw a sheeps head with a rabbit sitting on either side.
My first impression is of a Mardi-Gras or harlequin-type mask
in the middle a sheep
A lion pouncing out at the viewer, er, me. Something tells me that’s not a healthy response.
A teddy bear reaching out for a hug with great big hands.
I saw an Aztec headdress-wearing person (apparently with two belly buttons and a bow tie, on closer inspection) with outstretched arms, the hands reaching for me. Have I watched one too many horror movies?
I only quickly glanced at it but I saw something which looked like a sheep/goat.
I see an old lady with her hands reaching toward me (in kind of a rock star fashion).
A Hindu goddess.
If I stare right at the middle, a picture of a bird bath forms, like the one with the dalmatian among dots.
I see a rottweiler wearing a tiara, with his paws up on either side of his head. I imagine the dog has jumped up against the window, trying to look out, and we are seeing it from the other side of the window.
A rabbit on either side of a cow wearing lipstick with a teddy bear on top of it and Charlie Chaplain at the bottom, really I can see all kind of images. I also see two faces on either side of the cow. The interesting thing is that when I turned the picture (?) upside down I saw the same images inverted; not a different set of images. Now I wonder what would happen if the inkblot had been shown upside down. Would I have seen different images? Interesting to see that lots of others saw similar images to me.
I see some kind of anthropomorphized dog, staring back at you ready for a fight.
I see a bear trying to hug me with its distorted paws.
First thing that came to mind? … Vagina. Seriously.
A sheep…
The face of a billy goat, looking straight at me.
It’s a really really bad image of a woman with those little pursed super red lips with flowers all around her head leaning on Charlie Chaplin.
Definitely a sheep “throwing the horns” rocker style.
Two mice looking at a human like figure which is bending it’s legs.
At first glance, it looked like a map of the world to me.
two rabbits
a rose (top center)
two dolphins (bellow the rose)
beetle (below center)
Two mutant rabbits staring at a nuclear explosion. Don’t ask why, I have no idea.
a sheep with an affection for metal giving the horns sign
I see a man down and a middle-aged woman with two arms upon the man
Geisha with a face on her chin and two rabbits, one each side
two rabbits and a cow
A fairy (my daughter, 4 and 1/2)
Footprints (my son, two and 1/2) (also did a lovely little hand sign)
I think it is itchy the mouse putting scratchy into a mincer that is next to a mirror. *whirr crunch whirr splat*
a little white alien (in the middle)
I see a woman holding a pane of glass and blowing a kiss against said glass. The blots on the sides are her hands holding the glass.
a sheep with two thumbs up
A smiling devil of some kind with huge hands giving a thumbs up to left and right while standing on a tiny skate board.
PS – sorry, not a thumbs up. He has his index and little finger extended towards the viewer, rapper style.
Am I odd? No-one else saw Billy Connolly?
I see a cow’s head with two identical moustachiod(sp?) women on either side kissing it’s nose
I see a poodle with poodle ears.
I see a cat in the middle surrounded by two mice
A bee in the middle, a rabbit on either side
I see a bear holding out its arms for a cuddle
A queen, with a bunny whispering in each ear.
Goatse!
two bunnies going to a tree
A poodle emerges from the middle… Widen the focus and… He’s giving a massive double thumbs up. Right on, dawg!
A lion face with a crown on its head, pointing his index fingers (yeah fingers…) forward in a party-fashioned way.
Two rabbits on either side of an evil teddy bear which is spreading its legs.
Bear and two rabbits for me
The queen has found two rabbits in her cupboard and is holding them up demanding to know how they got there.
A girl in a hat holding her hands up in celebration of something.
An owl. Maybe a bug.
A Rorschach test
a Rorschach test
It may sound weird, but I see a biology textbook-style of the female reproductive system. The two outlying oval blotches are the ovaries. Wow… that sounds even weirder now that I type it out.
a bear with two arms outstretched with it’s fingers doing the heavy metal horns.
with breasts… (Armageddon joke)
vagina of course, what else could it possibly be?
A tiger pouncing straight at me.
A badger reaching out for a hug.
Two mice looking at a stuffed toy bear.
It reminds me of Hathor, the cow-headed goddess from Ancient Egypt
It’s the MCP from Tron.
I see a woman holding out her arms for a hug.
That’s rude!!!
I see a sheep leaping forward with its front feet.
A dalmatian looking at me. Could be a sheep too, but saw the dalmatian first.
I’ve deliberately not read the other comments, so I’ve no idea what others ‘see’ at this point. My first take is a standing figure with a teddy-bear head, tiny legs and outstretched paws (hence size). Now I’ll read the other posts to find out how weird I am!
Er… two rabbits either side of a giant doll’s face but I had to really stare to see anything much in the middle one.
Two dancing bunnies, and old dawg’s face in the middle, two kidneys at the bottom, two goldfish feeding below the head of satan himself at the top.
two clowns kissing.
Two bunnies fighting a robot on a horse
A sheep’s head in the middle. Two odd cartoon characters on each side.
It is an old school zookeeper or police officer (in a hat) with a big bushy moustache linking to sideburns in a Rio carnival outfit (feathers behind him and attachments to outstretched arms). He is on tiptoes with knees bent outwards.
Makes perfect sense.
The face of a lamb, with two “Michelin” bunnies on either side.
The face of a centaur, with two “Michelin” rabbits on either side.
Two Lenins, one on each side, looking inward towards Charlie Chaplin as Hitler, with lobster claws. Underneath the lobster claws is a Saint Bernard wearing a bow tie.
A pig, with big head, super fur on the arms, and a double belly-button.
A very happy cat, with lots of fur around its head, waiting for a belly rub.
Two clowns, with clouds as hair, facing each other.
two rabbits looking at a teddy bear!
A surprised-looking poodle.
2 bunny rabbits and a scarecrow sitting by a campfire.
Jumping racoon with bunny assasins?
A baby sumo wrestler sitting on a shopping trolley and the sumo parents in the background looking on!
First thing I saw was a sheeps face. After that i could see several other faces but no bigger picture.
A sheep’s face
A dead dog with a bayonet sticking out of its eye.
A teddy bear dressed as a ballerina on pointe shoes holding two bunches of grapes
It’s a bear coming to get me, massive paws outstretched, and it has a smaller bear strapped to its midriff.
a sad japanese geisha
I saw Rosarch. Nooo, don’t hurt me Rosarch, I didn’t know anything. Arghhh. Noo….
Seriously, I cannot see inkblot without remembering or seeing Rosarch. It’s like the earworm music. You can’t get it out of your head.
On an unrelated side note, I could never process the spinning ballerina. However, someone made with spinning rabbit – and in just a few second I felt like a shockwave goes from the screen into my eye, and the rabbit rotate the other way around, and I cannot unrotate it anymore.
Scary stuff.
I see 2 rabbits and a Godhead-like figure.
a sultan wearing a turban with an emerald in the middle and two armed guards.
a skunk that wants a hug, flanked by two unaffectionate aardvarks.
I definitely see the two rabbits that many others have mentioned. But I saw them in a garden, nibbling on things. A berry patch maybe?
A badger reaching out to catch 2 bunnies. One in each hand.
A man with a pigs head dressed in a Santa suit reaching out towards me
two rabbits about to eat a giant thistle plant ,obviously !
A tiger with two bunnies
A Kabuki/geisha looking very serious
A jumping racoon tossing rabbits aside.
lions head, and two rabbits
I really hope it’s because they made a gag on “The Simpsons” yesterday, but I saw the face of Charles Manson… :S
Two mice mourning a splattered hedgehog in the middle of the road. Although the Hedgehog appears happy.
I saw a sheep meditating. Hands out in the classic yoga meditation pose.. if there was more im sure he would be cross legged with some incense burning.
I see a cartoon person seen from above holding their boxing gloves either side of their head sporting a bushy hair style with their legs looking diminutive as seen through a fish eye lens.
an old man with bags under his eyes, sideburns and bushy eyebrows.
3 puppies stacked on top of each other in the middle, with two men trying to beat them with clubs.
a crowned dalmatian that is raised to heaven and 2 mice are by his side
It really looks like a demon in the center of the picture on a hill with flames all around him… Am I insane?
The head and paws of a tiger skin rug. I can kind of see the bunnies but I don’t see that sheep at all
i see a clown….
to me it looks like some kind of bear thing with guns or do rock sighn
I saw a Chinese lady lol x
a teddy bear with 4 arms and 4 legs in a bib overall and two mice that are looking at him
I see a scary face
I see a face like the queen of the hearts and 2 Sheeps on either side to of it with long noses like a dwarf wearing a sheepskin cloak
Up close frontal view of spiders face
The top center is a daisy the entire center is an ancient Brazilian and the bottom center is a skull of an alien