Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
psychometry
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Related Questions
Read Next
Blackboard inscribed with scientific formulas and calculations in physics and mathematics
The World Science Festival’s Pioneers in Science
Laboratory glassware (beakers)
5 Quizzes That Will Tell You Whether You Should Have Been a Scientist
Discover
Thumbnail for flags that look alike quiz Russia, Slovenia, Iceland, Norway
Flags That Look Alike
A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England
Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution
Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1855), founder of the house of Rothschild; lithograph by Friedrich Lieder, c. 1830.
Where Do Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories About the Rothschild Family Come From?
Super Typhoon Noru over the western tropical Pacific Ocean as observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA Aqua satellite July 31 2017
What Is the Difference Between a Typhoon and a Super Typhoon?
Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland.
Why Is Ireland Two Countries?
Baseball laying in the grass. Homepage blog 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics
10 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time
Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer
Was Santa Claus a Real Person?

psychometry

parapsychology
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/topic/psychometry
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Also known as: object reading
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History
Also called:
object reading

psychometry, process whereby facts or impressions about a person or thing are received through contact with an object associated with the subject of the impressions. Rings, photographs, and similar tokens are often used, but sometimes the physical presence of a person may bring about images or visions in the psychometrist’s mind that correspond to real facts (sometimes still in the future) in the life of the subject. A degree of lowered consciousness (that is, a state sometimes approaching trance) is thought to improve psychometric “readings.” Psychometric visions are usually too haphazard to be of much practical value. The parapsychological institute of the Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht in the Netherlands was one of the first to perform experiments using psychometry in finding lost persons or things and in solving crimes.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Laura Etheredge.