BEHV 3200 001 Exam 1 Study Guide Weeks 1 4 Open mindedness September 2 What does it mean to be open minded Open mindedness willingness to consider new ideas Video on Open mindedness https www youtube com watch v T69TOuqaqXI Watch video and determine what you thought were valid points and what you disagreed with Did you agree with the video s definition of open mindedness Belief in the Weird September 4 What is weirdness Is it when someone believes something you don t Is it radical or new Characteristics of Weirdness little to no scientific justification defies common sense appeals to other sources of knowledge Why do people believe weird things Intermittent Reinforcement Sometimes weird things are true and because one weird thing is true it must mean that other weird things are as well regardless of a lack of evidence or justification Example Meteorites were deemed impossible until there was scientific evidence of them If giant rocks can fall from the sky then can ghosts aliens and the devil also exist Gender Gender does not influence the likelihood of belief but does influence the content of belief Example Women are more likely to believe in alternative healing and precognition internal intuitive beliefs while men are more likely to believe in aliens and monsters external beliefs Education Scientific education does not affect belief in pseudoscience there is no correlation between competency in science and likelihood to believe pseudoscience Walker et al 2001 Issue Science is taught as an assemblage of facts while education in critical thinking is lacking Locus of Control Some personality traits may predict susceptibility those with an eternal locus of control are more likely to believe pseudosciences External locus of control You are not the source of control in your life ie fate predestination etc Example When taking an exam success or failure would be due to professor or exam format Internal locus of control You are the driving force in your life Example When taking an exam success or failure is due to personal ability or effort Bronislaw Malinowski s 1925 observations of the Trobriand Islanders found that they combined superstition magic ritual and science sophisticated crop rotation and fishing techniques and saw them as a different but coexisting Applied magic and superstition to situations that were out of their control such as in times of drought or flood or when sea fishing while situations that were within their control such as seasonal farming and small scale fishing allowed for the use of scientific advances IQ IQ is not related to susceptibility to pseudoscientific beliefs Those with higher IQ s are however better at creating elaborate rationalizations for our beliefs and are better able to defend them Example Isaac Newton inventor of modern physics believed firmly in alchemy and the ability to turn base metals into gold Intellectual Attribution Error Related to the fundamental attribution error in psychology Is the tendency to to find rationalizations for our beliefs but attribute the belief in others to emotional need upbringing fear etc 2 Pseudoscience September 9 and 11 Pseudoscience the use of scientific sounding words or icons to justify quackery Pinkston a doctrine or belief system that pretends to be science Hines from readings Characteristics Irrefutable Hypothesis no amount of data can be brought against the hypothesis to disconfirm it Morgellon s Disease Hundreds of people complain of embedded fibers possibly parasites CDC conducts three year study skin biopsies physical samples blood work teratology and finds no evidence of parasite infection or toxin cannot prove that they are not in pain but no evidence exists of any medical condition Unwillingness to Look Closely at Data failure to look at contradicting evidence Therapeutic Touch No evidence of therapeutic touch as a medical treatment however testimonies support the use Looking for Mysteries giving disproportionate weight to small amounts of data that cannot be explained by normal science Santa Claus Children have claimed to see Santa regardless of significant data to prove otherwise small amounts of data such as multiple eye witness reports that cannot be disproven are given more weight as evidence Failure to Update Theories Astrological Precession The relation of the sun to the constellations has changed over the thousands of years since they were first documented but astrological signs Scorpio Capricorn Taurus etc have not changed Rene Blondlot s study of N Rays fell victim to almost all of the characteristics of pseudoscience Blondlot gave disproportionate weight to subjective data to support his hypothesis He was unwilling to look closely at data disposing of any contradicting evidence and used an irrefutable hypothesis claiming that those who disagreed with his evidence simply did not have eyes sensitive enough to see the effect of the N Rays Why Study Pseudoscience Responsibility to inform the public Psychological issues Danger of pseudoscientific beliefs Examples 2013 New Guinea woman stripped bound and burned for witchcraf 2014 Seattle man kidnaps two homosexual men slays them Truth and Relativity September 16 Relativism There is no objective truth All positions are valid Truth is relative to circumstance culture group etc Thought to be a more open viewpoint than absolutism Absolutism There is absolute truth All is true or false not relative Sometimes confused with realism Why is relativism attractive Why do people like this position over absolutism or realism General class consensus Relativism is right because no one is wrong Relativism is liberating the world may not have to be a certain way Relativism does away with the absolute 4 Example The relationship between gender and scientific achievement is not ordination from biology Women are able to succeed in scientific fields despite stereotypes of being overemotional intuition based creatures Congenial embraces multiculturalism the differences between cultures are valid in their own cultural context Example Female Genital Mutilation Auto validating you are never wrong What are potential problems If all truths are equal why believe yours and not mine Dawkins All debate becomes shut down once relativist truths enter the conversation debaters are stuck at an impasse Bill O Reilly vs Richard Dawkins At its core relativism is self refuting There is not objective truth is a statement of objective truth Realism There is an objective reality We