Psychology of Pseudoscience
![](https://www.google.com/images/icons/product/drive-32.png)
Psychology of Pseudoscience
Are we walking around in a world full of ghosts, goblins, and aliens? In 2009, almost one in five (18%) American adults reported having seen a ghost. Several people have reported—in rich detail!—being abducted by aliens. Stories about creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster continue to captivate our collective attention. But why do people cling so tightly to these beliefs? This course will help us understand the social and cognitive processes behind paranormal and pseudoscientific beliefs. We will also journey through critical thinking and the scientific method to better understand valid, reliable, and reproducible science and thereby better identify pseudoscience.
Topics
Zombie ideas: Defining "science" and "pseudoscience"; what makes pseudoscience so appealing
We can't trust our brains: cognitive biases and social influences that contribute to encoding false information
We can't trust our world: critical thinking, logical arguments, and expertise (including academic publication controversies)
Caveat emptor: publication biases, open/reproducible science, critiquing scientific articles
Disorder in the court: forensic pseudoscience, polygraphy, criminal profiling, forensic identifications, implicit bias
We're all mad here: clinical pseudoscience, controversies in diagnosis and treatment, repressed/recovered memories
Just because we CAM doesn't mean we should: complimentary and alternative medicines, chiropractic, homeopathy
Let's stare at goats: psi phenomena, remote viewing, psychokinesis
Opiate of the masses: cults, fringe religious groups, conspiracy theories
Social distancing champs: ghosts, cryptids, UFOs/aliens
Recommended Readings
Books I've been referencing
Critical Thinking, Science, and Pseudoscience: Why We Can't Trust Our Brains by Caleb W. Lack and Jacques Rousseau
Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal: A Critical Thinker's Toolkit by Jonathan C. Smith
Pseudoscience: The Conspiracy Against Science edited by Allison B. Kaufman and James C. Kaufman
Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology edited by Scott O. Lilienfeld, Steven Jay Lynn, and Jeffrey M. Lohr
Peer-reviewed publications
Fasce, A., & Pico, A. (2018). Conceptual foundations and validation of the Pseudoscientific Belief Scale. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 33(4), 617–628. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3501
Synnott, J., Dietzel, D., & Ioannou, M. (2015). A review of the polygraph: History, methodology and current status. Crime Psychology Review, 1(1), 59–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/23744006.2015.1060080
Patihis, L., & Pendergrast, M. H. (2019). Reports of recovered memories of abuse in therapy in a large age-representative U.S. national sample: Therapy type and decade comparisons. Clinical Psychological Science, 7(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2167702618773315
Galbraith, N., Moss, T., Galbraith, V., & Purewal, S. (2018). A systematic review of the traits and cognitions associated with use of and belief in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Psychology, Health, & Medicine, 23(7), 854–869. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2018.1442010
Bem, D. J. (2001). Feeling the future: Experimental evidence for anomalous retroactive influences on cognition and affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(3), 407–425. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021524
Cardeña, E. (2018). The experimental evidence for parapsychological phenomena: A review. American Psychologist, 73(5), 663–677. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000236