Miller _ Wozniak session - Society for the Teaching of Psychology
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Transcript Miller _ Wozniak session - Society for the Teaching of Psychology
Teaching Students What They
Don’t Want to Learn
Richard L. Miller
& William J. Wozniak
University of Nebraska
at Kearney
STP Best Practices, 2013
What Don’t They Want to Learn?
Controversial Issues
Contradictions to Personal
Experiences
Genetics and intelligence
Gay marriage
The death penalty
Childhood sexual abuse
Assisted suicide
Gun control
Global warming
Illegal immigration
Animal experimentation
Prejudice
Paranormal Phenomenon
Contradictions to
Intuitive/Popular Beliefs
Pseudoscience
Paranormal Phenomenon
Our Own Focus
Overcoming Students Cherished Beliefs in
Pseudoscience and the Paranormal
Collaborators:
Marci Rust, Beverly Miller, Jennifer Slezak,
Logan Stickney, Robert Bechtel, D. Dymak,
Ben Clancy, & Haley Milam
Extent of Paranormal Belief from Gallup Poll
Astrology, Crystal Balls & Tarot
Reincarnation
Subliminal Perception
Subliminal Persuasion
Subliminal Persuasion
Why we believe: Reducing Uncertainty
Why We Believe: Reducing
Uncertainty - Terror Management
Belief Systems:
Biblical Literalists
Modernists
Post-modernists
New Agers
Changes in Traditional & Paranormal Beliefs as a
function of Death Anxiety
Effects of Mortality Salience on Paranormal Beliefs
Why Some Individuals Resist
Scientific Explanations/Facts
Fear loss of something of value
don't understand science and its implications
don't think that scientific explanations make sense
find it difficult to cope with either the level or pace of
the scientific discovery
Feel connected to other people who are identified with
non-scientific explanations
Feel that scientific explanations threaten their view of
themselves
Traditional Educational Approaches
A Recommended Technique for
Teaching Controversial Issues
Flooding applied to the Classroom
Really Recommended Techniques
to Teach Controversial Issues
Emphasize critical thinking and research methodology
(Clarke, 2005)
Establish Rapport (Marshall et al., in press)
Mythbusting (Lilienfeld et al, in press)
Classroom Debates (Peden et al, 2009)
Just-in-Time Teaching (Apple et al, 2009)
Commercial media presentations (Daniels, 2009)
Games (Garczynski & Harvey, 2009)
Anonymous Questionnaire Analysis (Maurer, 2009)
Research Methods Class:
Palm Reading
Discussion of Research Methods in PSY 270
Outed by a Student to the local palm reader
Study Design:
Double-blind Technique
Preparation of Stimulus Materials
Descriptions Provided by the Reader
Finding Yourself
Response from data collection
Educational Interventions based
on Cognitive Dissonance Theory
o Counter-attitudinal Advocacy
o Belief Perseverance
o Hypocrisy Induction
Counterattitudinal Advocacy I
Stimulus Materials
Reading, Writing and Control
Before and After
Miller, et al. Teaching of Psyhology, 1998
Figure 1. Agreement with Scientific Position
Figure 2. Agreement with Scientific Position
Counter-attitudinal Advocacy II
Effort vs. Self-generation of Arguments
Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions
Miller & Wozniak, Current Research in Social Psychology, 2001
Figure 1. Belief in Subliminal Perception
Interest in Purchasing Subliminal Tapes
by Counter-attitudinal Advocacy Condition
Buy Personally
_____________________________
Condition
Bookstore Should Carry
___________________________________
M
SD
n
M
SD
n
Self-Generation 1.87
.92
15
2.60
1.12
15
Ef f o rt
2.71
1.16
17
3.24
1.25
17
Control
3.67
1.18
15
3.80
1.37
15
Table 1. Behavioral Intentions
Hypocrisy Induction
Studies by Aronson and colleagues:
Water Conservation
condom use in college students.
generosity toward the homeless.
Study I using Hypocrisy Induction to
address Belief in the Paranormal
Inverted U
Descriptive Norms
Psychological Reactance
Psychological Reactance
Festinger, L (1957). Huh?
Background
Psychological Reactance:
Psychological reactance occurs when behavioral freedoms
are reduced or threatened and the individual is motivated
to regain them (Brehm, 1966).
Hong and Faedda (1996) created the Hong Psychological
Reactance Scale.
Hypocrisy Induction: Study 2
Does a person’s reactivity affect whether they are
influenced by hypocrisy induction.
Hypothesis:
People with high psychological reactance scores will be less
affected by the hypocrisy induction and, therefore, less
likely to change their beliefs.
Clancy & Milam, 2010
Measurements
Participants were asked to complete Reactance Scale and the
Belief in the Paranormal Scale
To induce hypocrisy in paranormal beliefs, participants wrote
a short response to the prompt:
“Why is it important to use logic and the scientific method in
everyday life? Be sure to include examples of how scientific
evidence is a necessity in becoming an intelligent, collegeeducated citizen.”
To measure belief change, participants later received a
marketing survey disguised as though it was from the local
book store
Results
Tips for
Teachers
Preserve freedom of choice in the assignment.
Individual responsibility for the assignment.
Require both effort and self-generation of arguments.
Don’t overuse the technique.
Use after grounding in scientific literature.