Self- assesment

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Popular Answers to Some Psychological Questions[1]

by H. K. Nixon

1. INTRODUCTION

The keenest classroom discussions in psychology center around such questions as telepathy, pre-natal influence, external signs of character, and the like. The beginning student especially, while willing to admit ignorance on many technical questions, comes to psychology with certain concepts of causation in human behavior quite firmly fixed. One of the common duties of the instructor is to help him sort over this initial stock of ideas, discarding some and working others into a more scientific formulation. A survey, therefore, of the prevalence of such common ideas may be of decided value to the psychologist as a starting point for his [] educational program. The results of such a survey are presented in this article.

This field has been investigated in a more general way by several writers. Conklin presents material on superstitious belief and practice among college students. He found that 8% recalled that they had believed superstitions at one time or another, 7% of the men thus reporting and 0% of the women. 40% of the males and 66% of the females admitted present superstitious belief or practice. ... Gould, Peters, and Dresslar have likewise made special studies of this subject. []

The purpose of the present investigation was somewhat more specific than that of those noted above, in that the primary interest was not in such general superstitions connected with black cats, spilled salt, and the like, but in beliefs which have greater scientific sanction. For that purpose, the list of 0 shown in the following questionnaire was selected, and presented in the form shown.

DIRECTIONS

Below are a number of statements. Some of them you may consider true, some of them are false. If you think a statement is substantially true, draw a circle around T; if the statements if false, then a circle around F. Where it seems debatable, mark as seems to you nearest right.

1. T F The number of mans senses is five.

. T F A child comes into this world with an instinctive knowledge of good and evil. This is his conscience and is born in him.

. T F Certain lines in a persons hand foretell his future.

4. T F If you will stare at a persons back you can make him turn around. This is a form of telepathy.

5. T F It really is unlucky to have anything to do with the number thirteen.

6. T F A mans character can be read by noting the size and location of special developments of his head.

7. T F People with greenish eyes are not as trustworthy as people with blue or black eyes.

8. T F An expectant mother by fixing her mind on a subject can influence the character of her unborn child.

. T F Women are inferior to men in intelligence.

10. T F People born under the influence of certain planets show the influence in their characters.

11. T F Intelligence can be increased by training.

1. T F Long, slender hands indicate an artistic nature.

1. T F Beginning an undertaking on Friday is almost certain to bring bad luck.

14. T F If a man but had faith enough he could heal a broken limb instantly.

15. T F Many eminent men have been feeble-minded as children.

16. T F Some animals are as intelligent as the average human.

17. T F No defect of body or mind can hold us back if we have enough will power.

18. T F Adults sometimes become feeble-minded from overstudy.

1. T F All men are created equal in capacity for achievement.

0. T F The marriage of cousins is practically certain to result in children of inferior intelligence.

1. T F Especially intelligent children are likely to be weak and retarded physically.

. T F The study of mathematics is valuable because it gives one a logical mind.

. T F A square jaw is a sign of will power.

4. T F You can estimate an individuals intelligence pretty closely by just looking at his face.

5. T F A high forehead indicates intellectual superiority.

6. T F Fear is unnatural. It is a bad habit.

7. T F Women are by nature purer and better than men.

8. T F A person who does not look you in the eye is likely to be dishonest.

. T F Man is superior because his conduct is very largely guided by reason.

0. T F Any physical or mental disease can be contracted by thinking about it.

It will be observed that the ideas here expressed range from some which are quite apparently pure superstitions to some that would occasion considerable discussion among a group of scientific men. It was the intention to make use of ideas which in the main have had the stamp of disapproval placed upon them by modern investigations. It was, however, found impossible to phrase the statements in such a manner to avoid all chance for quibbling and charges of ambiguity. In general it seems likely that if the list were submitted to a group of psychologists there would be less than 1% of unqualified affirmative answers. The difference between that small percent and the averages for the groups which were secured to take part in this investigation may serve as a rough indicator of the present prevalence of unscientific beliefs among the educated members of our population.

The subjects of this investigation were 140 women and 1 men, students in elementary psychology in Columbia University, Columbia University Extension, and evening classes in New York University. ...

The questionnaire was presented to these students without any comment or discussion other than the reading of the directions. They were allowed to take their own time in making the answers. In a few cases there were questions, in which instances the student was instructed to answer as it seemed to him nearer right. In general the time taken was about 8 min. The questions usually served to arouse much discussion and demands to be told the answers and to be informed as to scores.

THE RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE

A. Number of the 0 Statements marked as True. ...

[Table I is omitted here. The original article includes a complete frequency table for the number of males and the number of females marking 0, 1, , ..., statements true. Some information from the Table has been added, in square brackets, to Nixons next paragraph.]

...males on the average marked between 10 and 11 statements as true, while the women average slightly more than 1. Considering the S.D.s these differences are probably significant. [Sample SDs were . for men, 0.7 for women. The greater variability among men and the sex difference in the means were] probably due to the inclusion of 5 Columbia College men who showed an inclination to mark relatively few of the statements true. ... Considering the groups together, it is to be seen that on the average a little more than one-third of the statements are marked true. Persons marking only [or fewer] as true [14 persons] or persons marking more than 0 [ persons] will be exceptional. We cannot be sure what it means to mark only a few. It may mean greater familiarity with scientific knowledge, and it may merely mean greater caution. On the other hand, a person who marks 0 or more of the statements true is probably relatively ignorant of the point of view of modern psychology. ...[4]

B. Per cent of Ss Believing each Statement.

... It will be seen from this Table [Table II, part of which appears below] that about 80% of the Ss thought that intelligence can be increased by training.... On the other hand, the ideas connected with thirteen and Friday are relatively unpopular... On the basis of Conklins work it is probable that many of the Ss are actually influenced in their actions by these popular superstitions, but most refuse to mark them as true.

TABLE II

Relative Prevalence of the 0 Beliefs

% marking as True

No. Idea involved Males Females

11 Intelligence increased by training 7 80

Math gives logical mind 76 81

1 Number of senses five 76 78

Man superior because of reason [5] 64 58

18 Adults feeble-minded from study 56 57

4 Face shows intelligence 50 6

1 Artistic nature indicated by fingers 4 5

6 Character indicated by head shape 40 51

17 Will power supreme 5

5 High forehead shows intelligence 4

8 Prenatal influence 8 44

7 Women purer by nature 8 5

15 Early feeble-mindedness of great men 6 5

4 Telepathic influence of staring 6 56

6 Fear unnatural. A bad habit 5 47

Square jaw sign of will power 4 50

0 Marriage of cousins gives deficients 4 50

8 Shifty eye shows dishonesty 47

1 Bright children physically retarded

Instinctive knowledge of good 1

0 Physical disease by thinking of it 1 44

16 Some animals superior in intelligence 5 48

1 Men created equal in capacity 0

Women inferior to men in intelligence 16 5.7

10 Character influenced by planets 15 0

14 Broken limb healed by faith 5.7

Lines in hand foretell future 8 5

7 Green-eyed people untrustworthy 4 4

5 Thirteen unlucky 1 0

1 Friday unlucky 1 0.7

There appears a general tendency for the misconceptions most widely held -- those at the top of the table -- to be due to ignorance or with the specific sense in which the psychologist uses the terms involved, as e.g., intelligence. The difficulty is then a simple one of lack of information. In the middle of the list fall ideas which are widely held, which are very popular, and which are often exploited by various agencies, such as the newspapers, but which have been definitely discredited... It is here that class discussions wax the hottest, and it it is on those subjects that the instructor in elementary psychology should fortify himself with as much concrete evidence and as many experimental data as possible. At the lower end of the list appear popular superstitions which are widely known and acted upon, but which are usually quite frankly recognized for what they are.

§ Back to previous page Readings index Working syllabus Send comments

Notes

[1] American Journal of Psychology, XXXVI (15), pp. 418-4. Abridged slightly here, with omissions indicated by ellipses [...]. There are no footnotes in the original article.

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[] Almost 40% of the psychology students in this study were women. For he, him, his and man, Nixons readers conventionally understood both sexes, unless a specific gender comparison was being made. One of the true-or-false statements in the questionnaire, however, struck me as ambiguous -- see if you have the same difficulty when you get to that part of the article.

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[] Journal editors didnt require specific references, or even authors initials, in 15. If you run across the reports by Conklin or by Gould, Peters, & Dresslar, do please email the references to me and I will add them to this reading.

Update Dr. Christopher Green, York University, Toronto has kindly supplied the Conklin and Gould references and one for Peters which may be relevant

Conklin, Edmund S. (11)

Supersitious belief and practice among college students. American Journal of Psychology, 0(1), 8-10.

Gould, R. L. (11)

Supersitions among Scottish College Girls. Pedagogical Seminary, 8, 0-48.

Peters, C. C. (11)

Notes on Methods of Isolating Scientifically the Objectives of Religious Education. Pedagogical Seminary, 8, 6-81.

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[4] It seems that in 15 few students guessed that all of the statements were intended to be false, although 5 persons

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