EDUCATIONAL
RESOURCE AREA
COURSE MATERIAL
BACK
TO: EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE
AREA
Belief
in the Paranormal
Instructor:
Wayne Messer
High Point University
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
SYLLABUS
Course
Outline:
UNIT
ONE: Introduction
- Gilovich,
Chapter 1: Introduction, pp.1-6
- Hines,
Chapter 1: The Nature of Pseudoscience, pp.1-20
UNIT
TWO: Secondhand Information and the Media
- Gilovich,
Chapter 6: Believing What We Are Told - The Biasing Effects of Secondhand
Information, pp.88-111
- Sparks,
G.G., Hansen, T., & Shah, R. (Summer 1994). Do televised depictions
of paranormal events influence viewers' beliefs? Skeptical Inquirer,
18, pp.386-395
- Kurtz,
P. (Summer 1993). Exploring the television wasteland. Skeptical Inquirer,
17, pp.350-354
UNIT
THREE: Spiritualism
- Video: The
American Experience: Spiritualism
- Hines,
Chapter 2: Spiritualism, pp.21-29
UNIT
FOUR: The Emotional Way
- Lett,
J. (Summer 1992). The persistent popularity of the paranormal. Skeptical
Inquirer, 16, pp.381-388
- Gilovich,
Chapter 5: Seeing What We Want to See - Motivational Determinants of Belief,
pp.75-87
EXAM
ONE
UNIT
FIVE: Ghosts
- Hines,
Chapter 3: Life After Death, pp.60-76
- Hines,
Chapter 2: Demonic Possession and Neuropathology, pp.54-59
- Baker
& Nickell, Missing Pieces, Chapter 4: Investigating Ghosts, Haunted
Places and Things, Poltergeists, and Other Nonentities, pp.113-151
UNIT
SIX: Psychic Powers
- Video: Randi's
Secrets of the Psychics
- Hines,
Chapter 2: Psychic Dreams, Psychic Predictions, and Psychic Crime Detection,
pp.29-48
- Gilovich,
Chapter 10: Belief in ESP, pp.156-182
- Sweat,
J.A., & Durm, M.W. (Winter 1993). Psychics: Do Police Departments Really
Use Them? Skeptical Inquirer, 17, pp.148-165
- Hines,
Chapter 12: Dowsing and the Magic Pendulum, pp.290-293
- Baker
& Nickell, Missing Pieces, Chapter 5: Investigating Amazing Powers,
pp.152-182
UNIT
SEVEN: Laboratory Investigations
- Hines,
Chapter 4: Laboratory Parapsychology, pp.77-108
UNIT
EIGHT: Faith Healing
- Hines,
Chapter 10: Faith Healing, pp.234-251
EXAM
TWO
UNIT
NINE: UFOs
- Video: Farewell,
Good Brothers
- Hines,
Chapter 7: UFOs I - Close Encounters of the First Kind, pp.165-183
- Hines,
Chapter 8: UFOs II - Photographs, Physical Evidence, and Abductions, pp.184-210
- Baker
& Nickell, Missing Pieces, Chapter 6: Investigating Things in
the Sky and Alleged Abductions, pp.183-243
UNIT
TEN: Getting at the Truth
- Hines,
Chapter 12: Graphology, pp.294-297
- Lilienfeld,
S.O. (Fall 1993). Do honesty tests really measure honesty> Skeptical
Inquirer, 18, pp.32-41
- Reich,
J.R. (Summer 1993). The Eyewitness. Skeptical Inquirer, 17, pp.394-399
UNIT
ELEVEN: Contemporary Example
- Video: Facilitated
Communication - Frontline
- Mulich,
J.A., Jacobson, J.W., & Kobe, F.H. (Spring 1993). Anguished silence
and helping hands: Autism and Facillitated Communication. Skeptical Inquirer,
17, pp.270-279
- Dillon,
K.M. (Spring 1993). Facilitated Communication, Autism, and Ouija. Skeptical
Inquirer, 17, pp.281-287
EXAM
THREE
UNIT
TWELVE: Health Fraud
- Hines,
Chapter 11: Health and Nutrition Quackery, pp.252-276
- Gilovich,
Chapter 8: Belief in Ineffective "Alternative" Health Practices, pp.125-145
UNIT
THIRTEEN: The Cognitive Way
- Gilovich,
Chapter 2: Something Out of Nothing - The Misperception of Random Data,
pp.9-28
- Gilovich,
Chapter 3: Too Much from Too Little - The Misinterpretation of Incomplete
and Unrepresentative Data, pp.29-48
- Gilovich,
Chapter 4: Seeing What We Expect to See - The Biased Evaluation of Ambiguous
and Inconsistent Data, pp.49-72
FINAL
EXAM
REQUIRED
READING MATERIAL
- Gilovich,
T. (1991). How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason
in Everyday Life. New York: Free Press.
- Hines,
T. (1988). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal: A Critical Examination
of the Evidence. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.
- A
Skeptical Inquirer Reader. Photocopied reproductions of 16 articles
from the Skeptical Inquirer.
- Photocopied
chapters from Missing Pieces: How to Investigate Ghosts, UFOs, Psychics,
and Other Mysteries, by Robert A. Baker and Joe Nickell (1992).
