Hi Jean-Marc- The answer to the question "well, what harm can this possibly do?" is as follows:
By allowing students to go through College without critically thinking about purported "cures" and "treatments" means that they will have no way of effectively differentiating real treatment from snake oil. If we don't teach them these skills in College then when will they learn them? Worse, as these students go forth into the real world without the ability to think critically they will undoubtedly affect the lives of others. I'm sure that there are many people who are convinced that a "treatment" works because their "college educated" friend told them that it was OK. I think we betray our principles and do a serious disservice to our students when we neglect an opportunity to get them to think critically about issues such as these. I fully appreciate the difficulty of challenging this kind of thinking in a small town, but I think that you owe it to your students to make it clear where you stand on the issue. All the best, -Don. Jean-Marc Perreault said: > Hi Marie, > I've really enjoyed the discussion so far. And I would like > > to ask you further: What are the possible negative conseqences to > actually engaging in a few sessions of HT? Granted that the HT > practionners do not attempt to "fix" anything major, which is what they > said they would do (or not do, depending how you read it...) I brought > the topic up with the counsellor who is setting the whole thing up, and > in the end, she said: "well, what harm can this possibly do? In the end, > students will end up more relaxed in times of stress (semester), which > can only prove useful. The placebo effect can be just as good as > anything else. And as there is no cost attached, neither to the > students nor the College, then hey!" (I'm restating what I can recall > from our discussion). > > Her reply sort of left me wondering, "Hey... maybe she's right. Placebo > effect does work, and if students end up relaxing, then so much the > better"! The place where I still have a hard time is the distribution of > information that makes it look like HT has scientific backing. The > handout sure looks good. Short of going on a crusade to distribute > contradictory information, I'm left wondering what to do about it. I > will certainly bring the topic up n class, but I only reach so many > students. > > Another interesting issue (which some of you who work in small places > might relate to) is the fact that the College where I work is very > small, in a small city (22,000 people). Basically, I happen to know the > person in charge of the HT who will be coming up, and she happens to be > a good friend of the counsellor who is setting the whole thing up. So, > how far does one go to rebute indivuduals who are very close to one's > social circle? They are not personal friends, but the typical 6 degrees > of separation found in most cities is cut down by a factor of about 6 > around here... Everyone knows everyone through less than 1 person around > here. So... short of getting into a situation that will end up in a > feud, what does one do? Logic cannot be used. It's like faith. How does > one argue against it? I know there are review papers that state that HT > is not supported by science, but there are papers that state it is (I > know, you'll say they are not as good as those stating there is no > backing). Nevertheless, it becomes tenuous to make them apart, > especially if one does not have the science background to tear them > apart. > > Anyhow, looking forward to the discussion still... This is proving to be > a very interesting situation for me... > > Jean-Marc > > > > > Marie Helweg-Larsen wrote: > >> When I teach pseudoscience such as healing touch to my students in >> research methods and a first year seminar called "why do people >> believe weird things" they are convinced (once they see the evidence) >> that it does not work. However, there is always a sizable minority of >> students who think that it should still be offered by hospitals (or >> other settings such as colleges) because "it probably does no harm" or >> "it offers hope". So even when people know that treatments are bogus >> they see relatively few costs of promoting bogus treatments. So you >> both have to convince people that it doesn't work and that it is >> costly to promote such treatments. >> >> Last year I had my first year students write a persuasive essay (one >> page, in class) in which they either argued for or against having >> astrological charts in the campus paper. Students knew (we discussed >> it at length) that astrology is made up (in fact, the roommate of one >> of the students was the one who made it up and freely admitted making >> it up), The vast majority of students argued that astrology was >> harmless fun that carried no consequences. A few students argued that >> a college paper should not promote false beliefs (even if it was in >> the entertainment section of the paper). >> >> Marie >> >> Gerald Peterson wrote: >> >>> Frank LoSchiavo and K. L. Roberts (2005) have utilized >>> pseudoscientific claims to teach research methods (See Teaching of >>> Psych 32(3), 177-179 and it sound like you could integrate this >>> campus event in your class(es. See if you could develop some >>> criterion, see also what your bio and physics family have to say >>> (they will often be sadly ignorant about how to test for psych >>> confounds, but may nevertheless be useful). All in all, an >>> opportunity to educate the campus community and show the way to >>> implement more careful thinking/reasoning. Just a thought...GAry >>> >>> >>> >>> Gerald L. (Gary) Peterson, Ph.D. >>> Professor, Psychology >>> Saginaw Valley State University >>> University Center, MI 48710 >>> 989-964-4491 >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>> >>> >>> --- >>> You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>> To unsubscribe send a blank email to >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>> >>> >> > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
