Yes, and here's another: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09316/1012545-55.stm
Let's explore some ways to bring it in our classes? The above suggests such
superstitions might be less in younger folks and, implies the amygdala is just
getting too filled up with fearful events to have strong reactions to friday
the 13th?! I just love naive neuroscience. I've held superstition bashes on
friday the 13th where we walk under ladders, break mirrors, etc. I always
invite local therapists to bring any ocd or phobic patients around for some
moderate exposure treatment ha. I have one ocd friend who blames me for
problems on wall street after our last superstition bash!
What I find more interesting in class is how popular ghost-hunting shows
are. I have been using those to illustrate several aspects of poor scientific
testing, mental set, confirmation biases, features of pseudosciences, etc.
Here is a fun news link that covers some aspects of such experiences:
http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/10/29/2113402.aspx
Gary
Gerald L. (Gary) Peterson, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychology
Saginaw Valley State University
University Center, MI 48710
989-964-4491
[email protected]
----- Original Message -----
From: "Beth Benoit" <[email protected]>
To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, November 13, 2009 10:10:14 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: [tips] Friday the 13th
This article was in our paper this morning, about FDR, Henry Ford and others
who had a Friday the 13th phobia:
http://wtop.com/?nid=104&sid=1810896
On Fri, Nov 13, 2009 at 9:50 AM, < [email protected] > wrote:
I thought it would be fun to talk a little about Friday the 13th in class today
so I downloaded some info primarily from wikipedia, for today. I thought I
might as well as share it with the list. I especially liked the last two
paragraphs because I always wonder about the statistics that show a change in
behavior related to specific dates like the number of accidents over a holiday
weekend. OK, so 38 people died in accidents in my state, but how many die on
any other Friday night through Tuesday morning time frame? This is a nice
exposition that takes account of base rates. (note: I did simplify it a bit for
class, there are more stats on wikipedia)
---------------------------------------------------------
Friday the 13th occurs when the thirteenth day of a month falls on Friday,
which superstition holds to be a day of good or bad luck.
The superstition is rarely found before the 20th century, when it became
extremely common.
Fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia, derived from the
Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή) (Friday), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς) (13), and
phobía (φοβία) (fear). Triskaidekaphobia derives from the Greek words "tris",
'three', "kai", 'and', and "deka", 'ten'. The word was derived in 1911 and
first appeared in a mainstream source in 1953.
In numerology, the number 12 is considered the number of completeness, i.e., 12
months of the year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 hours of the clock, 12 tribes of
Israel, 12 Apostles of Jesus, 12 gods of Olympus, etc.; 13 was considered
irregular, violating this completeness.
There is also a superstition, deriving from the Last Supper or a Norse myth,
that having 13 people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the
diners.
Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The
Canterbury Tales, and many others have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to
undertake journeys or begin new projects. Black Friday has been associated with
stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s (but good luck for
shopping on the day after Thanksgiving!). It has also been suggested that
Friday has been considered an unlucky day because, according to Christian
scripture and tradition, Jesus was crucified on a Friday.
The Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics has found that "fewer accidents and
reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday
maybe because people are more careful. Statistically, driving is slightly safer
on Friday 13th, at least in The Netherlands, the average figure falling when
the 13th fell on a Friday.
However, a 1993 study in the British Medical Journal comparing traffic
accidents between Friday 6th and Friday 13th found a significant increase in
traffic-related accidents on Fridays the 13th. BUT there are more accidents on
Fridays than average weekdays (irrespective of the date) probably because of
alcohol consumption. Therefore it is less relevant for this purpose to compare
Friday 13th with, say, Tuesday 13th.
Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
University of San Diego
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110
619-260-4006
[email protected]
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