I quote from Stanovich's "How to Think Straight About
Psychology" (5th ed., p. 170):
"To get some idea of what the baseline probability of a
behavioral match is, Wyatt et al. (1984) randomly paired
50 unrelated college students of the same sex and of
roughly the same age. The students all filled out
questionnaires and gave information on likes and dislikes.
These researchers found that of the 25 pairs, there was 1
pair of women who were both Baptists, were both
studying nursing, listed volleyball and tennis as their
favorite sports, listed English as their favorite subject in
school, listed shorthand as their least favorite subject,
and preferred to visit historical places on vacations. The
Wyatt et al. study demonstrates that a "remarkable"
congruences as specific as this can occur in only 25
pairs of unrelated individuals, purely on the basis of
chance. In short, chance alone can produce some
"remarkable" results. Not all coincidences of this type
need a special explanation."
Wyatt, W., Posey, A., Welker, W., & Seamonds, C.
(1984). Natural levels of similarities between identical
twins and between unrelated people. SKEPTICAL
INQUIRER, 9, 62-66.
-Mike
*****************************************************
Michael J. Kane
Psychology Department
Georgia State University
University Plaza
Atlanta, GA 30303-3083
phone: 404-651-0704
fax: 404-651-0753
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing
is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good,
as it is not to care how you got your money as
long as you have it."
-- E.W. Teale
