I just finished reading a paper by Camac (1995) titled "Public
perceptions of psychology" (an interesting paper: I recommend it). In a
section in which she was discussing difficulties that arise in the
teaching of psychology, she mentioned a finding reported in Ellis &
Rickard (1977):
"Even if we cannot dispel all the myths, surely students are learning
_something_ about the field [in our courses]. Well, perhaps not: Ellis
and Rickard (1977) gave a general test in psychology to introductory
psychology students four months after they had taken the course. The
students answered an average of 30% of the questions correctly. A
control group who had not had the course answered 25% of the questions
correctly" (p. 33)
On the surface, this finding is fascinating (although, strangely, I am
not terribly surprised). I wish to order the Ellis & Rickard paper so
that I can get the details: things are probably more complicated than
such a brief summary suggests. The problem is that the citation is
missing from Camac's reference list. Can anyone give me the citation?
And does anyone know if similar kinds of studies have been done by
anyone else (and more recently than 1977)?
Jeff
Reference:
Camac, M. K. (1995). Public perceptions of psychology. Virginia Social
Science Journal, 30, 20-36.
--
Jeffry P. Ricker, Ph.D. Office Phone: (480) 423-6213
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"Science must begin with myths and with the criticism of myths"
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