Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal

Jonathan C. Smith 지음

Wiley-Blackwell 2011년 09월 26일 출간

작품소개

책소개

Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal: A Critical Thinker's Toolkit provides readers with a variety of quot;reality-checkingquot; tools to analyze extraordinary claims and to determine their validity. Integrates simple yet powerful evaluative tools used by both paranormal believers and skeptics alikeIntroduces innovations such as a continuum for ranking paranormal claims and evaluating their implicationsIncludes an innovative quot;Critical Thinker-s Toolkit,quot; a systematic approach for performing reality checks on paranormal claims related to astrology, psychics, spiritualism, parapsychology, dream telepathy, mind-over-matter, prayer, life after death, creationism, and moreExplores the five alternative hypotheses to consider when confronting a paranormal claimReality Check boxes, integrated into the text, invite students to engage in further discussion and examination of claimsWritten in a lively, engaging style for students and general readers alikeAncillaries: Testbank and PowerPoint slides available at www.wiley.com/go/pseudoscience

목차

About the Author.Preface.Acknowledgments.Part I: Introduction.1. The Continuum Mysteriosum.Making Sense out of Mysteries: The Continuum Mysteriosum.Extraordinary, Nonparanormal Mysteries.An Invitation.2. Why Study These Things?The Dangers of Unexamined Paranormal Claims.The Risk of Paranormal Passion and the Critical Thinker&-s Toolkit.Eight Reality-Checks: The Critical Thinker&-s Toolkit.Part II: The Critical Thinker&-s Toolkit.Evaluate Support for a Claim.3. Reality Check: Are the Sources Credible?Astrology.Questionable Sources.The Question of Authority.When Experts Get It Wrong.An Invitation to Question.4. Reality Check: Is the Logic Valid and Sound?Basic Logic.Informal Logical Fallacies.Premises, Logic, and Hypothesis Testing.5. Reality Check: Are Claims Based on Observation (Scientific Tests and Theories)?Observations.Tests.Theories.Sagan&-s Balance and the FEDS Standard.Science and Alternative Hypotheses.Consider Alternative Explanations.6. Reality Checking for Oddities of Nature and the World of Numbers.Probability Estimates and Bias.Math Ignorance.Coincidences.The Clumpiness of Randomness.The Law of Very Large Numbers.Science and Chance.Summary: Psychic Bias.7. Reality Checking for Perceptual Error and Trickery.Top-Down Processes and Perception.Manipulations of Magicians and Psychics: The Cold Reading Toolkit.Hypnotic Suggestion Enhancers.8. Reality Checking for Memory Errors.Memory Myths.What Is Memory?Memory Errors.Déjà vu.The Déjà vu Reality Check.9. Reality Checking for the Placebo Effect.What are Placebos?Weak and Strong Placebos.How Placebos Work.Placebos and Superstitious Beliefs.Placebo Controversies.Placebos and Performance.10. Reality Checking for Se

출판사 서평

"Smith's work is a valuable contribution to the field. It will certainly be of interest to psychologists interested in the consequences of cognitive errors, and it is no doubt the best textbook on the market for a course on the psychology of paranormal belief. Although Smith explains paranormal thinking in terms of cognitive errors, his presentation of psychological issues is not technical; thus, this text would be especially useful in a freshman seminar, so popular now on American campuses, whose purpose is to help entering college students develop critical thinking skills. Students will either love or hate this text, but they will not be left unchanged by it. And that, after all, is what college is all about." (PsycCRITIQUES, April 2010)

작가정보

저자(글) Jonathan C. Smith

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Jonathan C. Smith, Ph.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Professor of Psychology at Roosevelt University, Founding Director of the Roosevelt University Stress Institute, and Head of the Pseudoscience and Paranormal Laboratory. Dr. Smith has published 17 books and has written numerous articles on stress, relaxation, meditation, and mindfulness, as well as spirituality and skepticism.In 1984 he founded the Roosevelt University Stress Institute primarily to combat pseudoscience in the field.He has created classroom and online classes specifically designed to teach critical thinking skills and evaluate extraordinary claims of the paranormal.