Psychology And Science: 6 Keys To Identify Pseudoscientific Products
Science is a lighthouse in the fog of the noise of chance
—Nassim Taleb
Surely, when you browse through the “information monster”, the Internet, you will have realized that when you search for topics related to psychology or other sciences, several documents related to things such as psychoanalysis, aromatherapy, constellations, psychomagic always come to mind. , conspiracy theories… and, of course, people who know nothing about psychology, science, who lack common sense and even professionals and students in training they fall into the nets of the tempting “pseudoscience”
For this reason and to clear up doubts about this matter, I have decided to publish this article on some tips and definitions that will help us determine what to trust and what not to trust.
To begin, I want to mention the work of the American philosopher Charles Sanders Pierce in classifying four methods of setting beliefs(1). The first of these is the authority method , in which the simplest way to fix a belief is to blindly believe a person’s word without questioning it; An example could be the establishment of religious beliefs.
The second method is that of tenacity , this consists of clinging to a stereotype, even in the presence of a good counterexample; This method is observed in fanatical racists.
The third is the a priori method It refers to a belief in which there is no reference or analysis to accept it. Finally, there remains the method that is the only valid accepted form of knowledge, the scientific method (Kantowitz, RoedigerIII, & Elmes, 2011; Kerlinger & Lee, 2002), which is defined as a serial process by which sciences obtain answers to their questions (McGuigan, 2011), and that it has the characteristic of self-correction and therefore “has intrinsic checkpoints along the entire path of scientific knowledge. These checks are designed and used in such a way that they direct and verify scientific activities and conclusions in order to be relied upon…” (Kerlinger & Lee, 2002).
Keys to detect pseudoscientific texts or articles
Now that we have clarified the ways in which we establish our beliefs regarding something, we can say that there are some theories that “disguise” themselves as science when they are not, but how can we avoid them?
Below will be given a list of some tips to avoid falling into the trap from some charlatans:
1. Make sure the source is trustworthy
Check that what you are reading or consuming for some media has valid and reliable sources of consultation For example, articles peer reviewed published in indexed scientific journals (since for an article to be published it has to go through several validity and reliability processes), quotes from important people in the scientific field…
2. Get rid of confirmation bias
Don’t fall into confirmation bias. Don’t believe everything you think, what the other person thinks, in fact, better not believe and question everything People, due to psychological principles, always seek to confirm our ideas (Gazzaniga, Heatherton, & Halpern, 2016).
Think focusing on statistical data, rather than intuitively or based on your own experience Reality is much broader than what one lives or thinks one perceives. Many times we put aside logical reasoning to pay more attention to what common sense tells us.
4. Remember: not all factors are easily explainable
Not everything has a meaning or easily identifiable causes that can be reduced to a simple statement such as “homosexuality is caused by abuse in childhood.” Actually, all phenomena are multi-causal although certain variables are more important than others and their study allows us to better predict what will happen.
5. Validity
Remember that science, in order to be called that, It has to meet certain criteria and one of them is the validitywhich is the degree to which something, an instrument or method actually measures the variable it seeks to measure.
6. Reliability
This concept is, along with the previous one, very important and refers to the degree to which a measuring instrument or therapy method… produces consistent results and coherent.
In conclusion, remember, the next time you consume any product from “true psychology”, which just to remember is the scientific study of the mind, brain and behavior, keep all these tips in mind and avoid being deceived by charlatans. Every product, in the media, on the internet or on television, put it under the microscope of science look to see if there are articles that meet strict publication criteria and reliable sources and avoid being deceived.
(1) For more information on the four methods, see the references in Experimental Psychology by Barry H. Kantowitz, pp. 6-8 and Behavioral Research by Fred N. Kerlinger. p. 6-7.
