Logic, Reason and Critical Thinking, Class 2: Period 4, Thursday, September 10

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

When the students filed into class today, they might notice that each desk had a sheet of paper, face down.

"We're going to start today with a short exercise," Miss Bennet said. "There are personality assessments on each desk; I have placed them randomly around the room. Please turn over the sheet on your desk and read the assessment that you find. Once you have finished reading it, I would like for you to decide upon a number - from 1 to 5 - that evaluates how accurate that assessment is, for you, personally. Once you have done that, you may turn the paper face-down again."

She waited, patiently, as each student read the form:

You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker; and do not accept others' statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.

Once it seemed like everyone was finished, she continued.

"I will not ask anyone here to share their personal number. In fact, now I must confess some trickery of my own. There is only one assessment; each desk has a copy of the same paragraph. This paragraph was composed by a psychologist named Dr. Forer, who gave these so-called personality tests to a group of his students. The average accuracy rating, on that scale of one to five, was a 4.26. In other words, most of the students thought it was personal, and specific to him or her. How is that possible?

"There are several factors that contribute. For one, the paragraph sounds specific, but a meticulous re-reading will show how vague the details are. Forer took many of his sentences from a book of horoscopes. For another, we as individuals have a tendency, when confronted with evaluations of this nature, to give more weight to the successes than to the failures. For a third, do note that a great deal of the assessment is complimentary. One can get further appealing to vanity than being brutally frank.

"Many charlatans make use of the Forer effect in order to bolster their claims of clairvoyance, of reading tea-leaves or speaking to the dead. It is useful to be wary of those who would take one's money in order to tell their victims exactly what those individuals long to hear."

Comments

Sign In [LOG-2]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

Quite astonished by these revelations!

Re: Sign In [LOG-2]

[furnaceface]

Jonothon Starsmore

During the Lecture [LOG-2]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

Take notes, or pass them (briefly). Do remember that bad behavior will have worse consequences.

Re: During the Lecture [LOG-2]

[furnaceface]

Jono was taking pretty serious notes, here. Partly because he actually found this class to be pretty enthralling, and partly because he just felt like keeping his head down, today.

For fear of attack-pudding, believe it or not.

Re: During the Lecture [LOG-2]

[not_tylerdurden]

Since he'd been invited, nothing could have stopped Hobbes from coming along to class with Calvin, and Calvin had known better than to try. So there he was, sitting next to Calvin with paper and pen, tail twitching excitedly as he took notes.

For his part Calvin was taking somewhat less diligent notes than last week.

Re: During the Lecture [LOG-2]

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

Claire jotted down a few notes, but mostly just listened to the lecture.

Re: During the Lecture [LOG-2]

[pyroliz.livejournal.com]

Liz paid close attention to the lecture and took down quite a few notes.

Re: During the Lecture [LOG-2]

[cataclysmicluck.livejournal.com]

Zayne took detailed notes, as per usual. He couldn't help but wonder if the Masters ever used something like the Forer effect to help sell their prophecies.

And then he remembered that they'd probably be able to see that he thought that, so he tried to forget it completely.

Discussion #1: The Forer Effect [LOG-2]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

Did you feel the "assessment" was somewhat accurate, on a first reading? What did you notice, the second time through, that you might have glossed over the first time? What makes this personality test resonate well with so many people? Can you pull out specific phrases or sentences that sound intriguing, but once closely examined, are hopelessly contradictory and essentially worthless?

Re: Discussion #1: The Forer Effect [LOG-2]

[furnaceface]

//It felt accurate enough on the first read,// Jono admitted. //Second time around, there are things here and there that don't fit if I poke about for them, but it still fits as a whole.//

He shrugged a little.

//If yer ask me, I think it fits people so well because it's so bloody broad. Who doesn't want to be admired? Who isn't critical of themselves? Restrictions are restricting, people don't like them by their very definition. The whole thing might as well be a study on people as a whole, instead of just one singular 'you.'//

Re: Discussion #1: The Forer Effect [LOG-2]

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

Aravis bit her lip in thought, and ventured, "It's a bit like those horoscope things, isn't it? Or the small cookies with the messages in them -- it certainly seems specific enough, or something that we might all wish to be true of ourselves, but it's general enough that we might delude ourselves into imagining it is personalized."

Re: Discussion #1: The Forer Effect [LOG-2]

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"The part about having doubts over my decisions was what struck me the most as fitting me," Claire said. "But on a second reading, it makes sense that it would fit most people."

Re: Discussion #1: The Forer Effect [LOG-2]

[not_tylerdurden]

Calvin thought it over carefully before he replied. "It's generalised enough that a person can read into it what they want to read," he said eventually. "Pareidolia, but with words rather than pictures."

Re: Discussion #1: The Forer Effect [LOG-2]

[future_sandworm]

"It describes what it's like to be human," Leto replied. "In a somewhat flattering way, where weaknesses are mentioned but not used for criticism. It also suggests unfulfilled potential, that there is more than can be seen."

"A phrase like At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved covers most variations of human behaviour."

Re: Discussion #1: The Forer Effect [LOG-2]

[eyebrowgoesup]

"I did not find the 'assessment' to be particularly accurate," Spock said. "Some small parts, perhaps, but not as a whole. This may be because the paragraph was written to a Human audience, and is therefore not particularly applicable to a Vulcan. It particularly seems focused on emotional actions and reactions. The whole thing is hopelessly overgeneralized."

Re: Discussion #1: The Forer Effect [LOG-2]

[cataclysmicluck.livejournal.com]

"I really liked the part about how sometimes you feel extroverted, but other times you feel introverted. It covers the entire range of possibilities in one sentence," Zayne said. "But it didn't really feel that accurate for me. Maybe half of it seemed like it could have been written for me, so I probably couldn't have scored it any higher than a 3."

Discussion #2: Self-Delusion Again [LOG-2]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

Last week, we discussed self-delusion of the willful variety. How does Forer's effect differ? How are the two the same? What preconceptions does this effect play into? How can we be more critical of statements that would manipulate us in this manner?

Re: Discussion #2: Self-Delusion Again [LOG-2]

[furnaceface]

//When yer read somethin' like that, yer already looking for something that yer can apply to yerself,// Jono reasoned, gesturing to the paper with one hand. //It isn't that anyone is really trying to fool themselves, but the idear is there, that there's something that can be applied to yer, so you follow along with it without thinking.//

Re: Discussion #2: Self-Delusion Again [LOG-2]

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"I suspect that this exercise relies on the same things that motivate willful self-delusion. People want to believe they are better than they are. By explaining that the evaluation is a 'personal' one it makes them think that someone else also thinks they are better than they are. I think that part is an important aspect of the trick. If people were told that it was a random assessment, or that they all had the same one, they would be more critical."

This was all referring to other people, of course. It wasn't as if Triela herself fell for that sort of thing. She was far too realistic about how good she was, and that meant she didn't need to inflate her self-opinion.

Re: Discussion #2: Self-Delusion Again [LOG-2]

[future_sandworm]

"While self-deception due to cultural values can also be used for manipulating a society, Forer's effect is a more obvious too for that," Leto said. "Making people believe that you truly understand them will make them a lot more likely to believe what else you have to say, especially if you can make it sound as the solution to that unfulfilled potential."

Discussion #3: Another Example [LOG-2]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

Here is another paragraph which has been used in similar experiments, with related success:

People close to you have been taking advantage of you. Your basic honesty has been getting in your way. Many opportunities that you have had offered to you in the past have had to be surrendered because you refuse to take advantage of others. You like to read books and articles to improve your mind. In fact, if you're not already in some sort of personal service business, you should be. You have an infinite capacity for understanding people's problems and you can sympathize with them. But you are firm when confronted with obstinacy or outright stupidity. Law enforcement would be another field you understand. Your sense of justice is quite strong.

Can you see the "smoke and mirrors" behind this one more easily, now that you know what to look for? If so, what are they? Can you come up with your own examples of similar statements?

Re: Discussion #3: Another Example [LOG-2]

[future_sandworm]

"Clearly the reader is supposed to see him- or herself as a victim," Leto said. "Many are victims at times during their lives, and at other times it is comforting to think so as it means giving yourself the credit of being right without really putting it to the test."

Speak to the TAs [LOG-2]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

For they are here.

Re: Speak to the TAs [LOG-2]

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

Claire was definitely there and happy to discuss logic things with you.

Speak to Miss Bennet [LOG-2]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

For she is here, as well.

OOC [LOG-2]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

The second paragraph (in Discussion #3 (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomhigh/2228201.html?thread=146444009#t146444009)) is by astrologist Sidney Omarr, as referenced in James Randi's book Flim-Flam. This class relied heavily on a few pages from The Skeptic's Dictionary (http://www.skepdic.com/).

Non sequitor: I adore this fairy icon.

Re: OOC [LOG-2]

[furnaceface]

Dual-tone sparkles! SPARKLES!

I enjoy making these things way too much.