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fandomhigh2009-09-10 10:07 am
clevermsbennet.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2009-09-10 10:07 am
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Logic, Reason and Critical Thinking, Class 2: Period 4, Thursday, September 10
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:
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."
"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."
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