Credophile Professor

[ReFLeX]

So I have a psychology professor whom I recently became skeptical of, because she started to explain how subliminal messages are very powerful (which was discredited in intro psych class) and how evil Disney animators were inserting sexual messages in their movies. I figured she of all people should really know how people imagine things are being said when they're really not, for example "Good teenagers, take off your clothes," which is apparently what is said in Aladdin (http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/aladdin.htm), although she explained it as "Take off your clothes and let's have sex," which is less likely to be imagined. So I decided not to call her on this, it seeming a waste of time, in spite of my cringing at the girls around me going, "Ohhh woww..." not having before realized how evil Disney is. I also had to hold back on her mistelling of the Kitty Genovese story that led to research into the bystander effect. But I was giving her the benefit of the doubt.

Then, today, we got into non-verbal communication (NVC), and, specifically, touch. Now she was a trauma nurse for 15 years before beginning to teach, and now she also has a clinical practice while teaching. She was explaining how important touch is because the "skin is the biggest organ" and there are hundreds of millions of little hairs on it, which is the "basis for therapeutic touch". Now I had to interject. I put my hand up. "I thought the Human Energy Field was the basis for theraputic touch." She said, "Well, it is, but it's the air currents that stimulate the hairs which are so effective. It has a reciprocal effect leaving the practitioner feeling energized, as well as the patient. It's an exchange of energy. Not psychic energy. I dabbled in it for a while, but I have a close friend who does nothing but that." I said, "Energy? Are you serious?" And she said, "Yes." So I left it at that. But, really, there goes all her credibility in my eyes, and I have two of five classes with her. I don't think she understands the paranormal aspect of therapeutic touch, but... come on. Subliminal messages? Energy? Whatever.

[Ryokan]

OMG, Mayday is your professor!!!

[Starthinker]

This reminds me of project I was involved with where we researched, re-discovered, and marked pioneer cemeteries. Some cemeteries have had stones removed and such so that you really had no easy means of finding them unless you had a really good map. One day we were chatting about how some buried headstones were found and I was told some were found by poking metal rods in the ground and then digging up what they hit and some were found by dowsing. Dowsing? says I, incredulously. Sure, the dowser detects something, we poke the metal rod in to see if they are right, if the rod hits something we dig it up if it doesn't we keep dowsing.

I couldn't believe they couldn't see the flaw in this. They were poking the ground anyway, and the dowsing had no better results than the poking, and it was just an extra step in their search. All these people that I respected for their efforts lost a bunch of credibility with me because they attributed their findings to the dowser, not the guy poking the pole in the ground.

But in your case I'd let it go and just go for a good grade.

[Mercutio]

Sheesh. What these people do the the reputation of my science. I hate it.

ReFLeX, would it do any good to speak with the department chair or a dean? If you can do it without retribution, it may be worth doing. Also, if you will not have classes with this person again, and the end-of-semester course evaluations are actually attended to, be prepared to write a detailed account of the problem. Here, at least, the dean and the department chair both read the evals, and they can make a big difference.

[Gayle]

It might help to document the dates and lessons provided by this teacher so that your end of term evaluation can be accurate and detailed.

And, please, by all means suggest that the professor and/or her friend apply for Randi's Million Dollar Challenge. That is, if you can do so without retaliation.

[ReFLeX]

Well, at this point it seems like unnecessary retaliation. I mean, inevitably there are going to be more gullible people in any given field, and her TT beliefs were surprising but attributable perhaps to her nursing experience and a lack of skepticism (a rare trait indeed). As long as she keeps her agenda to herself like she has so far I'm not going to chase administrative things. But it definitely will show up on my evaluation.
If she has more weird viewpoints she'll have plenty of opportunity to present them because one of the two classes with her is "Death and Dying", in which we already had a movie on NDE's and have discussed religious perspectives briefly. I was impressed with the movie, or rather, episode -- I think it was something like Journeys on A&E, which made me wary but the skeptics did get the last say. Her own comments naturally sided with the sugary sweet spiritual guy with a pet NDE story and she dismissed my (admitted low probability) naturalistic explanations for the anecdote. But. We'll see.

[ReFLeX]

I was reading Ed's complaint (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=46122) about parapsychology and decided to revive this

As it happens, parapsychology's disturbing incongruence with reality also seems to be a problem with some of my other psych classes. I've already complained in another thread about two of them, but lately I've become concerned about my psych class called "Interpersonal Relationships." The teacher happens to enjoy Freud, so for the first month there was an emphasis on him, which was ok, because at least we knew we were talking about somebody concrete. But the corresponding part of our text (Managing Human Relations, 3rd ed. I believe) was all based on Myers-Briggs typology, which is almost as sketchy. But now this professor has almost descended into self-help peddler, as we've lately covered some guy's theory behind his popular book I'm OK, You're OK and just yesterday had to copy down Stephen R. Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. The only research that has been cited lately was survey statistics that weren't even psychology oriented. I'm now worried that the majority of what we're learning has little basis in reality and is mere speculation. The guy next to me said, "Well we need to know it for the test," which I guess is also going to be my approach, but it drives me nuts...

[Mercutio]

Dang...and for a class called "interpersonal relationships", there are truckloads of stuff in Social Psychology that are actually supported by empirical research. Not always the best, but beats the bejeebers out of pop psych.

[Dr Adequate]

So I have a psychology professor whom I recently became skeptical of, because she started to explain how subliminal messages are very powerful (which was discredited in intro psych class) and how evil Disney animators were inserting sexual messages in their movies. Did she explain why they're doing this? Is it just to give nutty conspiracy theorists something to talk about, or do Disney have some more subtle end in view?

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

Has something changed since I went to school, or did I simply not take enough psych classes to notice this stuff?

~~ Paul

[Mery Kitsune]

Okay, seriously. (I speak as a psych student here) Has ANYONE ever had a sane psych teacher?

[Jeff Corey]

Watch it!

[kmortis]

Okay, seriously. (I speak as a psych student here) Has ANYONE ever had a sane psych teacher?

I have a friend with a MS Psychology. His theory is that anyone who takes psychology as a field of study is effed in the head and is only looking to help themselves.

So what if he only has a single data point....

[Mery Kitsune]

Watch it!


Except you, luv. You're as sane as anyone.


Forgive me? *sheepish grin*

[Jeff Corey]

Sure.
I was just thinking about all the reaaally stupid things that my students have been taught over the years (mostly by other teachers).
The subliminal seduction stuff by some Business Prof -"Well, if it didn't work, how come it's illegal in every state?' (It ain't!)
But the absolute most batguano thing I ever heard was when I was talking about the palmar reflex, where newborns up to about 6 months will grip any object (like your thumbs) strongly enough so that you can safely suspend the infant (don't try this at home).
One student told me that her child psych teacher told her that it was because the infants didn't want people to read their palms.
No s kidding.
She took child psych in the Ed department.

[ReFLeX]

Okay, seriously. (I speak as a psych student here) Has ANYONE ever had a sane psych teacher?
Yes. For Stats I, which was psychology by name...
Dang...and for a class called "interpersonal relationships", there are truckloads of stuff in Social Psychology that are actually supported by empirical research. Not always the best, but beats the bejeebers out of pop psych.Yes, I had a great social psych class last year, with a great prof, actually (yes, sane). The textbook was Canadian and it was still great. So really I don't know why she's spending so much time on it.

Dr. A- She said to sell sex. Why? It's one of the great mysteries of the universe.

[jj]

Has something changed since I went to school, or did I simply not take enough psych classes to notice this stuff?

~~ Paul

Well, when I took psychology 101 I had a professor who was adamant, and I mean font size 96 bold italic underlined ADAMANT that "psychology was a science" at the same time, when asked for evidence, telling his class (I kept out of this) that there was never evidence for psychology because it was invisible in the brain.

He was a serious Fraudian, with the id, superego, ego stuff. We had to regurgtate it all at the final.

I passed. I expressed quietly what it felt like I was passing when I took the exam, AFTER I got the grade.

He did tag me for "bad attitude" because I got peeved at one of the really dumb tests I had to take (each student had to take 3 tests of the grad student's choosing in order to pass the course, yeah, forced volunteering, right), that was about as dumb***ed as could be.

The hypothesis was that people who merged sounds in the two ears well (i.e. hearing two different words in the ears would hear the "merged" word) were "stimulus bound" and not "adaptive to their environment". They gave us a page of questions as the control, and the audio test. Of course, how do you think all the audio people from the radio station (you know, the people who had to deal with varying input and environment on a daily basis, among other things) scored?

It appeared to be inconcievable to these that specialized learning might affect how one listens to audio signals.

I might even still have that book. It was the most expensive textbook I had to buy in 5 years of BS and MS work. It was the professor's own book. Maybe I ought to send it to Randi to put in his hall of shame.

[jj]

Dr. A- She said to sell sex.

In the universe I live in, nobody has to "sell" the idea, it seems hardwired in. :)

[Peter Morris]

Did she explain why they're doing this? Is it just to give nutty conspiracy theorists something to talk about, or do Disney have some more subtle end in view?

Probably just the artists having a sneaky joke.
And some of the rumours are actually true.

http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/rescuers.htm
http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/poster.asp

Not the Aladdin one, though.
http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/aladdin.htm

[Melendwyr]

The teacher happens to enjoy Freud, so for the first month there was an emphasis on him, which was ok, because at least we knew we were talking about somebody concrete. Oh, boy...

Listen, the only thing "concrete" with Freud are the cemented-together rocks in his head. Complete woo - and more to the point, a dangerously-influential woo. His whole system's rubbish.

[Nex]

Just recently, one of my nursing instructors had the gall to insist, not once, but twice, that I should have a healing touch session. With her, of course, and for a small fee, of course.

Oh, and that a genetic defect I have is caused by "harboring anger-energy in the liver."

Grrr. Grr, I say. :rolleyes:

[Jeff Corey]

Just recently, one of my nursing instructors had the gall to insist, not once, but twice, that I should have a healing touch session. With her, of course, and for a small fee, of course.

Oh, and that a genetic defect I have is caused by "harboring anger-energy in the liver."

Grrr. Grr, I say. :rolleyes:
Probably an unethical "dual relationship" is being proposed here. Most professonals in the health/psych/social work fields think it unethical for a teacher to treat a student for yet another fee. And *********** them is just flat out.

[Nex]

Probably an unethical "dual relationship" is being proposed here. Most professonals in the health/psych/social work fields think it unethical for a teacher to treat a student for yet another fee. And *********** them is just flat out. Ew. :eek:

Anyway, I've opted to let it slide. She's my clinical instructor, and holds my fate in her hands. All she has to say is that I didn't meet expectations, and I get dropped from the program. She does not need to give a reason.

It's not worth the risk.

[bpesta22]

Sheesh. What these people do the the reputation of my science. I hate it.

ReFLeX, would it do any good to speak with the department chair or a dean? If you can do it without retribution, it may be worth doing. Also, if you will not have classes with this person again, and the end-of-semester course evaluations are actually attended to, be prepared to write a detailed account of the problem. Here, at least, the dean and the department chair both read the evals, and they can make a big difference.


Your course evals really make a difference?!

At my and most universities they are a complete waste of time, as it matters not how well you teach when it comes to getting tenure, if you publish.

We have profs who REALLY suck at teaching, but who are untouchable with tenure and pubs.

Evals do seem to matter for adjuncts and part timers, though, as they're paid primarilly to teach.

BTW, I think subliminal perception is real. The whole area of implicit memory is based on how processing stuff without conscious awareness influences later behavior.

The classic flashing "buy popcorn" at the movie theaters might not work, but there's lots of data showing implicit memory effects, even for stuff presented quicker than the limen for conscious visual perception.

I believe Marcel (1980s?) has the classic paper showing this.

[delphi_ote]

Dr. A- She said to sell sex. Why? It's one of the great mysteries of the universe.

Disney is selling sex now? I'm glad I moved to Orlando!

[ReFLeX]

Listen, the only thing "concrete" with Freud are the cemented-together rocks in his head. Complete woo - and more to the point, a dangerously-influential woo. His whole system's rubbish.
Yes, obviously Freud is 99% trash but I what I meant about concrete is that he had significant scientific influence, which is more than you can say for bestselling novelists.


BTW, I think subliminal perception is real. The whole area of implicit memory is based on how processing stuff without conscious awareness influences later behavior.

The classic flashing "buy popcorn" at the movie theaters might not work, but there's lots of data showing implicit memory effects, even for stuff presented quicker than the limen for conscious visual perception.

I believe Marcel (1980s?) has the classic paper showing this.
Yes, we can be briefly influenced by subconscious perception. But: not for long periods of time, and its actual persuasive power is minimal. For her to say that subliminal messages are "powerful" is simply incorrect.

[luchog]

Ew. :eek:

Anyway, I've opted to let it slide. She's my clinical instructor, and holds my fate in her hands. All she has to say is that I didn't meet expectations, and I get dropped from the program. She does not need to give a reason.

It's not worth the risk.
Actually, it can be. It depends on the school. Some of them take their ethics guidelines very strictly, particularly with regard to non-tenured instructors; and threats of a sexual harrassment complaint/lawsuit ring very loudly in management's ears.

[ReFLeX]

Well, it came to a head today. She was talking about palliative care in the last class of the semester when she suddenly said how another very effective therapy for pain management was, yes, therapeutic touch. She then asked the whole class to hold their palms a couple inches apart and then move them towards and away from each other. "Non-believers say it's just the air, but therapists think it is human energy," she said. A girl in the front row asked if was like reiki. She answered that yes, it was very much like reiki. I'm just sitting there, stewing, and then when she was giving the signs of moving on, I put up my hand. "Is[sic] there any double-blind studies that say it works?" Basically her answer was that what the research has shown was that many patients showed significant relief, whether that was from placebo or not, to which I replied, "So it's ok then, you advocate anything that works even if it's placebo, like bee-sting therapy or something." I'm not usually one to confront authority, so my voice was shaking at this time. Well, no, she said, "But it's a discipline, you understand, you get licensed in it, you can't just wave your hands over anybody and expect it to work." In spite of the obvious "why not", I had to let the class move on after that, but I'm definitely considering writing the faculty.

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

*couth* New Age drivel *cough*

~~ Paul

[Mojo]

"But it's a discipline, you understand, you get licensed in it, you can't just wave your hands over anybody and expect it to work." So: waving hands doesn't work; waving hands while in posession of a valid licence works. :rolleyes:

[Melendwyr]

Challenging this woman is unlikely to accomplish anything. Can't you just contact a friendly local hitman?

[PatKelley]

So: waving hands doesn't work; waving hands while in posession of a valid licence works. :rolleyes:
Actually, you just wave the license. Much more effective at moving air -er- energy! I meant energy!

[Mojo]

Actually, you just wave the license. Couldn't they waive it instead? Then they wouldn't need one. :D

[PatKelley]

Couldn't they waive it instead? Then they wouldn't need one. :D
Why not just waive the wave, then? ;)
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