Yes, and here's another: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09316/1012545-55.stm
Let's explore some ways to bring it in our classes? The above suggests such superstitions might be less in younger folks and, implies the amygdala is just getting too filled up with fearful events to have strong reactions to friday the 13th?! I just love naive neuroscience. I've held superstition bashes on friday the 13th where we walk under ladders, break mirrors, etc. I always invite local therapists to bring any ocd or phobic patients around for some moderate exposure treatment ha. I have one ocd friend who blames me for problems on wall street after our last superstition bash! What I find more interesting in class is how popular ghost-hunting shows are. I have been using those to illustrate several aspects of poor scientific testing, mental set, confirmation biases, features of pseudosciences, etc. Here is a fun news link that covers some aspects of such experiences: http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/10/29/2113402.aspx Gary Gerald L. (Gary) Peterson, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Psychology Saginaw Valley State University University Center, MI 48710 989-964-4491 peter...@svsu.edu ----- Original Message ----- From: "Beth Benoit" <beth.ben...@gmail.com> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <tips@acsun.frostburg.edu> Sent: Friday, November 13, 2009 10:10:14 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [tips] Friday the 13th This article was in our paper this morning, about FDR, Henry Ford and others who had a Friday the 13th phobia: http://wtop.com/?nid=104&sid=1810896 On Fri, Nov 13, 2009 at 9:50 AM, < tay...@sandiego.edu > wrote: I thought it would be fun to talk a little about Friday the 13th in class today so I downloaded some info primarily from wikipedia, for today. I thought I might as well as share it with the list. I especially liked the last two paragraphs because I always wonder about the statistics that show a change in behavior related to specific dates like the number of accidents over a holiday weekend. OK, so 38 people died in accidents in my state, but how many die on any other Friday night through Tuesday morning time frame? This is a nice exposition that takes account of base rates. (note: I did simplify it a bit for class, there are more stats on wikipedia) --------------------------------------------------------- Friday the 13th occurs when the thirteenth day of a month falls on Friday, which superstition holds to be a day of good or bad luck. The superstition is rarely found before the 20th century, when it became extremely common. Fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia, derived from the Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή) (Friday), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς) (13), and phobía (φοβία) (fear). Triskaidekaphobia derives from the Greek words "tris", 'three', "kai", 'and', and "deka", 'ten'. The word was derived in 1911 and first appeared in a mainstream source in 1953. In numerology, the number 12 is considered the number of completeness, i.e., 12 months of the year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 hours of the clock, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 Apostles of Jesus, 12 gods of Olympus, etc.; 13 was considered irregular, violating this completeness. There is also a superstition, deriving from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having 13 people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners. Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales, and many others have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s (but good luck for shopping on the day after Thanksgiving!). It has also been suggested that Friday has been considered an unlucky day because, according to Christian scripture and tradition, Jesus was crucified on a Friday. The Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics has found that "fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday maybe because people are more careful. Statistically, driving is slightly safer on Friday 13th, at least in The Netherlands, the average figure falling when the 13th fell on a Friday. However, a 1993 study in the British Medical Journal comparing traffic accidents between Friday 6th and Friday 13th found a significant increase in traffic-related accidents on Fridays the 13th. BUT there are more accidents on Fridays than average weekdays (irrespective of the date) probably because of alcohol consumption. Therefore it is less relevant for this purpose to compare Friday 13th with, say, Tuesday 13th. Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 619-260-4006 tay...@sandiego.edu --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ( bsouthe...@frostburg.edu ) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)