I will begin by stating that what I am to say here should provoke little
surprise among you. In fact, many of my statements probably will seem
obvious. But I have found that I often forget the obvious when I am
struggling with an issue. So, it helps sometimes to remind myself of the
obvious. Nevertheless, I will end with some implications for teaching
that perhaps are not as obvious.
It seems to me that a particular motivation--the need for certainty--is
a primary determinant of the spread of irrational popular beliefs within
the wider culture. My classroom experience has led me to this
conclusion. When I discuss and criticize various possible explanations
of a phenomenon (i.e., when I emphasize the complexities of a problem),
I sometimes hear exclamations of frustration from students. This
frustration is expressed in various ways; but it usually is stated in
terms similar to the comment I overheard on Friday made by one student
to another (both receiving very high grades) after I had critiqued the
psychodynamic approach: "I just want to know what the right answer is!"
In general, we humans (perhaps especially the more intellectually
curious among us) have a strong desire to know the correct answers to
questions. Thus, in our courses, we sometimes talk about a personality
characteristic essential for developing valid knowledge: being
comfortable with uncertainty. The fact that we mention this attribute at
all implies that we understand how rare it is to have. We seem to
believe that, by exhorting our students to become more comfortable with
uncertainty, we may help this trait to grow within them.
This line of thought led me to a realization about the popular beliefs
held unquestioningly by many people. These popular beliefs are often
expressed with great confidence on television and the other mass media
by various authorities. The confidence with which these beliefs are
expressed satisfies the human desire for certainty in the audience. The
members of the audience then are more likely to express confidently the
same beliefs to those whom they know who, in turn, express them
confidently to others, and so on. Very soon, such ideas become a matter
of common knowledge (common sense). Our students learn them as matters
of unquestioned and unquestionable fact. The major driving force for the
rapid spread and consolidation of the belief, it seems to me, is the
strong human desire for certainty. In addition to this motivational
determinant, there also is a cognitive determinant: the belief must also
be consistent with the set of relevant beliefs already held by the
audience if they are to readily accept the new belief.
Now, on to the teaching implications of this discussion. Two of the
major course goals many of us have--the teaching of critical thinking
and a natural-science approach to psychology--are very difficult to
accomplish because of the motivational and cognitive issues of which I
have just spoke. First, there is the motivational Issue: we wish to
teach critical thinking with regard to various theories and theoretical
approaches. In facilitating this, we usually discuss these topics by
emphasizing not only the evidence supporting them but also the evidence
against them. By doing this, we fail to satisfy our students' craving
for certainty, which may cause them to reject or ignore our teachings,
thereby retaining their popular beliefs. We must explore ways to help
students become more comfortable with uncertainty about psychological
matters. This is very difficult because such matters often are very
important to how students view themselves and others--matters of central
concern to all humans. Second, there is the cognitive Issue. I have
talked about this before, so I won't belabor it here. We wish to teach a
natural-science approach to the human mind and behavior. This approach
has central assumptions of determinism and materialism--doctrines that
contradict students' assumptions of free will and of nonmaterial
processes making up the human mind. Thus, our viewpoint contradicts that
of most of our students, which again may cause them to reject our
teachings.
There are two questions I am pondering at this point: (1) Can we teach
students to be more comfortable with uncertainty, or is this just
something that you either have or you don't? (2) How is this
characteristic related to a desire for knowledge (the so-called "need
for cognition")?
Jeff
--
Jeffry P. Ricker, Ph.D. Office Phone: (480) 423-6213
9000 E. Chaparral Rd. FAX Number: (480) 423-6298
Psychology Department [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626
"The truth is rare and never simple."
Oscar Wilde
"Instead of having 'answers' on a test, they should just call
them 'impressions'. And, if you got a different 'impression',
so what? Can't we all be brothers?"
Jack Handey
