Monday, January 28, 2008

Superstition

So I was thinking about doing something revolving around the psychology superstition for the group projects. I'm not sure what yet so I did a little research.

Here is an article talking pretty general about superstition and when it is positive or negative. It doesn't seem too groundbreaking but there are a couple interesting points.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=46749

If you have any ideas about cool superstition experiments then let me know!

3 comments:

RWinkel said...

http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Skinner/Pigeon/

You can ask the librarian on the 5th floor to help you get full text copies of these articles.

http://www.springerlink.com/
content/yxuht7w5h5gc5ydk/

http://www.informaworld.com/
smpp/content~content=a771551
438~db=all

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
sites/entrez?db=pubmed&uid=1272
9825&cmd=showdetailview&indexed
=google

And, once you've done your research- I recommend emailing the author (referenced in the article you posted), Dr. Stuart Vyse. Students are typically surprised at the warm response they receive when inquiring about a professor's research.

Here's a link to Vyse, he just started a blog too: http://www.conncoll.edu/academics/web_profiles/
savys.html

kj15 said...

Hey Jackson, Why not experiment with risky behavior, such as when someone is about to roll a dice especially when its during a serious roll they would blow or have someone else blow on the dice for luck. Like in my case i when shooting pool i have the need to excessively chalk the cue before a crucial shot even though i gain no advantage. Try something that includes some sort of risk to the person such sports or betting.

Krista said...

Jackson--
I know we are in the same group, but I thought I'd post anyways,
I think a big question of ours will have to do with when does superstition because ritual? And when does the magic behind superstition just turn into a habit?

Also there is a direct link between anxiety and superstition.

In our book it says that "Between one-third and one-half of Americans and Canadians believe in astrology, and 27 percent of Americans have sought out a fortune teller".

Here is a quick read on the different types of superstitions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstition