Yale Bulletin and Calendar

May 25, 2007|Volume 35, Number 29|Three-Week Issue


BULLETIN HOME

VISITING ON CAMPUS

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

IN THE NEWS

BULLETIN BOARD

CLASSIFIED ADS


SEARCH ARCHIVES

DEADLINES

DOWNLOAD FORMS

BULLETIN STAFF


PUBLIC AFFAIRS HOME

NEWS RELEASES

E-MAIL US


YALE HOME PAGE


Researchers examine why children (and some adults) are resistant to scientific explanations

Children's resistance to scientific explanations is based both on what they know and how much they trust the person who told them, Yale researchers report in Science this month.

The resistance will continue into adulthood if the scientific claims are challenged and if the non-scientific alternative is based in common sense and championed by people who are thought to be reliable and trustworthy, the researchers say.

"This resistance to science has important social implications because a scientifically ignorant public is unprepared to evaluate policies about global warming, vaccination, genetically modified organisms, stem cell research and cloning," says Paul Bloom, psychology professor and lead author of the review article. "Also, science is not special here. The same process holds for certain religious, moral and political beliefs."

Currently, says co-author and Yale graduate student Deena Skolnick Weisberg, there is resistance to central tenets of neuroscience and evolutionary biology because the concepts clash with intuitive beliefs about the immaterial nature of the soul and the purposeful design of humans and other animals.

Children, for instance, commonly believe that the mind is fundamentally separate from the brain, and that the brain is not involved in certain mental activities, such as emotions and decision-making. Children also are drawn to creationist explanations for the origin of species, and may find evolutionary accounts confusing and implausible, say the researchers

Other popular non-scientific beliefs, note Bloom and Weisberg, include the view that unproven medical interventions are effective; that out-of-body experiences are mystical; that supernatural entities such as ghosts and fairies exist; and that astrology, ESP and divination are legitimate.

-- By Jacqueline Weaver


T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

University will hold its 306th Commencement May 28

'Oprah Show' hails first grandmother to earn Yale M.D.

Global health expert to head Yale's World Fellows Program

Trachtenberg reflects on her 20 years as 'Betty T.'

Inside the Forbidden City

Summertime at Yale

University to host international symposium on music education ...

Law School to train legal journalists, media lawyers

Campus celebrates its first African-American graduate

ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS

University names its first director of sustainable transportation systems

Graduate School students applaud faculty mentors

Eight faculty members elected to the AAAS

Three Yale scholars are new members of the APS

Peter Reinhardt named director of Yale's Office of Environmental ...

Kim Bottomly named president of Wellesley College

First-Year Building Program's 40th anniversary

Festival highlights 'revolutionary' artists and thinkers

Peabody Museum exhibit to showcase award-winning wildlife photography

Study finds dynamin 1 gene is critical for sophisticated brain function

Researchers examine why children (and some adults) are resistant ...

Three student scientists win Goldwater Scholarships

Archer named one of Glamour's 'Top 10 College Women'

Council of Masters presents awards to 10 juniors for their contributions

Ten Yale-China Teaching Fellows to begin appointments this summer

Top judges reach 'verdict' in law students' moot court trial

Dr. Lockwood's latest honors include 'Pulitzer Prize of the business press'

Campus Notes


Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events|In the News

Bulletin Board|Classified Ads|Search Archives|Deadlines

Bulletin Staff|Public Affairs|News Releases| E-Mail Us|Yale Home