Throughout this course we will repeatedly compare claims made and in

pseudoscientific manners, compared to those that are scientifically based.

As this course progresses we will look at such topics as

astrology verses astronomy,

the loss continent of Atlantis versus plate tectonics,

alchemy verses chemistry

and the loch ness monster and bigfoot versus ecology and evolution.

What we will find is that by following the concepts of matter

and those of energy and the different disciplines

we can form a framework that will allow you to critically think about the

likelihood of these pseudoscientific scientific claims.

We're going to start this journey with the field of psychology.

Psychology is the study of the human mind and how it functions; there are many

different sub-disciplines, for example behavioral neuroscience

which looks at the biology behind thinking and feeling. Scientists in this

field

might investigate the effects of pharmaceuticals on brain function and

then behavior.

Developmental psychology which looks at how thoughts and feelings change as you

grow from a baby

through adulthood

and into old age and death.

For example, how does your ability to learn change as you get older?

Social psychology which looks at how individual thoughts and feelings

interact within group level dynamics

and other sub-disciplines include clinical psychology, personality

psychology, industrial-organizational psychology,

educational psychology and health psychology.

For this module will be looking at a very specific aspect that falls under

cognitive psychology;

which looks at how people attain,

process

and store information.

We will be focusing our attention on people's ability to observe and reason

from their experiences.

And for this pseudoscientific comparison

we'll be looking at these ideas with the context of which is.

This will in turn allow us to see why science in critical thinking are

important skills for people to have

and will set the stage for a comparison of science and pseudoscience for the rest

of the course.

So check out the rest of materials in this week's module and let's get started!