A study of the superstitions of college students.

Fallacious beliefs: Gambling specific and belief in the paranormal.

“…An additional, but related, avenue of research that may be worthwhile pertains to examining the extent to which scientific reasoning training generalizes to other nonparanormal pseudoscientific beliefs (i.e., homeopathy, conspiracy theories, etc.). A few of the studies presented in this systematic review used alternative measures of paranormal belief that did include evaluation of non-paranormal pseudoscientific beliefs such as alternative medicines, the Bermuda triangle, and biorhythms (e.g., Gray, 1985;Kane et al, 2010), or unsubstantiated psychological myths (Emme, 1940;Gilliland, 1929). These studies report significant reductions in global belief scores post intervention.…”

“…A review of the items used in this survey 17 shows that paranormal domains (i.e., PSI, astrology, luck/superstition, and spiritual healing) were assessed along side of psychological myths. Nonetheless, Gilliland (1929) reported that a significant reduction in superstitions and prejudices were detected in both the university and the college samples post educational intervention (p's < .001). Emme (1940) surveyed 34 student participants and reports that, at pre-test, only 10 held preexisting "superstitious" beliefs.…”

“…The results of these studies are reported in order of year of publication. Gilliland (1929) compared the "superstition and prejudices" of two postsecondary samples, one university sample and one college sample, before and after a course covering related topics. It is important to note that although no test of significance is reported, Gilliland (1929) does state that the age of the college sample is markedly older than the university sample.…”

“…Gilliland (1929) compared the "superstition and prejudices" of two postsecondary samples, one university sample and one college sample, before and after a course covering related topics. It is important to note that although no test of significance is reported, Gilliland (1929) does state that the age of the college sample is markedly older than the university sample. A review of the items used in this survey 17 shows that paranormal domains (i.e., PSI, astrology, luck/superstition, and spiritual healing) were assessed along side of psychological myths.…”

A New Test of Misconceptions about Psychology

“…Garrett and Fisher (1926) used Nixon's test and added 10 items of their own, while Gilliland (1929) and Valentine (1936) each added other items. Holley and Buxton (1950) constructed a 100-item test of misconceptions, borrowing some items from Garrett and Fisher (1926) and some from Valentine (1936).…”