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Introducing Evolutionary Science to Children

Posted by on Apr 25, 2013 in Evolution, Outreach, Science | 0 comments

In any reasonable library or bookstore, an adult can walk in and find numerous books that allow him or her to learn about evolutionary theory to their heart's content. Adults can even turn on their television or computer and find loads of documentaries on the subject if they don't want to read about it. But where can children learn about evolution, especially as the teaching of it is still so (ridiculously) controversial?

Therapist or medium? A look at “Induced After-Death Communication”

Posted by on Apr 13, 2013 in Mental Health, Pseudoscience, Psychology, Religion, Skepticism | 2 comments

It should come as no surprise to my regular readers that I a) am a clinical psychologist and b) despise pseudoscientific nonsense. As such, when I come across woo in my field, I feel a special fire begin to burn deep inside me and it's not because I missed taking my Pepcid. No, it's from having the field I have devoted the past 16 years of my life to dragged through the mud and made to look silly by those who are not actually practicing evidence-based psychology.

Academic Freedom, Down Syndrome, and Cognitive Dissonance

Posted by on Mar 8, 2013 in Health, Medicine, Politics, Psychology | 49 comments

My fellow SINner Russell Blackford has put up a post called "Down syndrome, disability, academic freedom" that he is getting a lot of flack about. In it, he defended the rights of Professor D Gareth Jones of Otago University to publish an academic paper called "Testing times: do new prenatal tests signal the end of Down syndrome?" In this open-access article, Professor Jones and his co-author (a student) discuss the current state of prenatal screening for Down Syndrome (DS) in New Zealand and possible implications.

Intelligence & Religion (part 2) – Religious Beliefs & Education

Posted by on Feb 26, 2013 in Politics, Psychology, Religion, Science | 5 comments

This is the second installment of my five part series on what we know (and don't know) about intelligence and religion. Inspired by questions about and challenges to a video I was in, particularly questions about my statement that the religious are not more or less intelligent than the non-religious. In part one, I introduced the series by briefly discussing some of the very diverse areas of one's life that are impacted by your religious belief system.

Intelligence & Religion (part 1) – An Introduction

Posted by on Feb 25, 2013 in Psychology, Religion, Science | 2 comments

As I have previously posted, I did a couple of short videos with Seth "The Thinking Atheist" Andrews on the psychology of belief. Overall, the response has been great so far, with almost 20,000 views in the first 24 hours of release. However, one of those has generated a bit of heat and controversy in the comments section, as several people have questioned my statement in the video that people who are religious are not less intelligent than those who are non-religious.

Psychology of Belief (the videos)

Posted by on Feb 24, 2013 in Psychology, Religion | 8 comments

I was interviewed this past week by Seth "The Thinking Atheist" Andrews, who was interested in talking about what psychology has to say about belief. Specifically, we talked about intelligence and religion, biases, babies, and the scientific method. Check out the videos below.