Investigating Pop Psychology

Investigating Pop Psychology provides the basic tools required to make evidence-informed decisions and thoughtfully distinguish science from pseudoscience through the application of scientific skepticism. Psychologists conduct scientific investigations into a lot of strange things including alien encounters, horoscopes, dream interpretation, superstition, and extrasensory perception (ESP). Through a digestible, open-minded format combined with relevant and topical case studies such as energy psychology, demonic possession, and horoscopes, this book offers an engaging read which encourages students to think critically about the information they are exposed to during their academic careers and beyond. By taking a fresh look into investigations regarding pseudoscience and fringe science in pop psychology, it celebrates the science of psychology while also providing warnings about the problem of pseudoscience in pop psychology. Providing tips on how to consider evidence regarding the strength of claims in pop psychology, Investigating Pop Psychology is an ideal resource for undergraduate introductory psychology students and for students studying science and pseudoscience.

Investigating School Psychology provides a fascinating exploration of the field of school psychology through the lens of pseudoscience and fringe science. Contributions from leaders in the fields of school psychology, clinical psychology, and education honor the role of science in the field while also exploring and guarding against the harms that pseudoscience can cause. School psychology and, more broadly, the field of education are particularly susceptible to pseudoscience, fads, and maintaining the status quo by resisting the adoption of new ideas. Using an exhaustive review of the current literature, this book discusses various concepts in school psychology that have been largely discredited and many practices that continue to exist with little to no scientific support. Each chapter helps differentiate between dubious and evidence-based approaches while providing a useful resource for practicing school psychologists and educators to distinguish between science and pseudoscience in their everyday work with children. The book’s discussion of the harmful nature of pseudoscience in school psychology is inclusive of all students, such as students with disabilities, those diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders, those with academic problems, and all other children in schools. Investigating School Psychology is valuable supplemental reading in undergraduate and graduate courses in education and school psychology and is also a beneficial reference for practicing school psychologists to distinguish between science and pseudoscience in their practice.

Investigating Clinical Psychology takes a deep dive into the field of clinical psychology through the lens of pseudoscience and fringe science. An expert panel of authors honors the role of science in the field while also exploring and guarding against the harms that pseudoscience can cause. Clinicians have an ethical duty to provide the best available, evidence-based care. Engaging, accessible, and open-minded in approach, this book outlines the distinction between science and pseudoscience in order to prevent the false, and often quite harmful, effects that pseudoscientific practices can have on patients in need of mental health services. The book covers a variety of topics, including harmful therapies, purple hat therapies, animal-assisted therapies, hypnosis, and energy medicine. Featuring world-renowned voices from health care specialists to skeptics on the outside of the field gazing in, it equips readers with the skills needed to differentiate between pseudoscientific and evidence-based approaches in both study and practice. Aligning with many major undergraduate textbooks for easy course integration, Investigating Clinical Psychology is valuable supplemental reading in undergraduate and graduate courses in clinical psychology. It is also a beneficial reference for clinicians in practice, as well as anyone interested in pseudoscience within the mental health sector.

Investigating Psychology uses a small selection of classic studies to introduce students to a variety of research methods used by psychologists and to the different approaches to the study of mind and behaviour: the emphasis is on how psychologists carry out their investigations and why.

A broad theory of research methodology for psychology and the behavioral sciences that offers a coherent treatment of a range of behavioral research methods. This book considers scientific method in the behavioral sciences, with particular reference to psychology. Psychologists learn about research methods and use them to conduct their research, but their training teaches them little about the nature of scientific method itself. In Investigating the Psychological World, Brian Haig fills this gap. Drawing on behavioral science methodology, the philosophy of science, and statistical theory, Haig constructs a broad theory of scientific method that has particular relevance for the behavioral sciences. He terms this account of method the abductive theory of method (ATOM) in recognition of the importance it assigns to explanatory reasoning. ATOM offers the framework for a coherent treatment of a range of quantitative and qualitative behavioral research methods, giving equal treatment to data-analytic methods and methods of theory construction. Haig draws on the new experimentalism in the philosophy of science to reconstruct the process of phenomena detection as it applies to psychology; he considers the logic and purpose of exploratory factor analysis; he discusses analogical modeling as a means of theory development; and he recommends the use of inference to the best explanation for evaluating theories in psychology. Finally, he outlines the nature of research problems, discusses the nature of the abductive method, and describes applications of the method to grounded theory method and clinical reasoning. The book will be of interest not only to philosophers of science but also to psychological researchers who want to deepen their conceptual understanding of research methods and methodological concerns.

This ground-breaking text is the first to provide a detailed overview of Investigative Psychology, from the earliest work through to recent studies, including descriptions of previously unpublished internal reports. Crucially it provides a framework for students to explore this exciting terrain, combining Narrative Theory and an Action Systems framework. It includes empirically tested models for Offender Profiling and guidance for investigations, as well as an agenda for research in Investigative Psychology. Investigative Psychology features: The full range of crimes from fraud to terrorism, including burglary, serial killing, arson, rape, and organised crime Important methodologies including multi-dimensional scaling and the Radex approach as well as Social Network Analysis Geographical Offender Profiling, supported by detailed analysis of the underlying psychological processes that make this such a valuable investigative decision support tool The full range of investigative activities, including effective information collection, detecting deception and the development of decision support systems. In effect, this text introduces an exciting new paradigm for a wide range of psychological contributions to all forms of investigation within and outside of law enforcement. Each chapter has actual cases and quotations from offenders and ends with questions for discussion and research, making this a valuable text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Applied and Forensic Psychology, Criminology, Socio-Legal Studies and related disciplines.

Investigating Clinical Psychology takes a deep dive into the field of clinical psychology through the lens of pseudoscience and fringe science. An expert panel of authors honors the role of science in the field while also exploring and guarding against the harms that pseudoscience can cause. Clinicians have an ethical duty to provide the best available, evidence-based care. Engaging, accessible, and open-minded in approach, this book outlines the distinction between science and pseudoscience in order to prevent the false, and often quite harmful, effects that pseudoscientific practices can have on patients in need of mental health services. The book covers a variety of topics, including harmful therapies, purple hat therapies, animal-assisted therapies, hypnosis, and energy medicine. Featuring world-renowned voices from health care specialists to skeptics on the outside of the field gazing in, it equips readers with the skills needed to differentiate between pseudoscientific and evidence-based approaches in both study and practice. Aligning with many major undergraduate textbooks for easy course integration, Investigating Clinical Psychology is valuable supplemental reading in undergraduate and graduate courses in clinical psychology. It is also a beneficial reference for clinicians in practice, as well as anyone interested in pseudoscience psychology within the mental health sector.