Psychologists Educating Students
to Think Skeptically

PESTS Home

          Many students come into psychology courses with prior beliefs that have been acquired from popular or traditional sources (such as the mass media or religious doctrine) — beliefs that often conflict with course material. Although we teachers of psychology would like our students to critically examine such conflicts by looking at the relevant evidence, far too often we find that they fail to do so effectively. A fundamental problem is that students tend to feel certain that their prior beliefs are true — a certainty that often is based on inadequate evidence. Thus, if we are to teach our courses properly, we need to facilitate in students both a skeptical attitude and the methodological-reasoning skills that will allow them to examine critically any knowledge claims derived from their prior beliefs.

Definition of Critical Thinking
Definition of Skeptical Thinking

Also see the following site for more information:
Teaching & Learning About Critical Thinking

PESTS Web Site

          The PESTS web site is meant to be a resource for those with an interest in teaching others to think critically, which also requires that they adopt a skeptical approach when presented with claims. There are six major sections to the web site:

1. Listserve Instructions
   The web site is associated with an e-mail distribution list (see below).
2. Teaching Resources
   Featured here are articles, bibliographies, & other resources that may be used when teaching courses that emphasize critical and skeptical thinking.
3. Links
   Featured here are links for psychology and other sciences, health news and information, and critical and skeptical thinking.
4. Online Skeptics
   Featured here are online collections of articles and essays, as well as web columns by authors who emphasize critical thinking and a skeptical approach.
5. Skeptic Quotes
   Featured here are quotes that may inspire.
6. Skeptic Humor
   Some may think this an oxymoron, but skeptics can be funny ... at times. It is good, however, to be skeptical of this claim.

The PESTS web site was developed and is maintained by Jeffry Ricker, who may be contacted at: jeff.ricker@sccmail.maricopa.edu

PESTS Listserve

          The PESTS listserve is a scholarly mailing list devoted to an active discussion of effective ways of helping students to develop a skeptical and rational approach to examining claims made about mind and behavior. The major goal of the PESTS listserve is to help us learn how best to teach students and others to critically examine such claims. Subscribers are strongly encouraged to engage in active and broad-based discussions of topics related to this goal. Appropriate topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• teaching techniques;
• teaching demonstrations;
• antiscientific approaches and claims;
• pseudoscientific approaches and claims;
• junk and "voodoo" science;
• research methodology & statistics;
• belief perseverance and change;
• cognitive heuristics;
• cognitive biases;
• philosophy of science;
• recent scientific studies;
• relevant news items.

The PESTS list owner is Jeffry Ricker, who may be contacted at: jeff.ricker@sccmail.maricopa.edu.