Lecture 5: The Framework: How, and When, to Override the Autonomous Mind.

The Conditional: if,then thinking. Popper's failed ploy to banish inductive thinking from science. Theory, Hypothesis, Initial Conditions, Auxiliary Conditions, Predicted Outcomes. Alternative reasons for the outcome. Application to the key bending demonstration.

A companion course guide can be downloaded here: http://jref.swmirror.com/20730

Lecture 4: "The Reality of ESP: A Physicists Proof of Psychic Abilities": The Vividness Problem

"Other ways of knowing." Strength of belief vs. strength of proof. Prima facie evidence. Miracles. Scientific ability is domain dependent. Disciplinary Matrix as a safety net. Patrick Price. Remote Viewing. Occult chemistry. Helen Duncan. Madame Blavatsky. Subjective Validation.

A companion course guide can be downloaded here: http://jref.swmirror.com/20730

Lecture 3: Perceptual and Cognitive Biases: Fast and Slow Thinking

Reflective Mind/Algorithmic Mind/Autonomous Mind. The Cognitive Miser. Mindware Gaps. Contaminated Mindware. Finished Files. Assimilation /Contrasts. Invisible Rectangle. Attneave's Cat. Shepard's Tables. 7C→7S

A companion course guide can be downloaded here: http://jref.swmirror.com/20730

Psychic Fraud News - Episode 6 - Woo Woo

Any serious psychic who makes grand claims should do the James Randi challenge, or another equally as strict scientific test to confirm it's not a question of faith.

Lecture 2: How The Key Got Bent

Student descriptions of the key bending event. Impossibility of describing everything. Observation has to be selective. Problem of relevance. Informal observation is retrospective, unsystematic, and contaminated by the limitations and quirks of human memory and cognition. Scientific observation is prospective, planned, systematic, calibrated and productive of trustworthy data.

A companion course guide can be downloaded here: http://jref.swmirror.com/20730