Critical Thinking and Pseudoscience

This assignment examines the connection between academic background, critical thinking skills, and the tendency to accept paranormal or pseudoscientific claims. It delves into research on how educational experiences and critical thinking abilities influence beliefs in supernatural phenomena. The analysis draws upon scholarly sources, including articles on learning and individual differences, critical thinking frameworks, and cross-cultural psychology.

Critical Thinking about Psychology

Table of Contents
ARTICLE.........................................................................................................................................1
TITLE..............................................................................................................................................1
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

Index of Tables
Table 1: Mean, SD and gender differences......................................................................................7

ARTICLE
The given article is about Psychopathic and antisocial but not emotionally intelligent.
This research paper was done by following authors named: Visser, A. B., Bay, D., Cook, G. L.,
Myburgh, J. The research was conducted in the year 2010. It has taken into considerations
behaviour of psychopaths and challenges faced by them. The article is depicting critical review
about personality and individual differences. Inability of psychopaths to give responses to others
has been studied in the research.
TITLE
The title given for the article is appropriate which is Psychopathic and antisocial but not
emotionally intelligent. It is clearly depicting the what the paper is about. Thus, it could also be
said that title is not providing misleading information about the research. It could also be said
that with the help of title one could easily understand aim of the study conducted (). Moreover, it
has also been found that use of abbreviations has been avoided, thereby providing clear
understanding about the topic.
ABSTRACT
For any study, abstract is one of the most important section that provides details about
overall research (Shiraev and Levy, 2016). Abstract provided in the research paper is clear and
informative. It is clearly depicting finding of the entire study. Relation between emotional
intelligence, antisocial behaviour and psychopathy has been clearly described in the article.
However, it was found that a sample of undergraduate students have been taken which was of
429 individuals from three different universities. Topics which are going to be covered in the
paper has been clearly provided. However, implications for practices of the findings has not been
provided by the authors.
INTRODUCTION
The term psychopathy could be defined by characteristics such as unsociable,
manipulative and unsettled. Psychopaths could be categorised as manipulators who are skilled
but still they are not capable enough to identify emotions of others (Stupple, Maratos and
Aubeeluck, 2017). In the study, psychopathy, antisocial behaviour and emotional intelligence
will be covered. Topics which has been critically evaluated are Abstract, methods, results and
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discussion. However, primary research has been conducted for the topic. Therefore, it can be
critically evaluated that for effective researches it is very essential to have identification of
search strategy.
Characteristic of psychopathy could be defined by depth of emotions. People associated
with it are not able to give their responses to other individuals. These emotions are often taken
into consideration with respect to identification that whether people are not being able or are
deficient to understand other's feelings. Definition of psychopathy could also be determined by
lack of empathy. It has also been analysed that no inadequacy is shown by such people in the
mind tasks theories. It may include abilities for determining feeling, thinking and beliefs of
others. They are also linked with Emotional intelligence in positive manner. According to the
Dwyer, Hogan and Stewart, (2014), from these analyses and findings it could be said that
deficiencies which are related to psychopathy would not be cognitive rather it would be affective
(Dwyer, Hogan and Stewart, 2014). In the research a sample of 429 undergraduates have been
taken up and from the results it has been identified that antisocial behaviour was negatively
correlated with EI.
Ability
Halpern, (2014) described this concept is still needed to be fully developed.
Conceptualization is an issue of Emotional Intelligence. Various personality characteristics is not
related with IQ but these are important for business performance and personal realm. It has
always been contradicting the Trait EI and Ability EI. Trait EI includes various characteristics
such as pessimism, positivism, happiness, emotional appraisal and many more. Several
arguments have been presented by different authors (Halpern, 2014). Correlation between
psychopathy has been given by various investigations. However, the degree to which Ability EI
is posses by individuals has not been answered correctly. Whereas, manipulation done by
psychopathic people have been presented clearly. It has also been found that for author's
knowledge only one investigation has been published presenting about relation between
emotional intelligence and psychopathy. Relations between psychopathy and the Trait Meta-
mood scale has been presented by authors. Austin, Farrelley, Black and Moore (2007) showed
relation between Machiavellianism and Ability EI. However other authors presented negative
correlation between EI sub-scales and Machiavellianism (Farrelley, Black and Moore, 2007).
Antisocial behaviours
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It has been critically evaluated that there is link between psychopathy and Ability EI.
Psychopathy has been utilized for prediction of lapsing along with antisocial behaviours in male
offenders. However, relation between antisocial behaviours and low Ability EI has been also
showed with the help of evidences. According to the Roese, (2014), MSCEIT scores were
negatively related with deviant behaviour. The evidences of negative correlation also present that
Ability EI and psychopathy are also negatively related (Roese, 2014).
Gender differences
Evidences have been provided regarding gender differences in all the constructs of the
present research. It has been critically evaluated that on a total EI score of women is half more of
the standard deviation as compared to men. In the research it has been found that in context of
psychopathy base rate is comparatively higher in males than females. In non-clinical samples,
score of men was one standard deviation higher. It has also been found that ant-social behaviours
were more profound in males as compared to women even in the samples of students which has
been taken for the study. Therefore, gender differences presents that separate analyses should be
conducted for men and women.
Current Study
The present article is about investigation of relation among psychopathy , antisocial
behaviour and Ability EI. It has been found that psychopathy is related to the antisocial
behaviour of students in positive manner. However, ant-social behaviour of students would be
negatively related to the Ability EI.
RESEARCH QUESTION
To understand aim and objectives of the study, it is very essential to have research
questions in the paper (Heijltjes, Van Gog and Paas, 2014). The research paper does not contain
research questions which has reduced its efficiency. Reader is thus required to read the complete
article to understand the topic and findings of the study conducted. Thus, huge amount of time
gets consumed in understanding aims which is not appreciable. Moreover, it has been examined
that none of the author has provided any research question.
Methods
The study clearly defines the use of methods for different factors. As a result, reader is
able to understand what methods have been applied in what situation. Adequate description is
provided with the outcomes and values.
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Participants:
A sample of 486 students has been taken for the study which has included undergraduates
from three different universities. It could be critically evaluated that number of participants taken
for the study is appropriate as it would be able to investigate on wider range. Sample size is
required to be appropriate for reliable outcomes with enhanced precision ( Bensley, Rainey and
Kuehne, 2016.). But it is also quite huge number which is not cost effective. However, to study
on such as big sample, huge amount of time is also required. Samples have been taken from
universities only, individuals other than students could also be taken up which would have been
assisted in studying the current topic in broader aspect.
Measures:
To measure psychopathy the self-report Psychopathy-III scale was used in the article. It
was helpful in identifying total score along with scores of four sub-scales. These 4 sub-scales are
Antisocial behaviours, Callous Affect, Erratic Lifestyle and Interpersonal Manipulation.
For measurement of emotional intelligence, the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional
intelligence Test has been used. Overall score along with four sub-scales has been depicted in
the article. The four sub scales taken for the study are: understanding emotions, managing
emotions, facilitating emotions and perceiving emotions.
To study antisocial behaviour of students various items have been taken from Antisocial
Action scale. However, these were used to present academic misconduct, uncooperative
behaviours of group along with antisocial behaviour. Response of the participants was taken on
scale from 1 to 5. Here, 1 was presenting Disagree strongly whereas 5 was to show Agree
strongly.
Procedure
Procedure to be used in the research was not specified in the article. It is also necessary to
taken into account ethical considerations. Ethics represents norms that are required to be
considered in the research process. It is beneficial in identification of right or wrong about the
activities. However, behaviours which are either acceptable or unacceptable could also be
determined with the help of ethics (David and Resnik, 2015). Thus, norms of conducting
research could be presented by it. Laws, theories, psychology or sociology that should be
considered are identified with the help of it. Ethical concepts could also be utilized to present
criticism and evaluation of the principles of study. In the following study, all the participants
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which have been taken for the research was assigned with a identification number along with a
password which was unique for everyone (Dwyer, Hogan and Stewart, 2015). The entire
procedure was conducted online by making use of personal computers and campus computer
laboratories. $10 was provided to all the participants as a compensation on completion of
procedure.
Research design
Article was not presenting any information about the design method to be used. It is very
important to find out the reliability of the outcomes. The basis on which research would be
conducted is provided by it. Thus, operations could be smoothly performed with the availability
of design methods. Thus, it assists into making available information to a great extent with
minimum requirement of money and time.
Research design is effective if all the components of study are taken in coherent manner.
Data gathered for the research is required to be appropriate with the given topic. It is also helpful
in framing conclusions (Davis, Zorwick and Wade, 2016). Inaccuracy levels are thus lowered
down. Time wastage could also be minimized with the help of effective design. It is also
beneficial in identification of resources which would be required for the study in terms of
workforce, money etc.
Results
It is an important segment of the research. It makes readers to understand about findings
of the study. Problems is viewed from varied perspectives. It is basically used to present
observations which are important for the topic and reader is needed to consider.
It can be critically evaluated that authors have made use of means and standard deviations
to study different variables. Here, d was used to present magnitude of gender difference along
with significance of t-tests at all the different levels. However, it has been found that scores of
men was always higher in all the variables including psychopathy sub-scales, total psychopathy
and antisocial behaviour of students. But overall score of women was higher than men when total
EI and all the variables of EI sub-scales are considered. In students of accounting and students of
Humanities/Social Sciences, no significant difference was observed in context of psychopathy
and ant-social behaviours.
Thereby, from the findings and results it can be concluded that the research paper was not
being able to present problem effectively.
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Relation between psychopathy, emotional intelligence and antisocial behaviour of students
Zero-order correlations have been reported among antisocial behaviours of students,
psychopathy and EI. However, authors have presented relations differently among men and
women due to differences in genders. Whereas patterns used for both of them were similar only.
Thus, it could be critically evaluated that correlation values for men and women are negatively
related when emotional intelligence is considered. But when psychopathy and antisocial
behaviour of students are considered then they are positively related.
Thereby, for assessment of psychopathy and EI extents in case of ant-social behaviours of
students authors have done multiple regression analyses. It was done for both men and women
because of gender differences. For both the genders, anti-sociality has been predicted. In case of
women, the significant factor was psychopathy only. Here, 33.4% of variance has been noticed.
In case of men, 52.3% variance was recorded in case of anti-sociality of students. Here, both the
factors have been significant that is psychopathy and low emotional intelligence.
Discussion
The current was conducted with the aim of finding and analysing relation between three
factors that are: psychopathy, anti-sociality of students and emotional intelligence. A sample of
undergraduates have been taken into consideration. The sample of 489 students from three varied
universities was appropriate in number but it could also be presented as huge amount of
individuals. As a result, Bensley, Lilienfeld and Powell, (2014) stated that time and efforts
required for accomplishment of the study would also increase. With the differences in gender,
outputs have also varied. It could be critically evaluated that the article was able to present the
differences in scores of men and women. Score of men was found to be higher as compared to
females in context psychopathy and anti-sociality of students (Bensley, Lilienfeld and Powell,
2014). However, the score of women was higher in case of emotional intelligence when their
scores are compared to men. It could also be concluded that total psychopathy was related to
anti-sociality of students in positive manner for men and women both. Negative correlation
between psychopathy and EI was also supported for both the genders.
Whereas, at the sub scale level it has been found that no positive inter correlations exists
among psychopathy and emotional intelligence thereby indicating that out of all the measured
facets of psychopathy, none of them have linked with characteristic of emotional intelligence.
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Therefore, it could be said that no evidence was given by the authors about factors that have
superiority in any of sub scales of EI.
Total
mean
Standard
deviations
Female
mean
Standard
deviation
Male
mean
Standard
deviation
F-M
d
Total 91.03 15.1 94.16 14.35 86.4 15 0.53
Perceiving 96.46 15.67 99.3 15.17 92.31 15.55 0.46
Callous
affect
2.33 0.5 2.13 0.44 2.62 0.44 -1.11
Erratic
lifestyle
2.58 0.57 2.41 0.49 2.83 0.6 -0.77
Antisocial
behaviour
1.52 0.48 1.42 0.41 1.65 0.54 -0.47
Student
anti-
sociality
1.89 0.45 1.8 0.4 2.02 0.48 -0.5
Table 1: Mean, SD and gender differences
(Source: Visser and et.al., 2010)
Thus, from the table it could be seen that authors have presented mean, standard
deviations and gender differences for various variables. For the study, number of women taken
are 254 whereas number of men taken for the study are 175 (Visser and et.al., 2010).
From the research conducted it can be concluded that psychopathic individuals have no
abilities in context of emotional intelligence. However, there has been consistent link found
between psychopathy and EI in both the genders. They both are related to the anti-sociality of
students. It indicates that high score of psychopathy and low scores of emotional intelligence will
act in uncooperative way.
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CONCLUSION
After critically evaluating the given topic, it could be said that personality and individuals
vary in terms of psychopathy, antisocial and emotional intelligence. It could be critically
evaluated that authors have not assessed personality factors. Variables of self esteem has also
been not presented by them. However, the sample has been taken of restricted age group and
confined areas thus, broader aspect of the study could not be examined effectively. The study has
concluded that psychopaths are skilled manipulators that has different level of understanding and
intelligence. It has also been observed that references used in the study by the authors were also
old. New references could have provided research work with effective findings about the topic.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Bensley, D. A., Lilienfeld, S. O. and Powell, L. A., 2014. A new measure of psychological
misconceptions: Relations with academic background, critical thinking, and acceptance of
paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. Learning and Individual Differences. 36. pp.9-18.
Bensley, D. A., Rainey, C. and Kuehne, S., 2016. Closing the assessment loop on critical
thinking: The challenges of multidimensional testing and low test-taking motivation.
Thinking Skills and Creativity. 21. pp.158-168.
Davis, K. A., Zorwick, M. L. W. and Wade, M. M. eds., 2016. Using debate in the classroom:
encouraging critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. Routledge.
Dwyer, C. P., Hogan, M .J. and Stewart, I., 2014. An integrated critical thinking framework for
the 21st century. Thinking Skills and Creativity. 12. pp.43-52.
Dwyer, C. P., Hogan, M. J. and Stewart, I., 2015. The effects of argument mapping-infused
critical thinking instruction on reflective judgement performance. Thinking Skills and
Creativity. 16. pp.11-26.
Halpern, D. F., 2014. Critical thinking across the curriculum: A brief edition of thought &
knowledge. Routledge.
Heijltjes, A., Van Gog, T.and Paas, F., 2014. Improving critical thinking: Effects of dispositions
and instructions on economics students' reasoning skills. Learning and Instruction. 29.
pp.31-42.
Jackson, S. L., 2015. Research methods and statistics: A critical thinking approach. Cengage
Learning.
Roese, N. J., 2014. What might have been: The social psychology of counterfactual thinking.
Psychology Press.
Shiraev, E. B. and Levy, D. A., 2016. Cross-cultural psychology: Critical thinking and
contemporary applications. Taylor & Francis.
Stupple, E. J., Maratos, F. A. and Aubeeluck, A. V., 2017. Development of the Critical Thinking
Toolkit (CriTT): A measure of student attitudes and beliefs about critical thinking. Thinking
Skills and Creativity.23. pp.91-100.
Online
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David B. and Resnik, J. D., 2015. What is ethics in Research & Why it is Important?. [Online].
Available through: <https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/bioethics/whatis/>.
[Accessed on 31st July 2017].
Visser, A. B., and et.al., 2010. Personality and individual differences. [Online]. Available
through: <http://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/13080/Visser_Psychopathic
%282010%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y>. [Accessed on 31st July 2017].
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