Submitted as a Psychology Practical Report
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- Method Participants
- Fairly Accurate 35 34 Neither Accurate nor Inaccurate
- Mildly Inaccurate 2 2 Very Inaccurate
- Descriptor VA FA N/A MI
| A Person’s Belief in Astrological Predictions of Behaviour and Their Ability to Apply to Many People Regardless of their Star Sign.
Harrison Gray Submitted as a Psychology Practical Report Due Date: 10th March Tutor: Ms Joblin Class: Year 11 VCE Psychology Abstract This experiment is on the accuracy of Astrological star signs and their horoscopes and whether people will believe predictions apply to them even though it is not their true horoscope. By imitating a horoscope, which is indistinct and lacking in any specific predictions, we can judge whether people, regardless of their star sign, will believe it. The hypothesis was that yes, people will think the descriptors apply to them and therefore supporting the fact that Astrology is false. This hypothesis was supported by the data gathered which showed numerous amounts of people favouring the fairly accurate category across all descriptors. The conclusion states that this experiment has indicated that Astrology is false in predicting human behaviour. There are many branches of Psychology, which all study the mind and behaviour using different methods. One avenue of Psychology is pseudoscience, which means that it is fake or false and that the perspective in question has no empirical evidence to back it up and the manner in which their predictions are gathered are questionable. Astrology is one such pseudoscience; it looks at the theory that the position of the stars and planets at your time of birth map out what type of person you will be and how you will lead your life. Within Astrology are twelve star signs across different times in the year and each person has his or her own birth sign, each with its own traits and faults. Daily horoscopes have widened the belief and popularity of Astrology and many people read their horoscopes, whether they believe in them or not. Most of these horoscopes are very vague and can apply to a wide audience which leads many people to believe that Astrology has validity because they feel it relates to them, especially when the prediction praises them. Previous researchers such as Phil Plait, a journalist who investigated Astrology, came to the conclusion that, “Astrologers tend to rely on our ability to remember hits and forget misses. Even an accurate prediction may be simple chance. Study after study has shown that claims and predictions made by astrologers have no merit. They are indistinguishable from chance, which means astrologers cannot claim to have some ability to predict your life's path.” The VCE Psychology class believe that many participants will believe what the horoscopes said about them because the predictions cover a wide audience of people regardless of their star sign, thus proving that Astrology is not accurate in predicting behaviour. In answer to the research question; which sex, boys or girls, are more likely to believe their horoscopes? The class responded saying that girls were more likely to believe it than boys. Method Participants The participants were all students of Lara Secondary College between the ages of 13 to 16, of both males and females. Of the 110 surveyed, all 12 star signs were covered. Materials Survey sheets Star sign cue cards Stationary equipment Whiteboard Computers Procedure
Results Overall accuracy of descriptors
Accuracy of each descriptor - Girls
Accuracy of each descriptor - Boys Descriptor VA FA N/A MI VI 1 20 19 10 3 Key VA – Very Accurate FA – Fairly Accurate N/A – Neither Accurate nor Inaccurate MI – Mildly Inaccurate VI – Very Inaccurate 3 2 15 21 16 2 1 3 17 21 12 2 3 4 17 13 10 8 2 5 15 21 11 4 3 6 18 20 10 3 4 7 18 20 6 5 6 8 20 13 16 5 1 Overall accuracy of descriptors – Figure #2 Discussion The experiment has produced data that supports the hypothesis that Astrology isn’t accurate in predicting behaviour. Many participants believed that the descriptors did apply to them, most selecting the ‘fairly accurate’ category for each descriptor and also for overall, even though each star sign horoscope was exactly the same, thereby challenging the validity of Astrology and showing that a person will be inclined to believe a prediction if it is claimed under their star sign. The other hypothesis about which sex believes horoscopes more was inconclusive. The data slightly supports the hypothesis that girls are more likely but the difference is so small that you couldn’t use the results to apply it to a wider audience. In reference to Phil Plaits quote about Astrology, it is true that the predictions provided by Astrologers are vague and provide and usually relate to people only by chance. Reference http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/astrology.html Phil Plaits Bad Astronomy Directory: file -> view view -> Western Europe after wwii view -> Author study: paul fleischman view -> Qpa1 7ela study Guide view -> Arctic Oil/Gas Neg view -> November 1970 Approximately 150,000-500,000 deaths Bhola Cyclone Bangladesh view -> Grade Level: 6 Unit of Study: Caribbean glce view -> Citation: Duffield, Katy view -> Table of Contents Lesson # view -> Chinese Wind Energy Disad Download 22.33 Kb. Share with your friends:
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