38 th Annual Conference February 1, 2013 What They Don't Know CAN Hurt Them Ryan Curtis, Ph.D. Ast. Dir. of Undergraduate Studies Scott Roberts, Ph.D. Dir. of Undergraduate Studies Department of Psychology University of Maryland

Log in to channel 23 PRESS: (Ch) or (Go) (4) (1) (Ch) or (Go) The green light should display for 2 seconds You are now ready to respond

Which of these poses the greatest risk to a college students success? Poll 1.Alcohol abuse 2.Drug abuse 3.Abusive relationships 4.Academic dishonesty 5.Unprotected sexual intercourse 6.All are equally problematic 7.None are a problem for my students

How much money did the average person in this room make last year? Poll 1.< $50,000 2.$50,001-$60,000 3.$60,001-$70,000 4.$70,001-$80,000 5.$80,001-$90,000 6.$90,001-$100,000 7.$100,001-$110,000 8.$110,001-$120,000 9.>$120,001

How much money did YOU make last year? Poll 1.< $50,000 2.$50,001-$60,000 3.$60,001-$70,000 4.$70,001-$80,000 5.$80,001-$90,000 6.$90,001-$100,000 7.$100,001-$110,000 8.$110,001-$120,000 9.>$120,001

Assumption Errors Assumptions are the best predictors of Jonesian Intelligence (Jacobs, 1998) Assumption Errors are bad Have been linked with risky alcohol consumption (Prentice & Miller, 1993) and sexual behavior (Hines, et al. 2002)

Assumptions are the best predictors of Jonesian Intelligence (Jacobs, 1998) Assumption Errors are bad Have been linked with risky alcohol consumption (Prentice & Miller, 1993) and sexual behavior (Hines, et al. 2002) Assumption Errors I totally made this up This part is true

Pluralistic Ignorance (modified) Questions? Im confused, but everyone else seems to understand

Pluralistic Ignorance (modified) Questions? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Pluralistic Ignorance Everyone in the group is different from me… Multiple members of the group share this assumption

Whats Wrong with Feeling Unique? girl-tired-of-reading-sleeping-on-the-bed-with-a-book-on-her-face-isolated-on-white jpg Last Friday Night? Everyone else was getting drunk…

ACTUAL Norm Getting 'drunk' frequently is ok because it is an important part of the college experience Perkins and Berkowitz (1986)

ERRONEOUS Norm Getting 'drunk' frequently is ok because it is an important part of the college experience Perkins and Berkowitz (1986)

Fundamental Attribution Error I only drink like this on special occasions. But these guys really love to drink!

We tend to do what we think is normal…

…because no one wants to be rejected…

Serious and Silly Norms Asch (1951) Line Study

Consequences of Perceived Disconnect (Prentice & Miller, 1993)

150-Seat Sections of PSYC Classmate? UMD Student? You?

The Results

Academic Dishonesty

Note – insert comparison on salaries

Teaching Conference Results Assumed Actual

Combating Ignorance (Schroeder & Prentice,1998) Discussion group Peer-focused Show data on pluralistic ignorance Individual-focused How to make responsible decisions

4-6 months later… Combating Ignorance (Schroeder & Prentice,1998)

4-6 months later… Combating Ignorance (Schroeder & Prentice,1998)

Technologies Clickers Clickers.umd.edu Poll everywhere Polleverywhere.com Low Tech Post-Its In Class

Technologies Surveys Blackboard/Canvas Qualtrics/Surveymonkey/Googledocs Wiki Blog Discussion Board Out of Class

How would you use clickers to combat assumption errors?

Feedback from Students I loved that the clickers were able to show us information about the others around me while keeping it anonymous. It taught me a great deal about pluralistic ignorance. It was interactive, it told us what the reality was in our class and shed light on the concept of pluralistic ignorance. My expectations were very different than the reality often times. It showed us things that were counter intuitive so that we paid attention when you told us what the actual answer is.

38 th Annual Conference February 1, 2013 Thank you! Ryan Curtis, Ph.D. Scott Roberts, Ph.D. Department of Psychology University of Maryland