You will examine a variety of questions from the fields of social, personality, and clinical psychology, related to the impact of conspiracy beliefs and science denial on individuals and communities: How and why do people believe seemingly ridiculous claims? Which characteristics make individuals prone to conspiracy thinking and what are the mechanisms of radicalization? How do conspiracy beliefs shape identities? Why is it difficult to disrupt conspiracy theories? And what can one do to prevent or mitigate conspiracy thinking?
You will use theory to guide hypotheses and use data from research to test the hypotheses. You will examine models related to causal explanations for events, social motives and interpersonal relations, in-group/out-group identities and group conflicts, and information processing. In addition, you will explore evidence-based psychological solutions and therapeutic responses.
As a result of completing this course, you will:
No specific prior experience or knowledge is required, however students should be excited to learn and have interest in the subject area.
Online sections of Pre-College courses are offered in one of the following modalities: Asynchronous, Mostly asynchronous, or Blended. Please review full information regarding the experience here.