Abstract

The purpose of this study was fourfold. First was to explore the role of the media in the formation of paranormal beliefs. Second was to determine whether a correlation exists between the parents' educational levels and the student's reasoning ability. Third was to determine the effectiveness of science reasoning instruction in altering paranormal beliefs. Fourth was to determine how the skills learned in the science reasoning unit was applied to other paranormal beliefs. Subjects were 248 students enrolled in high school chemistry at two public high schools in Riverside, California. The subjects were divided into two groups, a control group and an experimental group. Both groups took the pretest and posttest. Only the experimental group was given the instructional units. Instruments used included The Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning and four surveys: a Television, Book and Magazine Survey , a paranormal Beliefs Survey , a Science Attitude Survey and a Science Values Survey . ;Results indicate that students who viewed television for long hours tend to have higher paranormal belief levels. Students who viewed paranormal programs tended to have higher paranormal beliefs. There was no significant relationship found between the parents educational level and the subjects paranormal beliefs. The subject's belief in paranormal events was directly correlated with his/her belief in science myths. The ability of the subjects to shift away from a paranormal belief was related to the subject's logical reasoning ability. The overall paranormal belief scale showed no significant change between the pretest and posttest. However, the specific beliefs addressed did show a shift between the pretest and posttest. ;Recommendations included classroom emphasis on methods of evaluating unusual claims and emphasis on teaching critical thinking skills. It was also recommended that some scientific laws be emphasized and applied to unusual claims and that further research be conducted into why students retain certain beliefs when these beliefs have been disconfirmed