Credulity and Gullibility Among Service Providers An Attempt to Understand Why Snake Oil Sells

1. Credulity and Gullibility Among Service ProvidersAn Attempt to Understand Why Snake Oil Sells Chapter 9 Presented By: Heather Peltack

2. What is Snake oil? • Comes from the 19th-century American practice of selling “cure-all” remedies • Snake oil salesmen would falsely claim that the “potions” would cure any ailments. • Now-a-days it refers to “fake products” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xat9xSos_7g

3. Stephen Greenspan • PHD Developmental Psychology • University of Rochester • Post-doctorate Developmental Disabilities • UCLA's Neuropsychiatric Institute • Last 10 years he became interested in the problem of “gullibility” • Recently developed a theory of "foolish action“ • Gullibility is one of three sub-types • Exploring the implications • Understanding and helping individuals, particularly those with vulnerabilities, to live happy and secure lives. http://www.stephen-greenspan.com/biography.html

4. "gullibility" • A tendency to be fooled or duped • Tricked repeatedly • Manipulated by one or more people • Gullible people do not tend to learn from example

5. Credulity • Synonym for Gullibility • A state of willingness to believe in one or many people or things in the absence of reasonable proof or knowledge • Not simply belief in something that may be false. • The subject of the belief may even be correct, but a credulous person will believe it without good evidence.

6. Fads • Fad = Band Wagon • No one wants to be left behind when they think something worthwhile is happening Gullibility Gullibility Diets Vaccines Miller Method Gullibility Sensory Hippo Vitamins FC Autism Band Wagon of Fads

7. Situational factors underlying gullibility towards fads • Social Pressure or Group Pressure- 2 or more people who encourage a belief • May erase doubt • May reduce pressure on oneself • Example- “Shell Game” • Existence of ambiguous situation • More conventional approaches due not appear to be working well

8. Situational factors underlying gullibility towards fads • The desperate desire by a family member or professional relatives or client to be “cured” • Mom Video • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yn4SBNSkg4&list=PL97C7BAB934132514&index=2&feature=plpp_video • Lack of knowledge/ sophistication about research methods or scientific literature to a particular disability

9. Situational factors underlying gullibility towards fads • Autism is a fertile field for fads • Complexity (no clear handle for parents) • Unusual mix of components

10. Affective factors underlying gullibility towards fads • Human tendency to believe in miracles • God/ Religions • Fairies • True believers • The desire to help and cure • The extent to which certain treatment are congruent with strong ideological and political process in the disability field. • Facilitated Communications-FC craze • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqhlv0UZUwY

11. Cognitive factors underlying gullibility towards fads • If someone is intelligent does not mean you should trust their advice • Intelligence (IQ) • Academic • Social and everyday aspects • “A more sophisticated and knowledgeable professional is likely to be skeptical in the face of such pseudoscientific arguments, whereas naïve and poorly educated individuals are, presumably more like to find arguments convincing.”

12. Cognitive factors underlying gullibility towards fads • Professional license or advanced degree is no guarantee that one is an expert • Semi profession- a field that lacks an underlying scientific base or where the base is highly suspect. • Unlikely to have meaningful training • Lacks knowledge on research • Works within organizations • Why semi professions have been quick to adopt quack therapies? • Something they can call “their own” • Seek insurance reimbursement

13. Books

14. Can gullibility in service providers be prevented? The Doctors http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oEtF8FdqpA

15. Can we contain and minimize the consequence of the gullibility to fads? • Looking for detailed code of ethics in professions • Joining professional organization • Educating about fads • Educating on how to spot fads

16. What can we do? • Make sure what you are doing is effective • Better job at educating the public about science, the scientific method, and current research findings • Train students to be good practitioners and researchers • Find ways to work with and collaborate with other professionals instead of alienate them • Encourage to be skeptical and be open-minded • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T69TOuqaqXI

17. What can we do? (Cont.) • Finding ways to talk about these in a way that is understood by lay people • Behaviorspeak • Having professionals devote as a job to be in public relations • Dr. Sharon Reeve • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CE5nYjCmUc • Educating the parents and families that we work with about how to evaluate potential treatments

18. Summary • For individuals, practitioners and service agents it is important to be viewed as competent • An importance to be competent is to is to make sure you: • Recognize worthless fads • Educate on why they are a fad • Provide a more successful option

19. References • Jacobson, J.W., Foxx R.M., & Mulick, J.A. (Eds.). (2005). Controversial therapies for developmental disabilities: Fad, fashion, and science in professional practice.Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, ISBN: 0-8058-4192-X