Please join Bilkent University’s Psychology Department on Thursday for the virtual visit of Prof. Michael Smithson.
Speaker: Michael Smithson, The Australian National University
“Rethinking the Psychology of Ignorance”
Date: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Time: 12:30
This is an online seminar. To obtain event details please send a message to department.
Abstract:
The study of ignorance has no natural home. It sprawls across disciplines, and the field of ignorance studies now spans most of the human sciences and includes professions such as law and medicine. Psychology is a latecomer to this field, despite its long-running lines of research in decision making and risk. I begin by reviewing psychology’s conceptions of uncertainty and curiosity, and its recent forays into “deliberate ignorance”. I discuss their limitations and outline ways in which psychology can expand and develop its perspectives on ignorance, and connect more productively with other disciplines in this domain.
About the speaker:
Michael Smithson received his Ph.D. at University of Oregon in 1976, and he held academic positions at James Cook University until 1996 and The Australian National University until 2021. He is currently a Professor Emeritus in the School of Medicine and Psychology at The Australian National University and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. His contributions include advances in research and theory on uncertainty and ignorance, and innovations in statistical methods for the human sciences. He is the author of seven books and co-editor of two books. His other publications include more than 200 refereed journal articles and book chapters.