EVENT: Witches, Werewolves and WMDs: The Cognition of Myths

Why did people in the middle ages persistently believe in the existence of witches? Why were people some centuries ago afraid of werewolves? And why did some 20-25% of Americans surveyed last September - after more than a year of intensive searches failed to find any WMD's - believe not only in the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but also that the Iraqis had used them during the war? This talk will illustrate the psychological processes that give rise to the formation of such myths and that make them so resilient to forgetting and updating. The talk will also illustrate the psychology underlying risk perception, and it will explain why it is so easy to feel that crime is rampant when in fact many offences have been stable or even decreasing for a decade, and why we might be tempted to be fearful of terrorism when in fact we are far more likely to die in an accident around the home.

Professor Lewandowsky is a cognitive psychologist at The University of Western Australia who specialises in people's memory and decision-making. An award-winning teacher, he has published over 80 scholarly articles and chapters, including a recent journal article on how people processed information about the Iraq war.

Bookings essential. $21 Course code 045007