Notre Dame Psychology Students Take on Wikipedia Challenge

Today @ Notre Dame:

Wikipedia is often in the top results when people search for information online, but it isn’t always the most credible source. Enter a group of advanced Notre Dame undergraduates in psychology who have taken on the challenge to update, correct, or, in some cases, write new entries for the online encyclopedia.

It’s all part of the new Association for Psychological Science (APS) Wikipedia Initiative—and Assistant Professor Gerald Haeffel’s “Science and Pseudoscience in Psychology” class is one of a select few across the country selected to participate.

“We know that a lot of people get their science information from Wikipedia,” Haeffel says. “The average person will never read a journal article—they’re never going to read a peer-reviewed report. They go online. The APS initiative aims to have researchers fix Wikipedia pages with the most up-to-date, most relevant, most accurate scientific information.”

While performing this public service, Haeffel says, his students have also developed research, writing, and technical skills that will serve them well after graduation, whether they go into psychology or not.

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