Murray State University Department of Psychology hosts Brummer Colloquium

By Alex Pologruto | Nov 17, 2021

MURRAY, Ky. — The Department of Psychology at Murray State University hosted Dr. JP Prims for the fall semester’s second Brummer Colloquium in Psychology on Monday, Nov. 5 in the Freed-Curd Auditorium on Murray State’s campus. 

Prims is a visiting lecturer at the University of Illinois at Chicago. They received a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and conducts research on when, where, and why people believe conspiracy theories and the science of how science is done.

In their Brummer Colloquium lecture, “Call it a Conspiracy: How Conspiracy Belief Predicts Recognition of Conspiracy Theories," Prims discussed research on “conspiracy blindness,” wherein people have considerable difficulty recognizing as conspiracy theories those conspiracies in which they believe, particularly when they do not take much time to consider if their beliefs might be conspiracy theories. However, Prims argued that people can overcome this conspiracy blindness when they are given a definition for “conspiracy theory” and asked to actively apply it to their beliefs. This suggests that people are typically ignorant of their own conspiracy beliefs but are capable of recognizing them when given the tools and motivation to do so.

The Dr. and Mrs. Gary Brummer Colloquium Series in Psychology is made possible by a generous gift from Dr. Gary Brummer and his wife, Sharon. The series hosts speakers from a wide range of research areas in psychology. All presentations are free and open to the public. To learn more about the series or the Department of Psychology at Murray State please visit murraystate.edu/psychology.