The miracle treatment – (pseudo)science in mental health care

We often encounter striking, spectacular, or difficult to understand phenomena. Some of these phenomena can be considered pseudoscience; they seem scientific, but the claims to fame can not be backed-up with empirical evidence, and are not falsifiable. Pseudoscience can be very clear, but in most cases, the distinction with ‘real science’ is more subtle, and somewhere on a spectrum between science and anti-science. But how to determine where to place a specific phenomenon on this spectrum? In this first presentation, the characteristics of pseudoscience will be introduced using examples from mental health care.

Lotte Lemmens

Assistant Professor - Department of Clinical Psychological Science

Maastricht University

Research Integrity and the Cultural Boundaries of Science

One of the goals of science is the continuous expansion of certified knowledge. This certification, a stamp of approval, is granted by many parties: peers who assess the quality of evidence and processes; societal actors who assess the value and relevance of contributions, and more. None of these assessment processes are stable: what counts as science, what counts as good science and the rules that dictate how scientists should behave shift over time. The boundary between science and pseudoscience is thus constantly the front line of a struggle for credibility.

Bart Penders

Associate Professor

Maastricht University

Atlantis is everywhere

How to constructively respond to pseudoscience?

Archaeologists are confronted with ideas of ancient aliens, lost continents, and other pseudoscientific beliefs everyday. Pseudoarchaeology is everywhere: its books outsell real archaeology books, its TV shows are popular, and many false ideas about the past are accepted as truth by society. There's clearly a deep human need to interact with our past, but those interactions don't always happen on archaeologists' terms. In this talk I discuss talking to with "alien tourists" while working as an archaeologist, and how scientists can approach pseudoscientific beliefs in a kind, constructive way.

Donna Yates

Associate Professor - Department of Criminal Law and Criminology

Maastricht University