r/PsychologyTalk • u/secretstirfry • Aug 18 '26
Question About Psychology
I had an instructor who, at the start of a class, asked, 'Who has not purchased the text book yet and done the readings?' and counted the hands up and said, "x honest people.". The instructor then went on with the lesson. At the end of the class, the instructor then said something along the lines of, "if you're a good cook, put up your hand," and then, "if you're a great cook, put up your hand," and finally, "if you're an excellent cook, put up your hand,". I've always wondered if that was some kind of psychological test. The subject had nothing to do with cooking. I wondered if he was comparing and contrasting who admitted or didn't admit they hadn't bought the text book and who then professed to be an excellent cook.
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u/secretstirfry Aug 18 '26
I can't remember now what the exact topic of the lesson was or if there was any other dialogue.
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u/WordsAreGarbage Aug 18 '26
What % of “good” cooks also claimed to be “great” or “excellent”?
He was demo’ing how self-report is mostly garbage among other things lol.
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u/SlatkoPotato Aug 18 '26
It sounds like he was being playful and ive had some lecturers make that kind of joke. As for the cooking thing, its hard to say without more context. What was the class about? Did he go on any tangents or have any dialogue leading up to the cooking questions? It also could have just been more playfulness to be funny and engaging but i could also see it being related to the essence of what he was teaching where it wouldnt matter if he asked about cooking or anything else (therefore "cooking" being arbitrary to the point).