A chat with ChatGPT about history of psychology

[Christopher Darren Green]

Friends, 

The other day, I decided to have a chat with the AI chatbot that has recently caused such a stir, ChatGPT.

The topic of our chat was the history of psychology. Many of the answers were pretty reasonable. A good number were problematic in terms of accuracy. Some of the answers were bizarre and outrageous!

I have written a little paper about my conversation with ChatGPT and posted it online so that anyone who wants can have a look: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sk5tHqjyvROy4P-Eg9_JuwG3byHN6vXg/view?usp=share_link 

Don’t be daunted by the size of the document. The paper proper is just the first 11 pp. The 40-some pages after that are a complete transcription of the “conversation,” for those who are interested. 

I should point out that ChatGPT’s answer to the same question can change from moment to moment. Where I got bizarre answers, some others have gotten reasonable ones. One of the oddest things I found is that, when ChatGPT does not have access to correct information, rather than simply responding “I don’t know,” it sometimes “confabulates” faintly plausible but totally fictional answers. 

I should also point out that my understanding is that ChatGPT was never intended as a universal-true-content-provider (which, unfortunately is how many people have been using it). It was developed to produce fluid English-language answers to questions that are put to it. It does that pretty well. But the content is often far from reliable. 

Best, 

Chris

…….
Christopher D Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada

chr...@yorku.ca
http://www.yorku.ca/christo

Editor of the journal History of Psychology

…….
“Civilization is in a race between education and catastrophe.”
- H. G. Wells
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[David Devonis (Work Account)]

Hi Chris, everyone   

Goodness, all us ex- Iowans know that JM Baldwin had a booth at the Iowa State Fair where he helped judge the Best Baby Contest in 1924!

Seriously---

Possibly ChatGPT (say that in French!   https://joshuaedward.medium.com/chatgpt-means-kitty-i-have-farted-22ad26f8a3b8#:~:text=Chat%20in%20French%20means%20cat,Cat%20I%20have%20farted.   ) got JM Baldwin mixed up with Bird T. Baldwin  https://uipress.lib.uiowa.edu/bdi/DetailsPage.aspx?id=19 .   But as you point out it does tolerably well on things that don't need high resolution.  And sometimes it does offer up a clue that can be followed up in more detail with more reputable sources.

Question—if I do indulge in a conversation with CGPT, and I interact with it to the point where the interaction provides actual useful information, should I not cite it?  And if so, how?  ChatGPT (2023, July 29).  Personal communication?   (Or impersonal, as I think it would refer to 'itself'.)

Cheers   DaveD

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From: cheiro...@googlegroups.com <cheiro...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Christopher Darren Green <chr...@yorku.ca>
Sent: Friday, July 28, 2023 1:56 PM
To: Cheiron <cheiro...@googlegroups.com>; Society for the History of Psychology List SHP <shp-li...@googlegroups.com>
Cc: htpsych <htp...@yorku.ca>
Subject: [Cheiron-Forum:3060] A chat with ChatGPT about history of psychology

 

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[Christopher Darren Green]

Nice catch, Dave! I knew or Bird Baldwin but I did not know that he was at Iowa. I may have to insert that (with credit) in the next version of the paper.

Chris

...........................................

Christopher D Green

Department of Psychology

York University

Toronto, ON M3J 1P3

Canada

chr...@yorku.ca

http://www.yorku.ca/christo

Editor, History of Psychology (journal)

On Jul 28, 2023, at 3:34 PM, David Devonis (Work Account) <dev...@graceland.edu> wrote:



To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cheiron-forum/DM6PR19MB2970CD9DFB0850FD68F7AE9CB906A%40DM6PR19MB2970.namprd19.prod.outlook.com.