Symposium on unidentified flying objects: hearings before the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninetieth Congress, second session, July 29, 1968.

209
understanding of
these
phenomena.
If
this
method
is
not
feasible,
then
I
be-lieve
that
a
national research center
is
needed
for
continuous,
formal
in-
vestigation
of
the
physical,
biological,
psycho
-social,
and
spiritual
implications
of
UFO
phenomena.
Establishment of
a
continuing research
center
could provide
for
those
facili-
ties,
equipment,
and
personnel
to
conduct
the necessary
field
work
and
theoreti-
cal
investigations
of
UFO
reports.
In
my
opinion,
the
staff
of
such
a
research
center
should
be encouraged
to
avail
themselves of
scholars
and
experts
in
various
disciplines,
including astronomical,
mathematical,
physical,
chemical,
biological,
medical,
psychological,
sociological,
military, technical,
legal,
polit-
ical,
theological,
and
parapsychological
fields
of
knowledge.
I
recognize
some
of
the
difficulties
which
attend
such
a
proposal;
I
recognize
some
of the
arguments which
have
been,
are
being,
and
will
be
raised
against
such
a
proposal.
However,
I
trust
that
you
gentlemen are
aware
that
the
pres-
ent
difficulties
of
enacting
such
a
proposal
are
inconsequential
when
compared
to
the
historical
impact
created
by
those persons
who
dare
to
exert
that
leader-
ship
which
could
determine
the
powers,
purposes,
and
persons
who
control
the
spacecraft
which
we
call
"Unidentified
Flying
Objects."
Thank
you
for
your
attention to
these
comments.
I
shall
be
most happy
to
respond
to
any
question
which you
may
have
about
these
or
related
views.Respectfully
submitted,
R.
LEO
SPRINKLE,
Ph.
D.
PERSONAL
AND
SCIENTIFIC
ATTITUDES:
A
SURVEY
OF
PERSONS
INTERESTED
IN
UFO
REPORTS*
(By
R.
Leo
Sprinkle, University
of
Wyoming)
SUMMARY
A
questionnaire
survey
was
conducted
among
3
groups:
26
Ph.D.
faculty
and
graduate.
students
in
a
Psychology
Department
(Psychology);
59
graduate
students
enrolled
in
an
NDEA
Guidance
Institute
(Guidance)
;
and 259
members
of
an
organization
which
is
interested
in
"flying
saucers" or
Unidentified
FlyingObjects
(UFOs),
the
National
Investigations
Committee on
Aerial
Phenomena
(NICAP).
It
was
hypothesized that
there
would
be
no
differences
between
thescores
of the
three
groups
on
the
Personal
Attitude
Survey
(Form
D,
Dogmatism
Scale,
Rokeach, 1960)
and
the
Scientific
Attitude
Survey
(Sprinkle, 1962).
The
results
showed
significant
differences
(P<.001
between the
3
groups with
respect
to
their
mean
scores
on
both
inventories,
with the
NICAP
group
scoring
higher
on
both
"dogmatic"
and
"scientific"
inventories,
followed
by
the
Guidance
group
and
Psychology group,
respectively.
Also,
the survey
showed
differences
in
regard
to
social
status
and
education.
Psychology
and
Guidance
subjects received
an
Index
of
Social
Status
(McGuire
&
White, 1955) which would
classify
them
in
the
Upper
Middle
Class,
while
NICAP
subjects
would
be
classified
mainly
in
the
Upper
Middle
and Lower
Middle
Classes.
The
average
years
of
education
were
tabulated
as
follows: Psychology,
18.8
years;
Guidance,
17.2
years;
and
NICAP,
14.0 years.
The
results
suggest that the
NICAP
group
is
more
"dogmatic"
and more
"scientific"
than
the Psychology
and
Guidance
groups.
There
are
two
feasible
interpretations
of
these
results:
1) The
Scientific
Attitude
Survey
(
Sprinkle,
1962)
is
not
useful
in
assessing
"scientific"
attitudes,
and/or
2)
the
two
inven-
troies
have
assessed the tendency of the
3
groups
to exhibtt
the "Yeasay-Naysay"
pattern
(Couch
&
Keniston, 1960).
The
latter
interpretation indicates
that there
may
be more
"Yeasayers" (those with
an
agreeing response
set
or
a
readiness
to affirm) in
the
NICAP
group, followed
by the Guidance
group,
and
Psychology
group,
respectively.
REFERENCES
Couch,
A.,
&
Keniston,
K.
Yeasayers
and
naysayers
:
Agreeing response
set
as
a
personality variable.
J.
abnorm,
soc. Psychol., 1960, 60, 151-174.
McGuire,
C.,
&
White, G.
D. The measurement
of
social status.
Research paperin
Human
development, No.
3
(revised), Dept. of
Educ.
Psychol.,
Univ. of Texas,
March
1955.
Rokeach,
M. The Open and
Closed
Mind. N.Y
.:
Basic Books,
1960.
Sprinkle,
R. L.
Scientific
Attitude Survey. (Unpublished
attitude inventory),
1962.
*This study was supported by the Grants in Aid Committee, the Society for the Psycho-logical
Study of Social Issues,
a
division of the American Psychological Association.