title: Supernatural curses in Pacific communities: A challenge for modern healthcare

authors: Aporosa, S. 'Apo'

abstract: While largely ignored by modern medical science, spirituality and supernatural phenomena continue to play a significant role in the belief systems of Indigenous peoples. In the Pacific and Pacific diaspora, ‘curses’ are commonly cited as the cause of death, poor health, and diminished wellbeing. At The University of Waikato, Dr Apo Aporosa teaches future healthcare workers the importance of acknowledging and respecting these beliefs, even if they go against personal belief structures. This encourages ‘cultural safety’ aimed at improving healthcare delivery and health equity in Pacific communities.

text: Supernatural curses in Pacific communities: A challenge for modern healthcare While largely ignored by modern medical science, spirituality and supernatural phenomena continue to play a significant role in the belief systems of Indigenous peoples. In the Pacific and Pacific diaspora, ‘curses’ are commonly cited as the cause of death, poor health, and diminished wellbeing. At The University of Waikato, Dr Apo Aporosa teaches future healthcare workers the importance of acknowledging and respecting these beliefs, even if they go against personal belief structures. This encourages ‘cultural safety’ aimed at improving healthcare delivery and health equity in Pacific communities.

year: 2024

title: How do people assess the truth of partially-familiar claims, relative to both familiar and unfamiliar claims?

authors: McLennan, Daniel Henry

abstract: People rate familiar claims as more true than unfamiliar claims, possibly because familiarity makes these claims feel easier to process. But little is known about how people assess the truth of claims that consist of a combination of familiar and unfamiliar information. It is important to know how people assess such “partially-familiar” claims because false claims often contain a familiar “kernel of truth” that may make the claim as a whole seem more believable. If this were the case, we would expect people to rate more partially-familiar claims true than unfamiliar claims, yet fewer than familiar claims. Across three experiments, we investigated how people assess the truth of partially-familiar claims, relative to both familiar and unfamiliar claims. We found that people classified more familiar claims as true than unfamiliar claims, and roughly the same number of partially-familiar claims true as unfamiliar claims. In other words, we replicated the known finding that people inflate their judgements of truth for familiar claims compared with unfamiliar claims; however, we found no evidence that a “kernel of truth” similarly inflates people’s judgements. This research contributes to our understanding of how people decide whether a claim is true.

text: How do people assess the truth of partially-familiar claims, relative to both familiar and unfamiliar claims? People rate familiar claims as more true than unfamiliar claims, possibly because familiarity makes these claims feel easier to process. But little is known about how people assess the truth of claims that consist of a combination of familiar and unfamiliar information. It is important to know how people assess such “partially-familiar” claims because false claims often contain a familiar “kernel of truth” that may make the claim as a whole seem more believable. If this were the case, we would expect people to rate more partially-familiar claims true than unfamiliar claims, yet fewer than familiar claims. Across three experiments, we investigated how people assess the truth of partially-familiar claims, relative to both familiar and unfamiliar claims. We found that people classified more familiar claims as true than unfamiliar claims, and roughly the same number of partially-familiar claims true as unfamiliar claims. In other words, we replicated the known finding that people inflate their judgements of truth for familiar claims compared with unfamiliar claims; however, we found no evidence that a “kernel of truth” similarly inflates people’s judgements. This research contributes to our understanding of how people decide whether a claim is true.

year: 2023

title: Lake Rotokakahi water quality update 1990-2011

authors: Butterworth, Joseph

subjects: Lake Rotokakahi

abstract: Lake Rotokakahi is an Iwi-owned lake administered by the Lake Rotokakahi Board of Control on Behalf of lake owners who are descendants from the Ngāti Tumatawera and Tūhourangi hapū of Te Arawa. It is mesotrophic (moderate water quality) lake with an area of 4.4 km² comprised of exotic forestry (57.1%), pasture (26.3%) and regenerating indigenous forest/scrub (16.6%).

text: Lake Rotokakahi water quality update 1990-2011 Lake Rotokakahi is an Iwi-owned lake administered by the Lake Rotokakahi Board of Control on Behalf of lake owners who are descendants from the Ngāti Tumatawera and Tūhourangi hapū of Te Arawa. It is mesotrophic (moderate water quality) lake with an area of 4.4 km² comprised of exotic forestry (57.1%), pasture (26.3%) and regenerating indigenous forest/scrub (16.6%).

year: 2012