Doctorant-es

Céline Schöpfer

Doctorante de Florian Cova

My first studies were in psychomotor therapy, for which I holds a degree from the Geneva Haute École de Travail Social. I experienced working in a therapeutic day-care center, in a specialized education center and in a private office setting. I then obtained a Master's degree in Philosophy from the University of Lausanne. My final dissertation focused on the ontology of moral properties in relation to physicalism and the scientific method, where I proposed a reflection on the moral error theory in the light of the literature on cognitive bias.

 

Research

My SNSF Doc.CH project deals with critical thinking and it is done under the supervision of Prof. Florian Cova and Prof. Fabrice Clément. Many researchers believe that critical thinking training is an indispensable element in the fight against fake news, conspiracy theories or irrational beliefs. However, this notion presents serious conceptual problems. For example, there is a plethora of definitions of critical thinking and no consensus among them. This vagueness generates certain misunderstandings that can induce undesirable effects - such as a certain distrust of scientific authorities, due to excessive skepticism. The challenge of this project is to undertake a critical analysis of critical thinking in order to  determine what risks are associated with the use of this concept.

If you are interested in learning more about my research, check this out.

 

Grants

  • 2022-2025: SNSF Doc.CH grant for the project Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking

 

Publications

Related to my PhD project:

  • Altay, S., Nera, K., Ejaz, W., Schöpfer, C., & Tomas, F. (2023). Conspiracy believers claim to be free thinkers but (Under)Use advice like everyone else. British Journal of Social Psychology, 00, 1– 16. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12655
  • Nera, K., & Schöpfer, C. (2023). What Is So Special About Conspiracy Theories? Conceptually Distinguishing Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories from Conspiracy Beliefs in Psychological Research. Theory & Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543231155891
  • Schöpfer, C., Abatista, A. G. F., Fuhrer, J., & Cova, F. (2022). ‘Where there are villains, there will be heroes’: Belief in conspiracy theories as an existential tool to fulfill need for meaning. Personality and Individual Differences, 200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111900

 

Other:

  • Allard, A., Armond, A. C. V., Goddiksen, M. P., Johansen, M. W., Loor, H., Schöpfer, C., Varga, O., & Clavien, C. (2023). The quizzical failure of a nudge on academic integrity education : A randomized controlled trial. Research Integrity and Peer Review, 8(1), 15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41073-023-00139-z
  • Schöpfer, C., Bollondi, C., Moussa, M. A., Sommer, J., & Clavien, C. (2023). Effect of an app for promoting advance care planning and motivating patients to write their advance directives. BMC Health Services Research, 23(1), 566. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09593-3
  • Goddiksen, M. P., Willum Johansen, M., Armond, A. C., Centa, M., Clavien, C., Gefenas, E., Globokar, R., Hogan, L., Kovács, N., Merit, M. T., Olsson, I. A. S., Poškutė, M., Quinn, U., Borlido Santos, J., Santos, R., Schöpfer, C., Strahovnik, V., Varga, O., Wall, P. J., Lund, T. B. (2023). Grey zones and good practice : A European survey of academic integrity among undergraduate students. Ethics & Behavior, 1 19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2023.2187804
  • Goddiksen, M., P., Johansen, M., W., Armond, A., Clavien, C., Hogan, L., Kovács, N., Merit, M., T., Olsson, Quinn, U., Santos J., B., Santos, R., Schöpfer C., Varga, O., Wall, P. J., Varga, O., Wall, P., J., Sandøe, P., and Bøker Lund T. (2022). ‘The person in power told me to’. European PhD students’ perspectives on guest authorship and good authorship practice. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280018
  • Johansen, M. W., Goddiksen, M. P., Centa, M., Clavien, C., Gefenas, E., Globokar, R., Hogan, L., Merit, M. T., Nielsen, S. S., Olsson, I. A. S., Poškutė, M., Quinn, U., Santos, J. B., Santos, R., Schöpfer, C., Strahovnik, V., Wall, P. J., Sandøe, P., & Lund, T. B. (2022). Lack of ethics or lack of knowledge? European upper secondary students’ doubts and misconceptions about integrity issues. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 18(1), 20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-022-00113-0
  • Schöpfer, C., Ehrler. F., Berger, A., Bollondi, C., Buytaert, L., De La Serna, C., Hartheiser, F., Fassier, T., Clavien, C. (2022). Accordons-nous, A Mobile Application for Advance Care Planning and Advance Directives: Development and Usability Test. JMIR Human Factors. http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/34626

 

Degrees

  • Master of Art (MA) in Philosophy, University of Lausanne
  • Bachelor of Science HES-SO in Psychomotor Therapy, Haute Ecole de Travail Social, Geneva

 

Public relations activities

Podcast of Nicolas Martin, Enfin, peut-être, episode entitled « À quoi ça sert (de définir) l'esprit critique ? | Avec Céline Schöpfer » available on Youtube

Interview with Julien Hernandez for Polytechnique Insights. Title of the article: ‘Comment cultiver son esprit critique’.

Podcast Projet Utopie, entitled ‘Faites vos propres recherches !’ available on SoundCloud.

Round table organized by Futura Sciences, entitled ‘Savons-nous vraiment ce qu’est l’esprit critique ?’ and broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube.

Interview with Julien Hernandez for Le Figaro, Title of the article: ‘Peut-on penser par soi-même ?