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Ever wonder why flat earthers, birthers, climate change and Holocaust deniers stick to their beliefs in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary?

New findings from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, suggest that feedback, rather than hard evidence, boosts people’s sense of certainty when learning new things or trying to tell right from wrong.

Developmental psychologists have found that people’s beliefs are more likely to be reinforced by the positive or negative reactions they receive in response to an opinion, task or interaction, than by logic, reasoning and scientific data.

Their findings, published in the online issue of the journal Open Mind, shed new light on how people handle information that challenges their worldview, and how certain learning habits can limit one’s intellectual horizons.

“If you think you know a lot about something, even though you don’t, you’re less likely to be curious enough to explore the topic further, and will fail to learn how little you know,” said study lead author Louis Marti, a Ph.D. student in psychology at UC Berkeley.

This cognitive dynamic can play out in all walks of actual and virtual life, including social media and cable-news echo chambers, and may explain why some people are easily duped by charlatans.

“If you use a crazy theory to make a correct prediction a couple of times, you can get stuck in that belief and may not be as interested in gathering more information,” said study senior author Celeste Kidd, an assistant professor of psychology at UC Berkeley.

Specifically, the study examined what influences people’s certainty while learning. It found that study participants' confidence was based on their most recent performance rather than long-term cumulative results. The experiments were conducted at the University of Rochester.

For the study, more than 500 adults, recruited online through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk crowdsourcing platform, looked at different combinations of colored shapes on their computer screens.

They were asked to identify which colored shapes qualified as a “Daxxy,” a make-believe object invented by the researchers for the purpose of the experiment.

With no clues about the defining characteristics of a Daxxy, study participants had to guess blindly which items constituted a Daxxy as they viewed 24 different colored shapes and received feedback on whether they had guessed right or wrong. After each guess, they reported on whether or not they were certain of their answer.

The final results showed that participants consistently based their certainty on whether they had correctly identified a Daxxy during the last four or five guesses instead of all the information they had gathered throughout.

“What we found interesting is that they could get the first 19 guesses in a row wrong, but if they got the last five right, they felt very confident,” Marti said. “It’s not that they weren’t paying attention, they were learning what a Daxxy was, but they weren’t using most of what they learned to inform their certainty.”

An ideal learner’s certainty would be based on the observations amassed over time as well as the feedback, Marti said.

“If your goal is to arrive at the truth, the strategy of using your most recent feedback, rather than all of the data you’ve accumulated, is not a great tactic,” he said.

Yasmin Anwar writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday night honored an outgoing Lakeport Fire Protection District Board member for his service and presented a proclamation honoring the entire district for its efforts to protect the city and the surrounding communities from the Mendocino Complex.

As a room filled with firefighters and other community members looked on, Mayor Mireya Turner presented a proclamation to Lakeport Fire Protection District Board member Gerry Mills, who is retiring after 20 years of service.

Mills was a California Highway Patrol captain who served as commander of the CHP’s Clear Lake Area office as well as the Eureka office before he retired.

He also is a past member of Rotary International and a current member of the Elks Club, and serves on the Lake Local Area Formation Commission, according to the proclamation Turner read.

“It’s been very nice working with the city over these years,” Mills said, noting the experience has been “very positive.”

He said it’s been a distinct honor to work with the fire department, where the main job is to do good things for the community. He said Lakeport Fire has a great group of firefighters and directors.

Mills said former County Supervisor Karan Mackay had appointed him, but it was his predecessor on the board, Ray Benavides – also a former Lake County sheriff – who talked him into serving.

“I’m sorry,” Benevides said from the audience.

The council then had a brief presentation on the Mendocino Complex that included a time lapse of the complex’s growth that was created by Community Development Director Kevin Ingram.

Turner then called up Lakeport Fire personnel, about a dozen of them gathering in front of the dais as she read a proclamation honoring them for their efforts to keep the community safe.

The proclamation recounted how that the Mendocino Complex, which includes the Ranch and River fires, began on July 27, triggering mass evacuations throughout the county, including the entire city of Lakeport, which was in the path of the River fire.

While their own families were evacuated and homes were unprotected, Turner said Lakeport Fire Protection District’s staff of professional and volunteer firefighters were called upon to stay to fight the River fire.

The district’s firefighters “battled tirelessly in the field to hold the River fire west of Highway
29, ultimately preventing any loss of homes or businesses in the city limits,” Turner said.

The proclamation recognized the district’s personnel “for their unwavering courage and professionalism in the face of a deadly threat to both the city and county residents,” which drew a standing ovation.

Lakeport Fire Chief Doug Hutchison thanked the council on behalf of the district for the proclamation.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the folks that we have, how they responded to this incident. I think it was of a magnitude that we haven’t really seen here before, and everybody stepped up to a level that we really couldn’t even imagine that we were able to do,” Hutchison said.

Pointing to the firefighters with him, Hutchison said they were a small number of people who were part of the response. He said 31 of the district’s 37 staffers out around the clock, seven days a week, for an extended time.

“Everybody just pitched in, did what had to be done, didn’t need a lot of leadership because everybody just did their job,” he said.

He added, “I’m very proud of these folks,” before the audience gave them another standing ovation.

In other business on Tuesday evening, the council met new employees Kris Perkins and Jonathan Ohlen and approved a resolution supporting opposition to Proposition 6, “Repeal of the Road Repair and Accountability Act,” which will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot,

At the request of Public Works Director Doug Grider, the council approved the purchase of a John Deere 210L Skip Loader at a cost of $88,427.75.

The council also adopted a grievance procedure under the American Disabilities Act and designated the Administrative Services director as the ADA coordinator, and directed the city’s voting delegate to the League of California Cities Annual Conference to support the two resolutions provided in the annual conference resolutions packet.

A presentation by Sutter Lakeside Hospital Chief Administrative Officer Dan Peterson was postponed to a future meeting.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

SOUTHERN LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and South Lake County Fire Protection District will be conducting a communications test on Wednesday afternoon.

The purpose of the test is to confirm connectivity between Sheriff’s Dispatch and the four sirens installed in southern Lake County to advise residents of an imminent hazard.

Should there be an active response to local fires in progress, the test will be rescheduled.

The four siren sites are in Middletown, Anderson Springs, Cobb and Loch Lomond.

At about 4 p.m. Wednesday, an activation signal will be sent to each site, where personnel will confirm the unit has been activated. The unit will then be immediately shut off. A failure to activate will be noted for investigation and repair.

The sirens have been installed as one of the tools used to warn residents of the need to take further actions in the face of an emergency.

The sheriff’s office also encourages residents to sign up for LakeCoAlerts and Nixle for telephone, text and email alerts issued by the Sheriff’s Office at www.lakesheriff.com.

Questions about the sirens may be directed to the South Lake County Fire Protection District at 707-987-3089.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The monthly “First Friday Art Walk” event that debuted this summer in Middletown is about to hold its grand finale for the season, with a full evening of entertainment this Friday.

The year’s final art walk will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, in downtown Middletown.

It's a free event for everyone to come out and celebrate with friends, families and the greater community. Note that Farmer’s Market and kid events start at 5 p.m.

Get dinner out that night – Ethiopian, Filipino, vegan pizza, and other food delights will be hosted at various Middletown area businesses.

Multiple live bands and artists will be stationed around town.

Follow a treasure hunt map to find answers to questions and then enter your completed map in the drawing for a $25 gift certificate to the participating business of your choice. Children, teens and adults are all welcome to play.

Pick up a map at the MAMA booth at the corner of Highways 29 and 175 or find a complete listing of artists and locations online at the First Fridays Art Walk in Middletown Facebook page.

The theme this Friday is “Lake County Fashion Show.” The fashion show will showcase local Lake County designers and retailers and will run at the Middletown Art Center at 6:30 p.m. with an encore at 8 p.m.

Children can get in the act with their own “Trashion Show” that evening. Volunteers will be on hand to help children design, construct, and then model their own fashions using repurposed items.

Parents should bring participating children to the Farmer's Market at the Middletown Art Center (on the corner of Highways 75 and 29) at 5 p.m. to sign them up and get started creating. It’s free to participate.

Though materials will be provided, children are also welcome to bring items from home that they’d like to add to their creation.

The children’s "Trashion Show" happens at 7:15 p.m. when childrens will parade through town wearing their newly created fashions.

Visit the First Fridays Art Walk in Middletown CA Facebook page for all the details. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Bundle of Joy Nature Preschool in Hidden Valley Lake received a Tier 5 rating on the Quality Counts California matrix, which measures the quality of child care programs in California.

A Tier 5 rating is the highest achievable.

Bundle of Joy is the first family childcare preschool to receive a Tier 5 rating in Lake County. In December 2017, eight Lake County Office of Education State Preschools each earned a Tier 4 rating. Pine Summit Seedlings Preschool, a family child care in Cobb, also received a Tier 4 rating this spring.

The Quality Counts California matrix measures the effects of the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), a voluntary statewide program introduced into Lake County in 2015 through the Lake County Office of Education, or LCOE.

The primary focus of QRIS is to enhance program quality for all children involved in participating child care programs, and focuses on providing coaching, resources, and support to early care and education programs, in a consistent, statewide manner.

Child Care Planning Council and QRIS Coordinator, Angela Cuellar-Marroquin and her team performed the rating.

Cuellar-Marroquin explained, “When a child care site chooses to participate, they go through a process of coaching, goal setting, and rating.”

Each program participating in the QRIS program is rated on child development and school readiness, social and emotional development, effective teacher-child interactions, classroom environments, professional development, and family engagement.

Jean Goulart opened Bundle of Joy Nature Preschool Childcare in 2000, and has since perfected her approach that fosters a sense of order, concentration, coordination, independence, creativity and self-esteem for a young child’s developing brain.

April Strait, QRIS Coach said, “Jean is such a dedicated teacher and childcare provider. It has been a pleasure to work with her.”

Goulart earned her Bachelors of Sciences at Pacific Union College, Angwin, and her Master’s Degree from the Pacific Oaks College, Pasadena.

Strait added, “Jean’s commitment to providing a high quality experience for the children is evident in everything she does, from her outdoor classroom environment, her advocacy efforts, and the warm, caring atmosphere she creates every day at her center.”

Lake County Superintendents of Schools Brock Falkenberg says, “I am pleased that our QRIS program under the strong direction of Cuellar-Marroquin is being introduced to so many early childhood educators (ECE) in Lake County. Research shows that quality ECE is associated with higher measures of early language and math development, preparing our youngest members of Lake County for kindergarten.”

If you would like more information about the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) or about joining the Child Care Planning Council, please contact Angela Cuellar-Marroquin, LPC/QRIS coordinator at 707-262-4162 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Find out more about the Bundles of Joy Preschool at www.bundleofjoychildcare.com (License #173002363.)

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Tuesday containment inched up further on the Mendocino Complex, which is now under the management of a new firefighting team.

The Mendocino Complex’s acreage has remained at 459,123 acres since Aug. 27.

As of Tuesday morning, the complex’s containment was up to 98 percent. It’s expected to be fully contained on Sept. 9.

The complex includes the still-active Ranch fire, at 410,203 acres and 98 percent containment, and the River fire, fully contained last month at 48,920 acres.

The Mendocino Complex is being managed by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service and Southern California Interagency Incident Management Team 3 under Incident Commander Mike Wakoski.

The team assumed command of the incident Tuesday at 7 a.m. from California Incident Management Team 3 after it fulfilled its 14-day assignment on the incident.

With full containment nearing, resources continues to be scaled back. There are now 736 firefighting personnel dedicated to the complex, with 22 engines, 13 hand crews, one helicopter and 14 dozers.

The Forest Service reported that the last section of uncontained fireline on the Ranch fire is west of Stonyford near Bonnie View and Happy Camp.

Firefighters continue to monitor interior burning and patrol fire lines in this area. Contractors with additional heavy equipment arrived Sunday and are positioned along firelines to continue suppression repair, officials said.

The suppression repair crews are repairing firelines by removing dirt berms, spreading cut vegetation and building water bars to reduce soil erosion. Officials said suppression repair is complete on the River fire.

Although smoke from the Mendocino Complex has decreased, Forest Service officials said it is mixing with that from other fires around Northern California, so smoke and haze will continue to fill the skies for several days.

Light winds will keep smoke in the area through Tuesday and likely on Wednesday, officials said.

Communities such as Stonyford and Elk Creek should have continued heavy smoke impacts. Elsewhere in areas such as Laytonville, Potter Valley, Lake County and the Sacramento Valley, moderate smoke impacts are expected with the potential for spikes of heavier smoke midday.

For a smoke forecast visit https://wildlandfiresmoke.net/outlooks/MendocinoNationalForest-SacramentoValleyArea.

Mendocino Complex Progression Map for September 4, 2018 by LakeCoNews on Scribd