50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology uses popular myths as a vehicle for helping students and laypersons to distinguish science from pseudoscience. Here is the full text of the book: 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior by Scott O. Lilienfeld, Barry L. Beyerstein, Steven Jay Lynn, John RuscioTable of Contents
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction The Wide World of Psychomythology 1
1 Brain Power Myths about the Brain and Perception 21
#1 Most People Use Only 10% of Their Brain Power 21
#2 Some People Are Left-Brained, Others Are Right-Brained 25
#3 Extrasensory Perception Is a Well-Established Scientific Phenomenon 29
#4 Visual Perceptions Are Accompanied by Tiny Emissions from the Eyes 33
#5 Subliminal Messages Can Persuade People to Purchase Products 36
2 From Womb to Tomb Myths about Development and Aging 45
#6 Playing Mozart’s Music to Infants Boosts Their Intelligence 45
#7 Adolescence Is Inevitably a Time of Psychological Turmoil 49
#8 Most People Experience a Midlife Crisis in Their 40s or Early 50s 52
#9 Old Age Is Typically Associated with Increased Dissatisfaction and Senility 56
#10 When Dying, People Pass through a Universal Series of Psychological Stages 60
3 A Remembrance of Things Past Myths about Memory 65
#11 Human Memory Works like a Tape Recorder or Video Camera, and Accurately Records the Events
We’ve Experienced 65
#12 Hypnosis is Useful for Retrieving Memories of Forgotten Events 69
#13 Individuals Commonly Repress the Memories of Traumatic Experiences 73
#14 Most People with Amnesia Forget All Details of Their Earlier Lives 78
4 Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks Myths about Intelligence and Learning 83
#15 Intelligence Tests Are Biased against Certain Groups of People 83
#16 If You’re Unsure of Your Answer When Taking a Test, It’s Best to Stick with Your Initial Hunch 87
#17 The Defining Feature of Dyslexia Is Reversing Letters 89
#18 Students Learn Best When Teaching Styles Are Matched to Their Learning Styles 92
5 Altered States Myths about Consciousness 100
#19 Hypnosis Is a Unique “Trance” State that Differs in Kind from Wakefulness 100
#20 Researchers Have Demonstrated that Dreams Possess Symbolic Meaning 104
#21 Individuals Can Learn Information, like New Languages, while Asleep 108
#22 During “Out-of-Body” Experiences, People’s Consciousness Leaves Their Bodies 110
6 I’ve Got a Feeling Myths about Emotion and Motivation 116
#23 The Polygraph (“Lie Detector”) Test Is an Accurate Means of Detecting Dishonesty 116
#24 Happiness Is Determined Mostly by Our External Circumstances 122
#25 Ulcers Are Caused Primarily or Entirely by Stress 126
#26 A Positive Attitude Can Stave off Cancer 129
7 The Social Animal Myths about Interpersonal Behavior 135
#27 Opposites Attract: We Are Most Romantically Attracted to People Who Differ from Us 135
#28 There’s Safety in Numbers: The More People Present at an Emergency, the Greater the Chance that Someone Will Intervene 139
#29 Men and Women Communicate in Completely Different Ways 143
#30 It’s Better to Express Anger to Others than to Hold It in 147
8 Know Thyself Myths about Personality 153
#31 Raising Children Similarly Leads to Similarities in Their Adult Personalities 153
#32 The Fact that a Trait Is Heritable Means We Can’t Change It 158
#33 Low Self-Esteem Is a Major Cause of Psychological Problems 162
#34 Most People Who Were Sexually Abused in Childhood Develop Severe Personality Disturbances in Adulthood 166
#35 People’s Responses to Inkblots Tell Us a Great Deal about Their Personalities 171
#36 Our Handwriting Reveals Our Personality Traits 175
9 Sad, Mad, and Bad Myths about Mental Illness 181
#37 Psychiatric Labels Cause Harm by Stigmatizing People 181
#38 Only Deeply Depressed People Commit Suicide 186
#39 People with Schizophrenia Have Multiple Personalities 189
#40 Adult Children of Alcoholics Display a Distinct Profile of Symptoms 192
#41 There’s Recently Been a Massive Epidemic of Infantile Autism 195
#42 Psychiatric Hospital Admissions and Crimes Increase during Full Moons 201
10 Disorder in the Court Myths about Psychology and the Law 209
#43 Most Mentally Ill People Are Violent 209
#44 Criminal Profiling Is Helpful in Solving Cases 212
#45 A Large Proportion Of Criminals Successfully Use the Insanity Defense 216
#46 Virtually All People Who Confess to a Crime Are Guilty of It 220
11 Skills and Pills Myths about Psychological Treatment 227
#47 Expert Judgment and Intuition Are the Best Means of Making Clinical Decisions 227
#48 Abstinence Is the Only Realistic Treatment Goal for Alcoholics 232
#49 All Effective Psychotherapies Force People to Confront the “Root” Causes of Their Problems in Childhood 236
#50 Electroconvulsive (“Shock”) Therapy Is a Physically Dangerous and Brutal Treatment 239
Postscript Truth is Stranger than Fiction 247
Appendix
Recommended Websites for Exploring Psychomythology 253
References 255
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