50 Great Myths Of Popular Psychology

50 GREAT MYTHS OF POPULAR PSYCHOLOGY: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior by Scott O. Lilienfeld, Steven Jay Lynn,  John Ruscio Barry,  L. Beyerstein

CONTENTS:

1. BRAIN POWER

  • Myth #1 Most People Use Only 10% of Their Brain Power
  • Myth #2 Some People Are Left-Brained, Others Are Right-Brained
  • Myth #3 Extrasensory Perception (ESP) Is a Well-Established Scientific Phenomenon
  • Myth #4 Visual Perceptions Are Accompanied by Tiny Emissions from the Eyes Myth #5 Subliminal Messages Can Persuade People to Purchase Products

2. FROM WOMB TO TOMB

  • Myth #6 Playing Mozart’s Music to Infants Boosts Their Intelligence
  • Myth #7 Adolescence Is Inevitably a Time of Psychological Turmoil
  • Myth #8 Most People Experience a Midlife Crisis in \ 8 Their 40s or Early 50s
  • Myth #9 Old Age Is Typically Associated with Increased Dissatisfaction and Senility
  • Myth #10 When Dying, People Pass through a Universal Series of Psychological Stages

3. A REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST

  • Myth #11 Human Memory Works like a Tape Recorder or Video Camera, andAccurate Events We’ve Experienced
  • Myth #12 Hypnosis Is Useful for Retrieving Memories of Forgotten Events
  • Myth #13 Individuals Commonly Repress the Memories of Traumatic Experiences
  • Myth #14 Most People with Amnesia Forget All Details of Their Earlier Lives

4. TEACHING OLD DOGS NEW TRICKS

  • Myth #15 Intelligence (IQ) Tests Are Biased against Certain Groups of People
  • My th #16 If You’re Unsure of Your Answer When Taking a Test, It’s Best to Stick with Your Initial Hunch
  • Myth #17 The Defining Feature of Dyslexia Is Reversing Letters
  • Myth #18 Students Learn Best When Teaching Styles Are Matched to Their Learning Styles

5. ALTERED STATES

  • Myth #19 Hypnosis Is a Unique “Trance” State that Differs inKindfrom Wakefulness
  • Myth #20 Researchers Have Demonstrated that Dreams Possess Symbolic Meaning
  • Myth #21 People Can Learn Information, like Neiv Languages, while Asleep
  • Myth #22 During “Out-of-Body”Experiences, People’s Consciousness Leaves Their Bodies

6. I’VE GOT A FEELING

  • Myth #23 The Polygraph (“Lie Detector”) Testis an Accurate Means of Detecting Dishonesty
  • Myth #24 Happiness Is Determined Mostly by Our External Circumstances
  • Myth #25 Ulcers Are Caused Primarily or Entirely by Stress
  • Myth #26 A Positive Attitude Can Stave off Cancer

7. THE SOCIAL ANIMAL

  • Myth #27 Opposites Attract: We Are Most Romantically Attracted to People Who Differ from Us
  • Myth #28 There!s Safety in Numbers: The More People Present at an Emergency, the Greater the Chance that Someone Will Intervene
  • Myth #29 Men and Women Communicate in Completely Different Ways
  • Myth #30 It’s Better to Express Anger to Others than to Hold It in

8. KNOW THYSELF

  • Myth #31 Raising Children Similarly Leads to Similarities in Their Adult Personalities
  • Myth #32 The Fact that a Trait Is Heritable Means We can’t change it
  • Myth #33 Low Self-Esteem Is a Major Cause of Psychological Problems
  • Myth #34 Most People Who Were Sexually Abused in Childhood Develop Severe Personality Disturbances in Adulthood
  • Myth #35 People’s Responses to Inkblots Tell Us a Great Deal about Their Personalities
  • Myth #36 Our Handwriting Reveals Our Personality Traits

9. SAD, MAD, AND BAD

  • Myth #37 Psychiatric Labels Cause Harm by Stigmatizing People
  • Myth #38 Only Deeply Depressed People Commit Suicide
  • Myth #39 People with Schizophrenia Have Multiple Personalities
  • Myth #40 Adult Children of Alcoholics Display a Distinctive Profile of Symptoms
  • Myth #41 There’s Recently Been a Massive Epidemic of Infantile Autism
  • Myth #42 Psychiatric Hospital Admissions and Crimes Increase during Full Moons

10. DISORDER IN THE COURT

  • Myth #43 Most Mentally III People Are Violent
  • Myth #44 Criminal Profiling Is Helpful in Solving Cases
  • Myth #45 A Large Proportion of Criminals Successfully Use the Insanity Defense
  • Myth #46 Virtually All People Who Confess to a Crime Are Guilty of It

11. SKILLS AND PILLS

  • Myth #47 Expert Judgment and Intuition Are the Best Means of Making Clinical Decisions
  • Myth #48 Abstinence Is the Only Realistic Treatment Goal for Alcoholics Alcoholics
  • Myth #49 All Effective Psychotherapies Force People to Confront the “Root” Causes of Their Problems in Childhood
  • Myth #50 Electroconvulsive (“Shock”) Therapy Is a Physically Dangerous and Brutal

Scott O. Lilienfeld & Steven Jay Lynn: 50 Great Myths Of Popular Psychology

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