50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology

Opis

50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology uses popular myths as a vehicle for helping students and laypersons to distinguish science from pseudoscience.

Uses common myths as a vehicle for exploring how to distinguish factual from fictional claims in popular psychology
Explores topics that readers will relate to, but often misunderstand, such as 'opposites attract', 'people use only 10% of their brains', and 'handwriting reveals your personality'
Provides a 'mythbusting kit' for evaluating folk psychology claims in everyday life
Teaches essential critical thinking skills through detailed discussions of each myth
Includes over 200 additional psychological myths for readers to explore
Contains an Appendix of useful Web Sites for examining psychological myths
Features a postscript of remarkable psychological findings that sound like myths but that are true
Engaging and accessible writing style that appeals to students and lay readers alike

Spis treści

50 GREAT MYTHSOF POPULARPSYCHOLOGY 2
- CONTENTS 10
- PREFACE 15
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 21
- INTRODUCTION The Wide World of Psychomythology 23
- 1 BRAIN POWER Myths about the Brain and Perception 43
  - Myth # 1 Most People Use Only 10% of Their Brain Power 43
  - Myth # 2 Some People Are Left-Brained, Others Are Right-Brained 47
  - Myth # 3 Extrasensory Perception (ESP) Is a Well-Established Scientific Phenomenon 51
  - Myth # 4 Visual Perceptions Are Accompanied by Tiny Emissions from the Eyes 55
  - Myth # 5 Subliminal Messages Can Persuade People to Purchase Products 58
- 2 FROM WOMBTO TOMB Myths aboutDevelopment and Aging 67
  - Myth # 6 Playing Mozart's Music to Infants Boosts Their Intelligence 67
  - Myth # 7 Adolescence Is Inevitably a Time of Psychological Turmoil 71
  - Myth # 8 Most People Experience a Midlife Crisis in Their 40s or Early 50s 74

50 GREAT MYTHSOF POPULARPSYCHOLOGY 2
- CONTENTS 10
- PREFACE 15
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 21
- INTRODUCTION The Wide World of Psychomythology 23
- 1 BRAIN POWER Myths about the Brain and Perception 43
  - Myth # 1 Most People Use Only 10% of Their Brain Power 43
  - Myth # 2 Some People Are Left-Brained, Others Are Right-Brained 47
  - Myth # 3 Extrasensory Perception (ESP) Is a Well-Established Scientific Phenomenon 51
  - Myth # 4 Visual Perceptions Are Accompanied by Tiny Emissions from the Eyes 55
  - Myth # 5 Subliminal Messages Can Persuade People to Purchase Products 58
- 2 FROM WOMBTO TOMB Myths aboutDevelopment and Aging 67
  - Myth # 6 Playing Mozart's Music to Infants Boosts Their Intelligence 67
  - Myth # 7 Adolescence Is Inevitably a Time of Psychological Turmoil 71
  - Myth # 8 Most People Experience a Midlife Crisis in Their 40s or Early 50s 74
  - Myth # 9 Old Age Is Typically Associated with Increased Dissatisfaction and Senility 78
  - Myth # 10 When Dying, People Pass through a Universal Series of Psychological Stages 82
- 3 A REMEMBRANCEOF THINGS PAST Myths about Memory 87
  - Myth # 11 Human Memory Works like a Tape Recorder or Video Camera, and Accurately Records the Events We've Experienced 87
  - Myth # 12 Hypnosis Is Useful for Retrieving Memories of Forgotten Events 91
  - Myth # 13 Individuals Commonly Repress the Memories of Traumatic Experiences 95
  - Myth # 14 Most People with Amnesia Forget All Details of Their Earlier Lives 100
- 4 TEACHING OLDDOGS NEW TRICKSMyths about Intelligenceand Learning 105
  - Myth # 15 Intelligence (IQ) Tests Are Biased against Certain Groups of People 105
  - Myth # 16 If You're Unsure of Your Answer When Taking a Test, It's Best to Stick with YourInitial Hunch 109
  - Myth # 17 The Defining Feature of Dyslexia Is Reversing Letters 111
  - Myth # 18 Students Learn Best When Teaching Styles Are Matched to Their Learning Styles 114
- 5 ALTERED STATESMyths aboutConsciousness 122
  - Myth # 19 Hypnosis Is a Unique "Trance" State that Differs in Kind from Wakefulness 122
  - Myth # 20 Researchers Have Demonstrated that Dreams Possess Symbolic Meaning 126
  - Myth # 21 People Can Learn Information, like New Languages, while Asleep 130
  - Myth # 22 During "Out-of-Body" Experiences, People's Consciousness Leaves Their Bodies 132
- 6 I'VE GOT AFEELINGMyths about Emotionand Motivation 138
  - Myth # 23 The Polygraph ("ie Detector") Test Is an Accurate Means of Detecting Dishonesty 138
  - Myth # 24 Happiness Is Determined Mostly by Our External Circumstances 144
  - Myth # 25 Ulcers Are Caused Primarily or Entirely by Stress 148
  - Myth # 26 A Positive Attitude Can Stave off Cancer 151
- 7 THE SOCIALANIMALMyths aboutInterpersonal Behavior 157
  - Myth # 27 Opposites Attract: We Are Most Romantically Attracted to People Who Differ from Us 157
  - Myth # 28 There's Safety in Numbers: The More People Present at an Emergency, the Greater the Chance that Someone Will Interv 161
  - Myth # 29 Men and Women Communicate in Completely Different Ways 165
  - Myth # 30 It's Better to Express Anger to Others than to Hold It in 169
- 8 KNOW THYSELFMyths about Personality 175
  - Myth # 31 Raising Children Similarly Leads to Similarities in Their Adult Personalities 175
  - Myth # 32 The Fact that a Trait Is Heritable Means We Can't Change It 180
  - Myth # 33 Low Self-Esteem Is a Major Cause of Psychological Problems 184
  - Myth # 34 Most People Who Were Sexually Abused in Childhood Develop Severe Personality Disturbances in Adulthood 188
  - Myth # 35 People's Responses to Inkblots Tell Us a Great Deal about Their Personalities 193
  - Myth # 36 Our Handwriting Reveals Our Personality Traits 197
- 9 SAD, MAD,AND BAD Myths about MentalIllness 203
  - Myth # 37 Psychiatric Labels Cause Harm byStigmatizing People 203
  - Myth # 38 Only Deeply Depressed People Commit Suicide 208
  - Myth # 39 People with Schizophrenia Have Multiple Personalities 211
  - Myth # 40 Adult Children of Alcoholics Display a Distinctive Profile of Symptoms 214
  - Myth # 41 There’s Recently Been a Massive Epidemic of Infantile Autism 217
  - Myth # 42 Psychiatric Hospital Admissions and Crimes Increase during Full Moons 223
- 10 DISORDER INTHE COURT Myths aboutPsychology andthe Law 231
  - Myth # 43 Most Mentally Ill People Are Violent 231
  - Myth # 44 Criminal Profiling Is Helpful in Solving Cases 234
  - Myth # 45 A Large Proportion of Criminals Successfully Use the Insanity Defense 238
  - Myth # 46 Virtually All People Who Confess to a Crime Are Guilty of It 242
- 11 SKILLS ANDPILLSMyths aboutPsychologicalTreatment 249
  - Myth # 47 Expert Judgment and Intuition Are the Best Means of Making Clinical Decisions 249
  - Myth # 48 Abstinence Is the Only Realistic Treatment Goal for Alcoholics 254
  - Myth # 49 All Effective Psychotherapies Force People to Confront the "Root" Causes of Their Problemsin Childhood 258
  - Myth # 50 Electroconvulsive ("Shock") Therapy Is a Physically Dangerous and Brutal Treatment 261
- POSTSCRIPTTruth is Strangerthan Fiction 269
- APPENDIXRecommendedWebsites for ExploringPsychomythology 275
- REFERENCES 277
- INDEX 341

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Afiljacja autora

Scott O. Lilienfeld: Emory University, USA
Steven Jay Lynn: Binghamton University, USA
John Ruscio: The College of New Jersey, USA
Barry L. Beyerstein: (late of) Simon Fraser University, Canada

Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior

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