Annette, Thanks for your great list of commonly held beliefs. I've actually addressed a number of them in separate episodes - Interviewed Ken Steele on the "Mozart Effect" in episodes 59 and 61, addressed the lack of support for subliminal perception in episode 75, and interviewed Daniel Willingham on the learning styles myth in episode 90, but you've got some other good ones here.
Regarding Scott Lillienfeld's book on "50 Myths": I'm one step ahead of you. I interviewed Scott just before the holidays about his book and as soon as things quiet down from the holidays I'll finish editing that episode. We talked about these myths from his book: the myth regarding not changing your first hunch on a multiple choice test the polygrah, the so-called "lie detector" test the myth of how men and women communicate differently handwriting analysis as well myths regarding the full moon, the concept of the representativeness, and naive realism The book is excellent and could provide much "fodder" for class discussion as well as a jumping off point for student research. Michael Britt mich...@thepsychfiles.com www.thepsychfiles.com Twitter: mbritt On Dec 27, 2009, at 10:10 AM, tay...@sandiego.edu wrote: > I like your list and could probably add but this will already > overwhelm folks who don't realize what they do know about > psychology. Maybe I would add Donald Norman's books on using > everyday things as a good example of how much cognitive > psychologists have contributed to everyday life. > > What I would like to see you do is make sure you talk about whether > or not the items on the list have evidence to support them. For > example, it would be good to debunk the Rorschach (see lots of stuff > written or edited by Scott Lilienfeld), the psychodynamic stuff in > general, the uses and misuses of intelligence testing, the multiple > intelligences stuff, the conflicting evidence on Kubler-Ross' > formulation of grief stages, etc. > > And maybe a special episode on commonly believed in psychobabble! > Here is a short list. > *Sugar CAUSES hyperactivity in children. > *Listening to Mozart will make you smarter. > *Teaching babies sign language will make them smarter. > *We all have a distinct learning style that is either visual, > auditory or kinesthetic. > *The right side of the brain is creative and emotional; the left > side is rigid and logical. (or any other variety of popular but > incorrect dichotomy) > *Most people only use 10% of their brains. > *Subliminal messages can be used to persuade others to purchase > products. > *Immediate contact between a mother and infant after birth is > critical for bonding. > *You can “spoil a baby if you respond to its demands too quickly. > *The suicide rate is higher among adolescents than any other age > group. > *In criminal eyewitnesses, confidence is closely related to accuracy. > *Hypnosis is ... fill in with any number of misconceptions. > *Individuals commonly repress the memories of painful or traumatic > experiences. > *If you’re unsure of your answer while taking a test, it’s best to > stick with your initial hunch. > *The defining feature of dyslexia is seeing words backwards (e.g., > “pal” instead of “lap”). > *Individuals can learn information (e.g., new languages) while asleep. > *It is generally better to express anger openly than to hold it in. > *When it comes to communication styles, women talk more than men. > (“Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”). > *People’s attitudes are highly predictive of their actual behaviors. > *People’s responses to inkblots tell us a great deal about their > personalities and propensities toward mental disorders. > *“Psychological profiling” has been shown to be an effective means > of identifying criminals. > *A large proportion of criminals are acquitted on the basis of the > insanity defense. > *Clinical judgment and intuition are the best means of combining > information to reach a diagnosis for a patient. > *High self-esteem is necessary for high achievement. > *Drug education programs (i.e., DARE) are effective in deterring > drug use among teenagers. > *Students have a good sense of how well they know class material. > *Taste areas for sweet, sour, salty and bitter are well defined on > the tongue. > *Although one could study hard and do better in school, > “intelligence” is mostly the result of heredity and genes. > *Instinct determines many of our behaviors. > *Vision depends on light waves that exit the eyes and hit objects in > the environment. > > Actually, you could do a segment on Scott's book on 50 great myths. > Maybe juxtapose it with the segment on how much more we know about > "real" psychology than we think we do. > > Annette > > Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology > University of San Diego > 5998 Alcala Park > San Diego, CA 92110 > 619-260-4006 > tay...@sandiego.edu > > > ---- Original message ---- >> Date: Sun, 27 Dec 2009 09:12:46 -0500 >> From: "Britt, Michael" <michael.br...@thepsychfiles.com> >> Subject: [tips] List of Psychological Studies the Public Might Know >> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" >> <tips@acsun.frostburg.edu >> > >> >> I'm putting together notes for an upcoming episode >> which I've decided would be on the idea of showing >> listeners that while they might first associate >> psychology with Freud and Pavlov, they really know >> (or at least are somewhat familiar with) more >> studies/concepts from our field than they realize. >> I scoured a few sources and come up with the list >> below, which was surprisingly longer than I thought >> it would be, but I may be stretching things in some >> cases as well as completely missing the obvious. If >> you could suggest an addition to the list that would >> be much appreciated. I'll post the complete list >> once I get everyone's feedback. Remember: these are >> not what we as teachers would consider important in >> the history of psychology - just >> events/studies/concepts that the general public are >> probably somewhat familiar with in one way or >> another. >> Thanks for your feedback! >> 1. The Technique of Correlation is developed 1890 >> 2. Animal Intelligence (Law of Effect is developed) >> - Edward Thorndike - 1898 >> 3. The Interpretation of Dreams Sigmund Freud 1900 >> 4. Intelligence Test was published in France Alfred >> Binet 1905 >> 5. Formula for the Intelligence Quotient William >> Stern 1912 >> 6. Carl Jung develops Analytical Psychology >> (collective unconscious, archetypes, >> anima/animus) 1913 >> 7. Conditioned Emotional Resposes - Watson and >> Rayner 1920 >> 8. Rorshach's Inkblot Test 1921 >> 9. Conditioned Reflexes - Pavlov 1927 >> 10. Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Test published >> 1939 >> 11. The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense - Anna >> Freud 1948 >> 12. Childhood and Society (eight stages of >> psycho-social devel) - Erikson 1950 >> 13. Client Centered Therapy 1951 >> 14. Rapid Eye Movement (REM) discovered 1953 >> 15. Motivation and Personality is Published >> (hierarchy of needs) - Maslow -1954 >> 16. The Development of Object Concept (Piaget - >> object permanence, egocentrism) - 1954 >> 17. Opinions and Social Pressure (Asch) - 1954 >> 18. The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two >> (Miller) 1956 >> 19. The Natue of Love 1958 (Harlow's monkeys) >> 20. Cognitive Dissonance 1959 (Festinger's study) >> 21. Imprinting is demonstrated 1961 (Lorenz) >> 22. Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation of >> Aggressive Models 1961 (Bandura's Bobo Doll >> study) >> 23. Systematic Desensitization (Wolpe) 1961 >> 24. Thinking And Depression Beck, A. (1963). >> 25. Behavioral Study of Obedience (Milgram) 1963 >> 26. Human Sexual Response (Master's and Johnson) >> 1966 >> 27. Teacher's Expectancies (Rosenthal and Jacobson) >> 1966 >> 28. The Split Brain in Man (Sperry) 1967 >> 29. Failure to Escape Traumatic Shock (Seligman) >> 1967 >> 30. Bystander Intervention (Latane and Darley) 1968 >> 31. On Death and Dying (Kubler-Ross) 1969 >> 32. The Pathology of Imprisonment (Zimbardo) 1972 >> 33. On Being Sane in Insane Places (Rosenhan) 1973 >> 34. Type A and B Personality 1974 >> 35. Leading Questions and the Eyewitness Report >> (Loftus) 1975 >> 36. Frames of Mind: the Theory of Multiple >> Intelligences 1983 >> 37. The Jigsaw Classroom 1986 >> 38. Emotional Intelligence concept - 1995 >> >> Michael Britt >> mich...@thepsychfiles.com >> www.thepsychfiles.com >> Twitter: mbritt >> >> --- >> To make changes to your subscription contact: >> >> Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
