50 great myths of popular psychology : shattering widespread misconceptions about human behavior

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 Index 319