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Myth: Subliminal Messages Can Change Your Behavior
Discussion of this myth provides rich opportunities to integrate topics across research methods, memory, cognition, sensation and perception, and social psychology.
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Myth: It’s Better to Stick to Your First Impulse Than Go Back and Change Multiple Choice Test Answers
A misconception that is ideally addressed early in the introductory course.
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Myth: We Are In Touch With Reality
Students learn that what they view as “real” is but one version of reality, which can vary radically from the experience of other people.
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Myth: Traumatic Memories Are Often Repressed and Later Recovered
This provides students with an opportunity to see that, often, analyses may lead to conclusions that are not final.
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Myth: Brain Training Will Make You Smarter
Researching this persuasive myth allows students to use scientific reasoning tools to evaluate popular claims regarding intelligence.
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Myth: Too Much Sugar Causes Hyperactivity in Children
Exploring the realities behind the effects of sugar illustrate many psychological concepts, including hunger, evolution, and psychopathology.
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Myth: Eyewitness Testimony is the Best Kind of Evidence
Activities in this unit reveal how eyewitness testimony is subject to unconscious memory distortions and biases even among the most confident of witnesses.
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Myth: We Only Use 10% of Our Brains
This will prepare students to understand how all parts of the brain contribute to behavior.
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Myth: People With Mental Illness Are More Prone to Violence
Instructors should be prepared to listen for —and challenge — belief perseverance, and can use this myth to highlight how automatic and difficult belief perseverance can be to overcome.
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Myth: Children Raised in Similar Ways Have Similar Personalities
Exploring this claim provides an opportunity to discuss issues involving nature and nurture in developmental and personality psychology.
