50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior
This comprehensive guide uses popular myths as an educational vehicle for helping students and readers distinguish science from pseudoscience in psychology. Written by award-winning psychology professors, this book tackles widespread misconceptions about human behavior with rigorous scientific analysis.
What You'll Learn
The book explores relatable topics that are often misunderstood, including myths like "opposites attract," "people use only 10% of their brains," and "handwriting reveals your personality." Each myth is examined through detailed discussion that teaches essential critical thinking skills applicable to everyday life.
Key Features
- 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
About the Authors
Scott O. Lilienfeld is a Professor of Psychology at Emory University. He is a recipient of the 1998 David Shakow Early Career Award for Distinguished Contributions to Clinical Psychology from Division 12 (Society for Clinical Psychology) of the APA, past president of the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology, and a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. Dr. Lilienfeld's principal areas of research are personality disorders, psychiatric classification and diagnosis, pseudoscience in mental health, and the teaching of psychology.
Steven Jay Lynn is a Professor of Psychology at the State University of New York at Binghamton. He is past President of the APA's Division of Psychological Hypnosis, and the recipient of the Chancellor's Award of the SUNY for Scholarship and Creative Activities. His major areas of research include hypnosis and memory.
John Ruscio is an Associate Professor of Psychology at The College of New Jersey. His scholarly interests include quantitative methods for psychological research and the characteristics of pseudoscience that distinguish subjects within and beyond the fringes of psychological science.
Barry L. Beyerstein (the late) was Professor of Psychology at Simon Fraser University and chair of the British Columbia Skeptics Society. He was Associate Editor of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, and he co-authored many articles in the Skeptical Inquirer and professional journals.
