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
