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50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior
Scott O. Lilienfeld
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50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology by Barry L. Beyerstein, John Ruscio, Scott Lilienfeld, Steven Jay Lynn (2009, Paperback)
Barry L. Beyerstein
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50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior
Scott O. Lilienfeld
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50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology
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Reviews 
Summaries of peer-reviewed studies
06th September 2010
This is a very good book. The writing is clear, consise, and all of it is based on scientific psychology research - complete with citations and references in APA style. More than "a read" - it is a type of reference book for these many common phenomena. Don't be fooled by the title "popular" - the items are all well known, and in that sense they are popular. But this is not "pop psychology" - this is a well-written list about summaries of published peer-reviewed studies. Highly recommended to non-psychology readers and useful as a reference or for review for serious psychology students. Great job!
Questioning psychology and science
29th August 2010
It is good to know the faults of science and psychology. This book highlights a good number of notions that have been accepted within the field of psychology and its general readership that are false. It leaves you (in a good way) asking "What else?"
A skeptics toolbox for debunking psychological notions
29th August 2010
This is a fun, easy to read book that will shatter the preconceived notions of even the most skeptical and erudite reader. The authors tackle some dogged psychological notions that for some reason or other have persisted. Some of the psychological notions shattered will be a bit of a surprise and shock to the readers, which makes this book all the more interesting. One caveat though is that after reading this book you will notice friends, family and colleagues confidently spouting one of these debunked psychological notions and you will have to decide if you want to be the know-it-all or let the remark slide. But if a particularly egregious comment is rendered, this book will provide you the information and the references to spread the truth. The notions in this book should be spread far and wide, so we can get rid of some of the cherished garbage our society takes for granted. The one problem I have with this book is that they often try a little too hard to be controversial and to destroy sacred cows. This doesn't mean that they are inaccurate in their dismissal, just that their debunking will not be as profound as the title of the chapter will imply and they often do battle with imagined strawmen while avoiding the subtleties of the argument. But that is a minor quibble with only a few of the chapters. For a fun, interesting read you can access a toolbox of psychological notions to debunk in this book. Highly recommended.
Clarifies misconceptions
31st July 2010
As a graduate student in educational psychology, I've heard my share of myths about thinking, cognition, emotion, and the human brain. "The average person only uses 10% of their brain." "If a teacher matches their teaching style to a child's learning style, then the child will learn more." "Clinicians make decisions just as accurately as tests do." This book demolishes those inaccurate beliefs and over 40 more.
In addition to the factual content, I appreciate several aspects of this book. First, it is written in an accessible style and could serve as a supplementary text in a high school or introductory college psychology class. Second, it comes with a moderate amount of citations--not too many to seem overwhelming, but not so few that you feel like you're just reading the author's opinion. Also, the authors explore possible origins for many of the myths and why they're so popular, which sometimes gives clues in how to "defuse" them in the public.
My biggest complaint about the book is with some of the 250 one-sentence long supplemental myths. Some of these are overly simplistic or may perpetuate other misconceptions (although these misconceptions are usually not as widespread as the main 50 myths). One example is the myth that ability grouping (the practice of arranging classrooms or learning groups by the children's academic aptitude) is ineffective. While true that the mere physical arrangement of classroom students does not improve learning, it would be more correct to say that ability grouping paired with differential instruction (i.e., instruction appropriate for each group's cognitive level) is highly effective for ALL ability levels. In fact, this is one of the most robust (and politically unpopular) findings in education. To see the Lillenfeld and his coauthors dismiss this fact in one sentence is disappointing.
But overall, I approve of this book. Even though I'll graduate with my doctorate next year, it's definitely staying on my shelf and I'll probably refer to it periodically. I found it to be an entertaining read and overall an accurate rebuttal to those things that many people seem to believe, but that just aren't true.
Getting Rid of Psychological Phlogistons
14th June 2010
Does anyone remember phlogiston? That imaginary substance once proposed as the basis of fire? Physics and chemistry got rid of that long ago, but psychologists have trouble getting rid of their phlogiston-like myths-- even professional psychologists sometimes accept psychomythology! Scott Lilienfeld and his colleagues have attacked that problem at its foundation by providing discussions of 50 myths in a form suitable for use in introductory psychology courses, or for readers studying psychology on their own.
"Fifty Great Myths" identifies mistaken beliefs and guides the reader through research evidence that tests each myth. In doing so, the book provides outstanding models for examination of a priori assumptions. Readers who follow these models will be in a position to develop reasoned opinions, not just the unexamined prejudices that often pass for opinion even in college classrooms. They can even have fun doing so-- and family Thanksgiving dinner conversation will never be the same again.
This book is needed for many reasons, but one of the most important is that publishers today are often careless about textbooks and allow them to go into print with material that is in fact not well supported by evidence. I've discussed this with respect to child development textbooks at [...], and I have no doubt that it's also true of introductory texts.
If you or your students think you use only 10% of your brain-- if anyone around you imagines that schizophrenics have multiple personalities-- if you think "opposites attract" in love as well as magnetism--- you need a session with "Fifty Great Myths". As a psychology professor of many years' standing, I strongly recommend the use of this book as a companion to any ordinary introductory psych text.
Reviews supplied by customers at Amazon.com
