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50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about
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50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior Paperback - 2009 - 1st Edition

by Scott O. Lilienfeld; Steven Jay Lynn; John Ruscio


From the publisher

50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology uses popular myths as a vehicle for helping students and laypersons to distinguish science from pseudoscience.

  • 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

From the rear cover

50 GREAT MYTHS OF POPULAR PSYCHOLOGY

"Is it true that psychology is mostly common sense? For anyone who wonders, this amazing book--which effectively discounts 50 pop psychology myths and briefly dismisses 250 more--provides convincing answers. And it does more: it offers fascinating examples of how science works and supports critical thinking. For teachers, students, writers, and anyone who wants to think smarter, this classic-to-be will be a valuable resource and a great read."
David G. Myers, Hope College, author of Intuition: Its Powers and Perils

"A much-needed mythbuster for consumers and students of psychology. This engaging book reminds us that applying science to everyday psychology is not only enormously worthwhile, but fun."
Carol Tavris, coauthor of Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me)

"Because I only use 10% of my brain, I had to play Mozart music while reading this book, and then be hypnotized to recover the memory of it because of early childhood traumas that were repressed but occasionally leaked through out-of-body experiences and ESP. And if you believe any of the above you need to read this book... twice if its mythbusting revelations cause you to repress the memory of it."
Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, monthly columnist for Scientific American, and author of Why People Believe Weird Things

"We have needed this compendium for some time. These factoids and popular (but fallacious) memes about psychology have been exposed in single publications, but critiques of all of them have never been brought together in one place before. The myths chosen by these authors are indeed popular ones--the very ones that psychology instructors and the general public encounter every day. The book is an incredible resource --accurate and well written. I'm sure my copy will be dog-eared within six months."
Keith E. Stanovich, author of How To Think Straight About Psychology and What Intelligence Tests Miss

"This book does it all: it debunks all-too-common beliefs from the pseudoscientific fringe; it presents evidence against a variety of myths that seem like they ought to be true; it explains why people fall prey to such falsehoods; and it ends with some tantalizing facts about mind and behavior that make it clear that the truth can be every bit as amazing as fiction. These 50 myths won't disappear with the publication of this book, but those who read it will enjoy being able to set others--many others--straight."
Thomas Gilovich, Cornell University, author of How We Know What Isn't So

Details

  • Title 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior
  • Author Scott O. Lilienfeld; Steven Jay Lynn; John Ruscio
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition number 1st
  • Edition 1
  • Pages 352
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Wiley-Blackwell, U.S.A.
  • Date 2009-10-01
  • Features Bibliography, Index, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9781405131124 / 1405131128
  • Weight 1.25 lbs (0.57 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 in (22.61 x 14.99 x 1.52 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Psychology, Human behavior
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2009020179
  • Dewey Decimal Code 150

About the author

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.

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