Common Misconceptions in Psychological Science
Location
CSU Ballroom
Start Date
11-4-2017 2:00 PM
End Date
11-4-2017 3:30 PM
Student's Major
Psychology
Student's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Mentor's Name
Karla Lassonde
Mentor's Department
Psychology
Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Description
Research reveals that introductory learners often leave their courses with common psychological misconceptions intact (Landau & Bavaria, 2003; Taylor & Kowalski, 2004). Refutation texts, which state previously acquired but incorrect knowledge and then directly refute it while also providing the correct information, have become a recent strategy to change flawed psychology knowledge (Lassonde, et al., in press; Kowalski & Taylor, 2009). The present study explored Introduction to Psychological Science students’ understanding of nine common misconceptions in psychology.
Students participated in a classroom intervention technique during which an instructor provided refutation-style lectures. Students’ knowledge and understanding of a given misconception was assessed before the professor lectured about the falsity of the misconception to determine what, if anything, they knew about the topic. Next, the instructor read a refutation style text and then handed out a short popular press article related to correcting the misconception and provided time for discussion. Finally, students answered the follow up questions, “what does the evidence state?” and “did you learn something new? If so, what?” to assess knowledge. These twenty-minute lecture activities occurred approximately once a week, for nine weeks. The results revealed that most commonly, students believed the misconception and based their belief off intuition, previous experience, or the media, rather than scientific evidence. During the last week of the course, a post- test assessment, yet to be analyzed, was given to students to determine the influence of refutation- style lectures on misconception revision.
Common Misconceptions in Psychological Science
CSU Ballroom
Research reveals that introductory learners often leave their courses with common psychological misconceptions intact (Landau & Bavaria, 2003; Taylor & Kowalski, 2004). Refutation texts, which state previously acquired but incorrect knowledge and then directly refute it while also providing the correct information, have become a recent strategy to change flawed psychology knowledge (Lassonde, et al., in press; Kowalski & Taylor, 2009). The present study explored Introduction to Psychological Science students’ understanding of nine common misconceptions in psychology.
Students participated in a classroom intervention technique during which an instructor provided refutation-style lectures. Students’ knowledge and understanding of a given misconception was assessed before the professor lectured about the falsity of the misconception to determine what, if anything, they knew about the topic. Next, the instructor read a refutation style text and then handed out a short popular press article related to correcting the misconception and provided time for discussion. Finally, students answered the follow up questions, “what does the evidence state?” and “did you learn something new? If so, what?” to assess knowledge. These twenty-minute lecture activities occurred approximately once a week, for nine weeks. The results revealed that most commonly, students believed the misconception and based their belief off intuition, previous experience, or the media, rather than scientific evidence. During the last week of the course, a post- test assessment, yet to be analyzed, was given to students to determine the influence of refutation- style lectures on misconception revision.
Recommended Citation
Gehling, Jacklyn. "Common Misconceptions in Psychological Science." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 11, 2017.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2017/poster-session-B/25
