Popular psychology myths, checked
Learning styles, the 10% of your brain, left-brained and right-brained people, the Mozart effect, letting off steam. Each sounds right; here is what the evidence says, and how to check the next one yourself.
PsychologyRead claims about the mindAbout 7 min: 4 reading, 3 practiceUpdated
Educational, not medical or mental-health advice.
- Say what the evidence shows about five popular psychology myths
- Explain why myths spread even when they're wrong
- Check a new claim with the tools from this path
Builds toward: Read claims about the mind. Judge a headline or a study about psychology before believing it or passing it on.
Read claims about the mind: lesson 5 of 5
- Read claims about the mind
- Linked is not the same as caused 6 min
- How experiments show cause 5 min
- Samples, effect sizes and "significant" 5 min
- What holds up: the replication crisis 7 min
- Popular psychology myths, checked 7 min
Try first
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Pairs with Pashler and colleagues (2008), "Learning styles: Concepts and evidence"; Lilienfeld and colleagues (2010), 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology
What it is
A myth here is a claim about the mind that many people believe, that sounds scientific, and that the evidence doesn't support. Myths spread because they are simple, flattering or useful to someone selling something, and because, like a vivid story, they are easy to remember and pass on.
Five of the most common:
| Myth | What the evidence says |
|---|---|
| People learn best in their own "learning style" (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic) | Teaching people in their preferred style has not been shown to help them learn more; the few properly designed tests found no benefit (Pashler and colleagues, 2008). Matching the method to the material helps: a map is visual for everyone. |
| We only use 10% of our brain | Brain scans show activity across the whole brain, and damage to almost any area causes problems. There is no unused 90%. |
| People are "left-brained" (logical) or "right-brained" (creative) | Some tasks rely more on one side, but a study of over 1,000 brain scans (Nielsen and colleagues, 2013) found no sign that some people use one side more overall. |
| Listening to Mozart makes you smarter | The original 1993 study, of 36 college students, found a boost on spatial-reasoning tasks that lasted only about 10 to 15 minutes. A review of many studies (Pietschnig and colleagues, 2010) found little or no specific effect. |
| Venting anger, such as hitting a cushion, gets it out of your system | In an experiment by Bushman (2002), people who hit a punching bag while thinking about someone who had annoyed them ended up angrier and more aggressive than people who simply sat quietly. |
Quick check
Tap an answer to check it.
A course promises to test your learning style and teach you only in that style. What does the evidence say?
- The research that tested this properly found no benefit
Show answer
Matching teaching to a preferred style hasn't been shown to improve learning. People have preferences, but teaching to them doesn't make them learn more.
Why it matters
Myths cost time and money. Schools have spent on learning-style tests and training; parents have bought "smart baby" music; people have punched pillows to calm down and come out angrier.
They also crowd out what does work. The time spent matching a "learning style" could go on the methods that are proven: testing yourself, spacing your study and mixing your practice, from the first level of this subject.
Why do myths feel true? Each has a grain of something real: people do have preferences; the hemispheres do specialise in some tasks; music can lift your mood, and a better mood can briefly help on some tasks. The myth stretches the grain into a big, simple claim.
Worked example
You see an advert: "Unlock the 90% of your brain you don't use! Our app trains your right brain for creativity." Use the tools from this path:
- Check the claim against what you know: two myths in one sentence (the 10% and left/right brain).
- Look for the study: the app links to "research" that turns out to be a company survey of its own users: self-selected, no control group.
- Ask for the effect size and replication: none given.
- Ask who benefits: the seller.
Verdict: not supported by evidence. If you want to improve thinking skills, use methods with replicated, controlled evidence behind them.
Common mistake
Believing a claim because it comes with brain pictures or scientific words. In one study (Weisberg and colleagues, 2008), adding irrelevant neuroscience jargon made poor explanations seem more satisfying to non-experts. (Whether brain pictures alone have the same pull is less clear: later studies found little effect.) Judge the evidence, not the vocabulary.
Key terms
- learning styles
- the idea that people learn best when taught in their preferred mode; not supported by evidence
- hemispheric specialisation
- the real finding that some tasks rely more on one side of the brain
- Mozart effect
- a claimed boost to intelligence from listening to Mozart; the evidence is weak
- catharsis
- the idea that venting anger releases it; experiments suggest it can increase anger
Practise the key terms
Tap a card to turn it over. 4 cards.
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| learning styles | the idea that people learn best when taught in their preferred mode; not supported by evidence |
| hemispheric specialisation | the real finding that some tasks rely more on one side of the brain |
| Mozart effect | a claimed boost to intelligence from listening to Mozart; the evidence is weak |
| catharsis | the idea that venting anger releases it; experiments suggest it can increase anger |
Practice
Quick quiz
Tap an answer to check it.
Which statement about the brain is correct?
- Brain imaging shows the whole brain is used
Show answer
Brain scans show activity across the whole brain; there is no unused 90%. Damage to almost any part of the brain causes problems, which wouldn't happen if 90% were unused.
What did Bushman's 2002 experiment find about venting anger?
- The opposite happened
Show answer
Hitting a punching bag while thinking of the person who annoyed you left people angrier and more aggressive than sitting quietly. Rehearsing anger seems to keep it going rather than releasing it.
What is the grain of truth behind "left-brained" and "right-brained" people?
- There's no evidence for that
Show answer
Some tasks, such as much of language, rely more on one side of the brain. Specialisation by task is real; sorting people into left- or right-brained types is not.
What did the original 1993 Mozart study find?
- The study was in college students, and the effect was brief
Show answer
A short-lived boost on spatial-reasoning tasks in college students, lasting about 10 to 15 minutes. The "smarter babies" version grew out of a brief result in college students.
Sort it
Which group does this belong to?
Testing yourself helps you remember more than rereading
Replicated many timesShow answer
Supported by evidence. Replicated many times
Teaching in your learning style helps you learn more
Not supported when properly testedShow answer
Myth. Not supported when properly tested
Some tasks rely more on one side of the brain
Hemispheric specialisation is realShow answer
Supported by evidence. Hemispheric specialisation is real
Hitting a cushion releases anger
It can increase angerShow answer
Myth. It can increase anger
Spacing your study over several days helps you keep it
Replicated many timesShow answer
Supported by evidence. Replicated many times
The other view
The evidence against these myths is strong, but they aren't all equally dead. Supporters of learning styles argue that the right studies haven't been done in every setting; reviews reply that, where the proper test has been run, it hasn't found a benefit. And while hitting a cushion doesn't help, physical exercise and talking a problem through calmly are different things, and can help with stress. Don't throw out the useful part with the myth.
In short
- Learning styles: teaching to a preferred style doesn't improve learning; match the method to the material.
- The 10% myth: the whole brain is active and used.
- Left- and right-brained people: tasks specialise, people don't.
- The Mozart effect: a brief result in college students that grew into a myth.
- Venting anger can increase it.
- Myths spread because they're simple and have a grain of truth; check the evidence, not the vocabulary.
Mastery check
Answer without looking back. Score 80% or more and the lesson is marked done. Your result is kept only in this browser.
Check yourself
Answer in your head first, then open the answer. Nothing is saved.
What does the evidence say about learning styles?
Show answer
Teaching people in their preferred style has not been shown to help them learn more; matching the method to the material helps everyone.
Why can scientific-sounding words make a weak claim convincing, and what should you do about it?
Show answer
They make an explanation feel more scientific even when they add nothing; judge the evidence (design, sample, effect size, replication), not the vocabulary.
A friend says, "I'm a kinaesthetic learner, so I can't learn from reading." What could you tell them?
Show answer
That learning styles aren't supported by evidence; everyone can learn from reading, and methods like testing yourself and spacing work for everyone.
Further reading
- Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105–119.
- Nielsen, J. A., Zielinski, B. A., Ferguson, M. A., Lainhart, J. E., & Anderson, J. S. (2013). An evaluation of the left-brain vs. right-brain hypothesis with resting state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging. PLoS ONE, 8(8), e71275.
- Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., & Ky, K. N. (1993). Music and spatial task performance. Nature, 365, 611.
- Pietschnig, J., Voracek, M., & Formann, A. K. (2010). Mozart effect–Shmozart effect: A meta-analysis. Intelligence, 38(3), 314–323.
- Bushman, B. J. (2002). Does venting anger feed or extinguish the flame? Catharsis, rumination, distraction, anger, and aggressive responding. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(6), 724–731.
- Weisberg, D. S., Keil, F. C., Goodstein, J., Rawson, E., & Gray, J. R. (2008). The seductive allure of neuroscience explanations. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20(3), 470–477.
- Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Ruscio, J., & Beyerstein, B. L. (2010). 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology. Wiley-Blackwell.
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