50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology : Shattering Widespread Misconceptions About Human Behavior

__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 exploreContains 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

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

"In a society in which psychological knowledge is shaped as much, if not more, by supermarket tabloids, talk shows, and self-proclaimed 'self-help gurus' as it is by the latest scientific advances, here is a book that helps students and the public distinguish fact from fiction in the world of psychology. The authors use popular myths as a vehicle for distinguishing science from pseudoscience. Organized around key topic areas of modern psychology such as brain functioning, perception, development, memory, emotion, intelligence, learning, personality, mental illness, and psychotherapy, this book will help students and laypersons to critically evaluate the information and misinformation that is generated by popular psychology"--Publisher description