Sources: THREE (3) peer-reviewed scholarly articles and at least ONE (1) piece of popular press article that introduces the misconception.
Step 1️⃣- Identify psychological misconceptions. The misconception must be psychology related and involve human subjects. Suggestions on where to locate misconceptions: media, social media, clickbait, movies, 50 Myths Handbook found in the misconception module or Psyc Files podcast. This paper is worth 200 points and 15% of your grade (see grading rubric).
Example of a psychology misconception: Most People Use Only 10% of Their Brain Power.
🔥 Pro Tip: Ensure you can discover empirical research that reveals the truth about your chosen topic by completing preliminary strategic research and keyword search. If the topic does not draw substantial “hits,” perhaps modify the topic or choose another one.
Step 2️⃣- Research Paper (100 points)- Compare and Contrast peer-reviewed and popular press articles.
Step 3️⃣ : Submit your final draft through the plagiarism software "Turn It In". The similarity score must be 20% or lower for the assignment to be accepted and graded.
🔥 Pro Tip: All peer-reviewed articles should be retrieved from one of the SAC Library databases and, in some cases, Google Scholar.
50 Myths:
1 BRAIN POWER
Myth #1 Most People Use Only 10% of Their Brain Power
Myth #2 Some People Are Left-Brained, Others Are Right-Brained
Myth #3 Extrasensory Perception (ESP) Is a Well-Established Scientific Phenomenon
Myth #4 Visual Perceptions Are Accompanied by Tiny Emissions from the Eyes
Myth #5 Subliminal Messages Can Persuade People to Purchase Products
2 FROM WOMB TO TOMB
Myth #6 Playing Mozart’s Music to Infants Boosts Their Intelligence
Myth #7 Adolescence Is Inevitably a Time of Psychological Turmoil
Myth #8 Most People Experience a Midlife Crisis in | 8 Their 40s or Early 50s
Myth #9 Old Age Is Typically Associated with Increased Dissatisfaction and Senility
Myth #10 When Dying, People Pass through a Universal Series of Psychological Stages
3 A REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST
Myth #11 Human Memory Works like a Tape Recorder or Video Camera, and Accurate Events We’ve Experienced
Myth #12 Hypnosis Is Useful for Retrieving Memories of Forgotten Events
Myth #13 Individuals Commonly Repress the Memories of Traumatic Experiences
Myth #14 Most People with Amnesia Forget All Details of Their Earlier Lives
4 TEACHING OLD DOGS NEW TRICKS
Myth #15 Intelligence (IQ) Tests Are Biased against Certain Groups of People
Myth #16 If You’re Unsure of Your Answer When Taking a Test, It’s Best to Stick with Your Initial Hunch
Myth #17 The Defining Feature of Dyslexia Is Reversing Letters
Myth #18 Students Learn Best When Teaching Styles Are Matched to Their Learning Styles
5 ALTERED STATES
Myth #19 Hypnosis Is a Unique “Trance” State that Differs in Kind from Wakefulness
Myth #20 Researchers Have Demonstrated that Dreams Possess Symbolic Meaning
Myth #21 People Can Learn Information, like New Languages, while Asleep
Myth #22 During “Out-of-Body” Experiences, People’s Consciousness Leaves Their Bodies
6 I’VE GOT A FEELING
Myth #23 The Polygraph (“Lie Detector”) Test Is an Accurate Means of Detecting Dishonesty
Myth #24 Happiness Is Determined Mostly by Our External Circumstances
Myth #25 Ulcers Are Caused Primarily or Entirely by Stress
Myth #26 A Positive Attitude Can Stave off Cancer
7 THE SOCIAL ANIMAL
Myth 27 Opposites Attract: We Are Most Romantically Attracted to People Who Differ from Us
Myth #28 There’s Safety in Numbers: The More People Present at an Emergency, the Greater the Chance that Someone Will Intervene
Myth #29 Men and Women Communicate in Completely Different Ways
Myth #30 It’s Better to Express Anger to Others than to Hold It in
8 KNOW THYSELF
Myth #31 Raising Children Similarly Leads to Similarities in Their Adult Personalities
Myth #32 The Fact that a Trait Is Heritable Means We can’t change it
Myth #33 Low Self-Esteem Is a Major Cause of Psychological Problems
Myth #34 Most People Who Were Sexually Abused in Childhood Develop Severe Personality Disturbances in Adulthood
Myth #35 People’s Responses to Inkblots Tell Us a Great Deal about Their Personalities
Myth #36 Our Handwriting Reveals Our Personality Traits
9 SAD, MAD, AND BAD
Myth #37 Psychiatric Labels Cause Harm by Stigmatizing People
Myth #38 Only Deeply Depressed People Commit Suicide
Myth #39 People with Schizophrenia Have Multiple Personalities
Myth #40 Adult Children of Alcoholics Display a Distinctive Profile of Symptoms
Myth #41 There’s Recently Been a Massive Epidemic of Infantile Autism
Myth #42 Psychiatric Hospital Admissions and Crimes Increase during Full Moons
10 DISORDER IN THE COURT
Myth #43 Most Mentally Ill People Are Violent
Myth #44 Criminal Profiling Is Helpful in Solving Cases
Myth #45 A Large Proportion of Criminals Successfully Use the Insanity Defense
Myth #46 Virtually All People Who Confess to a Crime Are Guilty of It
11 SKILLS AND PILLS
Myth #47 Expert Judgment and Intuition Are the Best Means of Making Clinical Decisions
Myth #48 Abstinence Is the Only Realistic Treatment Goal for Alcoholics
Myth #49 All Effective Psychotherapies Force People to Confront the “Root” Causes of Their Problems in Childhood
Myth #50 Electroconvulsive (“Shock”) Therapy Is a Physically Dangerous and Brutal Treatment
This collection provides a comprehensive, rich, and diverse collection of video and text for anyone studying or teaching in the area of mental health. Programs in counseling, social work, nursing, psychology and behavioral health will all benefit from the wide variety of content in this collection, which includes clinical mental health demonstrations, actual therapy sessions, compelling documentaries on the human condition, psychotherapy transcripts, as well client narratives and reference works.
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Here's some good background info on bullies and bullying from a children's health encyclopedia.
Analysis of how media affects kid behavior.
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