Top 10 Myths of Pop Psychology

Pop (popular) psychology is the umbrella term that covers any psychological ideology that's gained popularity in the public. It tends to offer quick fixes for difficult problems and emphasizes emotions, pop culture trends, and self-help techniques. Widely promoted by media sensations like Dr. Phil and Oprah Winfrey, it's largely based on urban myths, and, as such, the psychology community warns against trusting the validity of its concepts. This article will focus on 10 of the most widely believed myths of popular psychology and the truth.

#10: Left-Brained v. Right-Brained

The left-brained v right-brained theory claims that people have a dominant side of their brain which they rely more heavily on-similar to having a dominant hand. Though it is true that these area of the brain specialize in performing separate tasks-with the left hemisphere focusing predominantly on concepts analytical and logical, and the right on concepts artistic and creative, the belief one side outperforming the other so exceptionally that it causes the person to be better suited for tasks that side specializes in is a MYTH.

Of course, all people excel in different things, and it has been seen that are good at different things and that those that excel in creativity often lack in analytical and logical concepts, but this is due to their thought pattern-of whether they tend to think more divergently or convergently-and not a predominant use of one side of their brain. The left-brain/ right-brain myth has run rampant since the beginning of pop psychology; however, the rise of technology, such as the functional MRI, has granted us a more clear view on how the brain works, so psychologists today are sure that each person's brain uses both hemispheres near equally.

#9: Mozart Will Make your Baby a Genius

In 1993, a study, published in Nature, included findings that college students, who listened to ten seconds of a Mozart sonata, were endowed with augmented spatial reasoning skills. The media ran wild with it. Lost in translation that the effects were only brief, the "Mozart Effect" was born.

It became commonly believed that this phenomenon could be used on anyone, including and especially babies, to boost their intelligence. Since then, millions of copies of Mozart CDs that have been marketed as designed to boost intelligence have been sold since. In 1998, the state of Georgia even passed a bill that provided every newborn a free cassette or CD of Mozart's music based off this supposed science.

Unfortunately, its been proven that this, too, is a pop psychology myth. This method's has not been proven to have any significant long-term effect on overall intelligence. Its' effects are due simply to delivering any stimulation to it, and the same short-term performance boost could be mimicked just as easily with the implementation of sugar, caffeine, or a brief exercise before a challenging mental task.

#8: Our Memory is like a Recorder

A telephone survey published in 2011 revealed some startling figures about American's common beliefs dealing with memory that proposed conflict with the expert's consensus on these matters. Some of the most shocking of these-63% of respondents believed that memory works like a video camera, 48% believed that memory is permanent, and 37% believed that one person's confident eyewitness testimony should be enough to convict a criminal defendant. These discrepancies have implications ranging from in the classroom to the courtroom, and based on the scientific studies conducted, are decidedly not the case.

"Today, there's broad consensus among psychologists that memory isn't reproductive — it doesn't duplicate precisely what we've experienced — but reconstructive. What we recall is often a blurry mixture of accurate recollections, along with what jells with our beliefs, needs, emotions, and hunches," Emory University Scott Lilienfeld wrote. What this means is that our memory is glaringly fallible. Popular beliefs, like the 3 held above that it is not, have led to a multitude of controversies over time-one of the worst being eyewitness testimony leading to the false convictions of a great many innocent people.

#7: Dreams Possess Symbolic Meaning

About 43% of Americans believe that dreams reflect unconscious desires, and over half agree that dreams can unveil hidden truths. Sigmund Freud first presented this theory in 1899 with the publication of his book, The Interpretation of Dreams. As is most of Freudian proposed science, this theory has been highly debated and largely invalidated by the scientific community, today.

Admittedly, dreaming remains mostly an enigma to science-but the act is almost certainly not a crystal ball of the unconscious mind. The scientific community is yet to come to a consensus on the true meaning of dreams; however, research has indicated, and most are in agreement now, that dreams are a personal experience without universal meaning, affected by factors of daytime experience: such as social interactions, culture, and personal history, and are crucial in the formation of memories. Thus, it would be wise to avoid using them as a fortune-teller, and stick to the old fashion-weighing the pros and cons of differing courses of actions carefully to best make decisions.

#6: Lie Detector Tests are Accurate

Those who operate polygraph tests, otherwise known as polygraph tests, often boast that they are 99% accurate. This, however, is also a myth. The reality is that nobody-not even a machine-can consistently, accurately tell when someone is lying.

Lie detector tests operate under the assumption that telltale physiological signs reveal when people aren't telling the truth. Thus, polygraphs measure indicators like skin conductance, blood pressure, and respiration. When these signs spike out of the test-taker's normal range-which is determined by asking them a number of control questions-in response to a question, the operator interprets what's been said is a lie.

The validity of this type of test has long been questions among scientists, as there's no agreed upon pattern standard of a physiological response to telling a lie. The test uses the physiological effects of nervousness to make its assumption of whether the person is lying. Increased nervousness, could indeed be brought on by lying, but there are too many other variables involved-like personality type and confidence-that the test is largely viewed as 80-90% accurate, at best.

#5: Opposites Attract

The union between two electrical charges, one positive and one negative, is the quintessential love theory of physics. Opposites attract! But the same cannot be said for a flaming liberal and a rabid conservative. Or an exercise aficionado and a professional sloth. People are not electrical charges.

Though Hollywood loves to perpetuate the idea that we are romantically attracted to people who differ from us, in practice, this is not the case. People are more often attracted to those they have more in common with.

#4: Shock therapy is a brutal treatment

Electroconvulsion shock therapy-otherwise known as ECT-is one method used today to treat severe depression. During the treatment, the physician places an electrode into the patient's head, and delivers an electric shock to the brain, which purposely induces a brief seizure.

According to surveys, most people today view ECT as a barbaric relic of psychiatry's medieval past, but the violent process that it began as, has been a thing of the past for several decades now. Today, ECT is done under a general anesthetic, a muscle relaxant, and occasionally a substance to prevent salvation, and is a mostly harmless procedure that can be incredibly effective in treating certain mental health conditions.

# 3: We only use 10% of our Brain Power

About 43% of Americans when surveyed believed that we use approximately 10% of our brain power. However, that, too, is a MYTH. Metabolically speaking, the brain is an expensive tissue to maintain, hogging as much as 20% of our resting caloric expenditure, despite only taking up 2% of the average human's body weight.

The myth likely stems back to American psychologist William James, whose research once indicated that the average person rarely achieves more than 10% of their intellectual potential. Over the years, largely due to the commercialization of this principle, this has morphed into the idea that 90% of our brain is locked away, dormant. Similarly to the left v. right brain theory, the brain doesn't handicap itself with limitations like this.

# 2: There is an Autism Epidemic

Autism is a disorder of neural development that's characterized by impaired social interaction and communicative abilities, as well as restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped behavior. Many believe that the prevalence of Autism has increased substantially in recent decades. This is because it is indicated by the numbers.

Prior to the 1990s, the prevalence of autism in the United States was estimated at 1 in 2,500. In 2007, that rate was 1 in 150. Today, 1 in 44 children have been identified as having Autism Spectrum Disorder. This has led many to speculate that it's the result of an Autism epidemic striking the nation, and has even led to conspiracy theories that it's being given to us by the government.

Although it's less glamorous a theory, this is much more likely due to the change in diagnostic criteria that's occurred since then. Of the 16 criteria, 8 used to have to be met for diagnosis. That number has changed to 6. This, coupled with the increase in people seeking mental health treatment and diagnosis in general, is more likely what has led to such a drastic increase in the prevalence of this disorder.

# 1: Subliminal Advertising Works

Subliminal advertising is when companies use images and sounds to influence consumers' responses without their conscious knowledge of it. It's one of the great conspiracies of the television era: that advertisers and influencers are flashing subtle messages across our screens and altering how we think and act.

Companies have been doing this for decades to increase their sales, and many believe in its effectiveness today. It's so widely believed, it has taken the number one spot on our list of pop psychology myths because it is not supported by the science. In a great many carefully controlled laboratory trials, subliminal messages did not affect subjects' consumer choices or voting preferences.

For more information on this topic, and to support the valuable research that brought it to us, access the PDF version of Emory University's Scott Lillianfield's book 50 Greatest Myths of Popular Psychology.