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Preface | |
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Acknowledgments | |
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Introduction: The Wide World of Psychomythology | |
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Brain Power: Myths about the Brain and Perception | |
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Most People Use Only 10% of Their Brain Power | |
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Some People Are Left-Brained, Others Are Right-Brained | |
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Extrasensory Perception Is a Well-Established Scientific Phenomenon | |
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Visual Perceptions Are Accompanied by Tiny Emissions from the Eyes | |
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Subliminal Messages Can Persuade People to Purchase Products | |
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From Womb to Tomb: Myths about Development and Aging | |
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Playing Mozarts Music to Infants Boosts Their Intelligence | |
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Adolescence Is Inevitably a Time of Psychological Turmoil | |
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Most People Experience a Midlife Crisis in Their 40s or Early 50s | |
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Old Age Is Typically Associated with increased dissatisfaction and Senility | |
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When Dying, People Pass through a Universal Series of Psychological Stages | |
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A Remembrance of Things Past: Myths about Memory | |
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Human Memory Works like a Tape Recorder or Video Camera, and Accurately Records the Events Weve Experienced | |
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Hypnosis is Useful for Retrieving Memories of Forgotten Events | |
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Individuals Commonly Repress the Memories of Traumatic Experiences | |
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Most People with Amnesia Forget All Details of Their Earlier Lives | |
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Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks: Myths about Intelligence and Learning | |
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Intelligence Tests Are Biased against Certain Groups of People | |
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If Youre Unsure of Your Answer When Taking a Test, Its Best to Stick with Your Initial Hunch | |
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The Defining Feature of Dyslexia Is Reversing Letters | |
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Students Learn Best When Teaching Styles Are Matched to Their Learning Styles | |
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Altered States: Myths about Consciousness | |
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Hypnosis Is a Unique "Trance" State that Differs in Kind from Wakefulness | |
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Researchers Have Demonstrated that Dreams Possess Symbolic Meaning | |
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Individuals Can Learn Information, like New Languages, while Asleep | |
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During "Out-of-Body" Experiences, Peoples Consciousness Leaves Their Bodies | |
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Ive Got a Feeling: Myths about Emotion and Motivation | |
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The Polygraph ("Lie Detector") Test Is an Accurate Means of Detecting Dishonesty | |
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Happiness Is Determined Mostly by Our External Circumstances | |
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Ulcers Are Caused Primarily or Entirely by Stress | |
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A Positive Attitude Can Stave off Cancer | |
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The Social Animal: Myths about Interpersonal Behavior | |
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Opposites Attract: We Are Most Romantically Attracted to People Who Differ from Us | |
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Theres Safety in Numbers: The More People Present at an Emergency, the Greater the Chance that Someone Will Intervene | |
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Men and Women Communicate in Completely Different Ways | |
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Its Better to Express Anger Openly to Others than to Hold It in | |
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Know Thyself: Myths about Personality | |
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Raising Children Similarly Leads to Similarities in Their Adult Personalities | |
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The Fact that a Trait Is Heritable Means We Cant Change It | |
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Low Self-Esteem Is a Major Cause of Psychological Problems | |
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Most People Who Were Sexually Abused in Childhood Develop Severe Personality Disturbances in Adulthood | |
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Peoples Responses to Inkblots Tell Us a Great Deal about Their Personalities | |
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Our Handwriting Reveals Our Personality Traits | |
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Sad, Mad, and Bad: Myths about Mental Illness | |
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Psychiatric Labels Cause Harm by Stigmatizing People | |
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Only Deeply Depressed People Commit Suicide | |
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People with Schizophrenia Have Multiple Personalities | |
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Adult Children of Alcoholics Display a Distinct Profile of Symptoms | |
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Theres Recently Been a Massive Epidemic of Infantile Autism | |
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Psychiatric Hospital Admissions and Crimes Increase during Full Moons | |
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Disorder in the Court: Myths about Psychology and Law | |
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Most Mentally Ill People Are Violent | |
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Criminal Profiling Is Helpful in Solving Cases | |
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A Large Proportion Of Criminals Successfully Use the Insanity Defense | |
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Virtually All People Who Confess to a Crime Are Guilty of It | |
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Skills and Pills: Myths about Psychological Treatment | |
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Expert Judgment and Intuition Are the Best Means of Making Clinical Decisions | |
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Abstinence Is the Only Realistic Treatment Goal for Alcoholics | |
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All Effective Psychotherapies Force People to Confront the "Root" Causes of Their Problems in Childhood | |
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Electroconvulsive ("Shock" Therapy Is a Physically Dangerous and Brutal Treatment | |
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Postscript: Truth is Stranger than Fiction | |
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Appendix Recommended Websites for Exploring Psychomythology | |
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References | |
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Index | |