Misconceptions in Psychology as a Negative Factor in the Formation of Professional Competence of Psychologists

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Abstract

The article analyses the problem of misconceptions, or scientific delusions, in the educational environment in connection with the risks introduced into the learning process. It describes the historical regularity of the paradigm shift of misconceptions in psychology from descriptive to constructive. Examples of research in preparation for a paradigm shift and at the stage of a constructive paradigm are introduced, as well as the latest concepts of psychological misconceptions in science and in the educational psychology. The article discusses the idea of the variety of approaches to the problem of psychological delusions. The review showed that the problem of misconceptions in psychology, despite close attention to it over the years, leaves the impression of being poorly studied. Among many other reasons we can emphasize poorly developed tools for scientific research, in particular, the incompleteness of the list of misconceptions typical for the students under investigation and the imperfection of the dichotomous format of questionnaires aimed at identification of psychological delusions. To date, in addition to the negative impact of psychological myths on the professional training of psychology students, the rigidity of their perception of factual refutations of misconceptions during training and the positive impact of critical thinking on overcoming misconceptions have been reliably revealed. It is necessary to include additional procedures for the evaluation of mythologized ideas about psychological phenomena, including those borrowed from other disciplines in which misconcepts are recorded using computerized assessment, interviews with open-ended types of questions, etc. Their use in other disciplines is recognized as optimal for identifying scientific misconceptions among students.

General Information

Keywords: scientific delusions, misconceptions in psychology, professional competence of psychologists, critical thinking, stability of delusions

Journal rubric: General Psychology

Article type: review article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/jmfp.2023120210

Received: 27.04.2023

Accepted:

For citation: Ermolova Т.V., Litvinov A.V., Chernova O.E., Guzova A.V. Misconceptions in Psychology as a Negative Factor in the Formation of Professional Competence of Psychologists [Elektronnyi resurs]. Sovremennaia zarubezhnaia psikhologiia = Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology, 2023. Vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 104–115. DOI: 10.17759/jmfp.2023120210. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Тatiana V. Ermolova, PhD in Psychology, Head of the Chair of Foreign and Russian Philology, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4260-9087, e-mail: yermolova@mail.ru

Alexander V. Litvinov, PhD in Education, professor of the chair of foreign and Russian philology, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, associate professor at Foreign Languages Department at the Facultyof Economics (RUDN University), Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3306-0021, e-mail: alisal01@yandex.ru

Oxana E. Chernova, PhD in Education, Associate Prof. Chair of Foreign languages, Academy of Engineering, RUDN University, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0609-0620, e-mail: oxana-c@mail.ru

Alexandra V. Guzova, PhD in Education, Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign and Russian Filology, Moscow State University of Phycology and Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8335-6528, e-mail: guzovaav@mgppu.ru

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