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

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.

1. Gegel' G.V.F. Opyty soznaniya: per. s nem. [Experiences of Consciousness]. Moscow: ACT, 2020. 544 p. (In Russ.).
2. Dorozhkin A.M., Tkachev A.N. Zabluzhdenie kak proyavlenie mifa v nauke [Fallacy as a manifestation of myth in science] [Elektronnyi resurs]. Tsennosti i smysly [Values and meanings], 2016, no. 6, pp. 53—61. URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=27545489 (Accessed 27.01.2023). (In Russ.).
3. Kozachenko I.Ya. Oshibka: ponyatie, svoistvo, vidy [Error: concept, property, types] [Elektronnyi resurs]. Obshchestvo i pravo = Society and law, 2019, no. 1(67), pp. 13—18. URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=37319140 (Accessed 27.01.2023). (In Russ.).
4. Lilienfeld S.O., Lynn S.J., Ruscio J., Beyerstein B. 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2010. 352 p.
5. Bensley D.A., Lilienfeld S.O. Psychological Misconceptions: Recent Scientific Advances and Unresolved Issues. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2017. Vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 377—382. DOI:10.1177/0963721417699026
6. Curtis D.A., Kelley L.J. Psychomythology of Psychopathology: Myths and Mythbusting in Teaching Abnormal Psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 2023. Vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 14—25. DOI: 10.1177/00986283211023195
7. Farjami H. Misconception Analysis: A Necessary Complement to Foreign Language Teaching [Elektronnyi resurs]. English Teaching Forum, 2001. Vol. 39, no. 2. 6 p. URL: https://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/english-teaching-forum-2001-volume-39-number-2 (Accessed 27.01.2023).
8. Furnham A. Myths and Misconceptions in Developmental and Neuro-Psychology. Psychology, 2018. Vol. 9, no. 2, article ID 82576. 11 p. DOI:10.4236/psych.2018.92016
9. Furnham A., Grover S. Myths and Misconceptions about the Psychology of Adolescence and Intimate Relationships. Psychology, 2019. Vol. 10, no. 15, pp. 2166—2176. DOI:10.4236/psych.2019.1015137
10. Gardner R.M., Brown D.L. A Test of Contemporary Misconceptions in Psychology. Learning and Individual Differences, 2013. Vol. 24, pp. 211—215. DOI:10.1016/j.lindif.2012.12.008
11. Jewell J., Axelrod M., Prinstein M., Hupp S. Great Myths of Adolescence. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2019. 208 p.
12. Hartelt T., Martens H., Minkley N. Teachers' ability to diagnose and deal with alternative student conceptions of evolution. Science Education, 2022. Vol. 106, no. 3, pp. 706—738. DOI:10.1002/sce.21705
13. Hughes S., Lyddy F., Lambe S. Misconceptions about Psychological Science: A Review. Psychology Learning and Teaching, 2013. Vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 20—31. DOI:10.2304/plat.2013.12.1.20
14. Johnson M.D. Great Myths of Intimate Relationships: Dating, Sex, and Marriage. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2016. 264 p. DOI:10.1002/9781118817469
15. Kowalski P., Taylor A. The Effect of Refuting Misconceptions in the Introductory Psychology Class. Teaching of Psychology, 2009. Vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 153—159. DOI:10.1080/00986280902959986
16. Lilienfeld S.O. Confronting Psychological Misconceptions in the Classroom [Elektronnyi resurs]. APS Observer, 2010. Vol. 23, no. 7. 9 p. URL: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/confronting-psychological-misconceptions-in-the-classroom?es=true&es=true (Accessed 27.01.2023).
17. Lyddy F., Hughes S.J. Attitudes towards psychology as a science and the persistence of psychological misconceptions in psychology undergraduates. In Karandashev V., McCarthy S. (eds.), Teaching Psychology around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011, pp. 330—349.
18. McAfee M., Hoffman B. The Morass of Misconceptions: How Unjustified Beliefs Influence Pedagogy and Learning. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 2021. Vol. 15, no. 1, article ID 4. 18 p. DOI:10.20429/ijsotl.2021.150104
19. McKeachie W.J. Changes in scores on the Northwestern Misconceptions Test in six elementary psychology courses. Journal of Educational Psychology, 1960. Vol. 51, no. 4, pp. 240—244. DOI:10.1037/h0048569
20. Menz C., Spinath B., Seifrie E. Misconceptions die hard: prevalence and reduction of wrong beliefs in topics from educational psychology among preservice teachers. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 2021. Vol. 36, pp. 477—494. DOI:10.1007/s10212-020-00474-5
21. Schwarz N., Sanna L.J., Skurnik I., Yoon C. Metacognitive Experiences and the Intricacies of Setting People Straight: Implications for Debiasing and Public Information Campaigns. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 2007. Vol. 39, pp. 127—161. DOI:10.1016/S0065-2601(06)39003-X
22. Moretti L.S., Medrano L.A., Lilienfeld S.O. Conceptualizing Psychology By Psychology Students from Argentina: The Struggle between Science and Intuition: [poster]. [San Francisco], 2018. 1 p. DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.21715.27687
23. Murti H.A.S., Hastjarjo Th., Patria B. The Role of Critical Thinking and Executive Function in Misconceptions in Psychology. Jurnal Psikologi, 2021. Vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 10—21. DOI:10.14710/jp.20.1.10-21
24. Malik J.A., Musharraf S., Safdar R., Iqbal M. Myths and misconception of COVID-19 among hospital sanitary workers in Pakistan: Efficacy of a training program intervention. BMC Health Services Research, 2022. Vol. 22, article ID 818. 8 p. DOI:10.1186/s12913-022-08217-6
25. Andrews P., Shiber J., Madden M., Nieman G.F., Camporota L., Habashi N.M. Myths and Misconceptions of Airway Pressure Release Ventilation: Getting Past the Noise and on to the Signal. Frontiers in Physiology, 2022. Vol. 13, article ID 928562. 18 p. DOI:10.3389/fphys.2022.928562
26. Nixon H.K. Popular Answers to Some Psychological Questions. The American Journal of Psychology, 1925. Vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 418—423. DOI:10.2307/1414166
27. Hüffmeier J., Torka A.-K., Jäckel E., Schäpers P. Open science practices in IWO psychology: Urban legends, misconceptions, and a false dichotomy. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2022. Vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 520—524. DOI:10.1017/iop.2022.69
28. Popper K.R. Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge. 1963. London: Routledge and Keagan Paul. 439 p.
29. Rodríguez-Prada C., Orgaz C., Cubillas C.P. Myths in Psychology: Identifying misconceptions among psychology students in Spain: [poster]. [Málaga], 2019. 1 p. DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.27871.00164
30. Rodríguez-Prada C., Orgaz C., Cubillas C.P. Myths in psychology: psychological misconceptions among Spanish psychology students. PeerJ, 2022. Vol. 10, no. 8, article ID e13811. 22 p. DOI:10.7717/peerj.13811
31. Saleem S. Covid-19 Infodemic; Debunking the Myths and Misconceptions. EC Cardiology, 2020. Vol. 7, no. 11, pp. 57—60.
32. Sibicky M., Klein C.L., Embrescia E. Psychological Misconceptions and Their Relation to Students’ Lay Beliefs of Mind. Teaching of Psychology, 2021. Vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 103—109. DOI:10.1177/0098628320959925