Students often come into the introductory psychology course with many misconceptions and leave with most of them intact. Borrowing from other disciplines, we set out to determine whether refutational lecture and text are effective in dispelling student misconceptions. These approaches first activate a misconception and then immediately counter it with correct information. We tested students' knowledge of 45 common misconceptions and then taught the course with lecture and readings of a refutational or standard format or did not cover the information at all. Students showed significant changes in their beliefs when we used refutational approaches, suggesting refutational pedagogies are best for changing students' misconceptions.

We conducted two studies to examine the effects of changing educational environments on children’s academic self-concepts and motivation. In the first study, we examined the effects of transitions to a new grade or a new school on children’s perceptions of their scholastic competence, their motivational orientation, and their anxiety and general affect about school performance. Four groups of children were examined longitudinally as they made the transition to a new grade, some changing schools and some remaining in the same school: (a) fifth to sixth grade, same school; (b) fifth to sixth grade, new school; (c) sixth to seventh grade, same school; and (d) sixth to seventh grade, new school. We hypothesized that many students would reevaluate their scholastic competence after a transition, given new social comparison groups and the possible increased emphasis on grades and competence evaluation in higher grades. Resultant changes in perceived competence, in turn, should impact motivational orientation, anxiety, and affect. As we predicted, we found changes in perceived competence across the transition to be related to changes in motivation and to school-related affect and anxiety after the transition. In the second study, we examined whether the hypothesized grade-related changes in the educational environment were actually experienced by children. The large majority of middle school students in our sample did report an increasing emphasis on grades, competition, and performance evaluation with each new grade, fostering greater focus on their own competence. These children reported relatively more extrinsic motivational orientation and higher levels of scholastic anxiety and viewed academic success as more important than did their peers, who rated the environment to be less performance focused. Children’s affective reactions to their academic performance were also related to both their perceptions of competence and their motivational orientations. Overall, our findings suggest that changing emphases in the educational environment, of which children seem to be well aware, have complicated academic outcomes, depending on the individual resources children bring with them into the school environment.

Studies show that misconceptions about psychology are pervasive. This study examined how the strength of prior beliefs and the sources of misinformation relate to conceptual change following an introductory psychology course . Ninety introductory psychology students completed a 36-item "Psychological Information" questionnaire. Testing during the 1 st day of the semester showed 38.5% accuracy whereas testing during the last week showed 66.3% accuracy. These results suggest that misconceptions remain prevalent but can be reduced by taking an introductory psychology course. Our data also indicate that strength of belief is an important transitional variable that may reflect the process of change. Finally, although personal experience and media are important sources of misinformation, we found that they do not promote strongly held beliefs.

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The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of refutational teaching for reducing student misconceptions produces longer lasting change when compared with standard teaching. Continuing previously reported findings over the short term, we followed students through 2 years of undergraduate education. A sample of primarily first-year students (N = 111) enrolled in introductory psychology completed a pretest and a posttest of misconceptions at the beginning and end of the semester. We taught the introductory psychology course addressing misconceptions using refutational text and lecture (a misconception is activated, then refuted with evidence), standard teaching (provided evidence-based information without activation of the misconception), or did not address the concept (control condition). Students completed the posttest at the end of the semester following the course and again at the end of the third semester following the course. Sixty-eight students completed all measures. On average, students recognized more correct concepts at the end of the course, particularly when taught in a refutational manner. Students retained correct concepts beyond the course, significantly more so when taught refutationally. Students demonstrating higher verbal comprehension (SAT Critical Reading) acquired and retained more correct concepts. When tested at the end of the third semester following completion of the course, however, even items taught in a refutational manner declined significantly. This decline was particularly true for students demonstrating lower verbal comprehension. These results support other studies that find small but significant long-term benefits to refutational teaching for changing prior misconceptions.