Unlearning Myths One Question at a Time

People may believe in myths such as “you only use 10% of your brain” that are related to psychology. Additionally, belief in these myths may prevail despite education, or in some cases, because of education. Indeed, some research suggests students acquired false memories by remembering the wrong answers instead of the correct information (Nitschke et al., 2019). However, research on how leading questions affects memory can provide insight to this problem. Specifically, research shows that subjects who are presented with leading questions or content are more likely to recall an event consistent with that question (Miller & Loftus, 1976). Such research may provide a mechanism for how to encourage students to remember correct information as opposed to myths. Specifically, the structure of test questions as leading questions for students to retain correct information could be formatted to maximize memory for the misconceptions in most popular psychology myths. Thus, the present study aims to test the extent that leading questions affects memory for myths and facts. Based on previous research, it is predicted that certain leading questions can improve memory and correct for myths. These findings could help shape how instructors structure new test questions and present information to people for them to retain the correct information