Chances are you鈥檝e heard someone say recently: 鈥淲e only use 10 percent of our brains.鈥� Or, 鈥渟he鈥檚 so creative! She must be right-brained.鈥� As it turns out, those are what cognitive scientists call neuromyths: beliefs about how the brain works that just aren鈥檛 true, but are nevertheless prevalent in popular culture.
From the K-12 curriculum standpoint, what鈥檚 troubling about neuromyths is that teacher-training workshops and curricula perpetuate some of them, .
So what鈥檚 the best way to counter neuromyths? The root of the problem, new research finds, is that the myths are persistent even when people have had some training in neuroscience. So, while efforts to counter neuromyths can help, they probably won鈥檛 eliminate them entirely.
The research A team of five researchers, led by the University of Houston鈥檚 Kelly Macdonald, surveyed more than 3,000 members of the general public, asking them to give 鈥渢rue鈥� or 鈥渇alse鈥� answers to 32 statements about the brain and learning. They also surveyed nearly 600 educators, and 234 individuals who reported taking 鈥渕any鈥� college or university courses on the brain or neuroscience.
Then, they analyzed the data looking for patterns about their beliefs in neuromyths.
Classroom teachers, it turns out, are less wedded to neuromyths than the general public, though they are (not suprisingly) not immune to them, either. The 鈥渉igh neuroscience exposure鈥� group had the lowest belief in neuromyths overall.
What鈥檚 particularly interesting is that the 鈥渓earning styles鈥� myth, which grew out of the multiple-intelligences theory created by education and cognition scholar Howard Gardner, is pervasive鈥攅ven among teachers and individuals who took courses in neuroscience. Also prevalent is the belief that dyslexia represents itself by seeing letters backwards. That鈥檚 a concerning finding. It may mean that students with dyslexia who don鈥檛 demonstrate that trait aren鈥檛 getting referred to the appropriate special education services.
So, what鈥檚 to be done about all this mythology? The researchers suggest creating a 鈥渂rief, targeted, and robust training module鈥� to address these misconceptions, though the research indicates that that could be an uphill battle.
Maybe there鈥檚 an easier way? I saw in a movie that Why not neuromyths?! (Just kidding, brain scientists!)
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