It was found that taking a psychology course in high school did not improve the performance of college students in an introductory psychology class on a modified version of Vaughan's (1977) misconceptions test. However, college experience did lead to a significant, but not large, improvement. A comparison of our results with those from previous studies, along with an analysis of specific test items, indicated that perhaps the test itself is misconceived.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BarnettM. A. (1986). Commonsense and research findings in personality. Teaching of Psychology, 13, 62–64.
2.
BrelandN. S. (1978). A survey of precollege psychology in New Jersey. American Psychologist, 33, 959–961.
3.
BrownL. T. (1983). Some more misconceptions about psychology among introductory psychology students. Teaching of Psychology, 10, 207–210.
4.
BrownL. T. (1984). Misconceptions about psychology aren't always what they seem. Teaching of Psychology, 11, 75–78.
5.
CarstensC. B.BeckH. P. (1986). The relationship of high school psychology and natural science courses to performance in a college introductory psychology class. Teaching of Psychology, 13, 116–118.
6.
GardnerR. M.DalsingS. (1986). Misconceptions about psychology among college students. Teaching of Psychology, 13, 32–34.
7.
GardnerR. M.HundR. M. (1983). Misconceptions of psychology among academicians. Teaching of Psychology, 10, 20–22.
8.
GoldmanJ. J. (1983). Recent trends in secondary school psychology: The decade from Oberlin to the HBCP. Teaching of Psychology, 10, 228–229.
9.
GutmanA. (1979). Misconceptions of psychology and performance in the introductory course. Teaching of Psychology, 6, 159–161.
10.
HedgesB. W.ThomasJ. H. (1980). The effect of high school psychology on pre-course knowledge, midterm grades, and final grades in introductory psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 7, 221–223.
11.
LamalP. A. (1979). College students' common beliefs about psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 6, 155–158.
12.
McKeachieW. J. (1960). Changes in scores on the Northwestern misconceptions test in six elementary psychology courses. Journal of Educational Psychology, 51, 240–244.
13.
McKeachieW. J. (1986). Teaching tips: A guidebook for the beginning college teacher (8th ed.). Lexington, MA: Heath.
14.
PanekP. E. (1982). Do beginning psychology of aging students believe 10 common myths of aging?Teaching of Psychology, 9, 104–105.
15.
RubleR. (1986). Ambiguous psychological misconceptions. Teaching of Psychology, 13, 34–36.
16.
VaughanE. D. (1977). Misconceptions about psychology among introductory psychology students. Teaching of Psychology, 4, 138–141.