Common misconceptions of college students

Abstract

Previous studies on misconceptions are briefly reviewed. A combined list of 87 misconceptions covering superstitions, relation of physique and traits, biological, economic and social, and psychological data was presented to groups of college students in psychology courses. Changes in misconceptions are specific in the various categories. Correlation between beginning score and end score for misconceptions after a course in psychology was .58. Women seem to have more misconceptions than men. Number of misconceptions correlates -.32 with intelligence and -.37 with grade in psychology course. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)