Several pernicious myths about our brain are as widespread as persistent. Not so long ago, children were supposed to have their learning skills boosted by listening to Mozart and watching stimulating images of the then-famous Baby Einstein video series. Many people believed that classical music has a beneficial effect on a young brain development. Today, most of the neuroscience experts don’t believe in this anymore, but a large part of the public still does. And even more disturbing: a majority of educators still does, too. The so-called “Mozart effect,” for example, is one of the most popular “neuromyths” about the learning process of the human brain.
The big problem is that this kind of false idea misdirects both parents and students but worst, their teachers as well. The results of the recently published study, “Dispelling the Myth: Training in Education or Neuroscience Decreases but Does Not Eliminate Beliefs in Neuromyths,” reveals how difficult it is to stamp out such counter-truths. Why is it an important issue? Because educators are in principle responsible for transmitting correct and true knowledge. The negative impact of any myth they believe is magnified, with the potential to do great harm to their students, all the reverse of their mission.
Follow the link below and read the original article to discover all the neuromyths analysed in the study and the percentages of wrong answers the scientists received.
Picture: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, by Barbara Krafft (Wikimedia Commons, w/Effects)
