Chapter 8 of 10All chapters
Chapter 8 of 10
Neuromyths
Claims to discard.
The persistent ones
We use ten percent of our brains. Left and right brain personalities. Learning styles. Brain training games producing general intelligence gains. All are false or unsupported.
- Brain training improves the trained task and transfers poorly.
- Mozart making babies smarter was a small, misreported and unreplicated effect.
Why they persist
They are simple, flattering and actionable-sounding, and neuroscience language makes weak claims sound rigorous. That last effect has been demonstrated experimentally.