Misconceptions about psychology are prevalent among introductory students. Just how prevalent and what can be done to change these misconceptions depends on valid methods of assessment. The most common method of assessment, the true/false questionnaire, is problematic. The present study compared true/false with forced choice formats to determine…

We assessed the effectiveness of refutational readings and lecture on decreasing psychological misconceptions for students of high versus low levels of achievement. During the course of a semester we addressed introductory psychology students' misconceptions with refutational readings, refutational lecture, or not at all. From pre- and post-test…