问答题 “Often mistaken never in doubt.” That wry phrase describes us all more than we'd like to admit. The psychological study of misconceptions shows that all of us possess many beliefs that are flawed or flat-out wrong---and also that we cling to these fallacies with remarkable tenacity. As a result just hearing the correct explanation isn't enough. Most methods of instruction and training assume that if you provide people with the right information it will replace any mistaken information listeners may already possess. But especially when our previous beliefs(even though faulty) have proved useful to us and when they appear to be confirmed by everyday experience we are reluctant to let them go. Donna Alvermann a language and literacy researcher at the University of Georgia notes that in study after study "students ignored correct textual information when it conflicted with their previously held concepts. On measures of free recall and recognition the students consistently let their incorrect prior knowledge override incoming correct information." It's what our mothers called "in one ear and out the other." We have to actively disabuse ourselves or others of erroneous conceptions and research from cognitive science and psychology points the way. Although much of this research concerns misguided notions of how the physical world works the techniques it has produced can be used to correct any sort of deficient understanding.