4 Psychology Myths infest the business world, and they lead to bad decisions

By: Aditya Shukla, Cognition Today

1. Myth: Attention spans are down to 8 seconds.

Fact: Attention is task-dependent. Your task directly influences where the brain pays attention. It can last from 1 second to over 24 hours. Origin: A shady website from 2008 wrongly concluded bounce rate duration on a website is about attention. Risk: You misjudge how to make your product engaging.

Green Star
Off-white Location
Cross

2. Myth: Habits need 21 days to form.

LABEL

Fact: Habits can form within hours or take years. Origin: A plastic surgeon observed it took about 21 days for people to get habituated to their surgery. Risk: You fail at tapping into consumer habits or creating new ones.

Green Star
Off-white Location
Cross

3. Myth: People are auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learners so they should learn according to their style.

LABEL

Fact: All able-bodied people learn in all ways and life experience changes what they prefer. The feeling of having learned something because you like the way it is presented is not the same as proof of learning. Origin: Unclear, but propagated by a company that made a business out of it. Myth: You over-engineer your content and waste resources.

Green Star
Off-white Location
Cross

4. Myth: People are left-brained (analytical) and right-brained (emotional).

LABEL

Fact: The brain works as a whole but some functions are localized to some areas on the left or right side. Any person can develop skills & have experience to show higher neural density in those localized areas. Origin: Unclear, but early research found these localized parts and people misinterpreted what skill they have as having that side of the brain dominant. Risk: You recruit the wrong people by oversimplifying talent.

Green Star
Off-white Location
Cross