The understanding, use, and prevalence of neuromyths among medical students, health sciences students, and educators in Malaysia

Pye, Rachel; Rushaidhi, Madihah; Lim, Jun Jie; Soo, Yung Li; Hubbard, Paul S

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Pye, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1395-7763, Rushaidhi, M., Lim, J. J., Soo, Y. L. and Hubbard, P. S. (2025) The understanding, use, and prevalence of neuromyths among medical students, health sciences students, and educators in Malaysia. Education in Medicine Journal. ISSN 2180-1932 (In Press)

Abstract/Summary

Neuromyths are ideas about the brain that, whilst based on a kernel of truth, are applied inaccurately. This is especially relevant in the field of education, where such myths are prevalent and potentially undermine progress by distracting educators from using evidence-based approaches. In this study, we explored the prevalence of neuromyth belief in a sample of secondary school teachers, university lecturers, and university students from medical and health sciences background in Malaysia. Participants were recruited via opportunity sampling through e-mail and asked to complete a questionnaire containing ‘neuromyth’ and ‘neurofact’ statements. Results show that all groups demonstrated a high level of belief in these myths, similar to rates found internationally. Group-level differences were found, with university lecturers believing fewer myths than the teachers and students. We found a significant relationship between the number of myths believed and the number of facts known about the brain, indicating that science knowledge could be a protective factor.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/124256
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology University of Reading Malaysia
Uncontrolled Keywords	Neuromyth knowledge of school and university students and teaching staff in Malaysia
Publisher	Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia
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References

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Date Deposited:	16 Sep 2025 14:33	Date item deposited into CentAUR
Last Modified:	16 Sep 2025 14:45	Date item last modified