Commonly accepted beliefs about science are drastically different from the reality. Science is almost universally regarded--at least in developed industrial countries--as the reliable source of understanding of the material world. In fact, science is as fallible as any other human activity, influenced in similar ways by outside interests and…

How is knowledge pertaining to science best transferred to the public in order to bolster support for science-based policy and governance, thereby serving the common good? Herein lies a well-recognized challenge: widespread public support arguably requires a widespread understanding of science itself, but this is naturally undermined by the…

In this work extensive misconceptions of university students'--from nutrition area--about the metabolism of carbohydrates (CHM) in the human organism have been documented. The results lead to consider their difficulties concerning the learning of a complex set of imbricated biochemical models involved. Pursuant to these considerations, three…

Studies consistently show the social impact of spreading epistemologically unfounded beliefs (or 'conspiracy beliefs'), including negative effects on public health. The present study identified correlations among epistemologically unfounded beliefs, authoritarianism, and scientific literacy in a representative sample of 303 Slovak secondary school…

Misinformation around scientific issues is rampant on social media platforms, raising concerns among educators and science communicators. A variety of approaches have been explored to confront this growing threat to science literacy. For example, refutations have been used both proactively as warning labels and in attempts to inoculate against…

Numerate people tend to make more informed judgments and decisions because they are more risk literate (i.e., better able to evaluate and understand risk). Do numeracy skills also help people understand regular science reporting from mainstream news sources? To address this question, we investigated responses to regular science reports (e.g.,…

The impacts of science are felt across all socio-ecological levels, ranging from the individual to societal. In order to adapt or respond to scientific discoveries, novel technologies, or biomedical or environmental challenges, a fundamental understanding of science is necessary. However, antiscientific rhetoric, mistrust in science, and the…

Children's naive theories include misconceptions which can interfere with science learning. This research examined the effect of pairing anomalies with alternative theories, and their order of presentation, on children's belief revision. Children believe that heavy objects sink and light ones float. In a pre-, mid-, and post-test design,…

Some of the online explainer videos for physics present misconceptions as scientifically correct explanations. Even so, some of these videos achieve good ratings on online platforms. A possible reason is that explainer videos with misconceptions foster an "illusion of understanding"--the mistaken belief that a topic has been understood.…

The nature and cause of the phases of the moon are widely misunderstood. Perhaps the problem is a general decline in scientific literacy, or maybe it is the loss of direct and regular observation of the moon in society generally. Many people do not see the moon as a half-illuminated sphere. Adults are often surprised to realize that the moon can…

This study used the structural equation model to examine teachers' scientific epistemological beliefs, critical thinking skills, and beliefs about the distinction between science and pseudoscience. The study involved 730 teachers from 26 different subjects in different regions of Türkiye. Descriptive analyses showed a significant relationship…

Psychologists have studied the question of what happens to naïve or intuitive concepts about science that form before accepted scientific ideas have been taught. Studies find that both the accuracy and time required to decide about the accuracy of carefully crafted statements reveal remnants of intuitive models of science. This is true even after…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are fighting not only the novel coronavirus, but also the "infodemic" induced by the pandemic. Therefore, it is urgent to explore approaches for enhancing individual immunity against science-related misinformation. We conducted a cross-sectional study to examine the relationship between public engagement…

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and given the huge volume of information available for the general population (being part of them fake news), there is a clear need to foster people's understanding of the meaning of science, of how scientific knowledge is produced, communicated, and used. As one of the main aims of science education is the…

The prevalence of unfounded beliefs (e.g., supernatural or conspiracy beliefs) remains an important issue due to their negative consequences in various domains. Interventions were shown to reduce supernatural beliefs only when addressing pseudoscientific ones. Based on these findings, we designed a single session intervention aiming to teach…