Public misconceptions about dyslexia: The role of intuitive psychology.

Iris Berent,Melanie Platt,Norbert Maionchi-Pino

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0259019

Abstract

Despite advances in its scientific understanding, dyslexia is still associated with rampant public misconceptions. Here, we trace these misconceptions to the interaction between two intuitive psychological principles: Dualism and Essentialism. We hypothesize that people essentialize dyslexia symptoms that they anchor in the body. Experiment 1 shows that, when dyslexia is associated with visual confusions (b/d reversals)-symptoms that are naturally viewed as embodied (in the eyes), laypeople consider dyslexia as more severe, immutable, biological, and heritable, compared to when dyslexia is linked to difficulties with phonological decoding (a symptom seen as less strongly embodied). Experiments 2-3 show that the embodiment of symptoms plays a causal role in promoting essentialist thinking. Experiment 2 shows that, when participants are provided evidence that the symptoms of dyslexia are embodied (i.e., they "show up" in a brain scan), people are more likely to consider dyslexia as heritable compared to when the same symptoms are diagnosed behaviorally (without any explicit evidence for the body). Finally, Experiment 3 shows that reasoning about the severity of dyslexia symptoms can be modulated by manipulating people's attitudes about the mind/body links, generally. These results show how public attitudes towards psychological disorders arise from the very principles that make the mind tick.

Highlights

Dyslexia is a common reading disorder affecting approximately 7% of the population
These public misconceptions of dyslexia raise a number of questions—both translational and foundational
We propose a novel account of how the misconceptions towards dyslexia arise from intuitive psychology

Summary

Introduction

Dyslexia is a common reading disorder affecting approximately 7% of the population (for reviews: [1, 2]). Experiment 1 first seeks to characterize laypeople’s attitudes towards dyslexia and its origins more precisely To this end, we examine whether attitudes towards the symptoms of dyslexia—as a visual or decoding disorder—are linked to their tendency to anchor the disorder in one’s essence (i.e., to its innateness, biological status, and immutability). If people further believe that dyslexia arises from one’s embodied biological essence, visual symptoms should be more likely to suggest a reading disorder, they should be more strongly associated with a biological causes, the disorder should be more likely to be considered innate (e.g., more likely to affect a family member and a genetic clone), and possibly, the disorder should be more severe and immutable. If essentialist reasoning is triggered by embodiment, responses to whether the disorder affects the brain should correlate with its perceived heritability, severity, and biological (rather than environmental) origin

Methods

Results

Discussion