A false or incorrect idea or belief that many people mistakenly think is true.
From Latin 'mis-' (wrongly) plus 'conception' (the act of understanding or conceiving). The word emerged in the 1800s as psychology and education began studying how wrong ideas form.
Research shows that misconceptions are actually harder to change than teaching something new—hearing the truth alongside the false belief can actually strengthen the misconception in your memory, a phenomenon called 'backfire effect.'
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