The persistence of a misconception about vision after educational interventions

Children and adults, like many ancient philosophers, believe that seeing in volves emissions from the eye. Several experiments tested the strength of t hese "extramission" beliefs to determine whether they, like other scientifi c misconceptions, are resistant to educational experiences. Traditional col lege-level education had little impact. Presenting a simplified lesson, str essing visual input, and a lesson directly counteracting the vision misconc eption had an impact, but for older participants the effect was evident onl y on short-term tests. Despite some gain due to learning, overall the resul ts demonstrated the robustness of extramission beliefs.