【摘要】：威廉希尔app 整理了伪心理学表面看上去像是心理学，但它预测人类行为的机制既靠不住又没有事实依据,为什么人们会相信它们是真的?请看下文具体内容。
Probably the most popular pseudo-psychology is astrology. It is based on the assumption that the position of the planets and stars at the time of a person's birth determines personality characteristics and affects behavior. Palmistry, another pseudo-psychology, claims that the lines in the hand are indicators of personality and the person's future.
最著名的伪心理学大概是占星术(星座论)。占星术的理论基础建立在这样一个假设上：一个人出生时行星的位置决定了这个人的性格并且会影响他/她的行为。手相是另一种伪心理学，声称手上的线条昭示了这个人的性格和未来运势。
Graphology, a third pseudo-psychology, indicates that personality is revealed by a person's handwriting. Although graphology is only moderately popular in the United States, some companies in this country use handwriting analysis to evaluate job applicants. Even though graphology is definitely valuable in detecting forgeries, careful test of accuracy in psychological studies have shown that graphologists score close to zero in rating personality.
笔体学是第三种伪心理学，认为一个人的字迹能够揭露性格。笔体学在美国还算流行，有些公司使用笔迹分析来评估应聘者。即使笔体学在鉴定赝品时非常有用，心理学的研究中对它进行的准确性测试显示，在评估性格这方面，笔体学的准确性几乎低至0。
Another pseudo-psychology, phrenology, was started in the nineteenth century by a German anatomy teacher, Franz Gall. His theory was that personality was revealed by bumps on the skull. Phrenologists assumed that parts of the brain governed different personality characteristics. It was thought that - like muscles - parts of the brain that were used more often tended to get bigger. In turn, these enlarged areas pushed on the skull causing bumps. With advances in neurology, this was shown to be impossible, and phrenology declined. Although some brain areas do have specific functions, they are not directly related to specific personality traits.
另外一种伪科学颅相学始于19世纪，发起人弗兰茨·格尔是一个德籍解剖学老师。他认为，颅骨上的凸起可以揭露性格。颅相学家假设大脑的不同部分控制不同的性格特征。就像肌肉一样，多次使用的那部分大脑会变得比其余的更大。接着，这些膨胀的区域对颅骨施加压力，造成凸起。神经病学的先进研究已证实这是不可能的，此后颅相学开始衰落。虽然大脑的某些区域的确有特殊的功能，但他们与具体的性格特征没有直接联系。
For most people, astrology is a harmless and entertaining pastime. However, uncritical acceptance of any system leads to problems. Rather than trying to "put down" those who believe in these pseudo-psychologies, this article is trying to make you a more critical observer of human behavior and to clarify what is - and what is not - psychology.
对大多数人来说，占星术并没有害处，是用来消磨时间很有趣的方式。但是，不假思索的接受任意思想体系会导致问题。这篇文章的目的并不是试图打倒那些伪心理学的信徒，而是澄清什么是、什么不是心理学，并希望你在观察人类行为时能够更加谨慎。