Mr Gove said teachers were encouraged to teach the early Middle Ages "by studying the depiction of King John as a cowardly lion in Disney's Robin Hood".
Robin Murray, professor of psychiatric research, also at the King's College London Institute of Psychiatry but not involved in the study, said this was an impressive piece of research.
North Yorkshire Police and a Sea King search and rescue helicopter from RAF Leconfield have joined the search for Mr McLean, alongside the Whitby, Robin Hood's Bay and Ravenscar Coastguard Rescue teams and Scarborough Mountain Rescue Team.