Reading this freely available Ars Technica article “This is catfishing on an industrial scale” (Cole & Wired.com, 2023) left me feeling like I was watching a train wreck in slow motion. Each paragraph left me more horrified than the last. Frankly, there is a lot of psychology in this article, but for the purpose of this blog post, let’s talk about who is being reinforced for and with what. I learned in the article that some dating sites are not what they seem. After being hired by one dating site, “Liam was asked to adopt fake online personas—known as ‘virtuals’—in order to chat to customers, most of them men looking for relationships or casual sex. Using detailed profiles of customers and well-crafted virtuals, Liam was expected to lure people into paying, message by message, for conversations with fictional characters” (Cole & Wired.com, 2023). Of course, the customers think they are interacting with a real person, not a fictional character. Each virtual has a dossier as does each customer. Every two minutes, a different employee takes over the virtual persona and continues the chat. When the employee switches to a new virtual, the employee scans the dossiers of both the virtual and the customer as well as recent messages. This helps the employee know how best to respond to the customer’s latest message. The entire goal is to get the customer to send just one more message. Why the switch every two minutes? The Ars Technica article does not address this, but it must be to keep the employees from getting attached to customers and to keep the customers from getting attached to a real person. Customers pay about 2 euros to send a message to the virtual—who, again, they believe is a real person. The employees get paid a mere 2 euros/hour. At today’s exchange rate, that is US$2.14. Since that is a very low pay rate for someone, say, in the U.S., such employees may sublet. For example, if I were hired by such a company at €2/hour, I could hire someone who lives somewhere where €0.80/hour is a decent enough wage to do my job for me. While the remaining €1.20/hour is not much to someone living in the U.S., it’s more than nothing, and, frankly, it’s not a bad wage for the amount of work required—which is nothing. The Ars Technica article does point out, “While illegal and not endorsed by the customer service companies, black market subletting is common in the industry” (Cole & Wired.com, 2023). To sum up the experience of one subletter, “While he chats, he pretends to be the owner of the account, who is pretending to be a woman in the United States, who is pretending to be hundreds of virtual women” (Cole & Wired.com, 2023). Liam, who no longer works for this company, had “seen users talking to the virtuals about their heaviest emotional concerns: ‘one was talking about suicide and how the fake woman had saved him from it, now that he’d found love.’ Liam had seen marriage proposals from users, some who had been on there as long as four and a half years. ‘And how can you blame them,’ says Liam, ‘when the system is doing its best to get to know you as well as it can?’” (Cole & Wired.com, 2023). In this industry, there is a whole bunch of positive reinforcement going on. If you’d like, summarize the article for your students, and then provide examples of positive reinforcement. Or if you’d like to use this as a launch point for discussion, ask your students to read the Ars Technica article “This is catfishing on an industrial scale” (Cole & Wired.com, 2023). Next, ask whose behavior is being positively reinforced and with what. We have the customers who keep coming back, we have the owners of the company who keep running this service, we have the official employees, and we have the sublet employees. And then there are Liam and another employee, Alice, who no longer work for the company. For them, was the positive reinforcement too little to outweigh the positive punishment that came with #$%&ing* with people’s feelings? Lastly, what does it say about how lonely people must feel that they turn to such sites in the first place?   *The article does use the f-word. If that’s an issue with your student population, consider sharing a redacted article instead.   Reference Cole, L. & Wired.com. (2023, May 17). This is catfishing on an industrial scale. Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/culture/2023/05/this-is-catfishing-on-an-industrial-scale/   ... View more

Yesterday, a few dear friends (all psychology professors) and I were having a nice chat via text. I said I wanted a theme park, perhaps it could be called SueFlags, SueLand, or SueWorld. Susan Nolan suggested SueZoo. That brief exchange was enough to generate this assignment prompt: Create a theme park based on your Big Five scores. Explain how the elements of your theme park match each trait. To flesh this out a little more, I would add this to the instructions: Take the Big Five test on the fivethirtyeight.com website. When you receive your results, you’ll see a chart that depicts your traits. Take a screenshot of the chart and include it as part of your response. If you are uncomfortable revealing your Big Five scores, asked a willing friend or family member to take the Big Five test. Create a theme park based on their scores. Name your theme park <your or their name>Wood. For example, if your name were Dolly, your theme park would be called DollyWood. A version of this would work well for an in-class discussion. For a discussion, divide your class into small groups. Again, with the task of creating theme park elements, give each group a different low or high trait score. (If you have a small class, give each group both the high and low versions of a trait.) For example, one group would receive high neuroticism (or high emotionality or low emotional stability—use whatever term you use). Susan Nolan came up with this theme park attraction: “A haunted house that makes you anxious, although nothing actually bad ever happens.” Another group would receive openness to experience. Danae Hudson came up with this: “All new rides you've never seen! And a design your ride attraction.” Ask each group to create three theme park elements. Once discussion has subsided, invite a volunteer from each group to share with the class the trait they were assigned, their favorite theme park element their group created, and a brief explanation of how that element illustrates their assigned trait. In our text exchange, Susan Nolan suggested other settings besides theme parks, such as “vacation destinations, shopping mall stores, restaurant dinner orders, type of transportation, pet species.” If time allows, assign a different trait to each group, then give the class a new setting. What ChatGPT did with this assignment If you are planning on going the assignment route rather than discussion, I have a ChatGPT alert. With this prompt, “Create a theme park based on your Big Five scores. Explain how the elements of your theme park match each trait,” ChatGPT generated this: Welcome to "MindScape: The Big Five Adventure Park"! Step into a thrilling world where every corner of the park is designed to match the unique elements of my Big Five scores, providing an unforgettable experience for all visitors. Openness to Experience: The park's entrance, known as "The Gateway of Imagination," sets the stage for an extraordinary journey. It features vibrant colors, whimsical sculptures, and interactive art installations. Each attraction within the park caters to various facets of human curiosity, encouraging visitors to explore and discover new perspectives. Conscientiousness: "The Path of Achievement" is a meticulously organized area that appeals to visitors who appreciate structure and order. It houses intellectually stimulating attractions like puzzle-solving challenges, strategy games, and a "Life Skills Academy" offering workshops on personal growth, time management, and effective goal setting. Extraversion: "The Plaza of Energy" is a bustling hub of social interaction, entertainment, and high-energy activities. It features lively shows, live music performances, and interactive games where visitors can compete with each other. The area also includes a "Hall of Laughter" with comedy clubs and improv shows to keep the atmosphere lively. Agreeableness: "The Garden of Harmony" provides a tranquil and serene environment where visitors can connect with nature. This area hosts peaceful rides, such as gentle boat cruises through beautiful landscapes, and offers meditation sessions, yoga classes, and mindfulness workshops. Visitors can also engage in cooperative games and team-building activities to foster a sense of unity and cooperation. Neuroticism: "The Realm of Thrills" is an adrenaline-pumping zone designed to satisfy the thrill-seeking nature of visitors. It features exhilarating roller coasters, daring skydiving simulations, and bungee jumping adventures. For those seeking a milder experience, there are virtual reality experiences that simulate extreme sports and adventure activities. Additional features: a) "The Mind's Observatory" is a centerpiece of the park, offering a panoramic view of the entire landscape. Visitors can reflect upon their experiences, engage in self-reflection, and journal their thoughts. b) "The Harmony Gardens" offer beautifully landscaped areas where visitors can relax, rejuvenate, and appreciate the park's natural surroundings. c) "The Knowledge Arcade" is an interactive educational space, blending technology and learning. Visitors can engage in hands-on exhibits, science demonstrations, and virtual reality simulations to expand their knowledge. "MindScape: The Big Five Adventure Park" celebrates the diversity of human personality and offers something for everyone, catering to each person's unique preferences and interests. So come, embark on this extraordinary journey of self-discovery and adventure! Aside from whiffing on neuroticism, it’s not bad, but it didn’t address the question. The original question asked about a person’s specific scores. As a student, I could modify the question to include Big Five scores. For example, a student could prompt ChatGPT with this, “Create a theme park based on high agreeableness, high conscientiousness, low neuroticism, moderate openness, and low extraversion. Explain how the elements of your theme park match each trait.” This is what ChatGPT did with that: Welcome to Harmony Haven, a theme park designed to cater to individuals with high agreeableness, high conscientiousness, low neuroticism, moderate openness, and low extraversion. Our park is designed to provide a serene and organized environment, with attractions and activities that align with the specific traits of our visitors. Let's explore how each trait is reflected in the elements of Harmony Haven: High Agreeableness: Harmony Haven emphasizes a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere, encouraging cooperation, empathy, and kindness. The park is adorned with beautiful gardens, tranquil water features, and soothing music, creating a serene ambiance. The staff members are trained to provide exceptional customer service, ensuring that guests feel welcomed, valued, and their needs are met. High Conscientiousness: Harmony Haven is meticulously designed and maintained to cater to guests who appreciate order, organization, and attention to detail. The park features clearly marked pathways, clean and well-maintained facilities, and reliable operational schedules. Our park's rides and attractions undergo thorough safety inspections and regular maintenance to ensure a worry-free experience. Low Neuroticism: Harmony Haven aims to create a stress-free environment, avoiding intense stimuli or situations that may cause anxiety or distress. The park offers gentle and family-friendly attractions such as gentle rides, scenic walks, and educational exhibits. Quiet areas are available for guests to relax, meditate, or simply enjoy a moment of tranquility away from the crowds. Moderate Openness: While not overly avant-garde, Harmony Haven still offers moderate levels of novelty and exploration for visitors who appreciate new experiences within their comfort zone. The park features diverse themed areas, each with its own unique atmosphere and attractions. These areas provide a range of experiences, including art exhibitions, cultural displays, and interactive workshops that encourage creativity and learning. Low Extraversion: Harmony Haven understands the preference for a more peaceful and introspective experience. The park provides secluded areas, including quiet gardens, reading nooks, and peaceful walkways, where guests can enjoy moments of solitude. The entertainment options cater to smaller groups, and there are opportunities for personal reflection and self-discovery throughout the park. Overall, Harmony Haven is a place where individuals with specific personality traits can find comfort, relaxation, and enjoyment. By aligning the elements of the park with high agreeableness, high conscientiousness, low neuroticism, moderate openness, and low extraversion, we create an environment that caters to the unique preferences and needs of our visitors, ensuring they have a memorable and fulfilling experience at our theme park. In an attempt to thwart ChatGPT, I amended the assignment instructions so that the Big Five score graph is included and naming the park <name>Wood. This is how ChatGPT handled these new instructions. As an AI language model, I don't have personal traits or the ability to take tests. However, I can still create a theme park based on the Big Five traits for you. Let's imagine a theme park called "AdventureLand" based on a fictional person's Big Five scores. AdventureLand is designed to cater to the traits of our visitor, John, who has taken the Big Five test and scored as follows: Openness: High Conscientiousness: Moderate Extraversion: Low Agreeableness: High Neuroticism: Low AdventureLand is a theme park that embraces creativity, curiosity, and exploration. It offers a variety of immersive and educational experiences that align with John's traits. Here's how the different elements of the theme park match each trait: Openness: AdventureLand stimulates John's openness with innovative and unconventional attractions. It features interactive art installations, virtual reality experiences, and science exhibitions. There are also workshops and classes where visitors can learn about different cultures, cuisines, and artistic techniques. Conscientiousness: While AdventureLand encourages exploration and spontaneity, it also caters to John's need for structure and organization. The park provides detailed maps and schedules, allowing visitors to plan their day efficiently. There are also "challenge zones" where visitors can test their problem-solving skills and engage in team-building activities. Extraversion: Although John scored low on extraversion, AdventureLand acknowledges that everyone needs social interaction in varying degrees. The park includes cozy cafes and quiet corners for introspective moments, as well as social areas where visitors can engage in group activities, such as interactive shows, musical performances, and community games. Agreeableness: AdventureLand fosters a sense of harmony and cooperation. It features attractions that promote teamwork, such as escape rooms, collaborative challenges, and group adventures. The park encourages empathy and understanding through themed areas that showcase different cultures, histories, and ecological awareness. Neuroticism: To cater to John's preference for a calm and relaxed environment, AdventureLand incorporates tranquil gardens, meditation spaces, and wellness centers. The park also offers nature trails, soothing music performances, and mindfulness workshops to promote emotional well-being and stress reduction. By considering John's Big Five scores, AdventureLandWood creates an immersive experience that aligns with his traits, providing a diverse range of attractions and activities to cater to his preferences and promote personal growth. Please note that this is a fictional example, and the actual Big Five scores and preferences may vary for different individuals. Alternatively, instead of trying to thwart ChatGPT, you could use it. Ask students to give ChatGPT any of the above prompts, and then ask your students to critique the response. “Did ChatGPT characterize each Big Five trait correctly? Did its theme park elements accurately match each trait? Explain your rationale for each decision.”   ... View more

  “[A] reporter said to me, kindly, ‘Oh, you don’t look 40.’ And I said, just off the top of my head, ‘This is what 40 looks like…” (Steinem, 1998). We make assumptions about age, and those assumptions affect how we feel, think, and act toward others. When someone doesn’t match our idea of what a particular age should look like, it’s easier for us to mentally change the age of the person than it is to change our assumptions about what age they are. But what happens when we’re talking about ourselves? I know my chronological age is 55. My driver’s license says so. What if my own behaviors and attitudes don’t match the behaviors and attitudes I think a 55-year-old should do and have? What if I thought my behavior and attitudes better matched what I think is true of a 40-year-old?  Perhaps I’d say, “Well, I’m 55, but I feel 40.” A few years ago, an 80-year-old friend said to me some version of this, “My body can’t do as much as it used to, but cognitively, I feel no different than I did when I was in my 20s.” (She’s a research psychologist. I’m certain she said cognitively.) At the time of our conversation, I was knocking on the door of my fifth decade, and I totally got what she was saying. It may because I remember my 20s a little too well, but I put my felt age somewhere in my 30s. What do the data say? This is an interesting study for the Intro Psych development chapter or the older adulthood section of a Lifespan course. It’s a very nice illustration of using longitudinal data to reveal cohort effects. “The German Ageing Survey is a nationwide, cross-sequential study of individuals in their second half of life (40–85 years at their first measurement occasions). The first study sample was drawn in 1996, and individuals were reassessed in 2002, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2020. Additional samples were drawn in 2002, 2008, and 2014 and reassessed at later measurement occasions” (Wettstein et al., 2023). (The study is freely available.) The survey question they were interested in for this study was “How old do you feel?” It’s a simple question, but the answer to it says oodles. Today’s older German adults report feeling younger than previous generations of older adults. For example, when people born between 1911 and 1935 turned 67, they reported, on average, that they felt approximately 59 (eight years younger). When people born between 1936 and 1951 turned 67, they reported, on average, that they felt approximately 54 (13 years younger). And, lastly, when people born between 1952 and 1974 turned 67, they reported, again on average, that they felt approximately 50 (17 years younger). Just as interestingly, the ages the survey participants reported feeling became less and less variable the older they got. And what variability there is decreased with each cohort (Wettstein et al., 2023). From the article, show your students Figure 1. It’s a fun graph, but you’ll need to take a few minutes to walk your students what the graph is depicting.   Discussion questions If we surveyed 40- to 85-year-olds in your community about the age they felt, would you expect the data to look similar to the German data? Why or why not? What do you think the data would look like if we asked 13- to 25-year-olds? Explain. What biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors might influence how old a person feels? What research could we do to find out if any of those factors do indeed affect how old a person feels?   References Steinem, G. (1998, April 6). 30th Anniversary Issue / Gloria Steinem: First feminist. New York Magazine. https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/features/2438/ Wettstein, M., Wahl, H.-W., Drewelies, J., Wurm, S., Huxhold, O., Ram, N., & Gerstorf, D. (2023). Younger than ever? Subjective age is becoming younger and remains more stable in middle-age and older adults today. Psychological Science, 095679762311645. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976231164553   ... View more

Recently, my wife and I saw the film “Vermeer: The Greatest Exhibition” at one our local theaters. In the spring of 2023, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam opened its doors to the largest Vermeer exhibition in history. The show sold out within days of going on sale. This film offers you the chance to experience the once-in-a-lifetime exhibition on the big screen… With loans from across the world, this major retrospective will bring together Vermeer’s most famous masterpieces including Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Geographer, The Milkmaid, The Little Street, Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid, and Woman Holding a Balance. In all, 28 of his surviving 35 works. (Exhibition on Screen 2023, n.d.) The art of Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) gave me a lot to think about, as good art should. The experts interviewed in the film noted the lack of visible brush strokes in his art work. The Essential Vermeer website tracks the location of every known Vermeer painting (Janson, 2023). The next time a Vermeer painting and I are in the same city, I’ll be making time to see it in person. What I find phenomenal about artists who can paint realistic images is their ability to turn off perception and paint only what their eyes see. For example, in The Music Lesson, look at the tile floor. If I, a non-artist, would attempt to draw such a tile floor, my tiles would all be the same size. Or rather, I’d know on an intellectual level that they’d have to become smaller the farther away they are, so I’d make them smaller, but I’m certain the perspective would not look right. Switching off shape constancy is a big ask. For me, anyway. Even more difficult for me would be switching off color constancy. Look at The Milkmaid—my favorite Vermeer—for example. We know that, in reality, the tablecloth would be all the same color. But we also know that how light falls on a scene changes the colors our eyes see. When part of a tablecloth is in shadow, our eyes see that that shadowed part is darker. During perception, our brain accounts for this different lighting. We know that the shadowed part of the tablecloth is not actually darker. Here, Vermeer is able to see that the shadowed tablecloth appears darker, and so he paints it darker. The milkmaid’s bodice is nearly white where the light from the window appears to shine on it but is dark brown in the shade. What I find particularly stunning in this painting is the bread. The next time you look at a loaf of bread, pay particular attention to the light as it reflects off the surface. There is nothing uniform about those reflections. The Girl with the Pearl Earring is Vermeer’s most famous painting. Again, we see Vermeer’s mastery of light. With one single apostrophe of white paint against a dark background, the earring sparkles. I have an advantage that Vermeer didn’t. I live in the age of color photographs. If I were to look at a photograph of a milkmaid pouring milk next to a basket of bread, I could zoom in and look at the colors, pixel by pixel. Vermeer, working 300 years before the development of color photography, did not have that opportunity. He had to rely solely on his ability to turn off his perception in order to reproduce what his eyes saw. We see what Vermeer saw, which, in many ways, is a more intimate experience than viewing a photographer’s picture. Did the photographer see the texture of the bread they photographed? Maybe. Did Vermeer see the texture of the bread he painted? Absolutely.   References Exhibition on Screen 2023. (n.d.). Vermeer: The greatest exhibition – Exhibition on Screen. Retrieved May 8, 2023, from https://exhibitiononscreen.com/films/vermeer-blockbuster-exhibition/ Janson, J. (2023, March 31). Complete catalogue of the painting of Johannes Vermeer. Essential Vermeer 3.0. http://www.essentialvermeer.com/vermeer_painting_part_one.html   ... View more

The Introduction to Psychology course is the hardest course to teach because we do not have expertise in the vast majority of the material. When you teach Intro Psych for the very first time, you get used to saying, “I don’t know.” As the years have rolled by, I’ve accepted that “I don’t know” is just part of my Intro Psych teaching lexicon. For me, however, it’s not the not knowing that’s problematic. It’s all of the information that I thought I knew, but, alas, did not. Finding out that I’ve gotten something wrong makes me wish I could contact all of my previous students and say, “Hey! Remember that thing I told you about? No, you don’t remember? Well, anyway, it turns out I was wrong. Here’s the right information. Or at least here’s the right information as we know it today.” Okay, maybe it’s best that I can’t contact my previous students. In some cases, the scientific research has given us updated information. For example, research published a week ago in Nature reveals that the motor cortex is not all about motor control (Gordon et al., 2023). There are pockets of neurons in between the motor control sections of the motor cortex that connect with other parts of the body. “As a result, the act of, say, reaching for a cup of coffee can directly influence blood pressure and heart rate. And the movement is seamlessly integrated into brain systems involved in planning, goals and emotion” (Hamilton, 2023). This is a beautiful example of the first of APA’s overarching themes for Intro Psych: “Psychological science relies on empirical evidence and adapts as new data develop” (Halonen et al., 2022) In some cases what I got wrong was me just not understanding. For example, if you used to teach that the cat running to the sound of the can opener was classical conditioning, you can identify with what I’m saying. (See this 2016 blog post for the explanation as to why this is not classical conditioning, but operant conditioning.) While I don’t have any suggestions on how we can speed up science, I do have some suggestions on how we can mitigate how much stuff we don’t understand, and, thus, mis-teach to our students. Here are some excellent books that will expand your Intro Psych knowledge. Most are written by experts in the field. Others were written by people who got deeply interested in the topic. If you have books that you have found useful for expanding your Intro Psych knowledge, please add them to the comments. Thanks! Neuroscience The tale of the dueling neurosurgeons: The history of the human brain as revealed by true stories of trauma, madness, and recovery written by Sam Kean Incognito: The secret lives of the brain by David Eagleman Livewired: The inside story of the ever-changing brain by David Eagleman Sensation and Perception An immense world: How animal senses reveal the hidden realms us by Ed Yong Perception: How our bodies shape our minds by Dennis Proffitt and Drake Baer Consciousness Why we sleep: Unlocking the power of sleep and dreams by Matthew Walker Buzzed: The straight facts about the most used and abused drugs from alcohol to ecstasy, 3e by, Cynthia Kuhn, Scott Swartzwelder, and Wilkie Wilson Development Breaking the age code: How your beliefs about aging determine how long and well you live by Becca Levy The gardener and the carpenter: What the new science of child development tells us about the relationship between parents and children by Alison Gopnik Memory The memory illusion: Remembering, forgetting, and the science of false memory by Julia Shaw Moonwalking with Einstein: The art and science of remembering everything by Joshua Foer Cognition Thinking fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman The undoing project: A friendship that changed our minds by Michael Lewis Emotion Aroused: The history of hormones and how they control just about everything by Randi Hutter Epstein Why zebras don’t get ulcers: the acclaimed guide to stress, stress-related diseases, and coping, 3e by Robert M. Sapolsky Stumbling on happiness by Daniel Gilbert Social Aggression and violence: A social psychological perspective by Brad J. Bushman Kitty Genovese: The murder, the bystanders, and the crime that changed America by Kevin Cook Personality Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking by Susan Cain   References Gordon, E. M., Chauvin, R. J., Van, A. N., Rajesh, A., Nielsen, A., Newbold, D. J., Lynch, C. J., Seider, N. A., Krimmel, S. R., Scheidter, K. M., Monk, J., Miller, R. L., Metoki, A., Montez, D. F., Zheng, A., Elbau, I., Madison, T., Nishino, T., Myers, M. J., … Dosenbach, N. U. F. (2023). A somato-cognitive action network alternates with effector regions in motor cortex. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05964-2 Halonen, J., Thompson, J. L. W., Whitlock, K. H., Landrum, R. E., & Frantz, S. (2022). Measuring meaningful learning in Introductory Psychology: The IPI student learning outcomes. In R. A. R. Gurung & G. Neufeld (Eds.), Transforming Introductory Psychology: Expert advice on teacher training, course design, and student success (pp. 57–80). American Psychological Association. Hamilton, J. (2023, April 20). An overlooked brain system helps you grab a coffee—And plan your next cup. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/04/20/1171004199/an-overlooked-brain-system-helps-you-grab-a-coffee-and-plan-your-next-cup         ... View more

Lots of people want to know the key to happiness. In my Intro Psych course, we cover Seligman’s PERMA model (Seligman, 2018). The PERMA model provides pretty good formula. P is for positive emotions. Emotion regulation, stress reduction, and coping strategies can all help foster positive emotions. E is for engagement. Mindfulness can help us stay engaged in the moment. Activities that foster a state of flow will do it, too. R is for relationships. We are happier when we feel connected to others. Those connections do not need to be deep. Casual conversation with strangers can help us feel like we are part of a community. M is for meaning. Feeling like our lives have meaning and purpose contribute to our sense of happiness. Doing meaningful work—in a job for pay or as a volunteer—is one path. Some find meaning through their religious beliefs or through their family. A is for accomplishment (or achievement). Accomplishing things we set out to do contributes to our happiness. Celebrate those achievements. After introducing the model, gives students a minute to think about someone they know who they believe is happy. Ask students to jot down what they’ve observed in this person that may fit each PERMA component. Next, give students an opportunity to share their observations in pairs or small groups. Invite volunteers to share examples from each component in turn. New retirees may face PERMA challenges. For example, when our work lives provide us with engaging activities, relationships with coworkers, days full of meaning, and opportunities for accomplishment, stepping away from work can leave a vacuum that may take us by surprise. Of all of these, losing relationships with coworkers may be the biggest hurdle with finding new meaning in life not far behind (Schulz & Waldinger, 2023). While much research has focused on the transitions from a life of work to retirement, that’s a bit far removed from the lives of most (but not all!) of our students. I wonder, too, about other kinds of life transitions. If time allows, ask your students to describe any PERMA-related challenges they faced as they moved from high school to college or to work. Or what PERMA-related challenges they can envision as they transition from college to their future work life. Consider taking a moment to reflect on your own PERMA state. In the components where you rate yourself as being a little thin, what changes can you make?   References Schulz, M., & Waldinger, R. (2023, March 10). An 85-year Harvard study on happiness found the No. 1 retirement challenge that “no one talks about.” CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/10/85-year-harvard-happiness-study-found-the-biggest-downside-of-retirement-that-no-one-talks-about.html Seligman, M. (2018). PERMA and the building blocks of well-being. Journal of Positive Psychology, 13(4), 333–335. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2018.1437466   ... View more

On the first day of class, I give my students a few get-to-know-each-other questions to discuss in small groups. While they discuss, I visit the groups and invite them to ask any questions they may have about me. This semester during one such small group visit I had a student ask me for my zodiac sign. I said, “Scorpio. But you know that doesn’t mean anything, right?” She looked at me as if I were the naïve one. In retrospect, I could have handled that better. “Why do you ask?” “Do you believe that the time of year we’re born is the sole determinant of personality? Our genes and experiences don’t matter at all?” In any case, I didn’t think any more about it. And then two days ago (April 4, 2023), Google announced that their Waze app is adding a zodiac mode (Waze, 2023). And this month, Waze is tapping into the all-knowing cosmos to find out if you navigate like a Saggitarius or a Scorpio, thanks to the latest driving experience: Zodiac. Drive with a vehicle and Mood outfitted for your sign and embody your true colors on the road. Our navigation guide is well-versed in astrology and knows how to get all types of personalities to their final destination — whether you're a fiery Aries, a balanced Libra, an independent Aquarius, an ambitious Taurus, a spontaneous Gemini, an intuitive Cancer, a detail-oriented Virgo, an intense Capricorn, a whimsical Pisces, a dramatic Leo, a free-spirited Sagitttarius or a loyal Scorpio. She does it with love, life advice and a little teasing. The first thing I did was roll my eyes. The second thing I did was uninstall Waze. You would think that as a Scorpio I’d be more loyal than that. When we lived in the Seattle area, Waze was my go-to navigation app. Now that we live where there is much less traffic, I don’t need help getting around traffic jams so I haven’t used Waze in two years. I admit that haven’t kept up with Waze’s fun features. I just reinstalled Waze to see how zodiac mode works. Unfortunately—and to my great disappointment—zodiac mode has not rolled out to my phone, yet. There are, however, several other ways for me to “customize my drive.” If I select zombie mode, the driving directions are delivered in a zombie voice—or rather, what someone imagines a zombie voice would sound like, the car icon I see is decaying green, and the icon that appears to other drivers is a stitched up gray blob. That helps me envision a bit what zodiac mode might look like. Just like the 70s/80s/90s mode or the cat/dog mode, I suppose zodiac mode is meant to be a new, fun, quirky way to get to and from wherever you need to be. While there probably aren’t many people who believe in zombies, a Pew Research Center survey found that 29% of U.S. adults believe in astrology (Gecewicz, 2018). You can assume that about a third of your students hold such a belief. Among college graduates however, the survey found that the number that believed in astrology dropped to 22% (Gecewicz, 2018). I credit the personality chapter in the Intro Psych course for that decrease. Ok. I don’t know that. It’s an empirical question, though, for someone looking for a research project. If you’d like to give your students some research practice in the personality chapter, point out that about a third of people in the U.S. believe that zodiac signs affect personality. Zodiac signs, however, were not included in our textbook’s personality chapter as a contributing factor. How could we find out if one’s zodiac sign affects personality? Give students a couple of minutes to think about this question on their own, and then ask them to discuss in small groups. The research designs will likely include some measuring of personality traits. The biggest challenge here may be finding two astrological experts who agree on the characteristics each sign is supposed to have. As another variable, students may suggest asking study participants for their sign. It’s possible that asking outright for a zodiac sign may prime the potentially one-third of participants who believe in the zodiac to skew their personality answers. There are at least two ways around this: ask for birthday and determine zodiac sign yourself or ask for the zodiac sign at the very end after all of the personality questions have been answered. Asking for birthday is probably safest as some volunteers may not know their zodiac sign. Also point out that birthdays don’t have meaning in some cultures, so members of those cultural groups don’t know the date of their birth. When a birthday is needed, they may use January 1. A good question for students to consider is how they could ask if a participant knows their birth date. If time allows, consider asking this question about ethics that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Do we each have a responsibility to share and only share factually correct information? If we know what we’re sharing is false or suspect that it might be, do we have a responsibility to say so? As a professor of psychology, I certainly have an ethical responsibility to share evidence-based information about psychology. If the evidence is lacking, then I need to make it clear that the evidence is lacking. Does a producer or film company have a responsibility to depict accurately how drugs work, how memory works, how psychological disorders work? Especially given how many people learn about these topics through media? When a tech company uses the zodiac to make commuting more fun, are they promoting—whether intentionally or unintentionally—belief in the stars having an impact on personality?   References Gecewicz, C. (2018, October 1). ‘New Age’ beliefs common among both religious and nonreligious Americans. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/10/01/new-age-beliefs-common-among-both-religious-and-nonreligious-americans/ Waze. (2023, April 4). Customize your next drive and tap into the zodiac with Waze. Google. https://blog.google/waze/customize-your-next-drive-and-tap-into-the-zodiac-with-waze/       ... View more

It is not often that the New York Times publishes an article on operational definitions. Okay, they don’t call them operational definitions, but that’s what they are. Introduce this assignment by describing how so much of our health is influenced by our behaviors. If behavior is involved, psychology is there. How do researchers—or ourselves, for that matter—know if changes in our behavior, e.g., exercise, more nutritious eating, is positively affecting our level of fitness? The easy answer is that we randomly assign volunteers to, say, an exercise program of some sort or to a control group—maybe even a waitlist control group—and then after a predetermined amount of time, we measure their fitness. Great! Now, how do we measure fitness? Probably the most common way the average person on the street measures their fitness is by hopping on the scale. The more fat we carry, the greater the potential impact on our health. Since both fat and muscle have weight, the average scale does not differentiate. It is possible that the more we exercise, the more fat we lose but the more muscle mass we gain. Even though our fitness is increasing, our scales may tell us that we weigh the same or are actually gaining weight. Then there’s the body mass index (BMI). This is another measurement that does not differentiate between fat and muscle. The BMI is not lacking for critics. As one observer pointed out, the current BMI categories are not useful. Several longitudinal studies, they report, have found being BMI overweight (BMI 25-29.9) or in the first level of BMI obese (30-34.9) had little or no impact on mortality rates (Nuttall, 2015). What if we could just measure the amount of fat that we carry? There are scales that purport to do that. Such scales send an electrical current through your body. Water is an excellent conductor of electricity. Muscle contains more water than fat. The less resistance the electrical current encounters, the more muscle mass the scale concludes we have. The scales that have only two points of measurement—two feet—are less accurate than scales that have four points of measurement—two feet and two hands, but the two-point scales are considerably less expensive. The two-point scales tend to be reliable, but not accurate, underestimating or overestimating fat content significantly. However, if one is using such a scale to track changes, then they do fine. One more important point about these scales. If you’re dehydrated, the scale’s electrical current will meet more resistance, and the scale will say that we have more body fat than we have (McCallum, 2022). None of these measurements—overall weight, BMI, or fat composition—identify where our fat is concentrated. Abdominal fat is associated with poorer health outcomes than, say, fat stored in the lower body. The latter may actually have protective effects (de Lemos, 2020). If these measurements are not the best way to operationally define fitness, what are some alternatives? If you’d like to make this an out of class assignment, ask your students to read this New York Times article (Smith, 2023). The article identifies three different approaches to measuring fitness: heart metrics, physical performance metrics, and daily living metrics. Ask students to identify at least three operational definitions of fitness provided in the article for each approach.   References de Lemos, J. (2020, December 16). Why belly fat is dangerous and how to control it. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. http://utswmed.org/medblog/belly-fat/ McCallum, K. (2022, April 26). How accurate are scales that measure body fat? Houston Medicine: On Health. https://www.houstonmethodist.org/blog/articles/2022/apr/are-body-composition-scales-accurate/ Nuttall, F. Q. (2015). Body mass index: Obesity, BMI, and health a critical review. Nutrition Today, 50(3), 117–128. https://doi.org/10.1097/NT.0000000000000092 Smith, D. G. (2023, March 27). 3 ways to measure how fit you are, without focusing on weight. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/27/well/move/fitness-test.html   ... View more

In one survey of Intro Psych instructors, 25% did not cover emotion (Nevid et al., 2023). That used to be me. As I wrote in this blog post from September, 2022, seeing the results of people losing their temper prompted me to add emotion—especially emotion regulation—into my Intro Psych course. As spring quarter came to a close, I asked my students for the top ten important things they learned in the course. (See this August 2019 blog post for details on my top ten assignment.) One of my students listed better anger management skills as her most important thing learned. While we didn’t discuss anger management explicitly, it doesn’t require much effort to see how the emotion regulation strategies would apply to managing anger specifically. There is plenty of evidence that a cause of procrastination is emotion regulation. In one intervention with college students, teaching them about emotion regulation strategies via online modules decreased reported incidents of procrastination as compared to waitlist controls (Schuenemann et al., 2022). The training used in that study totaled nine hours. I’m not sure that the training needs to be that extensive to have similar procrastination reduction effects. Would, say, 15 minutes of in-class time spent discussing how procrastination could be the result of emotion regulation be enough to help students reduce their own procrastination? There’s an empirical question ripe for investigation. If emotion regulation is a new topic for you, Stanford emotion regulation researcher James Gross gave an excellent 25-minute overview at the 2022 American Psychological Association convention. Watch it here.   References Nevid, J. S., Keating, L. H., & Jaeger, A. J. (2023). Topical coverage in teaching introductory psychology: A national survey of instructors. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000348 Schuenemann, L., Scherenberg, V., von Salisch, M., & Eckert, M. (2022). “I’ll worry about it tomorrow” – fostering emotion regulation skills to overcome procrastination. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 780675. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.780675 ... View more

Every discipline has their zombie ideas, even library science. This could be a good discussion to have with students in the Intro Psych research methods chapter regarding the pitfalls of common sense. Ask students via clicker, Plickers, or by a show of hands this question: When touching the pages of old, valuable books, you should wear white gloves. Yes, no, or I don’t know? Most of your students will likely say yes. Now ask how do they know? This will be a harder question for them to answer. They may not remember how they learned this. They may even say that it’s common sense. Common sense may be common in that a whole lot of people think it is true, but that doesn’t make it true. And that’s the case with wearing white gloves when touching the pages of old, valuable books. In this New York Times article, librarians describe this belief of needing to wear white gloves when handling the pages of old, valuable books as an idea that will not die (Schuessler, 2023)—a zombie idea, if you will. The rationale for why wearing white gloves is a bad idea is good: “Gloves reduce your sense of touch, increasing the likelihood that you might accidentally tear a page, smear pigments, dislodge loose fragments — or worse, drop the book” (Schuessler, 2023). Gloves also tend to gather dirt and cause hands to sweat (Schuessler, 2023). Dirt and moisture are bad for books. The librarians remind us that the books have been handled with bare hands for as long as they have been around. There are a few exceptions to the no-glove rule, however. Nitrile gloves are recommended for photographic pages and certain book covers (e.g., book covers that contain metal, ivory, velvet, and certain other types of cloth). Also, wearing gloves is a good idea for handling book covers that may contain arsenic, but that’s for protecting the reader, not the book. Although one librarian added, “The moral of the story is, don’t lick the books and you will be fine” (Schuessler, 2023). Don’t lick the books. Got it. If the white glove thing isn’t actually a thing, why did Sotheby’s take a photograph of Brontë family manuscripts with white-gloved hands (Schuessler, 2021)? They are likely taking advantage of our ‘common sense’ for their monetary gain. If white gloves signal ‘valuable book,’ then we may be likely to pay more money for it (Schuessler, 2023). No white gloves? Then perhaps the book is no different than the paperback we picked up last week from our local bookseller. If you’d like to expand this discussion into one of ethics, ask your students if some of their ‘common sense’ knowledge comes from what they’ve seen in movies or television shows. Do producers and writers have an ethical obligation to present accurate information or to note when they are not? What about the creators of YouTube or TikTok videos? If the content creators do not have such an ethical obligation, does the responsibility then lie with the viewer to sort out what is fact and what is fiction? If so—and if we choose not to expend the time and energy to do so—then are we at risk for spreading misinformation? This could be a good opportunity to launch a discussion on the importance of information literacy.   References Schuessler, J. (2021, May 25). A lost Brontë library surfaces. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/arts/bronte-library-sothebys-auction.html Schuessler, J. (2023, March 9). For rare book librarians, it’s gloves off. Seriously. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/arts/rare-books-white-gloves.html     ... View more

APA’s Division 44: Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity has created some excellent resources. For this blog post, I want to focus on two of this division’s documents: nonbinary fact sheet (large print) and pronouns fact sheet (large print). If you do not currently cover gender identity, this activity would fit well in the development chapter as part of a larger discussion on identity. Explain that in western cultures, we have a history of sorting people into one of two boxes: man or woman. Ask students to draw on a piece of paper and label those two boxes. Explain that over time, psychological scientists have come to appreciate that things are just not that simple. Ask students to read the “What does nonbinary mean?” section of the nonbinary fact sheet. Starting with the two boxes students have drawn, ask students to add to their diagram the experiences of others who do not neatly fit in one those two boxes. After a few minutes of working on their diagrams, invite students to share their diagrams with others in a small group. Ask the groups to create a new diagram compiling the best contributions from each individual. This activity will help students think outside the boxes. If you do the previous activity as part of a discussion on identity, it may make sense to continue the thread by talking about pronouns. Just as our name is an important part of who we are, the pronouns we use may also be important to us. Ask students to take a look at their diagrams again. What pronouns would they attach to each part of their diagram? Confusion will likely be the modal response. Point out that pronouns are an individual decision, and that even if we could look at someone and place them in the diagram (which we cannot), there is no way for us to know what pronouns a person uses. Give students a few minutes to read the pronoun fact sheet. Invite students to form small groups and using the suggestions in the “how do I ask about pronouns” section of the fact sheet, ask others in their group about the pronouns they use—if they are comfortable sharing. If time allows, do a short role play to give students practice with what they learned in the “when and how should I correct others?” section of the fact sheet. Before class, ask a couple students with whom you have a good rapport if they’re okay with you asking them during class for the pronouns they use. And then ask them—for the purpose of a class activity—if they would be okay with you purposefully using different pronouns. With their permission in hand, let the class know that you are going to give them the opportunity to correct your pronoun errors. Ask your confederates for the pronouns they use. And then for one the students purposefully use the wrong the pronouns. For example, “I really appreciate that [wrong pronoun] shared their pronouns.” Pause to give the rest of the class an opportunity to formulate and share a correction. Thank the person who corrects you, and then apologize to the student whose pronoun you flubbed. “I apologize for using the wrong pronoun. I promise I’m working on getting it right.” And then move on with other chapter content. If another opportunity presents itself, intentionally flub the pronouns of your other confederate. Pause again to give the rest of your students another opportunity for a correction. Through this activity students will get practice at correcting someone who mistakenly uses the wrong pronouns while also normalizing errors and modeling recovering from those errors.   References Conover, K. J., Matsuno, E., & Bettergarcia, J. (2021). Pronoun fact sheet [Fact sheet]. American Psychological Association, Division 44: The Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. https://www.apadivisions.org/division-44/resources/pronouns-fact-sheet.pdf Matsuno, E., Webb, A., Hashtpari, H., Budge, S., Krishnan, M., & Basam, K. (n.d.). Nonbinary fact sheet [Fact sheet]. American Psychological Association, Division 44: The Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. https://www.apadivisions.org/division-44/resources/nonbinary-fact-sheet.pdf         ... View more

Why is it so hard for us to grasp that we don’t multitask, we task switch? And that while driving, any task that is not focused on piloting a 2,000-pound vehicle filled with flammable liquid is dangerous? Webex announced in March 2022 that they were partnering with Ford to bring Webex meetings to Ford vehicles. Security and safety are top priorities for both Ford and Webex, so we’re not only making sure the drivers and passengers are safe but also making sure we reduce distractions. The Webex solution only uses audio if deployed while driving. When your car is safely parked – you can get more robust Webex collaboration experiences, like secure video meetings, integrated audio, and content sharing (Kulkarni, 2022). Webex is bringing the same (or similar) technology to Mercedes-Benz. “Meetings and calls are audio-only unless you're parked, in which case you'll have access to video meetings” (Holt, 2023). While it is true that audio only is less of a distraction than audio and video, talking on the phone while driving—even if the phone is your car’s audio system—is still a distraction. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2020 distraction played a role in 8% of fatal crashes (an estimated 3,142 people killed) and 14% of injury crashes (an estimated 324,652 people injured) (National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 2022). When I started writing this post, I imagined that I would wrap it up with offering a suggestion for experimental design practice. But now that I’m here, I’m much more interested in what students are thinking. Before covering selective attention, ask students via a clicker system (even the free Plickers.com): How comfortable would you be as a passenger in a vehicle where the driver was participating in a conference call for work. Very comfortable Somewhat comfortable Somewhat uncomfortable Very uncomfortable After covering selective attention (including showing your favorite attention videos such as counting basketball passes, solving a whodunnit, being amazed by the colour changing card trick, or trying to find the changes in the Škoda Fabia car commericial), sharing the NHTSA data above, and discussing Webex’s partnerships with Ford and Mercedes-Benz, ask your students that same question again. How comfortable would students be? Lastly, take a few minutes to help your students develop some language they can use the next time they find themselves a passenger in a vehicle with a distracted driver. As the instructor, role play the driver. Each student is to imagine themselves as a passenger in your vehicle. Set the scenario. You have just picked up your passenger and are giving them a 20-minute ride to work. You say, “I have a meeting starting in five minutes, so I’ll be doing that on our drive to your job.” Give students a couple minutes to consider ways they can respond, then invite students to share their responses in small groups. Finally, ask volunteers to share with the class the best responses generated by their groups.   References                                                           Holt, K. (2023, February 27). Mercedes-Benz is bringing WebEx meetings to the new E-Class sedans. Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/mercedes-benz-is-bringing-webex-meetings-to-the-new-e-class-sedans-050009834.html Kulkarni, A. (2022, March 31). Driving ahead with Webex. Webex Blog. https://blog.webex.com/customer-stories/collaboration-in-vehicle-experiences/ National Center for Statistics and Analysis. (2022). Distracted driving 2020 (DOT HS 813 309). National Highway Traffic Safety Admistration.   ... View more

With the Intro Psych course, we have the ability to save lives. For example, our discussion of attention may help students stay off their phones while driving or help students refuse to ride with someone who talks on their phone while driving. Our discussion of stress and evidence-based coping strategies may help students find ways to reduce stress or cope better with their stress, leading to healthier outcomes in both the short- and long-term. I had another example just this week. After covering sleep, one of my students is encouraging his father to get screened for sleep apnea. Here's another way that Intro Psych can save lives that I just learned about from the February 2023 issue of Scientific American (Kwon, 2023). Of those diagnosed with REM behavior disorder, up to 80% will be diagnosed in 10 to 12 years with a neurodegenerative disease, most commonly Parkinson’s disease. When the common symptoms of Parkinson’s appear—such as hand tremors (although hand tremors do not appear in everyone with Parkinson’s)—over 40% of the dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra of the basal ganglia are gone (Ohtsuka et al., 2013). (I’ve also seen medical websites say 50% and 80%, but they don’t site a source.) Let’s just say that bunches of neurons have been lost before the traditional symptoms appear. MRI can be used to detect the loss of neurons in the basal ganglia (Bae et al., 2021), but, of course, most people don’t get an MRI until they show symptoms. Earlier detection means being able to start interventions earlier which may slow the progression of the disease (Prashanth & Dutta Roy, 2018). During REM sleep (and for most of us), our major muscle groups are turned off. In REM behavior disorder, the major muscle groups remain online resulting in an acting out of the dreams. Alan Alda was being chased, so he picked up a sack of potatoes and threw them at his attacker. When Alda awoke, he saw that he had thrown a pillow at his wife. Alda had seen a 2015 news story about the emerging evidence of REM behavior disorder being a marker for the potential development of Parkinson’s. A brain scan confirmed it; Alda had Parkinson’s (Kwon, 2023). There is evidence that neurodegeneration and a buildup of a protein called synuclein (click for pronunciation) within the pons and medulla (both within the brainstem) play a role in REM behavior disorder (Chiaro et al., 2018). One possibility is that, over time—say, 10 to 12 years—the synuclein protein clusters spread up into the basal ganglia, damaging those neurons. When enough of those neurons are damaged, we may begin to see Parkinson’s symptoms, such as hand tremors. But here’s the fascinating part. A person with Parkinson’s who experiences slowed muscle movement, rigid muscles, and tremors while awake, has these symptoms seemingly vanish when showing symptoms of REM behavior disorder. While the symptoms of Parkinson’s are due in large part to damage within the basal ganglia, REM sleep bypasses the basal ganglia. While acting out a dream, full movement returns. This raises an interesting possibility. Could treatments bypass the basal ganglia when the person is awake? In the meantime, researchers are looking for ways to reduce synuclein before it does so much damage, and a diagnosis of REM behavior disorder may be one way to identify people at risk but before significant neuron loss occurs (Kwon, 2023). REM behavior disorder has an estimated prevalence of 1% (Haba-Rubio et al., 2018) in the general population. If you teach 200 Intro Psych students annually, and each student has, on average, 10 relatives (totally made up number; I have over 60 relatives, including siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews), sharing this information on the relationship between REM behavior disorder and Parkinson’s with your students could reach 2,000 people.  At 1% prevalence, we would expect 20 of them to have REM sleep disorder. If 80% are expected to develop Parkinson’s (or similar disease) in 10 to 12 years, that would be 16 of them. If those 16 were diagnosed early, the progression of Parkinson’s could be slowed. Your math may vary, but the result is the same. What you cover in Intro Psych could save lives.   References Bae, Y. J., Kim, J.-M., Sohn, C.-H., Choi, J.-H., Choi, B. S., Song, Y. S., Nam, Y., Cho, S. J., Jeon, B., & Kim, J. H. (2021). Imaging the substantia nigra in Parkinson disease and other Parkinsonian syndromes. Radiology, 300(2), 260–278. https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.2021203341 Chiaro, G., Calandra-Buonaura, G., Cecere, A., Mignani, F., Sambati, L., Loddo, G., Cortelli, P., & Provini, F. (2018). REM sleep behavior disorder, autonomic dysfunction and synuclein-related neurodegeneration: Where do we stand? Clinical Autonomic Research, 28(6), 519–533. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-017-0460-4 Haba-Rubio, J., Frauscher, B., Marques-Vidal, P., Toriel, J., Tobback, N., Andries, D., Preisig, M., Vollenweider, P., Postuma, R., & Heinzer, R. (2018). Prevalence and determinants of rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder in the general population. Sleep, 41(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsx197 Kwon, D. (2023, February). When dreams foreshadow brain disease. Scientific American, 328(2), 58–63. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0223-56 Ohtsuka, C., Sasaki, M., Konno, K., Koide, M., Kato, K., Takahashi, J., Takahashi, S., Kudo, K., Yama**bleep**a, F., & Terayama, Y. (2013). Changes in substantia nigra and locus coeruleus in patients with early-stage Parkinson’s disease using neuromelanin-sensitive MR imaging. Neuroscience Letters, 541, 93–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2013.02.012 Prashanth, R., & Dutta Roy, S. (2018). Early detection of Parkinson’s disease through patient questionnaire and predictive modelling. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 119, 75–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2018.09.008     ... View more

In December 2022, I wrote about the new AI tool for generating writing, ChatGPT. Since then, the technology behemoths Microsoft and Google have rushed their own chatbots to public release. Unfortunately, neither were ready for primetime as both were reported to have delivered inaccurate information in their debut. In the meantime, discussion within the academy has exploded about the impact AI writing tools will have on education. Such discussions are often accompanied by much hand-wringing. Some instructors insist that their assignment prompts are not ChatGPT-able because, for example, the prompt asks for personal examples or personal opinion. Other instructors have embraced ChatGPT as a learning tool where they ask students to start with ChatGPT text, critique said text, and then edit it. Perhaps the biggest tell that a particular text was written by ChatGPT is that the references are bogus. The references look legitimate, but a quick Google search will reveal that the AI made them up. Making up references is academic dishonesty. A cloze test would provide further evidence that the student did not write the text. In a cloze test, the instructor removes every, say, fifth word from the text in question, and the student is asked to supply the missing words. A student who wrote the text will have an easier time supplying the missing words than a student who didn’t. This online cloze test generator will create a cloze test based on the supplied text and your parameters. The latest participant in the AI-generated text wars is Edward Tian, a Princeton grad student. During his winter break in Toronto, he spent time in a coffee shop writing code for a computer program that could detect AI-written text. He called it GPTZero (Kidson, 2023), and he has made it freely available. Paste in your text or upload a file, check the box saying you agree to the (pretty generic) terms of service, and click the “get results” button. Tian’s rationale was that since ChatGPT uses an algorithm to write text, code that is based on that same algorithm can detect that same text. For example, ChatGPT writes text by using what the next word in a sentence is most likely to be. Humans, however, tend to be less predictable in our writing. GPTZero uses a similar algorithm to ChatGPT’s to detect the predictably of each word in a sentence. The more predictable the words are, the greater the likelihood the text was writing by AI. For example, this human-written sentence has words that are, well, less predictable: The deliciousness of a Cosmic Crisp apple is to the fruit world what a fine Swiss chocolate is to the confectionary world. Tian and his colleagues are working a new version of their software called GPTZeroX (Kidson, 2023). This version is made for educators and will include a plagiarism score, highlighted sentences that were likely generated by AI, and the ability to upload multiple files (say, from the same class) at once. While they don’t say it, I fully expect learning management system integration is coming. On the GPTZero website, click the “join the product waitlist” button and fill out their form. Now, how long until we see the first case of academic dishonesty where a student used AI to generate their master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation? I predict it will be this calendar year.   Reference Kidson, R. (2023, February 17). Princeton student creates ChatGPT detector. GHacks Technology News. https://www.ghacks.net/2023/02/17/princeton-student-develops-gptzero-software-to-detect-plagiarism-by-ai-language-model-chatgpt/   ... View more

For the first half of my career, I didn’t cover sleep in Intro Psych. And then I noticed how sleep-deprived my students were. The research on the importance of sleep is pretty clear. Your Intro Psych textbook likely does a fine job covering the topic, so I’m not going to rehash it here. In the February 2023 issue of Scientific American, the editors have written a short (and freely available) article on how adolescents tend to have a circadian rhythm set to a later sleep time and later waking time (Scientific American Editors, 2023). They write, “Despite decades of research, thousands of publications and clear science, schools in only a few states and the District of Columbia have pushed their start times to 8:30 A.M. on average, which researchers say is a compromise—a better time would be closer to 9 A.M.” Here's a short writing activity that will help Intro Psych students learn more about the importance of sleep while also empowering them to make a difference. ***** For this assignment, read this short Scientific American article (Scientific American Editors, 2023). Your task is to write a letter to a school board and superintendent encouraging them to shift the school start time to later in the morning. You do not have to send the letter, but if you feel like teenagers would benefit from the change, I hope you would send it. Choose the school district. This may be the school district for the high school you graduated from or, for dual enrollment students, where you still attend. If you have children or other young relatives, you might choose their school district. Do a little Internet research to get the mailing address and email address for the school board and superintendent for your chosen school district. Include this information at the top of your assignment. Use the following format: Dear [school district name] school board members and Superintendent [last name], I am writing to encourage you to [be specific about what action you would like them to take.] [Note: If this is one of the few school districts that has made the change, use this opportunity to thank them.] As a [student, alum, parent of a student, relative of a student] of this school district, this topic is particularly important to me. [Next, share a personal story. It could be about your own struggles with sleep when in high school, or it could be about what you saw in your high school friends, or it could it be in what you see in your high school-attending relatives.] The research on teenagers, sleep, and early school start times is clear. [Identify three to five points from the Scientific American article you read that you found to be particularly persuasive. List these as bullet points.] [Important research information one] [Important research information two] [Important research information three] [Important research information four (optional)] [Important research information five (optional)] Please [reiterate the action you’d like them to take from your first paragraph]. Thank you for your consideration, [First name and last name] Class of [year of graduation; or if writing to a relative’s school district, ‘In the interest of [first name of student], class of [year of anticipated graduation]]   Reference Scientific American Editors. (2023, February). Let teenagers sleep. Scientific American, 328(2), 8–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0223-8   ... View more