In the June 2022 edition of the APA Monitor on Psychology is an excellent article on the psychology of traffic safety. The article features David Strayer’s “four horsemen of death”: speed, impairment, fatigue, and distraction. Given the number and breadth of psychological concepts covered, this article provides fodder for a good end-of-term assignment. It may also save the lives of your students. Note that the journalist uses the term “crash” rather than “accident.” “Crash” is the preferred term by U.S. government agencies, such as the CDC and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The word “accident” implies an incident that could not be avoided. The word “crash” does not carry that connotation. Giving the causes of traffic fatalities are due to driver decision-making, whether it be the driver of the vehicle or the driver of another vehicle, “crash” is a better descriptor than “accident.”   Ask students to read the article “Improving Traffic Safety” (Pappas, 2022), and then answer the following questions. How many people died on U.S. roadways in 2020? Speed. What percentage of the 2020 traffic fatalities were estimated to be caused by excessive speed? The article describes three ways that our environment can contribute to unsafe driving. Take a photo of a road in your area that illustrates one or more of these environmental hazards. Explain. The article also describes three ways that our environment can contribute to safe driving. Take a photo of a road in your area that illustrates one or more of these environmental benefits. Explain. In a survey of drivers at the beginning of the pandemic, researchers “saw an increase in respondents saying they were more likely to break the law because they knew they were less likely to be caught.” Explain this finding in terms of operant conditioning. With fewer people on the roads during the pandemic shut-down, researchers speculate that street racing may have increased. What Ontario law led to a reduction in street racing? Explain this effect in terms of operant conditioning. If you are primarily a driver, what can you do to reduce your chances of dying in a car crash due to speed? If you primarily a passenger, what can you do to reduce your chances of dying in a car crash due to speed? Impairment. What percentage of the 2020 traffic fatalities were estimated to be caused by impaired driving? Based on your reading of the article, describe the relationship between stress, alcohol, and driving while impaired. What Big Five personality trait is associated with a history of driving while impaired and reckless driving? Given your knowledge of this trait, why might that association exist? Fatigue. What percentage of the 2020 traffic fatalities were estimated to be caused by fatigue? Why might this number be an underestimation? Summarize what you learned in this course about the effects of sleep deprivation. Choose five effects, and for each, briefly explain how it could negatively effect driving.   According to the article, what have Australian highway authorities done to combat boredom on empty stretches of highway? Distraction. What percentage of the 2020 traffic fatalities were estimated to be caused by distracted driving? Explain how stress may contribute to distracted driving. Explain how the design of cars may contribute to distracted driving. Give at least one example. Conclusion. What was the most surprising thing you learned in this article? Explain. Identify at least one concept you learned in this course that could apply to speed, impairment, fatigue, or distraction but was not discussed in the article. Briefly describe the concept, and then explain how it could be a contributor to car crashes.   Reference Pappas, S. (2022, June). Improving traffic safety. Monitor on Psychology, 53(4), 46–55.       ... View more

The Confirmation Bias of Wordle Fans https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/misinformation-desk/202203/the-confirmation-bias-wordle-fans?fbclid=IwAR32p20dgZjxuBxp8yCOFR2q90iSGeO90S7_tNleBvQ_P64sZxTQQRoX0UU ... View more

How can psychologists stay safe standing up for the truth in a climate where misinformation is so common? The anatomy of a misinformation attack: How a respected psychologist ended up getting attacked online for sharing the facts https://www.apa.org/news/apa/2022/news-anatomy-misinformation ... View more

A break is never a waste of time, especially under circumstances of increased stress. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/202201/take-break ... View more

As false information permeates our society, scientists keep their focus on the facts. The Covid-19 vaccine is not in any way associated with decreased fertility -- but the Covid virus itself is. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-vaccine-infertility-pregnancy-false-information ... View more

These days, it seems we all need advice on how to keep moving toward our goals! What to Do When You Want to Give Up https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/make-it-make-sense/202110/what-do-when-you-want-give ... View more

We're deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Albert Bandura, one of the most honored and influential psychologists and researchers of his time, and a beloved Macmillan author. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and colleagues.   Bandura was a titan of 20th century psychology, best known for developing social cognitive theory (also known as social learning theory); the concept of self-efficacy – the idea that a person’s belief in their ability to succeed can shape how they think, act and feel; and his Bobo Doll experiments.  Here is a full obituary from The New York Times.     Macmillan Learning is proud to be the publisher of two of Bandura's books, Self-Efficiency (1997) and Moral Disengagement (2016). Here is a link to one of his last interviews, for the Macmillan-sponsored podcast, PsychSessions. You can also access this re-released PsychSessions episode #124 at your favorite podcast provider. ... View more

Particularly important today after Simone Biles withdraws from team competition in Tokyo Olympics. Going for Gold: How Sport Psychologists are Helping Olympians https://www.apa.org/topics/mental-health/going-for-gold ... View more

Do your students know what makes them happy? They probably think they do, and much what they think is probably wrong. Professor Gilbert will discuss the science of happiness, and tell you about some findings that will surprise your students – and maybe you as well!      WATCH RECORDING ... View more

Five conditions that cause people to abandon happiness: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/when-kids-call-the-shots/202106/why-you-don-t-believe-in-happiness-anymore ... View more

Can privacy coexist with technology that reads and changes brain activity? https://www.sciencenews.org/article/technology-brain-activity-read-change-thoughts-privacy-ethics ... View more

FEBRUARY 25th | 3:00 PM ET Longtime (and recently retired) New Yorker cartoon editor—and former psychology major—Bob Mankoff will join David Myers for a cartoon-illustrated 25-minute presentation (followed by Q&A) on "Taking Humor Seriously." Mankoff will explain the importance of humor and how it relates to every area of psychology: cognition, emotion, personality, mental health, development, relationships, etc. WATCH THE RECORDING ... View more

While close friendships may never change, this article argues that our casual friendships have been seriously challenged - if not completely erased - by the pandemic. Have your friendships changed as a result of covid? https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/01/pandemic-goodbye-casual-friends/617839/ ... View more

The good folks at Google have been working from home since March/April 2020. Their “Supporting Employee Mental Health and Well-being” document has a number of handy tips. It opens with this statement. “We are all learning how to cope with a global crisis. Each day, there is a new challenge that we may encounter. Here are a few things that Google is doing to help our people take care of their mental health during these difficult and uncertain times.” While covering Stress and Coping in your Intro Psych course, consider this discussion topic. Discussion Read Google’s “Supporting Employee Mental Health and Well-being” document. Part A. Identify two suggestions in the document that are supported by research that you read about in your textbook. Quote the relevant passages from your textbook. Part B. Identify at least one coping strategy that you read about in your textbook that is not in Google’s “Supporting Employee Mental Health and Well-being” document. If you were revising this document, write a paragraph that would be an appropriate addition. Alternatively, you could turn this into a group project with the goal of creating a “Supporting [Your Institution’s] Mental Health and Well-being” document that would be distributed to the students and employees of your institution. Your students would be using what they learn in your Intro Psych class in a real-world, impactful way. Divide your students into groups of three to five, and give them these instructions. Group Project Read Google’s “Supporting Employee Mental Health and Well-being” document. The goal of this group project is to create a similar document for [your institutions’] students and employees. While Google’s document has five categories, you may choose to use or not use any or all of these categories. Use what you learned in our Stress and Coping chapter to create your recommendations. Each recommendation needs to be evidence-based. Include the reference to at least one peer-reviewed journal for each recommendation. The last page of your document will be a “Works Cited” page. Once each group has submitted their “Supporting [your institution’s] Mental Health and Well-being” document, a representative from each group will meet to take the best recommendations from each group’s document to create a final set of recommendations and make final edits, as needed. This final document will be distributed institution-wide. ... View more

Do your students know what makes them happy? They probably think they do, and much what they think is probably wrong. Professor Gilbert will discuss the science of happiness, and tell you about some findings that will surprise your students – and maybe you as well! WATCH THE RECORDING ... View more