One of the APA Intro Psych key themes is “Applying psychological principles can change our lives, organizations, and communities in positive ways” (APA Introductory Psychology Initiative, 2021). In this post, I suggest a way that students can use what they have learned in their Intro Psych course to try to affect public policy. The scientific evidence is clear that good sleep increases our readiness to learn and that the adolescent circadian rhythm tends to lean toward falling asleep later and waking later. This NPR article explains that the reluctance of school boards to change the high school start time to later in the morning is not so much about not understanding or believing the science but are rather about money and logistics (Sweeney, 2023). Perhaps it’s time to prioritize teen sleep and find ways to overcome these barriers. In this assignment, we will write a letter to our school board using what we have learned about sleep in this course. For the purpose of this assignment, you are not required to send your letter. However, if you feel strongly about this issue, I encourage you to send it. Identify the school board you would like to address. It could be for the district where you currently attend or had attended high school, or it could be for the district where your children or other relatives attend school.   Investigate what time the district’s high school(s) start classes. Use the “Writing Letters to Elected Officials” webpage provided by the Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas to create the framework for your letter (Chapter 33. Conducting a Direct Action Campaign | Section 1. Writing Letters to Elected Officials, n.d.). Provide a respectful and professional opening Explain the purpose for writing, e.g., you are interested in the district changing the high school start time to later in the morning, to congratulate the district on their later high school start time. Summarize your understanding, e.g., what impact do you expect that a change in start time will have for students. This may be as simple as, “My understanding is that a later school start time will mean students will be able to get the sleep they need.” Explain your position. Identify at least three pieces of scientific evidence that supports your position on later school start time. You may use information from the National Sleep Foundation position statement (National Sleep Foundation, n.d.),  American Academy of Sleep Medicine health advisory on school start times (American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2017), your textbook, your instructor, or peer reviewed scientific articles. For each piece of evidence, cite your source. Describe the impact that a later high school start time had, will have, or would have had on you personally. Provide statistics on how many people in the district are or would be positively affected by a later high school start time. If the person you are writing to has expressed support in the past for your position, acknowledge it. Ask how you can help the district adopt a later high school start time, or if a later start time has been adopted, ask if they have suggestions on how you can help other school boards make this same change. Lastly, thank them for their time. Sign off with your name, email address, mailing address, and phone number.   References American Academy of Sleep Medicine. (2017). Health advisory: School start times. https://aasm.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/school-start-times-sleep-health-advisory.pdf APA Introductory Psychology Initiative. (2021). APA Introductory Psychology Initiative student learning outcomes for Introductory Psychology. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/introductory-psychology-initiative-student-outcomes.pdf Chapter 33. Conducting a direct action campaign | Section 1. Writing letters to elected officials. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2023, from https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/advocacy/direct-action/letters-to-elected-officials/main National Sleep Foundation. (n.d.). Healthy adolescent school start times: A sleep health policy statement from the National Sleep Foundation. Retrieved November 13, 2023, from https://www.thensf.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NSF-Sleep-Health-Policy-Statement_School-Start-Times.pdf Sweeney, C. (2023, November 9). Science says teens need more sleep. So why is it so hard to start school later? NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/11/09/1211610533/science-says-teens-need-more-sleep-so-why-is-it-so-hard-to-start-school-later   ... View more

In eight days, I officially retire from Highline College, where I’ve taught since 2001. For a number of months, I’ve been saying that I’m pre-semi-retired. It occurred to, however, that that’s hogwash. I’m actually differently employed. More on that in a bit. Since I announced to my colleagues that I was going to retire in fall 2023, I’ve had several people ask me about whether I had concerns about losing my professional identity. No, I don’t. In fact, I have so few concerns about it that it never occurred to me that I might no longer see myself as a professor. Years ago, my wife and I were watching some sort of sporting event. One of the broadcast analysts was once a coach, and everyone kept calling them “coach.” My wife said something like, “Oh! ‘Coach’ is an honorific. Once a coach, always ‘coach.’” Now that I’m close to no longer being a full-time professor, “professor” feels the same to me as “coach.” And, really, they’re pretty similar professions. There are other reasons that I don’t see me shedding my professor identity. For example, I can teach a class as an adjunct if I’d like. It’s hard to not see myself as a professor if I am professing to a class of students. Also in my professorial role, I am writing textbooks. I have an Intro Psych textbook on the market now and a Social Psych textbook will be published in the next year. Textbook writing feels a lot like teaching; I curate psychological science and explain it to students. As everyone who has been teaching for a while can attest, students comprise just one part of our teaching role. We also ‘teach’ colleagues. The ‘lessons’ commonly start with a colleague saying, “Hey, do you have a minute? I’d like some advice on…” I’m still doing that. While I don’t get as many questions as I did when I was full-time, I get the occasional text or have such a conversation at a conference. These blog posts are just another form of that. More generally, there are plenty of things I’m doing to maintain my happiness as I slide into the next chapter of my life. For all of my colleagues in the professoriate who are considering retiring or who have made the leap, let’s use the PERMA model of subjective well-being (Seligman, 2018) to see how things might go. P is for positive emotions One of the joys of retirement is that we get to choose to get involved in projects that are fun without having to suffer through job responsibilities that are, well, insufferable. Teaching a class as an adjunct? Fun! Chairing a search committee? Not fun! We know all of the things we should do to manage stress: eat well, exercise, sleep. With retirement we may find that we have even more time to do those things. My wife and I have more time to plan, shop for, and make meals. We have a basic home gym (dumb bells and a rowing machine), and we block out time on the calendar to use it. And sleep—I go to bed when I want (early!), and I get up when I want (early!). E is for engagement Flow. Let’s completely lose ourselves in the activities we enjoy. Writing frequently does that for me. Not always, but frequently. Most of my friends have hobbies that engage them. After retiring, they have more time to do the activities they love. R is for relationships The loss of work relationships is a real concern for most everyone who is considering retirement. That was one of the many lessons of COVID. Those of us who were sent home to work learned what it was like to no longer have hallway conversations. I know I couldn’t have told you how important those conversations were until they were gone. There are some Highline College colleagues that I occasionally exchange texts and emails with. My professional circle is much greater that, though. My wife refers to all of my non-Highline psychology colleagues in the collective as the “psychosphere.” Because I never saw them (you!) in the hallways of my college, I don’t feel like I’ve lost them (you!). As some work relationships fade with time, retirement gives us the opportunity to build new ones. I wrote a few weeks ago about how becoming a regular someplace can provide important relationships (Frantz, 2023). Online forums can provide similar opportunities. The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP) recently launched affinity groups that give STP members with shared identities or experiences the opportunity to meet and discuss important and not-so-important topics in an online forum. Conferences were another place where we were able to connect—confer—with colleagues. I’ll confess that well before I retired my primary purpose for attending conferences was to meet with my friends and make new friends. In SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, the author and Roman historian Mary Beard tells us that Polybius (200 BCE – 118 BCE) supposedly advised a young man, “Never come back from the Forum…until you have made at least one new friend” (Beard, 2016, p. 184). If we are not yet friends and you see me at a conference, please say hi. Remember that I’m following Polybius’s advice. After every conference trip, I need to have made at least one new friend. Attending conferences is more challenging as a retiree because your institutional travel support is gone. This is less of an adjustment for those who were at institutions that didn’t provide much or any travel support to begin with. Who knew that there’d be a plus side to that? If you have money budgeted for travel, consider building a vacation around a conference. NEPA/NECTOP are in Worcester, MA in early October 2023. My wife and I will be coming in a few days early and leaving a few days after so we can spend some time touring New England. Or, if you’re lucky, a conference may be held near your city. Here are some conferences worth considering. Some even have reduced registration rates for retirees. For example, STP’s ACT early bird registration for retirees (and adjuncts and high school teachers) is $35 less than the regular rate: NEPA/NECTOP (Oct 2023). Worcester, MA STP’s ACT (Oct 2023). Portland, OR NITOP (Jan 2024). Bonita Springs, FL EPA (Feb/Mar 2024). Philadelphia, PA SWPA (Mar 2024). San Antonio, TX RMPA (Apr 2024). Denver, CO SEPA (Apr 2024). Orlando, FL MPA (Apr 2024). Chicago, IL WPA (Apr 2024). San Francisco, CA Teaching Intro Psych (TIPNorthwest) (Apr 2024 – probably). Seattle, WA APS (May 2024). San Francisco, CA PsychOne (Jun 2024). Durham, NC APA (Aug 2024). Seattle, WA M is for meaning This may be the one that people contemplating retirement fear losing the most. The fear is not unwarranted. It’s not uncommon for recent retirees to struggle with finding meaning in their lives when for so long work provided so much of that meaning. These days, I get a lot of my meaning from writing. In addition to textbooks (including the Teaching Psychology book I have with Doug Bernstein and Steve Chew, I also have this blog and my Technology for Academics blog. I recently spoke with a publisher who was looking for someone to write a “how to teach Intro Psych” manual of sorts. While it’s not a project I can take on, it was a good reminder to let you know that if you’re interested in any kind of writing for publishers, let your book reps know. They’ll pass your contact information along to their editorial team. Lots of publishers are looking for people to create textbook supplements. Someone has to create the slide decks, instructor resource manuals, and test banks. It might as well be you. While writing a book is a significant commitment, a blog can be written on your own timeline. Here are some tips on getting started with blogs. Or maybe podcasts are more your thing. If you want to try out podcasting and you have an idea for a series, ask the good people at Psych Sessions (info@psychsessions.org) if they’d be interested in you being a series host. For example, a “where are they now?” series could be fun. You could have 30-minute conversations with teaching of psychology luminaries who have retired. What are they doing now? Or maybe you’d like to work one-on-one with someone who is new to teaching psychology. The Society for the Teaching of Psychology has a mentoring program where seasoned/experienced/veteran (you choose your adjective) faculty are paired with early career faculty or advanced graduate students. It’s a terrific opportunity to share your expertise. I also highly recommend getting involved in your professional associations. The Society for the Teaching of Psychology has a boatload of service opportunities—diversity and international, membership, resources, programming, awards. STP has something for everyone. You can always find current openings on the Get Involved page. A is for accomplishment Don’t underestimate the power of achieving goals. If you are about to retire or have recently retired, take some time to reflect on what you’ve accomplished (so far!) in your career. Now’s a good time to review your CV. What were your favorite classes to teach? Who are your most memorable students? What was your most satisfying research line? Who did you learn the most from? Who do you think learned the most from you? (Also, these are great questions for the guests on your “where are they now?” podcast series!) Now, what are your next set of goals? It’s time for a new chapter!   References Beard, M. (2016). SPQR: A history of ancient Rome. Profile Books. Frantz, S. (2023, August 21). Decreasing loneliness through weak ties: A survey example. Macmillan and BFW Teaching Community. https://community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/psychology-blog/decreasing-loneliness-through-weak-ties-a-survey-example/ba-p/19251 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

Omega-3 fatty acids are important for brain health (Barnes et al., 2021; Lange, 2020; Thomas et al., 2021). Nuts—particularly walnuts—are high in omega-3 fatty acids (The Nutrition Source, n.d.). After covering experimental design or as a experimental design booster in the lifespan chapter, give students this hypothesis, and then ask them to work in small groups to design an experiment that would test it. Hypothesis: Eating walnuts will enhance the neuropsychological and behavioral development of adolescents. Ask the groups to identify the independent variable—both experimental and control conditions—and the dependent variables. Students should also provide operational definitions of all variables. Before deciding on operational definitions, encourage students to consider what information they may be lacking. For example, has previous research revealed how many grams of walnuts a day may be needed? How many days or weeks may the walnuts need to be eaten to see any effects? What kinds of dependent measures might reveal effects? This is a good opportunity to explain the importance of a lit review. Knowing what other researchers have done and have discovered can inform how we design our study. After groups have had an opportunity to design their studies, invite a representative from each group to share their design. As an out-of-class assignment, ask students to read this freely available Lancet article on an experiment conducted in a dozen high schools in Barcelona (Pinar-Martí et al., 2023) and to answer these questions: What was the independent variable? Identify both the experimental and control conditions. What was the operational definition used for the experimental condition? What were the dependent variables? Hint: there were four neuropsychological variables and two behavioral variables. When the researchers removed from their data analysis those in the experimental group who did not eat the amount of walnuts as requested, what results did they find?   References Barnes, S., Chowdhury, S., Gatto, N. M., Fraser, G. E., & Lee, G. J. (2021). Omega‐3 fatty acids are associated with blood–brain barrier integrity in a healthy aging population. Brain and Behavior, 11(8), e2273. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.2273 Lange, K. W. (2020). Omega-3 fatty acids and mental health. Global Health Journal, 4(1), 18–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.glohj.2020.01.004 Pinar-Martí, A., Gignac, F., Fernández-Barrés, S., Romaguera, D., Sala-Vila, A., Lázaro, I., Ranzani, O. T., Persavento, C., Delgado, A., Carol, A., Torrent, J., Gonzalez, J., Roso, E., Barrera-Gómez, J., López-Vicente, M., Boucher, O., Nieuwenhuijsen, M., Turner, M. C., Burgaleta, M., … Julvez, J. (2023). Effect of walnut consumption on neuropsychological development in healthy adolescents: A multi-school randomised controlled trial. EClinicalMedicine, 59, 101954. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.101954 The Nutrition Source. (n.d.). Omega-3 fatty acids: An essential contribution. Harvard School of Public Health. Retrieved August 10, 2023, from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/types-of-fat/omega-3-fats/ Thomas, A., Baillet, M., Proust‐Lima, C., Féart, C., Foubert‐Samier, A., Helmer, C., Catheline, G., & Samieri, C. (2021). Blood polyunsaturated omega‐3 fatty acids, brain atrophy, cognitive decline, and dementia risk. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 17(3), 407–416. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12195   ... 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

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

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

“Older adults report surprisingly positive affective experience. The idea that older adults are better at emotion regulation has emerged as an intuitively appealing explanation for why they report such high levels of affective well-being despite other age-related declines” (Isaacowitz, 2022). Our schemas and the assumptions that come with them influence how we see the world and, in turn, influence how we talk about the world. As instructors and researchers we need to consider how our assumptions can weasel their way into what we say and what we write. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about ageism. Certainly, how we think about aging varies by culture. In some cultures, for example, elders are revered for their knowledge and wisdom. In others, aging is viewed as a gradual decline into an inevitable physical and cognitive wasteland. Unfortunately for me, my dominant culture is the latter. This schema that has been drilled into my head, however, has amassed so many exceptions that I’m not sure that I still have the schema. I have many friends who are in their 70s and 80s. They are all physically active and intellectual powerhouses. Every one of them. When I read the opening two sentences of Isaacowitz’s aging and emotion regulation article in Perspectives on Psychological Science quoted at the beginning of this blog post, I was first puzzled. “Older adults report surprisingly positive affective experience.” Surprisingly? You’re surprised that older adults are happy? Why is this surprising? “The idea that older adults are better at emotion regulation has emerged as an intuitively appealing explanation for why they report such high levels of affective well-being despite other age-related declines.” Oh. You’re surprised because you believe that older adults live in a physical and cognitive wasteland, so how could they possibly be happy. This needs an explanation! It even has a name: the paradox of aging. “There is an extensive, robust literature suggesting that older adults self-report quite positive emotional lives; sometimes they even report being more emotionally positive than their younger counterparts” (Isaacowitz, 2022). [Gasp!] The question is not why younger people aren’t happier. The question is why older adults are. Some researchers think that older adults are happier because older adults are better at regulating emotions. Isaacowitz’s article provides a nice summary of the research into this explanation and concludes that the evidence is inconclusive. The article ends with this: “the robust finding of older adults’ positive affective experience remains to be well-explained. This is a mystery for future researchers still to unravel” (Isaacowitz, 2022). This article was a nice reminder for me to consider my own schemas and assumptions when I talk with my students about any psychological topic. For example, I knew an instructor who would talk about people who were diagnosed with a psychological disorder as suffering from the disorder. I know people with a variety of diagnoses who manage, live with, and experience psychological disorders. The word suffer brings with it a set of assumptions that I don’t share. I admit that I have my own baggage here. I have a chronic physical condition that if not well-managed could kill me which I manage, live with, and experience. I most certainly do not suffer from it. Maybe we should be also asking how I—a person with such a condition—could possibly be so gosh darn happy. If in the Intro Psych research methods chapter you discuss how a researcher’s values affect the topics they choose to research, discussion of this article may be a good example. It’s a nice illustration of why researchers from a diversity of backgrounds is so important to science. Would, for example, a researcher from a culture that reveres older adults wonder why older adults are happy? If you’d like to explore more about cultural ageism and its impact, I highly recommend Becca Levy’s 2022 book, Breaking the Age Code. It will change how you think about—and talk about—aging.   Reference Isaacowitz, D. M. (2022). What do we know about aging and emotion regulation? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 17(6), 1541–1555. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916211059819   ... View more

“Rising parental expectations and criticism are linked to an increase in perfectionism among college students, which can have damaging mental health consequences, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association” (Bentsen, 2022). The research cited is a two-study meta-analysis (Curran & Hill, 2022). With the original research article would be a bit much for Intro Psych students to read and comprehend, students in an upper division psych course might be able to get something out of it. For Intro Psych students, the APA press release should provide enough fodder for discussion. In Intro Psych, after covering parenting styles in the developmental psych chapter, give students these instructions for completing a pre-discussion assignment: Read “Rising parental expectation linked to perfectionism in college students.” Describe the difference between self-oriented perfectionism, other-oriented perfectionism, and socially-oriented perfectionism. For each, give an example. Describe the relationship between parental expectations on self-oriented and other-oriented perfectionism. How have parental expectations changed since 1989? In a face-to-face or online discussion, ask students to consider these questions: In thinking about your own life and the lives of your friends and family members, have you seen where parental expectations contributed to a child’s need for perfection? The research focused on parental expectations. Are there other important people in a child’s life whose expectations may contribute to the development of perfectionism? Explain. In the reading, the lead author of the cited article noted that parents should not be to blame for having such high expectations because they are reacting to today’s social environment. Do you agree or disagree with that view? Explain. The reading ends with the following paragraph. Do you, personally, believe that failure is simply part of living? Explain. In this course, are you more focused on learning or more focused on test scores? Explain. Parents can help their children navigate societal pressures in a healthy way by teaching them that failure, or imperfection, is a normal and natural part of life, Curran said. “Focusing on learning and development, not test scores or social media, helps children develop healthy self-esteem, which doesn’t depend on others’ validation or external metrics,” he said. Conclude the discussion by noting that throughout the course, we will continue to see examples of how our social and cultural experiences influence who we are.   References Bentsen, T. (2022, March 31). Rising parental expectations linked to perfectionism in college students. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2022/03/parental-expectations-perfectionism Curran, T., & Hill, A. P. (2022). Young people’s perceptions of their parents’ expectations and criticism are increasing over time: Implications for perfectionism. Psychological Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000347   ... View more

I have previously written about distracted parenting as a discussion topic for the development chapter in Intro Psych (see Is Distracted Parenting a New Parenting Style?). The concern is that we, as adults, are not engaging with young children to the extent that is needed to help children develop and thrive. Seven-year-old Molly Wright delivers this message in a powerful 7-minute TED talk. Classroom Exercise to Accompany the TED Talk After watching the video, ask students to generate a list of research questions. For example, “Caregivers cannot interact with young children 24/7. How much ‘serve and return’ interaction should young children have?” “Are ‘serve and return’ interactions with more people better than just one caregiver?” Invite students to think about the quantity and quality of “serve and return” interactions when choosing a daycare provider. As a parent making such decisions, what questions would they ask of the provider? What observations would the parents like to make? The Canberra Times reports that “Molly's TED Talk will be played in 1400 doctor waiting rooms across Australia, targeting their primary audience; parents. Molly's TED Talk has already been shown in maternity wards in Australia and Afghanistan, and Unicef will support global distribution of the film.” Ask students to think about everywhere that they go that has a TV on. Would any of those places be good candidates for showing Molly Wright’s TED talk? Ask students to explain why. Another avenue for discussion could be how a child delivering this message may be more influential than a parent or a researcher delivering this same message. Ask students what other topics in the childhood section of your Intro Psych text’s development chapter might also be better delivered by a child than an adult. Again, ask students to explain why. [Special thank you to Erin Graham for sending me a link to Molly Wright’s TED talk!] ... View more

Do you remember the "class clown?" Were YOU the funny one in school? New research suggests that the class clowns may actually be the smartest kids in class! https://www.iflscience.com/brain/the-class-clown-may-be-the-smartest-kid-in-school-suggests-new-study/ ... View more

In many areas, people are giving serious consideration to how the language we use influences how we see ourselves and how we see others. As a bit of background, Peanut—a social networking site for mothers and those hoping to become mothers—launched in 2017. The goal was to foster friendships among those who felt isolated and in need of social support. And then something remarkable happened. “After thousands of women on Peanut came forward to share the hurtful terms they’ve experienced throughout fertility and motherhood, it was clear to us that something needed to change. The #RenamingRevolution glossary, created with linguists and medical professionals, aims to redefine the negative terms that are too often used during the most vulnerable times in women’s lives.” Visit the #RenamingRevolution: The Motherhood and Fertility Glossary. The glossary is divided into five sections: fertility, loss, pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. I confess that before reading the glossary, I thought, “I am happy to use whatever language you would like, but how bad can the existing language be?” I was not too far into the glossary when I started feeling pretty beat up, and I’m pretty disconnected from motherhood and all things motherhood-related. How would you like to be told that you are barren or that you have a hostile uterus, an incompetent cervix, or a lazy ovary? Or that you are a habitual aborter? Or that at the age of 35, you are looking at a geriatric pregnancy? Or that when you have been in labor for so many hours that exhaustion has set in and the healthcare providers note your “poor maternal effort”? When covering the development chapter in Intro or teaching the developmental psych course, it may be valuable to use this glossary not only to help us revamp our own terminology, but also as a way to encourage students to think about the impact the language we use can have. In this case, it is an especially important lesson for all of our students who are preparing for careers in healthcare. If you would like a print copy of the glossary, fill out their form. If you would like to include the glossary in a page in your learning management system, this embed code should work for you. <p><iframe style="border: none; width: 750px; height: 750px;" src="https://issuu.com/teampeanut/docs/210317_ma_chrissy_teigen_glossary_of_terms_final/1?ff" sandbox="allow-top-navigation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation allow-downloads allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allowfullscreen="></iframe></p> ... View more

Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation is promoting intentional acts of kindness this September (#BeKind21) with a goal toward better mental health for everyone. Every day, from September 1 to September 21, let’s engage in purposeful acts of kindness to others and ourselves. I encourage you and your students to sign up.   Zara Abrams (2021) provides a nice summary of the research on kindness, emphasizing its benefits to both our physical and mental health. Even small acts, such as bringing a colleague coffee, counts. Buying me a beer also counts. Without too much difficulty, we can tie acts of kindness into what students are learning in their Intro Psych course. Here are a few examples. Biopsych chapter: Which neurotransmitters are most likely to be released in our brains when we do good deeds for others? Explain Development chapter: What are developmentally-appropriate good deeds we could perform for each group: toddlers, middle-schoolers, high-schoolers, middle-aged adults, older adults? Explain. Learning chapter: Identify at least three acts of kindness you have engaged in. Was your act positively reinforced? Explain. Memory chapter: We tend to have stronger memories for events that are emotional. Based on the emotional reaction of those who were on the receiving end of your kindness, will any of your acts of kindness be remembered years from now by one of your recipients? After September 21st, give your students an opportunity to reflect on their experience. What was especially good about engaging in intentional acts of kindness? Were there any surprises? Will they continue to be intentionally kind?   References Abrams, Z. (2021, August). The case for kindness. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/news/apa/kindness-mental-health ... View more

Have a few minutes? Listen to this APA podcast episode discussing why human infants have such long periods of growth and what this means for the development of our society! https://www.apa.org/research/action/speaking-of-psychology/childrens-amazing-brains ... View more

I haven’t given much thought to how check cashing stores and payday lending stores are designed, probably because I have not had occasion to go in one. I’m reading the book The 99% Invisible City, a collection of essays based on the popular podcast 99% Invisible. In one essay—"Reality Checks”—we learn that check cashing stores and payday lending stores have purposely designed their interiors to be similar to, say, a corner grocery or convenience store—think linoleum and displayed product prices—and employees in branded polo shirts. If you have experience with corner grocery/convenience stores, you have a schema for what corner grocery/convenience stores look like and how they work. When you walk into a check cashing store or payday lending store for the first time, your corner grocery/convenience store schema helps you feel less out of place. The essay goes on to tell us that banks, in contrast, have interiors that are designed very differently—think plush carpeting and ferns and tellers in suits. If you have experience with banks—perhaps as a child you tagged along with a parent or guardian who had business to conduct there—you have a schema for banks. Now, as an adult, you can walk into a bank with your bank schema and feel at ease. You know what a bank looks like and how it works. For someone who has never had experience with banks, walking into a bank with no bank schema can be a very scary experience. It can feel like you don’t belong. But with corner grocery/convenience store experience—thus a corner grocery/convenience store schema—check cashing stores and payday lending stores feel much more comfortable. Unfortunately, with high fees, there is a monetary charge for that feeling of comfort. Some banks are taking a page out of the check cashing/payday lending store interior design playbook, the essay reports, and are redesigning their interiors to, well, look less like the traditional bank. Some have even added coffee shops. In preparation for this class discussion on schemas, ask your students to listen to the 5-minute, March 4, 2011 episode of 99% Invisible—Check Cashing Stores—on which this essay was based. (The first 90 seconds of the episode is advertising.) Next, ask your students to visit a check cashing store or a payday lending store and to visit a bank (but only post-pandemic). As a cover story, students could ask for pamphlets that provide information on lending services. During their visits, students should note how each space is designed. Is there carpeting, tile, or linoleum? Are there plants? Are there other decorative elements? What are the employees wearing? What kind of information is on the signs? Next, ask your students to visit a corner grocery/convenience store.  Again, during their visits, students should note how the space is designed. Is there carpeting, tile, or linoleum? Are there plants? Are there other decorative elements? What are the employees wearing? What kind of information is on the signs? During their group discussion, ask students to compare what they saw in the check cashing store or a payday lending store with what they saw in the bank with what they saw in the corner grocery/convenience store. Would having a schema for a corner grocery/convenience be of help when first visiting a check cashing/payday lending store? Would having a schema for corner grocery/convenience help when first visiting a bank? You may also want to take this opportunity to introduce paradox of choice. In the 99% Invisible episode, the host, Roman Mars, and his guest, Douglas McGray, note that check cashing/payday lending stores provide a limited number of options. Banks, on the other hand, lead us to feel “paralyzed by the vast number of options available to” us. “And I [Roman Mars] for one always seem to leave with the feeling that I picked the wrong one.”   ... View more

Carolyn Hax (2020), syndicated advice columnist, recently received a message from a parent who was tired of being the “bad cop” to their husband’s “good cop” in parenting their son.* The parent notes that while growing up, her** father was “pretty strict,” while her husband’s father “was not very involved when he was a teen.” When it comes to discipline, the mother is the enforcer. She reports that one of their teenage sons is “very headstrong.” The father, rather than supporting his spouse, tries to negotiate peace. As an example of her being the disciplinarian, mom writes, “[O]ur son does not clean up his room after promising to do so. I take the keys to his car for the day. Son spends way more time arguing about the unfairness than it would take to actually clean his room.” Father and son both find the punishment greatly outweighs the crime. In her advice, Carolyn Hax asks the letter writer, “Why are you treating your/your father’s strictness as the only legitimate approach?” She goes on to add that there could be workable boundaries. The son can do whatever he’d like with his room (within reason***), but common spaces need to be respected, e.g., dishes need to be done. “You can allow him a voice in these expectations and consequences. Not the last word, but a place at the table.” After covering parenting styles, provide your students with access to the article, then pose these discussion questions. Based on what you read in the article, is the letter writer more of an authoritarian parent or an authoritative parent. What evidence do you have to support your choice? What type of parenting style is the advice columnist, Carolyn Hax, suggesting the letter writer try? What evidence do you have to support your choice? In reflecting on your own experiences growing up—both with your own parents/guardians and those of your friends and classmates—did you or anyone you know have parents/guardians who were more authoritarian? Give an example from you or your friends’ experiences that illustrates an authoritarian approach to parenting. How did the children respond to this parenting style? Did you or anyone you know have parents/guardians who were more authoritative? Give an example from you or your friends’ experiences that illustrates an authoritative approach to parenting. How did the children respond to this parenting style?   Footnotes *You will need a Washington Post subscription to read the article at its original source. As of this writing, you can access the column courtesy of the Dallas Morning News via PressReader.com. Otherwise, work with your reference librarians to get a permalink to the column in your library’s database that you can share with your students. Just give your librarians the reference below.    **In Hax’s column, we are not told the gender of the person who wrote in asking for advice. In writing this blog post, I wrote myself into all kinds of knots trying to keep the gender ambiguous. Out of a need for clarity (and pure selfishness in getting to that clarity), I’m going to play the odds and assume the asker-for-this-advice is a woman. ***Newspapers take syndicated columns like this one (and all articles that come off the news wires, actually) and edit them down to fit the space available on the printed page. In the Seattle Times, for example, the sentence reads, “You can agree your son’s room is his jurisdiction (barring extremes, like vermin or contraband), and hold your lines on common spaces.” The Dallas Morning News struck the parenthetical in their publication. Conversely, the Dallas Morning News included the paragraph that begins “The flagrant notworking of the old method is reason enough to try a new one.” The Seattle Times deleted it. The only place to see the complete original is in the Washington Post, Carolyn Hax’s host newspaper—either through the Washington Post website or through your library’s database. Reference Hax, C. (2020, November 8). Mom resents “bad cop” role in discipling son. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/carolyn-hax-the-parent-who-has-to-be-the-bad-cop-is-feeling-blue/2020/11/04/818025b0-1aee-11eb-aeec-b93bcc29a01b_story.html ... View more