Any time researchers are gathering data from people or non-human animals, they must be cognizant of and address a number of ethical considerations. Here’s a naturalistic observation study whose ethics could be discussed in the research methods chapter or as a research methods booster in the development chapter or in the social psych chapter (helping). It addresses two of Intro Psych’s integrative themes: “Ethical principles guide psychology research and practice” and “Applying psychological principles can change our lives, organizations, and communities in positive ways” (APA, 2022). Researchers wanted to observe how caregivers—both family members and paid providers—interacted with people with advanced dementia “to understand how care may be improved and inform the development of caregiver educational resources” (Backhouse et al., 2024, p. 2). The article is freely available. To do their study, the researchers needed to observe (and video record) caregivers providing care to people with advanced dementia. While caregivers could be presumed to be able to give consent to participate in the study, ask students if a person with advanced dementia would be able to understand enough to be able to give consent. If not, could someone give consent on their behalf much like parents and guardians are able to give consent for children? After discussion, direct students to page 3 of the research article, in the section titled “Ethical Considerations and Consenting Processes.” Next, ask students to consider the kinds of personal care a caregiver may give to a person with advanced dementia. After listing several, such as teeth cleaning, eating, shaving, and bathing, ask students if some kinds of personal care should be excluded from observation. (Would observing some types of behaviors be potentially harmful?) The researchers determined what behaviors were okay to video record by asking the caregivers which “ones they thought the person, and themselves, would not mind having observed and recorded” (Backhouse et al., 2024, p. 3). By that standard, ask students which behaviors they identified they think would be safe to include. After discussion, direct students to the “Data Collection” section on page 3, and ask them to read the first paragraph under “Video recordings.” Next, ask students how they would record the interactions between caregiver and person with advanced dementia. Would they hide the camera (deception), or would they have a person in the room video recording openly? Which is more ethically problematic? After discussion, direct students to page 3 to read the second paragraph under “Video recordings” for the decision the researchers made.   It is expected that the researchers would maintain participant confidentiality. Direct students to the “Data Availability” section on page 11 to read how confidentiality is maintained. Lastly, institutional review. This study was conducted in the UK, so researchers were ethically bound by the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research. We see in the “Ethical Considerations and Consenting Processes” section on page 3 that the researchers received ethics approval from the Queen’s Square Research Ethics Committee, London. The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has dozens of Research Ethics Committees (REC) that are sprinkled throughout the UK. Each REC tries to have at least 15 members. In 2022-2023, half of the REC members were considered lay members—people who are not “currently registered health care professionals, individuals with professional qualifications or experience in clinical research or a previously registered doctor or dentist” (Annual Report for Research Ethics Committees (RECs) in England 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, 2023). Ask students to read the 15 “Principles that apply to all health and social care research” and align them with APA’s five general principles. Are there some that don’t fit? If so, should they be included in APA’s ethics code?   There is no mention in the article of a debriefing. In my reading of the UK’s NHS 15 principles, a debriefing is not required. The closest thing to it I see is Principle 11: Accessible Findings where participants must be given access to the research results. While we’re here, let’s take a look at the results. In this study, researchers found that nurturing attentiveness was a key contributor to positive personal care interactions. Ask students to find the researchers’ operational definition of nurturing attentiveness. Hint #1: it’s on page 5. Hint #2: It’s in the “Qualitative Content Analysis” section. To conclude this discussion, ask students to identify other populations who receive care from caregivers where those interactions could also be investigated using this type of naturalistic observation.   References Annual Report for Research Ethics Committees (RECs) in England 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. (2023). https://www.hra.nhs.uk/about-us/committees-and-services/res-and-recs/research-ethics-committees-annual-reports/annual-report-research-ethics-committees-recs-england-1-april-2022-31-march-2023/ APA. (2022). Psychology’s Integrative Themes. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/undergrad/introductory-psychology-initiative/student-learning-outcomes-poster.pdf Backhouse, T., Jeon, Y.-H., Killett, A., Green, J., Khondoker, M., & Mioshi, E. (2024). Nurturing attentiveness: A naturalistic observation study of personal care interactions between people with advanced dementia and their caregivers. The Gerontologist, 64(6), gnae004. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnae004   ... View more

More and more of our students are uninterested in having children. The global fertility rate (number of children per woman) has declined from almost five in 1950 to just a little more than two in 2023. In the United States, we have gone from about three children per woman in 1950 to an all-time low of 1.6. There are 11 countries (per United Nations data) with a fertility rate of one or fewer. In fact, the U.N. data show only three countries that have increased their fertility rate since 1950: Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Chad. And how much has the fertility rate increased in each of those three countries? 0.1 (Roser, 2024). After covering child development in your Intro Psych lifespan chapter or in your Lifespan course, share the above data, and then ask your students if any of them have children. Of those who do not, ask if they plan to have children. A Pew Research poll conducted in the summer of 2023 found that of the respondents between the ages of 18 and 49, 47% reported that they were unlikely to have children (Minkin et al., 2024b). Ask students for what reasons people ages 18 to 49 may give for why they are unlikely to have children or why they did not have children. Invite students to work in small groups to generate their list.  After discussion has died down, ask a volunteer from each group to share their list. Write each reason where the class can see it. When a group duplicates the reason of an earlier group, and a mark next to the reason. Share with students the results of a spring 2024 Pew Research poll of 770 adults between the ages of 18 and 49 who neither have children nor intend to have children (Minkin et al., 2024b). Here were the major reasons given: Just don’t/didn’t want to: 57% (women: 60%; men: 50%) Want/wanted to focus on other things: 44% Concerns about the world: 38% Can’t/couldn’t afford raising one: 36% Environmental concerns: 26% Haven’t found/didn’t find right partner: 24% Don’t like children: 20% Negative family experiences as a child: 18% (women: 22%; men: 13%) Medical reasons: 13% Spouse doesn’t/didn’t want children: 11% The same respondents were asked what benefits they saw in not having children. If time allows, ask students to work in small groups to identify the benefits they see. Here were the major benefits respondents identified: Time for hobbies/interests: 80% Money for things they want: 79% Ability to save money: 75% Job/career success: 61% Social life: 58% Of respondents 50 years of age and older who do not have children, 26% worry about having to someone to care for them in their later years. Although of those 50 years of age and older who do have children, 20% worry about the same thing. If you would like to turn this into a written assignment, ask students to interview friends and family members who do not have children the same questions you asked them. Encourage students to interview at least two people who are at least 10 years apart in age. If you’d like to do a deep dive into this as an example of survey research, be sure to read the methodology section for this survey (Minkin et al., 2024a).   References Minkin, R., Menasce Horowitz, J., & Aragão, C. (2024a, July 25). Methodology: The experience of U.S. adult who don’t have children. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/07/25/adults-without-children-methodology/ Minkin, R., Menasce Horowitz, J., & Aragão, C. (2024b, July 25). The experiences of U.S. adults who don’t have children. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/07/25/the-experiences-of-u-s-adults-who-dont-have-children/ Roser, M. (2024, March 12). Fertility rate. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/fertility-rate   ... View more

I’m a fan of infusing research methods throughout the Intro Psych course. We introduce psychology’s most common research methods early in the course, but we should revisit them every now and again in the context of psychology’s content to help make them stick. Think spacing effect.   First, a note on getting journal articles. For college and university faculty, accessing journal articles through their library’s databases is usually a pretty easy process. If your library doesn’t have it, you can request it through interlibrary loan (ILL). For high school teachers, getting research articles can be challenging. Some journals will make some articles freely available. Some authors make their articles freely available to download via ResearchGate. You will need a ResearchGate account, but it is free to join. Other authors—or the same authors, but different journal articles—will give you the option to contact them via ResearchGate for a copy of their article. If the author isn’t on ResearchGate, email them directly to ask for a copy of their article. Provide a full citation. Researchers may publish several articles on the same topic in the same year. Wherever you find an abstract, you can often find the email address of the lead author. If you can’t find the email address, you can usually find their affiliation. An Internet search of their name and affiliation will usually yield a page at their institution that includes an email address. Do not ever feel shy about contacting researchers to request a pdf of an article or to ask questions about their research. The vast majority of researchers, frankly, are thrilled to learn that someone is interested in their research. I’m not kidding. Interlibrary loan (ILL) may be another option for you. Ask your public library librarians if they do ILL for journal articles. Also, don’t be afraid to ask your friends who are college or university faculty. Just be sure to rotate your requests through your network. You don’t want to wear out your welcome with one person with a single request for a dozen articles! Finally, be aware that some of the classic case studies discussed in Intro Psych textbooks are not good examples, such as Phineas Gage. “Recent historical work, however, suggests that much of the canonical Gage story is hogwash, a mélange of scientific prejudice, artistic license, and outright fabrication,” writes one of my favorite science writers, Sam Kean (Kean, 2014). (If you have not yet read Kean’s book The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons, I highly recommend it. Kean dives into each major area of the brain, discussing both its history and current research.) Below are some case study examples, organized by pillar (Gurung et al., 2016). As with all research articles, you don’t have to understand every word to get the point. That’s probably a message worth communicating to our students. Researchers write journal articles for other researchers who are doing research in their same area. They are not writing for a general audience. Even researchers who work in other areas of the field may not grasp every word. And that’s okay! If you can get enough of the big picture to share the research with students—even if it’s in broad strokes—you are good to go. Here's an example of where I needed help with the big picture. I wrote a blog post recently on how the mapping of the motor cortex that we’ve taught for decades is wrong (Frantz, 2024). It was based on fMRI findings researchers published in the journal Nature (Gordon et al., 2023); the article is freely available. The lead author, Evan M. Gordon, is a radiologist at the Washington University School of Medicine. I am absolutely certain radiologists would understand just about every word in that article. I, however, am not a radiologist. I’m not even a biopsychologist; my background is in social psychology. With a rudimentary understanding of biology, however, I could grasp most of the article, but there were places where I struggled enough that I could not quite see the big picture. So, I did the only reasonable thing. I emailed Gordon. He replied very quickly—and graciously. It took an exchange of just a few emails for me to get it. The result was that blog post.   Biological Stevens, J. A., Cole, W. G., & Vishton, P. M. (2012). Using touch or imagined touch to compensate for loss of proprioception: A case study. Neurocase, 18(1), 66–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/13554794.2011.556124. [Download full text via ResearchGate.] Feinstein, J. S., Adolphs, R., Damasio, A., & Tranel, D. (2011). The human amygdala and the induction and experience of fear. Current Biology, 21(1), 34–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2010.11.042. [Full text available.] Tuckute, G., Paunov, A., Kean, H., Small, H., Mineroff, Z., Blank, I., & Fedorenko, E. (2022). Frontal language areas do not emerge in the absence of temporal language areas: A case study of an individual born without a left temporal lobe. Neuropsychologia, 169, 108184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108184. [Download full text via ResearchGate.]   Cognitive Linden, M. V. (1996). Semantic memory and amnesia: A case study. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 13(3), 391–414. https://doi.org/10.1080/026432996381953. [Download full text via ResearchGate.] Gould, C., Froese, T., Barrett, A. B., Ward, J., & Seth, A. K. (2014). An extended case study on the phenomenology of sequence-space synesthesia. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00433 [Download full text.]     Developmental Kocabaş-Gedik, P., & Ortaçtepe Hart, D. (2021). “It’s not like that at all”: A poststructuralist case study on language teacher identity and emotional labor. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 20(2), 103–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2020.1726756 [Request full text from the authors via ResearchGate.] Nelis, P., Pedaste, M., & Šuman, C. (2023). Applicability of the model of inclusive education in early childhood education: A case study. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1120735. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1120735 [Download full text.]     Social & Personality Herrick, S. S. C., Rocchi, M. A., & Couture, A. L. (2020). A case study exploring the experiences of a transgender athlete in synchronized skating, a subdiscipline of figure skating. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 44(5), 421–449. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723520919816. [Request full text from the authors via ResearchGate.]   Ferguson, D., & Martin-Dunlop, C. (2021). Uncovering stories of resilience among successful African American women in STEM. Cultural Studies of Science Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-020-10006-8. [Request full text from the authors via ResearchGate.] Leporelli, E., & Santi, G. (2019). From psychology of sustainability to sustainability of urban spaces: Promoting a primary prevention approach for well-being in the healthy city designing. A waterfront case study in Livorno. Sustainability, 11(3), 760. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030760. [Download full text via ResearchGate.] Hu, X., Sidhu, G. K., & Lu, X. (2022). Exploring positive psychology factors in the quality of English as a foreign language classroom life: A case study. Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal, 7(22), 17–22. https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i22.4153. [Download full text via ResearchGate.]   Mental & Physical Health Black, Z. A., & McCarthy, P. (2020). A case study of a trainee sport psychologist adopting a person-centred approach with a professional basketball player. Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, 16(2), 74–83. https://doi.org/10.53841/bpssepr.2020.16.2.74. [Author’s accepted manuscript.] Borg, M. B. (2002). The Avalon Gardens Men’s Association: A Community health psychology case study. Journal of Health Psychology, 7(3), 345–357. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105302007003226. [Request full text from the author via ResearchGate.] Blackwell, S. E., & Holmes, E. A. (2017). Brightening the day with flashes of positive mental imagery: A case study of an individual with depression. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 73(5), 579–589. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22455. [Download full text.]     References Frantz, S. (2024, July 20). The classic motor cortex map is wrong. Macmillan and BFW Teaching Community. https://community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/psychology-blog/the-classic-motor-cortex-map-is-wrong/ba-p/21746 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, 617(7960), 351–359. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05964-2 Gurung, R. A. R., Hackathorn, J., Enns, C., Frantz, S., Cacioppo, J. T., Loop, T., & Freeman, J. E. (2016). Strengthening Introductory Psychology: A new model for teaching the introductory course. American Psychologist, 71(2), 112–124. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0040012 Kean, S. (2014, May 7). Phineas Gage, neuroscience’s most famous patient. Slate. https://slate.com/technology/2014/05/phineas-gage-neuroscience-case-true-story-of-famous-frontal-lobe-patient-is-better-than-textbook-accounts.html ... View more

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

“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