Browse Classroom Activities - 27 results
Aggression
Instructional and informational material pertaining to the concept of "Aggression".
Sample
Description
Instructional and informational material pertaining to the concept of "Aggression".
Field of Study
Psychology
Content Type
Instructional material
Author / Creator
Jon Mueller, fl. 2003
Date Published / Released
2013
Topic / Theme
Social Psychology, Learning and Conditioning, Reinforcement, Modeling behavior, Aggressiveness
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Attitudes and Behavior
Instructional and informational material pertaining to the concepts of "Attitudes and Behavior".
Sample
Description
Instructional and informational material pertaining to the concepts of "Attitudes and Behavior".
Field of Study
Psychology
Content Type
Instructional material
Author / Creator
Jon Mueller, fl. 2003
Date Published / Released
2013
Topic / Theme
Social Psychology, Perception and Consciousness, Intelligence, Cognition, and Memory, Social behavior, Perception, Attribution theory, Biases, Cognitive dissonance, Personal attitude, Behavior
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Classroom Activity 1: Bobo Doll Experiment
Have students watch at least five programs on television and count the number of aggressive acts in different types of programs. Prior to starting the assignment, develop operational definitions of aggression in class so students know what to look for. Have students summarize their findings and compare them with f...
Sample
Description
Have students watch at least five programs on television and count the number of aggressive acts in different types of programs. Prior to starting the assignment, develop operational definitions of aggression in class so students know what to look for. Have students summarize their findings and compare them with findings reported in a journal article on this topic.
Field of Study
Psychology
Content Type
Instructional material
Author / Creator
Barbara Herrington
Date Published / Released
2013
Person Discussed
Albert Bandura, 1925-
Topic / Theme
Bobo Doll Experiment, Experimental Design, Observation Methods, Biology and Human Behavior, Learning and Conditioning, Social Psychology, Modeling behavior, Aggressiveness
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Classroom Activity 1: Bystander Effect Experiment
"Have students work in pairs. For this activity, one person will need help in some way. Below are some
suggestions:
o Carrying a large/heavy/cumbersome load and needing assistance opening a door
o Dropping a load of books/pencils/paper, etc.
o Looking for something you have lost (should require planting something...
Sample
Description
"Have students work in pairs. For this activity, one person will need help in some way. Below are some
suggestions:
o Carrying a large/heavy/cumbersome load and needing assistance opening a door
o Dropping a load of books/pencils/paper, etc.
o Looking for something you have lost (should require planting something that has been lost)
o Pushing a heavy load on a cart, etc.
The other member of the pair should observe a first trial where the person...
"Have students work in pairs. For this activity, one person will need help in some way. Below are some
suggestions:
o Carrying a large/heavy/cumbersome load and needing assistance opening a door
o Dropping a load of books/pencils/paper, etc.
o Looking for something you have lost (should require planting something that has been lost)
o Pushing a heavy load on a cart, etc.
The other member of the pair should observe a first trial where the person needs help but offers no assistance. The
second trial should involve the observer to come and offer help. The students should see if they get more outside offers
to help in the first trial as compared to the second trial. Students should present their data for each trial to the class and
combined class data can be used to discuss the bystander effect in greater detail.
Discussion: Have students describe their experiences with these simulations. Each student should be required to write
what they experienced/observed."
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Field of Study
Psychology
Content Type
Instructional material
Author / Creator
Amy C. Fineburg
Date Published / Released
2013
Person Discussed
Bibb Latane, 1937-, John Darley, 1938-
Topic / Theme
Bystander Effect, Observation Methods, Experimental Design, Between Groups Design, Social Psychology, Responsibility
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Classroom Activity 1: Conformity Experiment
"Social Norm Violation: Have students work in pairs. One person violates the norm while the other watches the situation
from a distance. Instruct students to violate a simple social constraint that is not illegal. Below are suggested activities
(caution students not to deviate from the list):
o Ask someone for h...
Sample
Description
"Social Norm Violation: Have students work in pairs. One person violates the norm while the other watches the situation
from a distance. Instruct students to violate a simple social constraint that is not illegal. Below are suggested activities
(caution students not to deviate from the list):
o Ask someone for his/her seat (in a food court, on a bus/subway, in the lunchroom, etc.)
o Sing out loud in a public place
o Face the rear of an elevator...
"Social Norm Violation: Have students work in pairs. One person violates the norm while the other watches the situation
from a distance. Instruct students to violate a simple social constraint that is not illegal. Below are suggested activities
(caution students not to deviate from the list):
o Ask someone for his/her seat (in a food court, on a bus/subway, in the lunchroom, etc.)
o Sing out loud in a public place
o Face the rear of an elevator with other passengers on board
o Sit in an empty chair in an otherwise occupied table of people
o Call an authority figure or sales person wearing a name tag by his/her first name
o Skip instead of walk on a sidewalk or in a store
o Speak to someone within four-to-six inches of his/her person
Instruct students to refrain from antagonizing the person they are violating. They should stop if asked to stop. The goal is
to note the initial reaction of the violation, not push limits of people’s patience. They should be cautioned not to explain
to the people they are violating that this was a psychology project. The lack of an excuse enhances the feelings of unease at violating the norm. Students report that violating social norms is more difficult than they believed. They have
a hard time getting up the courage to violate the norm, although once the norm is violated, they feel more at ease."
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Field of Study
Psychology
Content Type
Instructional material
Author / Creator
Amy C. Fineburg
Date Published / Released
2013
Person Discussed
Solomon Asch, 1907-1996
Topic / Theme
Asch Conformity Experiment, Observation Methods, Experimental Design, Social Psychology, Conformity (personality)
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Classroom Activity 1: Facial Affect Experiments
written by British Broadcasting Corporation (2013, originally published 2013),
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Take the online test of spotting the fake smiles at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/index.shtml
Sample
written by British Broadcasting Corporation (2013, originally published 2013),
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Description
Take the online test of spotting the fake smiles at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/index.shtml
Field of Study
Psychology
Content Type
Instructional material
Author / Creator
British Broadcasting Corporation
Date Published / Released
2013
Person Discussed
Paul Ekman, 1934-
Topic / Theme
Facial Affect Experiments, Observation Methods, Emotion and Motivation, Affect, Facial expressions
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Classroom Activity 1: Halo Effect
Students enjoy examining advertisements for the characteristics of the source, content, and target audience that have been found to influence the effectiveness of persuasive communications. Such an exercise may be implemented in various ways. Students may be asked to bring ads from the print media to class to demo...
Sample
Description
Students enjoy examining advertisements for the characteristics of the source, content, and target audience that have been found to influence the effectiveness of persuasive communications. Such an exercise may be implemented in various ways. Students may be asked to bring ads from the print media to class to demonstrate each of the characteristics of source, content, and target audience. Alternatively, the instructor may provide the advertisemen...
Students enjoy examining advertisements for the characteristics of the source, content, and target audience that have been found to influence the effectiveness of persuasive communications. Such an exercise may be implemented in various ways. Students may be asked to bring ads from the print media to class to demonstrate each of the characteristics of source, content, and target audience. Alternatively, the instructor may provide the advertisements for student to comment on. Students may be encouraged to generate and test hypotheses about the source, content, and target of advertisements on various pages of the World Wide Web.
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Field of Study
Psychology
Content Type
Instructional material
Author / Creator
Diane L. Finley
Date Published / Released
2013
Person Discussed
Edward Lee Thorndike, 1874-1949
Topic / Theme
Halo Effect, Experimental Methods, Learning and Conditioning, Social perception
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Classroom Activity 1: Happiness Experiments
Every once in a while, I like to do a quick quasi-experiment with my psychology classes. I hand out slips of paper to everyone in the class. It appears to the students that all of these papers are the same, although they in fact are quite different. Half of the class has just received a slip asking them to name th...
Sample
Description
Every once in a while, I like to do a quick quasi-experiment with my psychology classes. I hand out slips of paper to everyone in the class. It appears to the students that all of these papers are the same, although they in fact are quite different. Half of the class has just received a slip asking them to name the three best events that happened to them over the past week. The other half of the class receives a paper that asks them to list the t...
Every once in a while, I like to do a quick quasi-experiment with my psychology classes. I hand out slips of paper to everyone in the class. It appears to the students that all of these papers are the same, although they in fact are quite different. Half of the class has just received a slip asking them to name the three best events that happened to them over the past week. The other half of the class receives a paper that asks them to list the three worst events that happened to them during the past week. I ask my students to work on this activity quietly so they do not accidentally ruin the secret. After making their lists, my students are asked to rate how their week was overall on a scale of 1-10. We then regroup and I share the secret that half the class received one set of papers, while the other half received a different set. I ask the students to shout out their overall scores on a scale of 1-10 and I write them on the board under “best” or “worst”, and we look at the differences between the sets of data. This quasi-experiment has never failed!! The group that was asked to recall the worst things about their week undoubtedly scored their week around a 4, 5 or 6. The group that was asked to recall the best points scored their week as an 8, 9, or 10.
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Field of Study
Psychology
Content Type
Instructional material
Author / Creator
Larissa Rzemienski, fl. 2012
Date Published / Released
2013
Person Discussed
Ruut Veenhoven, 1942-
Topic / Theme
Surveys, Happiness, Positive approaches, Positivism
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Classroom Activity 1: Prejudice Experiments
written by American Psychological Association (2013, originally published 2013),
Source: www.apa.org
Source: www.apa.org
"Privilege Exercise (Arnie Kahn, adapted from Peggy McIntosh)
Have students stand in a straight line (quite close together) and request that
they hold hands with the person on either side of them for as long as possible
and refrain from speaking during the exercise. Then ask:
If you were ever called names becau...
Sample
written by American Psychological Association (2013, originally published 2013),
Source: www.apa.org
Source: www.apa.org
Description
"Privilege Exercise (Arnie Kahn, adapted from Peggy McIntosh)
Have students stand in a straight line (quite close together) and request that
they hold hands with the person on either side of them for as long as possible
and refrain from speaking during the exercise. Then ask:
If you were ever called names because of your race, class, ethnicity, gender,
or sexual orientation, take one step back.
If your parents were professional, doctors, law...
"Privilege Exercise (Arnie Kahn, adapted from Peggy McIntosh)
Have students stand in a straight line (quite close together) and request that
they hold hands with the person on either side of them for as long as possible
and refrain from speaking during the exercise. Then ask:
If you were ever called names because of your race, class, ethnicity, gender,
or sexual orientation, take one step back.
If your parents were professional, doctors, lawyers, etc., take one step forward.
If you were raised in an area where there was prostitution, drug activity, etc., take
one step back.
If you ever tried to change your appearance, mannerisms, or behavior to avoid
being judged or ridiculed, take one step back.
If there were more than 50 books in your house when you grew up, take one step
forward.
If you ever had to skip a meal or were hungry because there was not enough
money to buy food when you were growing up, take one step back.
If your parents brought you to art galleries or plays, take one step forward.
If one of your parents was unemployed or lad off, not by choice, take one
step back.
If you attended a private school or private summer camp, take one step forward.
If your family ever had to move because they could not afford the rent, take one
step back.
If you were ever discouraged from academic pursuits or jobs because of race,
class, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation, take one step back.
If you were ever encouraged to attend a college by your parents, take one step
forward.
If prior to age 18, you took a vacation out of the country, take one step forward.
If one of your parents did not complete high school, take one step back.
If your family owned your own house, take one step forward.
If you were ever offered a good job because of your association or connection
with a friend or family member, take one step forward.
If you ever inherited money or property, take a step forward.
If you ever had to rely primarily on public transportation, take one step back.
If you were generally able to avoid places that were dangerous, take one step
forward.
If your parents told you that you could be anything you wanted to be, take one
step forward."
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Field of Study
Psychology
Content Type
Instructional material
Author / Creator
American Psychological Association
Date Published / Released
2013
Person Discussed
Jane Elliott, 1933-1861
Topic / Theme
Blue Eyed Brown Eyed Experiment, Observation Methods, Experimental Design, Social Psychology, Prejudice
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Classroom Activity 1: Teaching Ethics
with Judith Warchal, fl. 2011 and Ana Ruiz, fl. 2011 (2013, originally published 2013),
Source: teachpsych.org
Source: teachpsych.org
Classroom activities to help teach the role of ethics in psychology.
Sample
with Judith Warchal, fl. 2011 and Ana Ruiz, fl. 2011 (2013, originally published 2013),
Source: teachpsych.org
Source: teachpsych.org
Description
Classroom activities to help teach the role of ethics in psychology.
Field of Study
Psychology
Content Type
Instructional material
Author / Creator
Judith Warchal, fl. 2011, Ana Ruiz, fl. 2011
Date Published / Released
2013
Topic / Theme
Behavioral Study of Obedience, Stanford Prison Experiment, Little Albert Experiment, Professional ethics
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