Four stick figures with empty speech bubbles

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In: 01. Welcome to Social Psych, 09. Intelligence & Language, 11. Social Psychology, 12. Stereotypes, Prejudice, & Discrimination, Intro to Psych, Principles of Social Psych

In this fun article from the New York Times*, the writer introduces us to the concept of familect (or, if you prefer, familylect) (Abebe, 2026). Yes, this post is about language, and I know that survey research tells us that only 41% of Intro Psych instructors cover language (Richmond et al., 2021), but I also have a place for this in the social psychology chapter. Stick with me! A dialect is language shared by people who live in or come from the same region. In 2013, the New York Times published a dialect quiz for people who live in the United States. I grew up in western PennsylvaniaRead More →

Snip from Power and Control wheel showing Using Emotional Abuse and Using Isolation

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In: 08. Relationships, 11. Social Psychology, 14. Therapy

After reading this article by Washington Post advice columnist Carolyn Hax (Hax, 2026), I was shaken by the letter writer’s description of their relationship, but I was more shaken by the letter writer’s concluding paragraph. I’ll wait here while you read the question and Hax’s response. … Like Hax, I don’t believe for one minute that the boyfriend’s therapist encouraged—let alone praised (!)—him for checking the letter writer’s phone. In fact, I don’t believe he visited a therapist. After you’ve covered both relationships in the Social Psychology chapter and ethics in the psychotherapy chapter, invite your students to work in small groups to answer theRead More →

Amber waves of grain

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In: 11. Social Psychology, 12. Stereotypes, Prejudice, & Discrimination, Intro to Psych, Principles of Social Psych

In Intro Psych, when discussing superordinate goals—which are really just ways of creating new ingroups-I would tell my students that one way we could get world peace would be, ironically, to be attacked by invaders from outer space. Data centers While we are not currently under such attack, residents of some smaller communities feel like they are under attack by those who want to build data centers near their towns (gifted article) (Tavernise, 2026). The residents are worried about traffic, the impact on endangered animals, noise pollution, higher electric bills, damage to the environment, and decreased home values. “But it was the sheer scale ofRead More →

Blue book

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In: Intro to Psych, Principles of Social Psych, Teaching Thoughts

I’ve been asked by several colleagues for my thoughts on the future of higher education in the age of AI, especially asynchronous courses. First, as things now are, there is no way to ensure that any assessment completed by students outside the closely-monitored classroom was written by the student. Even before AI, that was the case. For example, I have had students hire others to complete their assignments. AI just makes this kind of cheating available to everyone. Although students who pay for AI may get a higher quality of writing. Do you believe you can accurately detect AI-written text? There is a new GoogleRead More →

Snow-capped mountain

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In: 08. Relationships, 11. Social Psychology, Intro to Psych, Principles of Social Psych

On January 18, 2025, dating partners Thomas P. and Kerstin G. went mountain climbing on Austria’s highest mountain, the Grossglockner. Kerstin never returned (Bell, 2026). Thomas was an experienced climber. Kerstin had some experience but not enough for the winter conditions that included strong winds (45 mph, 74 kph) and below freezing temperatures (17F, -8C). Prosecutors say the couple got stuck on the mountain and that Thomas P failed to call the police and did not send any distress signals when a police helicopter flew overhead at around 22:30. Video footage from the helicopter showed the couple still climbing. The judge noted that no distressRead More →

Credit score equals conscientiousness?

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In: 08. Relationships, 12. Personality, Intro to Psych, Principles of Social Psych

After covering the Big Five and/or the HEXACO personality traits in Intro Psych, ask your students which trait or traits are most likely to correlate positively with credit score and which trait or traits are most likely to correlate negatively. (If you want to play along, take your guesses now. The answers are in the next paragraph. As a quick reminder, your choices are conscientiousness, openness, extraversion, emotional stability, and agreeableness.) One study found a small positive correlation between credit scores and conscientiousness. It was about the same size as the positive correlation between credit scores and educational attainment. Interestingly, the authors found small negativeRead More →

Gallup data showing generational differences in sexual orientation identification

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In: 02. Research Methods, 08. Relationships, 10. Emotions & Motivation, Intro to Psych, Principles of Social Psych

Earlier this month, I attended the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology (NITOP) in what I hope will be their new conference home at the Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa in Point Clear, Alabama. It’s a relaxing location with excellent food and friendly staff. The three keynotes at NITOP 2026 (Lisa Diamond, Claude Steele, and Markus Brauer)  gave me a lot to think about, as NITOP keynotes usually do. Lisa Diamond is Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Gender Studies at the University of Utah. Her talk was titled “Your textbook is out of date: What we know now about gender and sexuality, andRead More →

AI-generated image of a child hunched over, leaning on a cane with wild grey hair and cardigan

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In: 06. Development, 11. Social Psychology, 12. Stereotypes, Prejudice, & Discrimination, Intro to Psych, Principles of Social Psych

This is the eighth in a series of posts based on Becca Levy’s book Breaking the age code: How your beliefs about aging determine how long & well you live. **** Ageism is alive and well. In Breaking the Age Code (Levy, 2022), I learned that some K-12 schools celebrate the 100th day of school by inviting students to dress up as a 100-year-old person. Because, you know, if you’re going to teach age stereotypes, you should make it fun. Show students these costume ideas on the School Run Messy Bun website (Becker, 2023). Working in small groups, ask students to identify the ageist beliefsRead More →

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In: Intro to Psych, Principles of Social Psych, Teaching Thoughts

As we witness the proliferation of AI, faculty are returning to in-class assessments. Faculty chatter on social media and the sudden increase in blue book sales provide the supporting data (Shirky, 2025). I have been a long-time fan of a modified interteaching model (Frantz, 2019). Students would be given a list of essay questions based on the chapter to be read for the coming week. They would answer the questions and bring their answers to class. Students would then work in small groups to identify the questions that gave them the most difficulty, and that’s what I would lecture on. Students would then revise theirRead More →

man in gray long sleeve shirt sitting on brown wooden chair

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In: 06. Development, 10. Emotions & Motivation, 12. Stereotypes, Prejudice, & Discrimination, Intro to Psych, Principles of Social Psych

This is the seventh in a series of posts based on Becca Levy’s book Breaking the age code: How your beliefs about aging determine how long & well you live. **** Ask your students to rank order these longevity-lengthening factors from least impact to biggest impact. Low cholesterol Low blood pressure Low body mass index Not smoking Positive beliefs about aging And the answer is… Low body mass index (BMI). On average, a low BMI tacks on only one extra year of life. This is one reason BMI is a poor measure of health. Not smoking comes in second. Non-smokers, on average, extend their livesRead More →