New Organizational Tool for the THSP Blog

First, I must apologize for the random emails for those of you who subscribe.  I was in the process of adding and editing tags to all 300+ of our posts to make it more friendly and organized for those of us who teach Advanced Placement Psychology.  I hit the wrong keys/clicked the wrong button a few times.

This new format will make it easy to search the blog for resources for a certain unit--one click and you can have access to all of them, regardless of the topic.  The new format and list is in the left-hand column for ease of use. 

Our new tabs look like this:
01 History and Approaches
02 Research Methods
03 Biological Bases of Behavior
04 Sensation and Perception
05 States of Consciousness
06 Learning
07 Cognition (includes memory)
08 Motivation and Emotion (includes health, stress, coping, and sexuality)
09 Developmental Psychology
10 Personality
11 Testing and Personality Differences (includes intelligence)
12 Abnormal Psychology
13 Treatment of Psychological Disorders
14 Social Psychology

You can still search the blog for specific topics, but this overall format should help streamline finding resources by topic.  Please feel free to share any feedback about this or any other changes.

Share

Falling in and Out of Love

One of the daily emails I receive is called Delancey Place.com.   Each day, an excerpt from a book or magazine is highlighted--the topics vary widely.  This week, they are doing a series on love.  Every semester, my students ask me about falling in and out of love.  I know have my answer thanks to this find from  Delancey Place.  Here is the excerpt:

12/28/09 to 1/1/10: The Delanceyplace.com Week of Love!!!

In today's encore excerpt - the neural and chemical basis of love. Why doesn't passionate love last? - because we develop a chemical tolerance:

"Anthropologist Helen Fisher ... has devoted much of her career to studying the biochemical pathways of love in all its manifestations: lust, romance, attachment, the way they wax and wane ... [In her studies] when each subject looked at his or her loved one, the parts of the brain linked to reward and pleasure - the ventral tegmental area and the caudate nucleus - lit up. ... Love lights up the caudate nucleus because it is home to a dense spread of receptors for a neurotransmitter called dopamine ... which creates intense energy, exhilaration, focused attention ... [thus] love makes you bold, makes you bright, makes you run real risks, which you sometimes survive, and sometimes you don't. ...

"Researchers have long hypothesized that people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have a serotonin 'imbalance.' Drugs like Prozac seem to alleviate OCD by increasing the amount of this neurotransmitter available at the juncture between neurons. [Researchers] compared the lover's serotonin levels with those from the OCD group and another group who were free from both passion and mental illness. Levels of serotonin in both the obsessives' blood and the lovers' blood were 40 percent lower than those in normal subjects. ... Translation: Love and mental illness may be difficult to tell apart. ...

"Why doesn't passionate love last? ... Biologically speaking, the reasons romantic love fades may be found in the way our brains respond to the surge and pulse of dopamine ... cocaine users describe the phenomenon of tolerance: the brain adapts to the excessive input of the drug ... From a physiological point of view, [couples move] from the dopamine-drenched state of romantic love to the relative quiet of the oxytocin-induced attachment. Oxytocin is a hormone that promotes a feeling of connection, bonding."

Lauren Slater, "Love: The Chemical Reaction," National Geographic, February 2006, pp. 35-45

Share

Letters of Recommendation

Although the time for letters has past for the fall, I suspect that many of us will be writing letters in the spring for our students, either for college/university acceptance.  Because of the perception of psychology teachers as having some kind of special knowledge/insights about people, we are often asked for letters.

While I am no expert, based upon what I have seen on college forms, I tend to use the following points as I write:

• Who the student is and the purpose of the letter
• How I know the student-context, length of time and how well 
• Personality characteristics of the student
  
• Highlighting the academic record of the student
• Highlighting the community service and activities of the student
  
• Experiences that I know about--how they have helped the student grow as a person/student
• How the above points will make the person successful in college/worthy of the scholarship
  
• Reiteration of positives and contact information
  

The halo effect tends to take place with me.  I only will write letters for those students whom I know fairly well and who I feel I can write a good letter for.  If I see a negative, I tend to simply omit that aspect of the student or couch it in terms that makes it more positive.  I've read about teachers and professors getting sued for "negative" letters. 

When in doubt, I say something like, "I'm not sure I know you well enough to write a letter that will be good/effective enough for you.  Try checking with other teachers who have known you longer."

I also ask the student to provide me with an unofficial transcript, an activities sheet (like a resume), and some sort of self-reflection on the kinds of things they would like me to be able to provide them.  I also ask for two weeks.

What do all of you think?  It would be great to hear from all those letter writers so we can share our collective wisdom and experience.

Chuck

Share

BEA Block Grants for 2010

The following is from Martha Boenea of the APA's Education Directorate:


The Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) is awarding $5,000 in grants in 2010 to support conferences on enhancing the quality of undergraduate education in psychology and advancing the teaching of psychology at the secondary, two-year, or four-year level. To be considered for funding, the conference must be directed by an APA member, associate or affiliate. The grant may be used to offset travel expenses of selected conference participants, registration fees of conference participants and speaker fees.

Applicants may receive up to $1,000 during a given year. However, if fewer than five acceptable applications are received in a given year, the BEA may award more than one block grant to the same conference in that year.

Funding requests for teaching conferences in 2010 should be postmarked by Feb. 15. Send written requests to Martha Boenau, Education Directorate, at the APA address below.

Martha Boenau, Associate Directory, Office of Precollege and Undergraduate Programs
Education Directorate
American Psychological Association
750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242
Tel: (202) 336-6140 Fax: (202) 336-5962
mboenau@apa.org | www.apa.org

Share

The Autistic Savant: Kim Peek-The Original Rainman

Another thanks to Jim Matiya for finding and sharing this on the Psychteacher listserv.  Just a couple of days ago, Kim Peek, the inspiration for the film Rainman, died suddenly of a heart attack at age 58.  The Wisconsin Medical Society has this page highlighting his life with several links and videos about his life.

As you check that site out, there is a list of other notable Savants such as Stephen Wilshire and those with Autism including Temple Grandin.  The site is a fantastic resource for our students looking for more information that is not dealt with in our textbooks.

Share

Psych Movies Site-Great Resource

Thanks to Jim Matiya for this find.  Many of us often are asking for movie recommendations and assignments for a variety of reasons.  At http://www.psychmovies.com/, Brooke J. Cannon, Ph.D., of Marywood University has created a list of films that are divided by category and include ratings, genre, year, descriptions, topics dealt with in the film,  and a section on films about psychopathology appropriate for high school students.  There is also a section of papers analyzing films.  I suspect with a little research, our use of films will become better as a result of this site.  So a big thanks to Dr. Cannon for the research and sharing the info online.

Share

Gifts for the psych teacher on your list

Still looking for that last minute gift for your favorite psychology teacher (or yourself)? Here are some off-the beaten path ideas for you:

You can find some "brainy" shirts at Threadless.com, including Bird Brain and Connect It:



Uncommon Goods features a number of items for the psychoanalyst in you. Here are Freudian Slippers, psychoanalyst finger puppets and the always popular Tickle Me Freud, as well as the Rorschock party game and Mind Games (A Box of Psychological Play).











For more unique psych-related gifts check out the people who make lots of handmade stuff on Etsy. For example, by plugging in the keyword "psychology" I was able to find among other things dopamine jewelry and some really cool buttons. Keep in mind these are in limited quantities but they may be far more unique than the other options above.





So what about you -- where do you get your favorite psych-related gifts? Or what's on your wish list this year? Please share your ideas in the comments below!

Share

Milestones Reached

Just before the Thanksgiving Break I put up a posting detailing how the Teaching High School Psychology Blog was rapidly approaching a number milestones. It is somehow appropriate that just before we reach the Holiday Break, I can report to you a number of those points have been reached. They include:

• reaching the 300th posting for the blog since we started in February, 2009,
• having over 50 followers of the blog (Thanks to everyone for joining the group),
• and having over 200 people signed up to receive the THSP blog via email.

The fourth milestone of reaching 10,000 visits in a month will have to wait until 2010. We had a significant drop in visits over the last few weeks. I think the holiday season is taking its toll. Thanks to everyone for their support.

Share

Midnight Postings Taking a Break

Today's Midnight Posting, "The Whole Child PBS Series", will be the last for 2009. The postings will be taking a two week hiatus to enjoy the holidays and some time away from the Internet. They will resume on January 4th. Please be aware this notice only pertains to the Midnight Postings. Continue to check in with the THSP Blog throughout the holiday break for other postings.

All of us here at the Teaching High School Psychology blog wish everyone a fantastic holiday season and restful break. Thanks so much for all your support. We hope 2010 proves to be even better than 2009.

Share

The Whole Child PBS Series

Though over ten years old now, The Whole Child: A Caregiver's Guide to the First Five Years video series from PBS still contains a fair amount of good information. Any of the 13 video segments can be streamed into the classroom via www.learner.org.

For the video series, The Whole Child: A Caregiver's Guide to the First Five Years go to http://www.learner.org/resources/series59.html

For information on the accompanying website at PBS go to The Whole Child Website at http://www.pbs.org/wholechild/ Make it a point to check out the "The ABC's of Child Development" section of the site. It contains four fantastic chart summaries of different areas of development.

Share