Copernican Revolution . org
Transforming Our Lives through Self Reflection and Psychology
A psychology professor's collection of lessons fostering self-discovery through online activities, hands-on classroom experiences, engaging lectures, and effective discussion prompts.
Class-Specific Teaching Resource
Developmental Psychology
How do we grow through infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood? How do nature, nurture, our individual differences, and our active choices matter?
A little baby becoming a grownup would feel like a miracle if it didn't happen every day. But how? I personally feel awe about children's development. Understanding my own childhood and other people's development is what brought me into Psychology. I've taught many specialized topics in human development. And I've designed and conducted studies with every age, from weeks old infants into emergent adulthood.
A little baby becoming a grownup would feel like a miracle if it didn't happen every day. But how? I personally feel awe about children's development. Understanding my own childhood and other people's development is what brought me into Psychology. I've taught many specialized topics in human development. And I've designed and conducted studies with every age, from weeks old infants into emergent adulthood.
Kinda' a Different Person, Kinda' Still the Same
two year old me and my drawing number one (art show, 8 years old)
“
"Why should anyone be frightened by a hat?' My drawing wasn't a hat; it was a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them. So then I chose a new profession, and learned to pilot airplanes. ... At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.
Object Permanence & Magic - Piaget and Baillargeon
Classroom magic tricks illustrating Jean Piaget's sub-stages of infancy and Renee Baillargeon's perspective using the habituation looking-time method.
Parenting Styles
Diana Baumrind's Parenting Styles with her original descriptions, contemporary findings, and an essay doubling as a Q&A lesson. 🤔✒️📖💬
Attachment Styles - Getting Stuck in Unhelpful Boxes
Teach and learn about Attachment Styles, and especially how we get stuck reenacting unhelpful patterns based on John Bowlby's concept of canalization, a kind of confirmation bias.
Jean Piaget - Did he do a Science of Developmental Psychology?
Actually, Piaget's theory is scientific - empirical, falsifiable, replicable, and avoids pseudo-science ✒️
Sex Differences - How Different are Men and Women?
A descriptive review of psychological sex differences found in meta-analyses, while examining effect sizes.
What Do We Owe Each Other? A discussion of Carol Gilligan's Ethics of Care.
Discussion lesson of Kohlberg's Heinz dilemma and Gilligan's In a Different Voice to appreciate debate in moral psychology and learn some psychology of gender.
Preoperational College Students: A Piagetian Concrete Operations Stage Task College Students Fail
Open class discussion with a game closely resembling Piaget's Conservation tasks, but so challenging college students fail.
Create Your Own Language Game
A psychology class game illustrating children's language development by having students create their own language, inspired by making real Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophical ."language games." 🏔️🧩
Why Doesn’t Everyone Respond the Same Way to the Same Stimuli?
Everyone is motivated by contingencies, like reinforcement and punishment. But why doesn’t everyone respond the same way when experiencing the same kind of conditioning? | Psychology Key Concepts: Sensitivity to Reinforcement; Sensitivity to Punishment; Behaviorism [start the activity!]
Faces of Feeling: Exploring the Universality of Basic Emotions
What emotions are on people's faces? Can people conceal emotions on their faces? Does another persons ages, gender, and ethnicity impact how you read emotion? | Psychology Key Concepts: Basic Emotions; Facial Processing [start the activity!]
What Solving Puzzles Reveals, and What They Don’t
Three quick puzzles - math, analogies, and visual patterns - explore how different kinds of thinking connect. Reflect on your performance and feelings to learn what psychology says about intelligence and test anxiety. | Psychology Key Concepts: Intelligence, IQ, Stereotype Threat [start the activity!]
Beyond IQ: An Inner Compass towards Success
There's more to success than intelligence and personality traits like conscientiousness. How we understand our experiences and our orientation toward success and failure matters too. | Psychology Key Concepts: Locus of Control; Self-Efficacy; Growth Mindset; Fixed Mindset [start the activity!]
Notes for Teachers, with legend:
I hope you find something helpful for your classes! ~ Katie
self-reflection online activities
📈 individual differences:
🎨 demonstrate concept in action
💙 sensitive
engaging classroom experiences
🏔️ individual hands-on learning.
💬 class-wide discussion:
🧩 breakout groups:
🤔 engaging lecture (e.g., vivid examples)
pedagogical research & essays.
🍎research
✒️ personal essay reflections about teaching
📖 reference documents (e.g., handouts, how to guides)
self-reflection online activities
📈 individual differences:
🎨 demonstrate concept in action
💙 sensitive
engaging classroom experiences
🏔️ individual hands-on learning.
💬 class-wide discussion:
🧩 breakout groups:
🤔 engaging lecture (e.g., vivid examples)
pedagogical research & essays.
🍎research
✒️ personal essay reflections about teaching
📖 reference documents (e.g., handouts, how to guides)