INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY TEACHING PRIMER Early Career ...

ACTIVITIES & TECHNIQUES
(In Class)
Act Out Your Favorite Defense Mechanism: After learning about Freud’s defense mechanisms,
students should be split into small groups and asked to select a defense mechanism to
demonstrate to the class. Classmates can use their knowledge to determine what is being acting
out. Having students perform should help to break the uniformity of a lecture class and be a fun
way to help student distinguish concepts that may otherwise blend together and/or be difficult to
distinguish. (For a variation on this activity, see: Inman, M. L. (2000). Defense Mechanism
Miniskits. Published in M. Bolt's Instructor's Manual that accompanies David Myers, Introduction to
Psychology, (6th Ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. (LO 1.2a, 4.4, and 9.1b)
http://www.macmillanhighered.com/resources/1429244364/IRM/PDF/Bolt%20AP%20TRB10.p
df
Uncover Your Unconscious: Present students with sample depictions of projective assessments, such
as the Rorschach Test and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). Have students report their gutlevel
feelings. Then, have students assess themselves and their classmates using Freud’s model of
personality. Learning about these concepts from a personal vantage point should allow for more
meaningful acquisition of knowledge, and students tend to find this interesting and fun. The
diverse responses should also help to identify some of the flaws with the psychoanalytic theory,
including the inability to prove or disprove claims. For an ink blot generator and other useful
tools see:
http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/learning_modules/psychology/02.TU.04/?section=13
(LO 1.3d, 1.4b, 3.1a, 4.4, and 9.1b)
Participate in Online Personality Inventory: Have students examine their own personality traits by
completing an online questionnaire. This activity will allow students first-hand experience with the
items that comprise empirically-sound, previously established inventories, as well as allow them to
apply relevant findings to their understanding of their own personality. Used in combination with
projective measures of personality, this activity should provide a nice contrast between the
different forms of assessment. Sample online personality inventories can be found at:
http://www.personalitytest.org.uk/ for the Big Five, and for the NEO-FFM see:
http://www.class.uidaho.edu/psyc310/lessons/lesson03/lesson03-1_homework.htm (LO 1.1b,
1.2a, 1.3d, 1.4a, 1.4b, 3.1a, 4.4, and 9.1b)
Zodiac Signs and Personality: Students are given a list of personality descriptions based on
astrology and zodiac signs. They then have to choose which one best describes them. The class
discussion focuses on the difference between empirically tested theories of personality and zodiac
signs. A discussion of the Barnum effect and illusory correlation help students understand the
theoretical basis for personality inventories. (LO 1.4a, 3.1a, 4.4, and 9.1b)
http://www.teachpsychscience.org/pdf/316201165139AM_1.PDF
61