​Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism
Author: Amanda Montell
ISBN:  978-0-06-299315-1
 
APA Style Citation
Montell, A. (2021). Cultish: The language of fanaticism. Harpers Collins Publishers.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Cultish-Language-Fanaticism-Amanda-Montell/dp/0062993151
 

​Book Description
When you think of cults, some names come to mind immediately, such as Heaven’s Gate, Jonestown, Waco. Each of these cults were led by a charismatic and powerful leader who used persuasive language and controlling techniques to isolate and manage their followers. Amanda Montell explores the language used in these cult and cult-like environments that expand to pyramid schemes and athletic groups, such as SoulCycle. She argues that each of these groups have a particular language that those on the outside do not understand. This language can work to build a sense of community, but it can also lead to isolation as the individuals interact more and more only with those who share the same “language”. Sometimes language can be inspirational as in athletic teams that push their members to their physical limits. Or it can be more destructive when it is used to deflect questions and further ingratiate members by asking them to ramp up their commitment, as in Scientology. While Montell clarifies that language does not cause someone to believe something they do not want to believe, it does give them a way to support and express ideas they are already open to. Some aspects of cultish life have made it into the public vernacular. “Drinking the Kool-Aid,” which essentially means buying into what someone is saying is a reference to the more than three hundred Jonestown members (children included) who died after drinking a concoction of Kool-Aid mixed with cyanide as federal authorities were closing in on the group.
 
Montell has long had an interest in cults because her father had grown up in the cult Synanon. He was eventually able to extricate himself by sneaking off to attend high school. He had the added advantage of working in a science lab, which taught him to question the beliefs of those around him by applying the scientific method to what he was being asked to believe. Montell poses that the increase in athletic fads that border on cult-like behavior and expectations come from the human need to belong to a group and feel affiliated with others. People are less likely to be involved in organized religion than ever before and she suggests this may account for increased membership in other types of group activities that work together towards a common goal. Membership provides identity, purpose and belonging. 
 
Surprisingly, the most typical person who joins a cult is a middle class, well-educated individual. Members are often gradually drawn in by a shared belief or common experience. This eventually leads to an “us” and “them” mentality in which members of the group must ban together against those from the “outside” who are trying to disband or break up the group. Leaders of cults often use psychological manipulation, which can lead to financial and sexual manipulation. In Synanon (the cult Montell’s father belonged to) there was a mandatory activity called “the Game”. This ritualistic weekly activity had people called out publicly for personal violations or missteps that could later be used against the person. 
 
Once a person’s entire identity and resources are connected to the group, it is difficult for a person to leave even if they start to question some of the practices. There is often a sense of hero worship towards the cult leaders. Members dare not ask questions or raise concerns as this would identify them as disloyal and come with serious repercussions. Confirmation bias is a powerful force that often keeps those inside of cults from questioning the practice and language used, while those outside of the cult are shocked by the level of delusion demonstrated by members. Even if members do start to question the beliefs of the cult, they often fall prey to the sunken cost fallacy meaning they have given everything they have to the cult and so desperately want what they believe to be true they remain in the group. 
 
Montell closes the book with many examples of cult-like behavior from the way in which pyramid schemes work to the latest workout fads that share a common language, ingratiate themselves to members, and make promises that their workout will transform people’s lives. Many of these programs are built on a hierarchy intended to keep people who are trying to work their way up or who have already gained some status and are looking to make it to the next level of the organization. Montell acknowledges the draw of the sense of community that may be part of joining any organization, but warns against language meant to manipulate or isolate. She also encourages readers to check what they think they know and if the group really represents the ideals and belief system of the individual. She believes that by understanding how cults work to draw people in, we can better fight against being manipulated against our will. 
 
Other Related Resources
Preacher Boys Podcast interview with Amanda Montell 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m78Eqc9orYQ
 
WGN News Interview with Amanda Montell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMGHw1xRqy4
 
The Atlantic: We Choose Our Cults Everyday
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/06/review-cultish-amanda-montell-language-fanaticism/619165/
 
Podcast and Blog about Cults
https://thecultishshow.com
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Solomon Asch
Albert Bandura
Daniel Kahneman
Phillip Zimbardo
 
Amygdala
Anti-depressants
Cognitive dissonance
Confirmation bias 
Conformity
Control group
Dissociation
Dopamine
Endorphins
Frontal cortex
Foot-in-the-door
Group therapy
Heuristics
In-group bias
Obedience
Out-group bias
Oxytocin
Placebo
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Pseudoscience
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Sunken cost fallacy
 
 

​Educated: A Memoir
Author: Tara Westover
ISBN:  978-0-399-59052-8
 
APA Style Citation
Westover, T. (2018). Educated: A memoir. Random House.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Educated-Memoir-Tara-Westover/dp/0399590501
 

​Book Description
Tara Westover’s book describes her upbringing in an ultra-religious, paranoid, and isolated household in rural Idaho. Because of Tara’s father’s paranoia, the household lived mostly off grid. Tara’s mother made medicinal herbs for other families who did not trust traditional medicines and served as a midwife for families who did not want to go to the hospital or did not want the requirement of registering their newborn for a social security card involving recognition from the government. Tara’s father ran a scrap metal business from of their property and was occasionally hired out to do construction work. Tara and her siblings were homeschooled, which mostly involved reading a few old textbooks in their basement. 
 
Tara was the youngest in her family and some of her siblings got married early to others in their ultraconservative church, while others drove trucks, and one brother went off to study at university, which outraged her father essentially ending their relationship. Tara began working in the family scrap yard at a young age with metal being flung over her head and her father expecting her to use and operate heavy mechanical equipment as her older brothers had done. Safety protocols were non-existent and cuts from the metal were frequent, as were accidents with equipment that could have easily been avoided. Tara’s father was badly burned and nearly died and her mother often served as a pseudo-surgeon because of the families refusal to go to the local hospital after a scrap metal injury. 
 
Tara discovered a love for singing and performed at church, as well as in a number of local plays. Surprisingly, her father supported this and encouraged her signing but her attire often had to be modified to adhere to the strict requirements for how females in the church should dress.
 
In addition to the lack of education and dangerous back-breaking work, Tara faced abuse by her older brother. While her brother often supported her and encouraged her, he would fly into a rage and pull her by the hair, put her head in the toilet, or find other ways to abuse her both emotionally and physically. Eventually, she put a lock on her door to protect herself and while it was evident to all in the family that the abuse was occurring, neither of her parents intervened to stop it. 
 
By the time Tara was a teenager, she decided she also wanted to attend university and studied independently for her SAT in order to score high enough to attend. Her father knew she was studying but did little to support her perhaps believing that she would not get in. She did.  
 
When Tara arrived at Brigham Young University (BYU) a whole separate world opened up to her. While she did not have the type of clothes or behaviors as others (washing and cleaning up the apartment became sources of tension with her roommates), she did excel at her studies and worked hard to catch up on all that she had missed out on. Basic historical facts had been distorted in her world and she had never done much writing, so she had to work hard to meet the expectations of the university.
 
Despite the distance from her family, they expected Tara to adhere to the same conservative standards as when she was growing up. She felt tension between her new and old worlds and began to question the teaching of her parents, as well as the neglect, denial, and abuse that had taken place. She earned a scholarship, which allowed her to stay at school and eventually attended graduate school at Trinity College in Cambridge. Despite her outstanding academic record, she still felt uncomfortable in social situations and still lacked funds for stylish clothing or knowing how to behave in novel situations. 
 
Tara eventually attended graduate school at Harvard and found new confidence in her academic abilities and in calling out her family for not intervening while she suffered abuse at the hands of her older brother. While her older sister confided that he had done the same to her, she was mute when it came time for a family confrontation. Tara’s father did not believe the accusation even though he had witnessed the abuse himself. Her brother harassed Tara and threatened to kill her or hire an assassin, still her parents did not believe her. Eventually, she cut them out of her life but was able to rekindle a relationship with some of her other brothers. 
 
She recalls her tragic upbringing no longer as a harrowing story of terror and isolation, but now describes it as “An Education.”
 
Other Related Resources
PBS NewsHour- “Educated” author Tara Westover answers your questions (extended version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvYg_gp0JPc
 
Aspen Institute- Educated: A Conversation with Tara Westover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2XWYT-t47E
 
National Public Radio Interview with Tara Westover
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/10/1079882235/author-tara-westover-says-we-need-to-consider-how-people-have-been-educated
 
Vogue: Tara Westover on living off the Grid
https://www.vogue.com/article/tara-westover-memoir-educated-vogue-march-2018-issue
 
Oprah’s podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tara-westover-educated/id1264843400?i=1000437295457
 
 
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Bipolar disorder
Paranoia
Schizophrenia
 

The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business
Author: Erin Meyer
ISBN-10: ‎1610392507
ISBN-13: 978-1610392501
 
APA Style Citation
Meyer, E. (2014). The culture map: Breaking through the invisible boundaries of global business. New York, NY: PublicAffairs.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Map-Breaking-Invisible-Boundaries/dp/1610392507/ref=asc_df_1610392507/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312006100296&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16864645460974634994&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9018727&hvtargid=pla-406163964393&psc=1
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Book Description
Looking at culture is not always easy and it can be challenging to hear cultural stereotypes about one’s own culture. Stereotypes are also problematic as they can lead to bias and discrimination. There are individual differences in every culture and it is important to not make assumptions about individual traits based on where individuals are from. However, assuming culture doesn’t matter is also problematic. Cultural stereotypes can help reduce our cognitive load. Being aware of cultural differences can improve communication and effectiveness, especially for those involved in international business.  In "The Culture Map", author Erin Meyer shares eight scales that map the world’s cultures and helps create a better understanding of how each culture functions. It is important to note that each graph provides norms for a culture, but individual differences are still important to consider. Individuals can map their own culture on these graphs, and then compare and relate to other cultures.
 
The first scale is about communication. Cultures are classified as having either low-context or high-context communication. Cultures with low-context communication, such as the United States, assume a low level of shared context and want simple and clear communication. Messages are accepted at face value and repetition is valued. Cultures with high-context communication, such as Iran, assume a high level of shared context and do not need explicit communication. Individuals often read between the lines and messages are implied. This difference in communication could be especially important when emailing.
 
The second scale is about evaluating performance and providing feedback. Cultures are classified as either providing direct or indirect evaluation. Cultures that provide direct negative feedback, such as Germany, often upgrade by providing stronger words before or after feedback, such as “absolutely” or “totally.” Negative feedback is blunt and honest and may be given in front of others. Cultures that provide indirect feedback, such as Thailand, often downgrade, by providing words that soften the criticism, such as a “little” or “maybe.” American culture is in the middle of the scale.  Stereotypes about how a culture speaks is often associated with their position on the communication scale as opposed to the evaluation scale. When working with other cultures it is important to take into consideration their position on both the communication and evaluation scales.
 
The third scale is about persuasion. Cultures are classified as either principle-first (deductive reasoning) or applications-first (inductive reasoning). Cultures that use deductive reasoning, such as France, often begin with facts and later support or explain the conclusion as necessary. The preference for a business meeting might be to start with a summary and discussions are practical and concrete in nature. Individuals may want to know why the boss is making a request before moving on. Cultures that use inductive reasoning, such as the United States, often begin with the theory before the facts. The preference for a business meeting would be to start with a theoretical argument before reaching a conclusion. Individuals focus less on the why and more on the how.
 
The fourth scale is about leadership, hierarchy, and power. The leading scale classifies cultures as either egalitarian (lower power) or hierarchal (high power). In egalitarian cultures, such as Denmark, the distance between a boss and their employee is low and the boss is seen as equal. Communication often skips the hierarchy. The boss riding a bike to work may symbolize equality. Many cultures claim to prefer egalitarian, but evidence suggests the opposite. In hierarchal cultures, such as China, the distance between a boss and their employee is high. The boss leads from the front and status is valued. Communication follows a hierarchy. The boss riding a bike to work may cause embarrassment. Americans believe they are egalitarian but often fall more in the middle of the scale.
 
The fifth scale is about decision making. Cultures are classified as either consensual or top-down. Consensual countries, such as Germany, make unanimous group decisions. Top-down countries, such as Nigeria, have decisions made by individuals who are in a position of power. Many cultures that are egalitarian are also consensual decision-makers. The American culture is more of an outlier because it combines egalitarian leadership with top-down decision making. Germany is also an outlier combining hierarchal leadership with consensual decision making. Japan is even more unique with strong hierarchal leadership and very strong consensual decision making.
 
The sixth scale is about trust. Cultures are classified as either task-based or relationship-based. Task-based countries, such as the United States, build trust through business-related activities. Work relationships are quickly formed and easily broken. Personal relationships do not impact business interactions because “business is business.” Relationship-based countries, such as Brazil, build trust through sharing meals and meeting in communal areas. Work relationships form slowly and on a deeper level.  Personal relationships enhance business interactions because “business is personal.” American culture can be tricky to understand on this scale. There are team-building activities and icebreakers, but once the relationship is created often individuals get down to business. American work relationships are often based on function and practicality. Icebreakers are rarer in relationship-based cultures because relationships are built more slowly and on deeper emotional levels. It is important to note that being friendly is not the same as being relationship-based. American are more likely to smile at strangers, but later when they don’t follow through it may be interpreted as being hypocritical.
 
The seventh scale is about disagreeing productively. Cultures are classified as either confrontational or avoiding confrontation. Cultures viewed as confrontational, such as France, view debate as a positive attribute. Open disagreement is seen as appropriate and does not hurt the relationship. Cultures viewed as avoiding confrontation, such as Japan, view debate as negative to the group. Open disagreement is seen as inappropriate and harmful to group harmony. The Unites States fall somewhere in the middle. It is also important to note that emotional expressiveness is not the same as being comfortable with openly disagreeing. For example, Peru is seen as having an emotionally expressive culture, but people strongly avoid open disagreement because it may destroy a relationship.
 
The final scale is about scheduling and perception of time. Cultures are classified as being linear-time or flexible-time. Linear-time cultures, such as Germany, approach projects sequentially. The focus is on the deadline and schedule. Being prompt and having good organization is valued. Flexible-time cultures, such as India, approach projects in a fluid and changing manner. Interruptions are accepted and there are many balls in the air at once. The focus is on flexibility and adaptation. The American culture leans more to linear-time.
 
Remember it is not always about where a culture is located on the scale, but rather its relative location to another culture. Knowing where a culture is mapped on these eight scales is the starting point to successful interactions. But it goes well beyond the awareness of culture. Having more information about how a culture functions may help avoid miscommunication and frustration. The Culture Map also helps to better understand the multi-dimensional ways in which cultures interact with one another. Check out the book for successful strategies for working with people from all different cultures.
 
Other Related Resources
Author's Websites
https://erinmeyer.com/books/the-culture-map/

Harvard Business Review
https://hbr.org/2014/05/navigating-the-cultural-minefield

Global Leadership Network-Video
https://globalleadership.org/videos/leading-others/the-culture-map-2?locale=en

Psychological Concepts and Figures
Kurt Lewin
 
Active listening
Cultural norm
Cultural relativity
Culture
Deductive reasoning
Dialectical reasoning
Emotional expressiveness
Hierarchy
In-group
Low or high-context communication
Out-group
Personality
Persuasion
Relationship-based
Stereotypes
Task-based

10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voices in my Head, Reduced Stress, without Losing my Edge, and found Self-Help that actually Works
Author: Dan Harris
ISBN: 978-0-06-291760-7
 
 
APA Citation: Harris, D. (2014) 10% Happier: How I tamed the voices in my head, reduced stress, without losing my edge, and found self-help that actually works. Harper Collins, New York, N.Y.
 
 
Buy This Book 
https://www.amazon.com/10-Happier-Revised-Self-Help-Works/dp/0062917609/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1B5K18DUIKJP9&keywords=10%25+happier&qid=1646527637&sprefix=10%25+happier%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-1
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​Book Description
Dan Harris is perhaps best known from his time as an anchor and correspondent for World News Tonight and Nightline. Dan found himself in an incredibly competitive industry where everyone was vying to get more air time and to have their stories picked up and covered. As a young correspondent Harris learned many beneficial and some difficult lessons from more senior news correspondents like Peter Jennings and Diane Sawyer. He became a better anchor correspondent as a result and found himself moving up to bigger and more public jobs. Despite the outward appearance of thriving in his professional career, Harris was besieged by feelings that he did not belong, he experienced nearly constant stress and anxiety as a result of his high pressure career coupled with memories of the traumas he had witnessed as a war correspondent. Harris starting using drugs was finding ways in which to temporarily alleviate his stress and anxiety while becoming increasingly more dependent on illegal substances. Eventually, this caught up to Harris and he experienced a panic attack on air. While the network was supportive, Harris knew he needed to make a change and went to see a therapist who made the connection between the drug use and the on-air panic attack.
 
Fear for losing his career that he had fought so hard for made Harris explore alternatives to slowing the constant chatter in his brain. Harris began reading much about mindfulness and meditation but when he initially tried to clear his mind and live in the present moment he could not focus even for a few minutes. Instead, he found himself  thinking of the next project or the next newscast. Consistent with his journalistic nature, Harris sought out experts in the field, some of whom were selling their followers of false hope and other like the Dali Lama and Dr. Park Epstein that Harris found more authentic and honest about the challenges of meditation. Harris tried to make time each day for meditation and eventually found that his practice was slowly improving. In order to make a more significant difference, Harris attended a 10 day silent retreat to focus his energies on improving his practice further and perhaps experience a breakthrough. While the first few days were excruciating, on day 4, Harris did have his breakthrough becoming completely lost in the practice and more finely attuned to the happenings in his environment. Harris felt great happiness in the moment much like what he had been reading about for years. 
 
This breakthrough was enough for Harris to continue his practice with a new renewed vigor. He even convinced the network to do  series of stories in mindfulness and meditation. Many co-workers and his family reported that he was easier to get along with and more patient since he began regularly practicing meditation. Some people gave Harris grief for his newfound passion and he often felt embarrassed when defending his practice. He found that he was better able to manage the stress in his job and was able to enjoy the moment without chasing the next job opportunity. He eventually began telling other who asked that meditation was not a cure all, but on the whole he would describe himself as about 10% Happier. He found that this piqued the interest of his colleagues and friend many of whom began the practice for themselves. 
 
More recently Harris has resigned from ABC new to work on his 10% happier podcast and app in an effort to help as many people as possible find a more peaceful and Happier existence. He encourages those new to the discipline to give themselves credit for clearing their mind even for a few moments and to keep practicing even if it sometimes feels like they are not making any progress as with time they will improve.
 
 
 
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Sigmund Freud
 
Addiction
Anxiety
Depression
Mindfulness
Medication
 
 
Other Related Resources:
 
10% Happier App
https://www.tenpercent.com
 
10% Happier podcast
https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast
 
10% Happier Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/tenpercenthappier/?hl=en
 
Dan Harris talk at Google
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt5Qv9tUObI
 
Everyday Mindfulness with Jon Kabat Zinn
https://www.mindful.org/everyday-mindfulness-with-jon-kabat-zinn/
 
The Guardian: The Master of Mindfulness
https://www.mindful.org/everyday-mindfulness-with-jon-kabat-zinn/
 
TED talk Jon Kabat Zinn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr2ATJkxzGA
 

Think Again: The Power Of Knowing What You Don’t Know
Author: Adam Grant
ISBN: 978-1984-4878-106
 
APA Style Citation
Grant, A. (2021). Think again: The power of knowing what you don’t know. Viking, Penguin Random House; New York, New York.
 
Buy the Book
https://www.amazon.com/Think-Again-Power-Knowing-What/dp/1984878107
​

​Book Description
Adam Grant a psychologist at the Wharton School argues that being wrong can lead to growth and development, perhaps even more than being right. Grant uses research and real-life examples to demonstrate the significant challenges of unlearning what we think we know and then relearning and refining that knowledge. He compares the overconfidence cycle, which consists of pride, conviction, confirmation and desirability biases and validation to the rethinking cycle, which consists of humility, doubt, curiosity and discovery. The author contends that the rethinking cycle is consistent with scientific research and will result in growth and new learning, while the overconfidence cycle will likely result in stunted learning and limitation on being able to incorporate new information into our knowledge base. While change can be difficult, those who insist that new ideas never work are likely to remain caught in a cycle in which change prevents learning. This can relate to cognitive or physical tasks. An Olympic swimmer who has learned a stroke incorrectly will have to work harder to unlearn the ineffective stroke and then learn the correct technique if they want to continue to improve. 
 
Confirmation bias is a powerful force that pushes us to look for information that reaffirms what we think we know. Grant proposes that many of us are stranded on Mt. Stupid, because we think we know more than we do. The more we know, the more we realize we do not know, and this itself can be a growth  experience. Grant titles a chapter, The Joy of Being Wrong, and describes how participants who scored highest on Henry Murray’s early IQ tests actually enjoyed the process of finding out that their previously held beliefs were incorrect. 
 
Changing an individual’s thinking is challenging enough but changing a groups thinking can be even more challenging. Often in the highest performing groups there is much task conflict (in which people disagree about ideas and opinions) but lower relationship conflict than in lower performing groups. Grant uses the example of the Wright brothers, who often fought about the design of a plane that would work, but were open to one another’s new ideas. Grant calls the absence of conflict apathy and finds that this happens most often because it is the path of least resistance. 
 
If we want to change someone’s mind to have them come around to our way of thinking, we must also be open to changing our own minds. This can start to occur by having genuine curiosity and asking questions. For those who remain resistant, Grant proposes by asking the person who is hesitant to change, “What evidence would change your mind?”, if the answer is “nothing” then there is no point in continuing to debate the person because they have closed themselves to any new learning. This can be seen in individuals who refuse to acknowledge the science behind the benefits of vaccines. Some of these individuals lost their lives because of their insistence on clinging to erroneous beliefs.
 
Previous held beliefs about people and the groups to which they belong can create an in-group and out-group bias often seen in sporting rivalries. Fans often make assumptions about the personal characteristics of the opposing team, which Grant claims are ridiculous because the members and managers/coaches of the team change. He argues that you are rooting for the clothes because if your favorite players switch teams, they immediately become the enemy. To overcome the stereotype, we must question the stereotype and then circle back to question our original beliefs. 
 
Grant touts the benefits of becoming a great listener. This skill is a show of respect and care for the speaker and allows people the time to reflect on their own views. Grant explains how rethinking can be introduced in educational settings and argues that good teachers introduce new thoughts but great teachers introduce new ways of thinking. He describes the process of creating multiple drafts of a paper, drawing, or other piece of work based on feedback from peers. The student then looks at the changing progress overtime to see the change and improvement of the final product. Creating an environment in which errors are celebrated as learning opportunities creates the opportunity to try new things, even if they are initially loaded with mistakes. This also helps create an atmosphere of collaboration and respect. Constructive criticism must be viewed as helpful momentum to move forward and learn more. Grant suggests creating a challenge network of trusted colleagues who provide honest feedback in an effort to improve a product.
 
Other Related Resources
Author’s website
https://www.adamgrant.net/book/think-again/
 
Rotman School of Management: Interview with Adam Grant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWjf8XIoENQ
 
Quillette: Six Great Ideas from Adam Grant’s Think Again
https://quillette.com/2021/05/28/six-great-ideas-from-adam-grants-think-again/
 
Blinklist: Key Insights from Think Again
https://www.blinkist.com/en/books/think-again-en
 
Psychological Concepts and Figures
Daniel Goleman
George Kelly
Henry Murray
 
Belief perseverance
Confirmation bias
Conformity
Defense mechanism
Dunning-Kruger effect
Emotional intelligence
Fight-flee-freeze
Grit
Group polarization
In-group bias
Meditation
Mindfulness
Organizational psychology
Out-group bias
Overconfidence
Prejudice
Stereotypes
 
 
 
 
 

Why We Act: Turning Bystanders into Moral Rebels
Author:  Catherine A. Sanderson, PhD
ISBN:  9780674241831

APA Style Citation
Sanderson, C. A. (2020). Why we act: turning bystanders into moral rebels. Belknap Press Harvard University. 

Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Act-Turning-Bystanders/dp/0674241835

Book Description
 
Author Catherine Sanderson, Chair of Psychology at Amherst College, has published over 25 journal articles, several trade books, four university-level textbooks, as well as textbooks for middle and high school students. Her research has received funding from the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Health for her work on topics ranging from social norms, health, parenting, bystander apathy, heroism, health, and longevity.
 
In Why We Act, Sanderson explores the various factors that explain why good individuals engage in bad behavior, fail to act when faced with the bad behavior of others, and how this inaction leads to more bad behavior. She explores bad behavior, including bullying in school and unethical workplace behavior, corporate fraud, political corruption, sexual harassment, and the inaction of bystanders. Her book also explores individuals who are more likely to act, who she calls moral rebels, and what we can learn from their examples.
 
In Part 1, The Silence of Good People the book explores what Sanderson calls the myth of monsters and the various reasons good people engage in bad behavior or fail to intervene. She combines classic research in social psychology (e.g., Philip Zimbardo, Stanley Milgram) and modern neuroscience research to explore the impact of deindividuation, obedience to authority, and gradual escalation of both bad behavior and inaction. Research indicates that gradual escalation plays an important role in unethical behavior due to the foot-in-the-door effect. For example, she cites examples of corporate fraud that began with small unethical actions but slowly built to substantial unethical and criminal behaviors. The author compares this to findings in Milgram’s study that began with small “shocks” and gradually escalated to extremely dangerous ones. This section also explores research on social loafing in various settings. For example, restaurants add a minimum gratuity or tip to bills for larger groups. This is because, left to their own devices, individuals contributing to a group bill are likely to tip poorly because they believe the group will not notice their contribution amount. The text also offers current research on other reasons behind the phenomenon of social loafing, the bystander effect, and diffusion of responsibility, including the cost of helping, ambiguity, connection, and the influence of social groups.
 
In Part 2, Bullies and Bystanders, the author explores these different roles (bully and bystander) in various contexts. For example, the author discusses bullying in schools and how most students who witness bullying do not stand up for the victim but actively watch. It is also disturbing to note that more students join in the bullying than intervene. Neuroscience research partially explains this lack of intervention — deviating from the group activates the same areas of the brain as physical pain. Research has revealed that students who intervene in cases of bullying have social capital (e.g., support from peers or teachers, social skills, or high social status in the group). This may seem counterintuitive, as earlier research found that bullies often have high social status. Researchers believe bullying is a social tool, and only a few students at the very top of the social hierarchy have enough security in their level of popularity to stand up for the bullied students. In addition to high social status, research has found that other factors predict if a student will stand up for bullied students, including high levels of self-confidence and self-efficacy. The section on bullying in schools ends with research on how to reduce bullying in schools. Subsequent sections address bullying and bystander apathy in university and career settings.
 
In Part 3, Learning to Act, the book explores developing moral courage and tactics for becoming a moral rebel. Key characteristics of moral rebels include a lack of social inhibition and high levels of empathy. Sanderson provides a range of examples for resisting the pressures of conformity, social loafing, and the bystander effect. Regarding building moral rebels, the author suggests developing a belief in change and practicing strategies for speaking up as a bystander. She recommends paying attention to the “small stuff” because of the effect of the foot-in-the-door phenomenon on how small acts can easily build to increasingly more unethical responses. She provides tools for building empathy, widening the in-group, utilizing ethical leaders, finding a friend, shifting social norms, and changing the culture.
 
Why We Act provides a research-based explanation for bad behavior and addresses how that research can be used to train individuals to stand up to bullying in schools, online, and in the workplace. By acknowledging the forces that prevent individuals from intervening or engaging in unethical behaviors, it is possible to build strategies for resilience and resistance.
 
Other Related Resources
 
Author Catherine Sanderson’s website
https://sandersonspeaking.com/
 
Author Catherine Sanderson’s TEDx talk – The Psychology of Inaction (17:42)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Lmf7ZT_04
 
Author Catherine Sanderson - The Psychology of Courage and Inaction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMPDkPU1hps
 
Resources for the Teaching of Social Psychology
http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/crow/
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Solomon Asch
Albert Bandura
Carol Dweck
Kitty Genovese
Bibb Latane
Stanley Milgram
Philip Zimbardo
 

ADHD 2.0: New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distraction—from Childhood through Adulthood
Author: Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., and John J. Ratey, M.D.
ISBN-10: ‎0399178732
ISBN-13: 978-0399178733
 
APA Style Citation
Hallowell, E & Ratey, J. (2021). ADHD 2.0: New science and essential strategies for thriving with distraction—from childhood through adulthood. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/ADHD-2-0-Essential-Strategies-Distraction/dp/0399178732
​

Book Description
Authors Edward Hallowell and John Ratey are psychiatrists who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Their personal knowledge both in the field and in life offer a valuable perspective on ADHD, a condition that occurs in at least 5 percent of the population. ADHD is often misunderstood as individuals who are lazy or disrespectful, a condition that children will grow out of, or a condition created by pharmaceutical companies. The authors hope to dispel these myths and see the strengths of this condition, while focusing on some tools for management. Hallowell and Ratey often explain ADHD with the analogy, “A person with ADHD has the power of a Ferrari engine but with bicycle-strength breaks. It’s the mismatch of engine power to breaking capability that causes the problems. Strengthening one’s brakes is the name of the game.”
 
ADHD is different for everyone, but there are some commonalities. Some of these indicators include distractibility, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Optimism and creativity have also been associated with ADHD. Rather than a deficit of attention, there is actually an overabundance of attention that can be challenging to control. There can also be an intolerance of boredom and a need for stimulation. There is often a set of contradictory tendencies, such as a lack of focus mixed with hyperfocus or procrastination mixed with a surge of productivity. This is just a sampling of the telltale signs of ADHD. As for the cause of ADHD, there is a highly genetic component and certain environmental stressors, such as lack of oxygen at birth, early infections, or other brain functioning problems. The mother’s behavior during pregnancy can also raise the risk for ADHD. Another explanation is the modern lifestyle that has been training our brains to go faster, multi-task more frequently, and require constant stimulation. The authors introduce a new term called VAST: the variable attention stimulus trait. This term refers to individuals with ADHD symptoms, but not meeting the criteria for a diagnosis. The term is also meant to shift away from attention deficit to the variability of attention and detoxify the label of ADHD. The focus has often been on the problematic side of the condition, but there are useful tendencies associated with ADHD as well.
 
Hallowell and Ratey provide the brain basics and explain current research findings. They walk the reader through the task-positive network (TPN) and default mode network (DMN) and take care to explain the difference between a neurotypical brain and someone with ADHD. They also explain the cerebellum and vestibular system’s connection to ADHD. The cerebellum is involved in physical balance, but it has also been found to control emotional equilibrium. By working doing exercises to increase balance, it has helped control the braking power needed with ADHD. Hallowell and Ratey share a particularly powerful case study of a young boy in China who was struggling with ADHD. After his mother attended a talk done by Dr. Hallowell, the two corresponded through email to set up a treatment program. The treatment program was set up based on connection, education, a strength-based model, and balance exercises. Within a few short weeks there was great improvement for the child.
 
Several chapters are dedicated to providing a better understanding what helps with ADHD and offer tools for therapy. Not feeling understood and a lack of connection often plague individuals with ADHD. Tips are provided for creating rich social connections. Boredom is the kryptonite for those with ADHD and many problematic behaviors become present when bored. But it is the strengths that are often ignored. A strength-based model is about identifying and using those strengths while being appropriately challenged. Creating the right environment can be powerful. This includes organization and daily structure, proper nutrition and sleep, surrounding oneself with positivity, and finding the right type of help. Behavioral therapy, such as applied behavioral analysis (ABA), has been found particularly helpful to develop a new set of skills, and social learning for adjusting to social situations. Exercise has also been found to be beneficial to improve mood and motivation and maintain focus. Studies have found that after just 20 or 30 minutes of moderately paced exercise subjects have increased their focus. Using brain breaks in the classroom is encouraging movement. To enhance balance, yoga and meditation have also been found helpful. The authors also acknowledge the tool many fear, which is medication. The use of stimulants has been found effective on average 70 to 80 percent of the time. The authors encourage using a risk/benefit analysis and discussing the medication options currently available. They explain the difference between methylphenidate and amphetamine medications. Many wonder why the use of stimulants for a hyperactive brain, but that stimulants raise the levels of dopamine and norepinephrine, both of which are not balanced in the ADHD brain. Hallowell and Ratey point out the stimulants stimulate the brain’s brakes, providing more control. They also discuss stimulant-like drugs, outlier drugs, and the concern of addiction and abuse.
 
ADHD is not the same for everyone. With the power of knowledge and a better understanding of the condition, hopefully individuals can learn to reframe their thoughts and actions. Rather than seeing all of the problems, there are also strengths associated with ADHD. There is amazing potential, creativity, and energy. The authors leave the reader with, “Each of us finds a different way; there is no one right way. But what a liberating message it is for all of us to know that no brain is the best, and each of us has the magnificent, lifelong chance to find our own brain’s special way.”
 
Other Related Resources
Dr. Hallowell, The Hallowell ADHD Centers
https://drhallowell.com/2020/12/18/21444/

ADHD 2.0: A Conversation with Author Ned Hallowell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7_R7EXTYNA

Distraction Podcast: ADHD 2.0 Reveals New Science and Strategies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgb7bzfE__I

WHYY PBS, "ADHD 2.0" with Dr. Edward Hallowell
https://whyy.org/episodes/adhd-2-0-with-dr-edward-hallowell/

Psychological Concepts and Figures
Ivan Pavlov
B.F. Skinner
 
Addiction
Amphetamines
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Behaviorist movement
Cerebellum
Creativity
Dopamine
Epigenetics
GABA
Gratitude
Heritability
Longitudinal study
Meditation
Nature v. nurture
Neuroplasticity
Norepinephrine
Rumination
Sleep apnea
Social learning
Applied behavioral analysis (ABA)
Stimulants
Task-positive network (TPN)
Default mode network (DMN)
Variable attention stimulus trait (VAST)
Vestibular system

Prepare for the AP Psychology Exam While Playing a Game with iScore5!
 
iScore5 AP Psych is an app dedicated to helping students score high marks on the AP examination.  The app makes exam review entertaining and engaging for students. The creators have designed an app that functions as a game and helps students master over 800 vocabulary words for AP Psychology.  The app, however, goes beyond merely learning basic vocabulary by challenging students to master multiple-choice questions in levels of increasing difficulty.  The questions have all been written by experienced AP Psychology teachers or College professors of psychology, all of whom are also AP exam readers.
 
The interactive interface of the app is easy to navigate, and students may choose to return to study mode to practice basic vocabulary at any point during the game.  The app records a running score allowing students to monitor their progress and better understand the concepts they will need to know for the exam.  Within each level, including the study mode, the questions and practice items are organized according to units and allow for the targeted study of specific areas in the AP curriculum.
 
The app is also an effective way for students to prepare for classroom unit exams, midterms, and finals.  Because it is portable and easily accessed by phone or tablet, students are more likely to review more often than with traditional review books.  Even if students only have five or ten minutes to review at a time, this will result in an impressive increase in knowledge of psychology content due to the spacing effect.
 
How to Play!
 
Study Level: 800 key concepts for students to master organized by AP Psychology unit are presented in a flashcard format.  The study level is available for review at any level of the game. 
 
Level 1:  Vocabulary questions are organized by each of the AP Psychology units and presented in a multiple-choice format.  Level 1 provides 20 terms at a time for each unit, so it is recommended that students play this level often as the app generates a different set of terms each time the student plays.
 
BONUS:  Between each of the levels, students can answer 20 multiple-choice questions for additional points based on the work of famous psychologists mentioned in the official College Board AP Psychology course outline, and the bonus option is available at all levels.
 
Levels 2, 3, and 4:  These levels contain a set of multiple-choice questions in an AP format for each of the 14 AP Psychology units. Each level increases the level of difficulty:  level 2 (general understanding), level 3 (intermediate difficulty), and level 4 (advanced).  The correct answer to each question is explained regardless of whether or not the student answered correctly.
 
 
           
Level 5:  The final level consists of a 100-question sample AP Psychology exam.  Students are given the same amount of time they will have during the official AP Psychology exam (1 hour and 10 minutes) and provides them with their total score.   
 
FRQ Practice:  In addition to all of the levels and practice multiple choice questions, the app also includes two practice Free Response Questions and rubrics.
 
The iscore5 AP Psych app provides students with a fun and entertaining way to review for the exam.  Because all of the questions are crafted by expert AP Psychology teachers and university psychology professors, the quality of the questions is very similar to what will be seen on the AP exam.  Additionally, the app features a Leaderboard that allows students to see how they are doing compared to others if they choose.
 
Get the App!
The iScore 5 AP Psych app is now available for $4.99 in the iTunes app store for Apple or Google Play for Android.
iTunes  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iscore5-ap-psych-2016/id1084611907?mt=8
Google Play  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iscorePysch
 
Volume Discounts
The link to the volume purchase program that Apple provides to educational institutions will allow a school to purchase multiple apps (more than 20) at a discounted price.  The details of the Apple volume discount program can be found at the following link.
https://volume.itunes.apple.com/store
https://support.google.com/edu/play/answer/3396716?hl=en
 
Other Apps Available from iScore5
The iScore5 company also offers review apps for other Advanced Placement topics, including AP American Government and Politics, AP World History, and AP Human Geography.  Visit the main iScore website for information about these other programs: http://www.iscore5.com.
 
Social Media
For more information about iScore5 AP Psych, visit the company website or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.  Look for review material and study tips to appear on Facebook and Twitter to help students and instructors prepare for the exam.
 
Website:
http://www.iscore5.com/apreg-psychology.html
 
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/iScore5APPsych/?fref=nf
 
Twitter: 
https://twitter.com/iScore5APpsych
​

Committed: Dispatches from a Psychiatrist in Training
Author: Adam Stern MD
ISBN:  978-035843-4733
 
APA Style Citation
Stern, A. (2021). Committed: Dispatches from a psychiatrist in training. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, New York, N.Y.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Committed-Dispatches-Psychiatrist-Adam-Stern/dp/0358434734
​

​Book Description
Adam Stern takes the reader through his four-year clinical psychiatry residency program at Harvard Medical School. Because the field of psychiatry culminates in a medical degree, Stern must complete rotations in the pediatric and cardiac wards and work in the emergency psychiatric wards. Stern is at first concerned that he is not as qualified as his other classmates who have been admitted to the prestigious program at Harvard but quickly realizes that each of his classmates has their own areas of expertise and other areas in which their learning curve is steep. 
 
The hours and expectations for residents are exhausting, often working 20-hour shifts and sleeping for only a few hours each night. The few moments of socialization are generally spent with those in the program. Stern quickly learns the hierarchy, which generally involves first-year residency students completing the most menial tasks and far more paperwork than he ever thought possible. He describes his frustration while working on rotations, such as the cardiac and pediatric wards, feeling like he is wasting precious time on information and skills that he will not use. He is equally skeptical when he is assigned to work with a doctor providing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)to depressed patients who are not helped by medications. Stern becomes a convert when he sees the incredible progress that some of these patients make after the ECT treatment. Stern goes on to describe the terrible feeling of guilt associated with losing a patient to suicide and his feelings of usefulness when he sees the same patients returning to the psychiatric ward over and over again. He describes trying to overcome the skepticism that some people have about seeing a psychiatrist and finding the right balance between talk therapy and medication. 
 
Outside of the hospital, the residents are still enrolled in classes. Stern, at first, was skeptical about a seminar titled “becoming a psychologist,” which he labeled as a “feelings class.” This group allowed students to share their experiences, challenges, and victories. The group would remain together for the length of the program. Despite his original hesitancy, the people in this group became some of his closest friends and a group that depended on one another for practical and emotional support. This group understood the stress and emotional turmoil that came with the program and were there to support and help each other. By the end of the program, Stern and the others came to depend on their “feelings” class as a lifeline. 
 
The evolution that Stern went through in these four years was transformational. He admits he felt like an imposter in his first year with his fellow students, more experienced doctors, and patients. By his fourth year, he acknowledged that he still had much to learn but realized that he had chosen the right path and was just as capable as his other high-achieving classmates. He realized that he will not be able to “cure” every patient he sees, but he is dedicated to doing the best he can. This is an informative book for those interested in pursuing a career related to medicine or psychiatry/psychology. It provides a behind-the-scenes look at the real day-to-day life of the path of becoming a psychiatrist and how it requires full commitment. Dr. Stern goes on to practice at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and is an assistant professor at the Harvard School of Medicine. 
 
Other Related Resources
Author’s website
https://www.adamsternmd.com
 
Twitter feed
https://twitter.com/adamphilipstern
 
Interview with Adam Stern with the Boston Public Library and the State Library of Massachusetts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgeIPLWQwKo
 
Psychology Today: Finding the line between Connection and Avoidance
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stern-talk/202112/finding-the-line-between-connection-and-avoidance
 
Psychology Today: Our Mental Healthcare System is Broken, but we can fix it
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stern-talk/202106/our-mental-healthcare-apparatus-is-broken-we-can-fix-it
 
Good Therapy: Psychiatry 101: How to Become a Psychiatrist
https://www.goodtherapy.org/for-professionals/personal-development/become-a-therapist/article/psychiatry-101-how-to-become-psychiatrist
 
Become with lantern: How to Become a Psychiatrist
https://www.learnhowtobecome.org/psychiatrist/
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Erik Erikson
Sigmund Freud
 
Autonomy v. shame and doubt
Anxiety
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Depression
ECT therapy
Intimacy v. isolation
Neurology
Paranoia
Psychiatry
Psychology
Psychopharmacology
Psychotherapy
Schizophrenia
Social anxiety
Suicide
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
 
 

Atomic Habits:  An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
Author:  James Clear
ISBN 9780735211292
 
APA Style Citation
Clear, J. (2018). Atomic habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-James-Clear-audiobook/dp/B07RFSSYBH
​

Book Description
 
James Clear's book Atomic Habits provides an engaging guide to help students use behavioral psychology, biology, and neuroscience principles to create new positive habits or reduce or eliminate problematic habits. In addition to practical guidance to increase the likelihood of positive habits while deterring bad habits, the book is filled with inspiring stories of how small changes can lead to dramatic results. The idea behind atomic habits is that a small but consistent change in behavior can have dramatic results, just like how an atomic describes something very small that can be the source of immense power. 
 
Atomic Habits breaks habits into a four-stage process: cue, craving, response, and reward. In the first stage, a cue, similar to the stimulus in operant conditioning, serves as a trigger for a voluntary behavior. Over time, individuals learn that particular cues predict the arrival of reinforcements or punishments if specific actions are taken. As a result, our minds regularly scan the environment for cues about potential rewards. The cue, in turn, creates a craving.
 
Stage two of the habit loop, craving, represents the motivational drive that supports habits. The drive or craving is not for the specific action it triggers but the change in the person's physiological state that it generates. For James Clear, the craving is not to look at our phones or YouTube videos but the desire to be entertained. Cues and cravings, of course, are personalized, and what creates a motivational drive for some people would not be noticed by others.
 
The third step is the response which will ultimately become the habit because it is followed by the final step of reward. The reward increases the chances of the behavior occurring in the future in response to the same cue creating the final piece of the habit loop. According to James Clear, the response occurs to gain a reward. We are programmed to seek out rewards because they are satisfying (fulfill the craving) and teach us what actions are important to remember in the future.
 
The four stages form a repeating neurological feedback loop that leads to automatic habits. The mind is always searching for cues in the environment, making predictions, trying various responses, and monitoring and learning from the outcomes. If the cue, craving, response, or reward are insufficient, a habit will not form. For example, if you avoid or eliminate the cue, a craving will not develop. If you reduce a craving, you will lack motivation for a response. If you make the response difficult, you will be unable to complete the behavior, eliminating the reward. If the reward does not satisfy the craving, you will be less likely to engage in the response.
 
James Clear divides the four stages into two distinct phases for habit change. Phase one, the problem phase, includes the cue and craving and provides you with the information that something should change. Phase two, the solution phase, includes the response and reward and voluntary action to execute change.
 
Atomic Habits offers ways to use the four stages and how our brain learns to develop positive habits and eliminate negative ones in the form of James Clear's Four Laws of Behavior Change: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying. The author describes each law as a lever that makes creating positive habits easy and engaging in bad habits extremely difficult when tilted in the correct direction. For each stage of the habit process, there is a corresponding law for creating a positive habit. For eliminating a negative habit, the goal is to reverse the law.   

For the first law, make it obvious, James Clear points out, that automatic habits go unnoticed, so changing our unwanted behavior involves increasing our awareness. He uses the example of the Japanese railway system's method of Pointing-and-Calling. For example, when a train arrives at a signal, the operator will point at the signal and say out loud, "signal is green." This process is a safety system and reduces accidents by 30 percent. When New York City adopted a modified version of this system, incorrectly berthed subways dropped by 57 percent. The process of pointing-and-calling can be used to increase awareness of non-conscious habits drawing our attention. This increased awareness can prevent bad habits from sneaking up on us. A recommendation for bringing awareness to our behaviors is the creation of a habit scorecard. To create a Habit Scorecard, simply make a list of your daily habits and then label each habit as effective (+), ineffective (-), or neutral (=).
 
Two ways to make a new habit obvious are to use the habit scorecard to create an implementation strategy or to use habit stacking. Because two of the most common cues are time and location, these can be paired with intention. For example, "I will [Behavior} at [Time] and in [Location] is the implementation intention formula. With habit stacking, you simply pair a new habit you wish to establish with an existing habit (see Habit Scorecard). The habit stacking formula is, "After [Current Habit], I will [New Habit.]  For example, "when I get out of bed, I will stretch for five minutes." Because location is a powerful cue, it helps to organize your environment to make cues for habits you wish to make more obvious and make cues for habits you want to stop. For example, if you want to practice a new hobby more, place the supplies you need in an area where you often spend your free time. Conversely, if you want to reduce a habit, place cues for that behavior in areas where you spend less time. If you find you are not finishing your work, put your phone in another room for a couple of hours.
 
In the case of the second law, make it attractive, utilize temptation bundling to make your new habits more attractive by pairing the habit you want to create with a habit you need to do. This is the next step after habit stacking.

1. After I [Current Habit], I will [Habit I need].
2. After [Habit I Need]. I will [Habit I Want].

 
If you want to look at social media, but you need to exercise more, set up habit stacking.

1. After taking out my phone when I get home, I will complete two one-minute planks (need).
2. After I complete two one-minute planks, I will check my Instagram (want).

 
Ultimately, the goal is to look forward to doing the planks because it will mean you can scroll through your Instagram. Because dopamine rewards drive habits when dopamine increases, so does the motivation or craving. The anticipation of a reward (not its fulfillment) creates the drive for action, and temptation building helps make new habits more attractive. With habits you want to eliminate, the key is to make them unattractive by highlighting the benefits of avoiding a bad habit. Because habits become more attractive if paired with positive emotions and less attractive when paired with negative emotions.
 
The third law of habit creation is to make it easy. Practice is the most effective learning method, not planning, so creating new habits requires acting. What matters most is not the amount of time engaged in a habit but the number of times you have performed it. Additionally, to make a new habit easy, it is important to consider the law of least effort, or the idea that we often are pulled by the options that require the least about of work. Making a habit easy works by decreasing the friction associated with it, making it easy to act and engage in the desired activity quickly. As always, the opposite is true for decreasing a negative or ineffective habit. If you want to work out at the gym after work more, pack your workout gear and place it by the door. If you want to eat healthier at work, prep your meals over the weekend and pack them individually, so you have easy access during the week. Finally, to make habit creation easy, embrace the two-minute rule. Start a new habit small – by engaging in the desired activity for only two minutes. Atomic Habits suggests scaling your new habit from very small to very hard. 
 
According to James Clear, the fourth law, make it satisfying, is the cardinal rule of behavioral change because reinforced behaviors are likely to be repeated, which is the basis of habit creation. Immediacy is also important because behaviors that are reinforced immediately are more likely to be repeated, and behaviors immediately followed by punishment will decrease. Habit creation works best if we can find a way to feel immediately successful. The first three laws of atomic habits (make it obvious, attractive, and easy) create an initial behavior. However, the fourth law (make it satisfying) leads to replication and habit development. James Clear recommends using a habit tracker to create visual evidence of your progress to encourage habit formation. Another way to strengthen habit creation is to utilize an accountability partner or a habit contract.
 
The book also includes a final section titled Advanced Tactics to help you maximize your odds of success by playing to your strengths and utilizing the psychology of motivation. The author also includes short sections to apply the theory of atomic habits to specific focus areas, including business and parenting. Atomic Habits provides students with a step-by-step practical way to apply cognitive-behavioral, social, health, neuroscience, and motivational psychology theories to transform their habits, reduce stress, and achieve their goals. Consider using this book to revitalize a unit on learning and provide students with a practical application for the learning theories they are studying.
 
Other Related Resources
 
Author James Clear's website
https://jamesclear.com/
 
James Clear: Atomic Habits: How to Get 1% Better Every Day - James Clear
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_nzqnXWvSo
 
Atomic Habits Summary – 20 Lessons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2YEiDTLjvg
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Solomon Asch
Charles Darwin
Viktor Frankl
Carl Jung
Robert Plomin
David Premack
B.F. Skinner
Edward Thorndike
 
Conditioning
Dopamine
Flow
Habit
Happiness
Long-term potentiation
Mindset
Operant conditioning
Premack's principle
Proximity
Reinforcement
Social norms
Yerkes-Dodson law

Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It
Author: Ethan Kross
ISBN-10: ‎0525575235
ISBN-13: 978-0525575238
 
APA Style Citation
Kross, E. (2021). Chatter: The voice in our head, why it matters, and how to harness it. New York, NY: Crown.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Chatter-Voice-Head-Matters-Harness/dp/0525575235
​

Book Description
Do you ever want that inner voice that plays in your head to stop? While introspective thoughts can be beneficial, the inner critic can quickly rear its ugly head when the thoughts turn to chatter, which consists of cyclical negative thoughts and emotions. Ethan Kross, author of Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It, studies how those internal conversations can be used to improve your life. He compares his job to being a mind mechanic. When internal thoughts turn negative, individuals need to recognize when they become problematic and have the proper tools to quiet the chatter.
 
Talking to oneself is a normal part of life, but it also has its downfalls. Language lets us identify our emotions and discover how to handle a situation. As humans, it allows us the powerful ability to mentally travel in time. It also allows us to control ourselves and our emotions. So how does talking to oneself go wrong? Anyone who has become skilled at a learned task can fall victim to chatter. Kross shares stories of athletes that have fallen victim to that inner critic. The internal conversation influences attention and causes what was once an involuntary action to become the focus of our attention, which can then lead to overanalysis. When we ruminate, we end up focusing our attention on that negative inner voice AND what we are doing. The author points out how challenging it is to read after getting into a fight. It doesn’t seem to work well for anyone! We also want to talk to others about our negative experiences. The more intense the emotion, the more we want to talk about it. Unless in involves shame, then we want to keep in confidential. But it is sharing those negative experiences that pushes sympathetic listeners away because we tend to miss the warning signs of how annoying we are. The chatter can lead to talking too much, which can then alienate those we confide in the most.  Social media provides a positive experience, but can also become problematic for several reasons. In real life we can manage emotions with the passage of time. However, when we are at the peak of frustration, our connectivity allows us to share those negative experiences in the moment before we have a moment to calm down. It is also human nature to compare ourselves to others. As we passively scroll through others’ filtered versions of themselves posted online, we can start to become envious and negative emotions take over. This emotional pain registers the same way in our brain as physical pain.
 
Perspective taking is key to quieting our inner voice. Kross uses the analogy of your mind being a lens and the inner voice being a button that can zoom either in or out. He explains how when we get stressed or the inner voice starts to ruminate, we lose the ability to zoom out. By adding some distance to our thoughts, we can then change those thoughts. The author shared Walter Mischel’s famous marshmallow research, where waiting for two marshmallows led to positive results rather than having a lack of impulse control and immediately eating the marshmallow. This research led to the understanding that people have tools to control themselves. Kross also mentioned Aaron Beck’s therapy technique known as “distancing” where individuals are taught to scrutinize their thoughts. While some people have negatively associated this with avoidance, the key is to actively explore the thought from a distance. The recommendation is to imaginatively visualize oneself from afar. Research has explored the impact of immersion versus distancing. Immersers who viewed an event from the first-person perspective got stuck in their emotions. While, distancers who viewed an event from a broad perspective, had more positive feelings and were better able to control their stress response. By teaching people to see the big picture, it reduced their chatter. Mental distancing also led to increased wisdom regardless of age. Even journaling for a 15-minute time period about a negative experience was helpful. While narrating the story, the author created distance. The point of view is also key to quieting chatter. Using the first-person singular pronouns signaled negative emotions. Instead using third person or saying your name can force you to step back and refocus more objectively. Examples of LeBron James or Malala talking in third person during interviews helped provide distance from the event. Even shifting to the generic or universal second-person “you” can help provide the necessary psychological distance.
 
Those around you can influence chatter as well. Sharing emotions can often hurt more than it helps. Research has found that talking to others about negative experiences doesn’t help us recover in any meaningful way. Co-rumination can quickly change from support to inciting the inner voice. Advice at the wrong time from others can propel inner talk and undermine self-efficacy. Instead, Kross recommends invisible support. Rather than making someone feel like they can’t cope on their own, providing invisible support could be doing housework to ease their stress or offering broadening advice that is not explicitly directed at the person experiencing the negative thoughts. This invisible support is especially helpful when the person with negative thoughts is under evaluation or preparing to be.  Affectionate touch or comforting objects can be beneficial as well.
 
It is not just the people that surround you, but also the physical environment that influences chatter. Kross references trees and grass as mental vitamins that help manage our stressors. Research has found attention improved after taking a walk with nature as opposed to an urban landscape. And it doesn’t matter the time of year! If access to nature is problematic, photos and videos work too. One study even found that nature sounds helped enhance attention. Uplifting emotional awe occurs when we come across something powerful that we can’t really explain. It has been linked to physical and psychological benefits. Another interesting finding involves how order in our physical environment can quiet the chatter even though there is no direct connection between creating an organized world and the cause of the inner chaotic thoughts. Just reading about the world described as an orderly place has been found to reduce anxiety.
 
The mind is a powerful thing. Placebos help with chatter. Even nondeceptive placebos have worked for allergy symptoms, lower back pain, ADHD, and depression. Superstitions and rituals also help quiet the chatter. Rituals can come from culture, but can also be personalized. To become a ritual there needs to be a rigid sequence of behaviors that are performed in the same order. They appear to work because they divert attention, provide a sense of order and control. Rituals also make us feel connected, provide us with awe, and activate the placebo effect. Many engage in rituals without even knowing.
 
Kross makes it clear that he is not advocating for an avoidance of negative states. They just can’t consume you. Not all introspection is bad, but individuals need to recognize when they become problematic and have the proper tools to quiet the chatter. He points out that chatter is a part of our culture. Parents provide children with chatter support and create the culture they are immersed in at home. He also recognizes the need to teach these tools to children, after a college student pointed out learning them in college seems a little too late. Kross has created a toolbox for middle school and high school curriculum, but leaves the reader with their own toolbox that can be used right away to quiet the chatter.
 
Other Related Resources
Author's Website
https://www.ethankross.com/chatter/

Center for Positive Organizations- Michigan Ross. Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why it Matters, and How to Harness It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V33_f3yVn8

​ISR Insights Speaker Series: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jleW_eTWVHA

​Next Big Idea Club
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/chatter-voice-head-matters-harness-bookbite/26713/

Psychological Concepts and Figures
Aristotle
Aaron Beck
Joseph Breuer
Sigmund Freud
William James
Daniel Kahneman
Franz Anton Mesmer
Walter Mischel
Lev Vygotsky
 
Active listening
Adrenaline
Animal magnetism
Anxiety
Associative connections
Attention
Attention restoration therapy
Catharsis
Contact
Cortisol
Dreams
EEG
Empathy
Evolution
Free association
Frequency illusion
Gene expression
Hippocampus
Hypothalamus
Hysteria
Identity
Inner speech
Introspection
Loss aversion
Magic number
MRI
Neurons
Neuroscience
OCD
Oxytocin
Parkinson’s disease
Placebo
Polygraph
Prefrontal brain
Reciprocity
Rumination
Self-control
Self-efficacy
Stress
Temporal distancing
Tend and befriend
Wisdom
Working memory

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law
Author: Mary Roach
ISBN: 9781324001935
 
APA Style Citation
Roach, M. (2021). Fuzz: When nature breaks the law. New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Co.
 
Buy this book
https://www.amazon.com/Fuzz-When-Nature-Breaks-Law/dp/1324001933
​

​Book Description:
In Mary Roach's most recent publication, she again combines her humor and love of science to deliver a hilarious and unexpected book about animals breaking the law. The book pointedly asks humans to consider how humans and animals can better live together when we continue to invade their territory. 
 
Roach starts the book with a chapter titled Maul Cops.  She describes her attendance at a Canadian forensics conference in which the order of the day was to look at mutilated mannequins to determine what type of wild animal inflicted their wounds. They eventually take their knowledge to the field to determine and collect evidence and eventually try to track down the animal culprit. Bear attacks are becoming more common as their territory becomes smaller and smaller due to developments edging in on their territory. Most bear break-ins are misdemeanors in which they simply steal food from cabinets or the refrigerator. Roach and Colorado Wildlife Service officer Stuart Breck find a bear in a back alley of a restaurant in Aspen, Colorado, a phenomenon that is becoming more and more frequent. Restaurant workers often fail to secure the garbage receptacles, and bears come looking for food. When they find it, they will likely return again and again.  Things turn ugly when they are startled by a person while eating or feel trapped. 
 
Roach's research takes her to India, where there is a constant struggle with rhesus monkeys breaking into people's homes, sometimes to grab food and run. Other times the monkeys break into homes, seemingly wreak havoc, and leave like the one that knocked a rice cooker off a counter and left.  Additionally, many rhesus monkeys have become expert pickpockets. Because the population of monkeys is expanding but killing the animals is not an option, officials are looking into ways to implement large-scale birth control in the Indian monkey population. Elephant and leopard attacks are also becoming more common in India as people move into the animals' habitats.
 
Roach discusses arboreal manslaughter when trees die and fall on people. While some tree advocates oppose trimming old forest trees, Roach explains that this is necessary because a dying tree can topple down on top of unsuspecting hikers and murder them without warning. While no tree has yet been charged with premeditated murder, this precedent could change in the future.
 
Roach's final chapter deals with a wildlife nuisance far more common for most people, rodents. She meets with researchers trying to change the genetic make-up of rats to make it more difficult for them to breed. The challenge to this is that more than one male fertilizes many litters of mice, and it is tremendously difficult to keep track of the mice with the genetic modification. Because so many other animals depend on rats and mice for food, the program's goal is not to eradicate the rodent population but rather to limit reproduction. Other researchers are working on a more humane way to eliminate the rodent population from disturbing human homes. Katherine Horak is developing a bait that kills but contains no poison. It works by targeting the species genome by interfering with the animal's RNA. Roach contends that this would be a more humane way to eliminate rodents, and many companies have moved away from glue traps that often involve the rodent chewing off a limb to break free or dying a slow death. Roach argues that if humans are going to be the killers, we have an obligation to at least be humane murderers.
 
Even if you are not interested in wildlife or science, this book is endlessly entertaining. It provides the important message of conserving the wildlife population while served on a platter of witty banter and amusing anecdotes.
 
Other Resources:
Author's website
https://maryroach.net
 
NPR Interview with Mary Roach
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/19/1038681779/what-happens-when-nature-breaks-the-law-mary-roach-tells-you-in-new-book-fuzz
 
INFORUM: Conversation with Mary Roach
https://www.amazon.com/Fuzz-When-Nature-Breaks-Law/dp/1324001933
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Jane Goodall
 
Animal ethics
CRISPR
Genetic modification
Genome
 
 
 
 
 

​The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness
By Susan Cahalan
ISBN: 9781538715284
 
APA Citation
Cahalan, S. (2019). The great pretender: The undercover mission that changed our understanding of madness. Grand Central, New York, N.Y.
 
Buy the book here
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Pretender-Undercover-Mission-Understanding/dp/1538715287
 

​Book description
In her follow-up to the acclaimed Brain on Fire, Susannah Cahalan tackles the infamous 1970s study “On Being Sane in Insane Places.” In this study, David Rosenhan and seven volunteers checked themselves into mental health care facilities to see if the mental health care workers could determine who had a mental illness from those who did not.  Cahalan begins with a history of asylums and efforts to improve the conditions and treatment of individuals. In some cases, individuals were held against their will in these facilities. She cites that many individuals living in these asylums reported the ease of getting admitted but the difficulty of getting out. Cahalan’s interest in this study stems from her misdiagnosis with schizophrenia and time in a mental health ward, even though her disorder stemmed from brain inflammation. 
 
Calahan recounts the familiar story of the Rosenhan study, in which eight people (three women and five men, including Rosenhan) checked themselves into mental health care facilities reporting that they were hearing the words, “thud, empty, and hollow.” Once the pseudopatients were admitted, they no longer displayed any symptoms and acted normally. Patients spent on average four and one-half minutes per day with doctors. The doctors and staff in many facilities treated patients rudely and often ignored their requests or questions. The pseudopatients had stays that ranged from 17-51 days. While it took the staff a long time to determine that the pseudopatients were sane, many other patients identified the pseudopatients as being a journalist or a professor quickly after their arrival. 
 
The study has often been cited as addressing the problem of labeling people with disorders and the need to develop clear criteria for diagnosis. Rosenhan also wanted to address the need for more time with the staff who work in the facilities.  Cahalan obtained the original files from a good friend of Rosenhan (who died in 2012), Lee Ross.  Ross was a good friend of Rosenhan and a well-respected social psychologist. As the author searched to find more of the pseudopatients, she runs into many inconsistencies in Rosenhan’s notes, which nobody can quite work out. Rosenhan used aliases for all of the patients, and Cahalan quickly determined that Rosenhan was David Lurie. She finds evidence and speaks to a number of those involved with the study, and she is even able to work out who one of the pseudopatients was and get a direct account of their experiences. The others were harder to track down, and in continuing her research, she begins to question if the remainder of the pseudopatients ever took part in the study.  She finds much misinformation in Rosenhan’s notes to demonstrate that many of the pseudopatients were highly embellished if not made up entirely. Callahan is not convinced that all the participants were real. She finds evidence that in some cases, the events and characteristics attributed to one participant were a conglomeration of the experiences of others who in some cases were from outside of the study. She finds credible evidence that one pseudopatient had the characteristics of a good friend of Rosenhan, and that other patients in the wards were depictions of some of his own patients. Rosenhan had a book deal to write a full report about the study but never completed the manuscript and was sued by the publisher. 
 
While she cannot conclude decisively that many of the pseudopatients were falsified, she does create a credible case that this study has some fatal flaws. This book comes as yet another hit to some of the most famously cited studies in psychology and calls into question the legitimacy of one of the most often cited studies in the field of abnormal psychology. 
 
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Alois Alzheimer
Paul Bleuler
Rene Descartes
Dorothea Dix
Sigmund Freud
Emil Kraepelin
Philippe Pinel
David Rosenhan
Benjamin Rush
Carl Wernicke
Philip Zimbardo
 
Alzheimer’s disease
Antipsychotic medication
Asylum
Belief perseverance
Bipolar disorder
Borderline personality disorder
Cognitive behavioral therapy
Delusion
DSM
Lobotomy
MRI scan
Munchausen syndrome
Paranoia
Psychoanalytic psychology
Psychosis
Schizoaffective disorder
Schizophrenia
Trephination
 
Related Resources
 
NPR Interview with Susannah Callahan
https://www.npr.org/2019/11/13/777172316/the-great-pretender-investigates-a-landmark-moment-in-psychiatric-history
 
Susannah Callahan discusses The Great Pretender
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LUqGRa2Iqo
 
Being Sane in Insane Places: Science
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.179.4070.250
 
David Rosenhan on being Sane in Insane Places
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6bmZ8cVB4o
 
 
 
 

Brain Bytes: Quick Answers to Quirky Questions About the Brain
Author:  Eric Chudler and Lise Johnson
ISBN-13:
9780393711448

APA Style Citation
Chudler, E. H., & Johnson, L. A. (2017). Brain bytes: Quick answers to quirky questions    
about the brain. W.W. Norton & Company.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Brain-Bytes-Answers-Quirky-Questions/dp/0393711447​

Book Description
 
If you cover neuroscience in your psychology course, you know it is a fascinating topic about which students have many questions. In Brain Bytes, Quick Answers to Quirky Questions, neuroscientists Eric Chudler, Ph.D., the Executive Director of the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering at the University of Washington, and Lise Johnson Ph.D. who is a  scientist in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Washington teamed up to provide you with some of the answers.  Chudler has an amazing website (see other related resources) called Neuroscience for Kids, which is a treasure of information, activities, and resources for students of all levels interested in learning more about the brain that is updated regularly.
The book provides answers to questions commonly asked by introductory psychology students and is organized into twelve key categories. The authors encourage students to keep asking questions and to verify the responses presented with other sources. The book also includes several key appendices that provide even more information. The twelve categories are listed below, along with a sample of the research questions that are presented for each topic area.
 
Ancient Neuroscience

• Did people always believe that the brain was important?
• Did people really believe that the bumps on a person’s head would say something about a person’s intelligence and personality?

 What’s Under the Hood?

• How did  parts of the brain get their strange names?
• How are the two halves of the brain connected?
• Do we get more neurons after we are born?
• Does the brain really use electricity to send messages?

 People

• What is the difference between a neuroscientist and a neurologist?
• Who was H.M.?
• Who was Tan?

 Intelligence

• Are there foods that make people smarter?
• Does listening to music make you smarter?
• Does watching television, playing video games, or surfing the Internet kill brain cells?

 Memory

• Is memory like a tape recorder, flash drive, or hard drive?
• Can memories be erased?
• What was so special about Albert Einstein’s brain?

 Sleep

• Why do we sleep?
• Why do we dream?
• Can you learn while you’re asleep?
• What is lucid dreaming?

Sensation and Perception

• Would I feel anything if my brain was touched?
• Do all people experience pain?
• What is phantom limb pain?
• What is synesthesia?
• What causes color blindness?
• Why can’t I tickle myself?

 Drugs, Venoms, and Addiction

• Does alcohol kill brain cells?
• How does coffee wake me up?
• Is marijuana addictive?
• Is ecstasy dangerous?
• What animals have venom that attacks the nervous system?

 Popular Culture

• How do you become a brain researcher?
• Does the brain work like a computer?
• Why do songs get stuck in my head?

 Technology

• Can a computer be used to control my brain?
• Are brain transplants possible?
• What is a cochlear implant?
• What is brain stimulation?

 Medicine

• What is schizophrenia?
• What is prion disease?
• Can marijuana be used to treat epilepsy?
• What is face-blindness?
• What is the most common mental health issue?
• What is electroshock therapy, and why is it used?

 Brain Health

• What can I do to keep my brain healthy?
• What happens to the brain as it ages?
• Why do my eyes hurt when I walk outside after being inside a movie theatre?

  
For even more information about brain facts and neuroscience trivia, consider subscribing to the authors monthly Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter. This monthly email will keep you updated on the latest information on the website and in the field of neuroscience.  The newsletter includes the latest updates to the website, a neuroscience website of the month, neuroscience in the news, information on contests and research programs, media alerts, and a section titled “Treasure Trove of Brain Trivia.”
  
Other Related Resources
 
Neuroscience for Kids Website
https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html
 
Brain Bytes Eric Chudler and Lise Johnson Talks at Google
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdI0Qv0g3cU
  
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Paul Broca
Walter Freeman
Phineas Gage
Galen
Franz Joseph Gall
Patient H.M.
Oliver Sacks
William Beecher Scoville
Tan
Karl Wernicke
 
Addiction
Amnesia
Aphasia
Brain imaging
Brain regions
Catatonia
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy
Color vision
Dissociative identity disorder
Face blindness
Hallucinations
Hearing loss
Hypnosis
Hormones
Lucid dreaming
Medications 
Memory
Mental illness
Neurons, neurotransmitters, and neural transmission
Neurological diseases
Neurologist
Neuroscientist
Neurotoxins
Neurotransmitters
Pain
Perception
Psychoactive drugs
Rorschach test
Sleep
Split-brain
Stroke
Traumatic brain injury
Venom
 
 

​Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History’s Greatest Personalities
Author: Claudie Kalb
ISBN: 978-1-4262-1466-0
 
APA Style Citation
Kalb, C. (2016). Andy Warhol was a hoarder: Inside the minds of history’s greatest personalities. Washington D.C., National Geographic.
 
Buy This Book 
https://www.amazon.com/Andy-Warhol-Was-Hoarder-Personalities/dp/1426214669
 

​Book Description
Celebrities are often idolized, through their lives on the screen and in social media celebrities portray lives of beauty and perfection, but Claudia Kalb, shares that many well-known individuals. These celebrities experienced diagnoseable disorders in some cases these disorders interfered with relationships such as the purported borderline personality disorder which Marilyn Monroe experienced. In other cases, like that of musician George Gershwin, his ADHD caused him to get into trouble as a young boy, but also likely contributed to his single-minded focus on his music once he found his passion. 
 
The book features twelve case studies that include some well-known individuals like Abraham Lincoln (depression) or Charles Darwin (anxiety) as well as those who are less well-known for the disorders they experienced, such as Frank Lloyd Wright (narcissism)or Betty Ford (alcoholism). Each chapter is organized by first explaining the individual’s early life, then explaining how their disorder impacted their life, and finally explaining the featured disorder by providing other examples and the general characteristics associated with the disorder. Kalb ends each chapter with different techniques to treat the disorder described in the chapter. 
 
Kalb shares the details of Marilyn Monroe’s traumatic childhood, from her movement through the foster care system to her complicated relationship with her mother.  These traumatic events in Monroe’s early life may have advanced or even triggered what Kalb describes as Monroe’s volatile relationship with her husbands, and the dramatic onset behavior during the filming of her films. Monroe was diagnosed with schizophrenia but Kalb contends that this diagnosis was incorrect. Monroe displayed the manipulation and cutting of her arms and wrists in a cry for attention, she abused drugs and alcohol, which Kalb proposes was about soothing her erratic emotions. Better ways in which to deal with these emotions are to engage in deep breathing activities, relying on friends for support or engaging on cognitive behavioral therapies. The title of the book depicts Andy Warhol’s hoarding tendencies, keeping everything from food to underwear in an endless number of boxes which are now housed in the Andy Warhol Museum in Pennsylvania. Warhol considered these time capsules. He lived in apartments nearly too cluttered to live and could not discard even the most useless of belongings. The other case studies go on to detail the impact of these disorders on the lives of these well-known individuals.
 
This book is one that would make a good student book club read because of the ability of students to choose particular case studies that align with their interests. It is important to note that in many cases these individuals were not officially diagnosed with the illnesses Kalb has associated, but this is still a useful exercise in learning about the disorders described. 
 
Other Related Resources
Author’s website
http://claudiakalb.com/book
 
C-Span interview with Claudia Kalb
https://www.c-span.org/video/?415966-1/claudia-kalb-discusses-andy-warhol-hoarder
 
NPR review of Andy Warhol was a Hoarder
https://www.npr.org/2016/01/31/464869809/book-diagnoses-darwin-with-anxiety-and-warhol-as-a-hoarder
 
Psychological Concepts and Figures
Alcoholism
Anorexia nervosa
Anxiety
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Borderline personality disorder
Bulimia nervosa
Depression
Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)
Gambling 
Gender dysphoria
Hoarding
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Narcissism
Schizophrenia
Substance use disorder
Suicide
Transgender
 

The Genome Odyssey: Medical Mysteries and the Incredible Quest to Solve Them
Author: Eaun Angus Ashley, M.D., Ph.D.
ISBN-10: ‎1250234999
ISBN-13:‎ 978-1250234995
 
APA Style Citation
Ashley, E.A. (2021). The genome odyssey: Medical mysteries and the incredible quest to solve them. New York, NY: Celadon Books.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Genome-Odyssey-Medical-Mysteries-Incredible/dp/1250234999
​

Book Description
The Genome Odyssey provides a summary of the human genome from the first genomes in the Human Genome Project to current work and research. The author, Euan Ashley, is a practicing cardiologist and the founding director of the Center for Inherited Cardiovascular Disease at Stanford University. In his book, he explains the early genomes with a short description of the timeline and price of genome sequencing (determining the DNA sequence of an organism’s genome at a single time). He goes on to share patient stories with unique diseases and his own patients within the cardiac field. Finally, he lays out the future of genomics. What exactly is your genome? Ashley states, “Your genome is three billion letter pairs, six billion data points, two meters of molecule compacted into twenty-three pairs of chromosomes that, if laid end to end with the DNA from the thirty trillion cells in your body, could stretch to the moon and back thousands of times: part of the literal embodiment of what it means to be human.” The genome is a tool to learn about disease, solve medical mysteries, and provide hope, protection and prevention for those with diseases.
 
First, the author explains the early genomes. He provides a little history on when and how much it cost for some of the first genomes to be sequenced. The Human Genome Project was a ten-year project that provided a genome in the early 2000s, costing multibillions, with multiple country contributors to identify the DNA from ten people. It was intended to have ten volunteers provide 10% each to the full genome to help protect confidentiality and prevent the press from discovering the donor. The approximate twenty thousand genes that account for the proteins that make up 2% of the genome were mapped out. The other 98% of the genome was commonly referred to as “junk DNA” because its function was unclear. It is now understood that this noncoding part of the genome is important in determining whether genes are turned on or off. And half of our genes have pseudogenes in this part of the genome and can regulate the function of other genes. A real human’s genome is diploid, meaning there are two copies of everything. The reference genome was monoploid, with just one copy of every human gene. The single copy genome would be the standard to which all other genomes would be compared to in the following years. Everything did not go as planned, instead the human reference genome comes from the DNA of only two people. It was also found that the reference genome actually contained a mutation, a DNA letter associated with disease. The 1000 Genomes Project, started in 2008, helped provide data to create three new human reference sequences, tuned to three major ethnicities.
 
The first genome sequence after the project cost around $100 million. In 2009, the author’s journey started by helping a Stanford colleague Steve Quake (patient zero) figure out his own genome and cardiac results (the author’s specialty). His genome cost a mere $40,000. In the eight years after the Human Genome Project, if the price of sequencing the genome could be compared to a Ferrari, then the $350,000 car dropped to forty cents.  Steve invented the technology used to sequence the genome and became the first patient to walk into the doctor’s office with his genome. To help read Steve’s genome, the author put together a dream team. This team would list the variants, look at rare variants and diseases, look for common variants for common diseases, look at variants affecting drug responses, and be mindful of ethical considerations. Steve needed to provide informed consent and a genetic counselor was brought on the team. If you test for everything, you might find a lot of results you were not expecting and someone had to help navigate that process. This had never been done before. Steve was a researcher and patient, which made the process even more complex. Fortunately, the team did not find a rare heart disease in Steve’s heart or any genetic variants. However, they did find significant risk for a heart attack. While the price of sequencing the genome was dropping, what about the time to complete it? It took up to a year for one machine to sequence a human genome while running full-time. But if one was to map just the gene sequences and ignore the other 98 percent, then it would take less time and cost even less. In 2010, John West had sequenced his whole family after suffering a pulmonary embolism. It was the first nuclear family to have their genome sequenced and there was an unexplained medical mystery. Soon after the author started a company to move sequencing from academia into industry. The partnership between these fields continues to increase, but also remains far apart. They utilized genetic counselors to analyze and prioritize the genetic variants and explain the results to patients. The price for sequencing your genome was now under $1000.
 
The author goes on to compare genomic medicine to disease detective work. Traditional methods have included observing, examining, documenting, and analyzing. But now doctors can add another tool of reading one’s genome. Bill Gahl (from Waukesha, WI) became the real Gregory House from the Fox TV series House. He leads the National Institute of Health’s Undiagnosed Diseases Program, which officially opened in 2015. In three years, they found a diagnosis for 35% of cases and defined 31 new syndromes. Ashley shares some of the program’s patients and their rare stories. He also shares the case studies of some of his own cardiac patients. Mosaicism, the term for having more than one genome, happens when copied DNA accumulates mutations.  Some people have visual indicators of mosaicism, such as skin with different pigmentations or different eye colors. There is also chimerism, a situation where a person has cells with genomes from completely different people. This happens during pregnancy, patients with organ transplants, or fraternal twins who share a placenta. Genome-wide mapping and using family trees for patients have also helped the disease detective work.
 
Finally, the author looks to the future.  He describes how superhumans can help provide answers to help the typical genome. Genomes from the fittest athletes and those with rare abilities have helped find new treatments for those with heart, lung, blood, and muscle diseases. Also, the growth of biobanks and the value of these large databases is hopeful to better understand the genome. There are over sixty groups around the world that aim to enroll at least 100,000 people in their biobanks. As Ashley stated, “What all these studies have shown is that the larger the study, the greater power for discovery, and the greater our confidence in those discoveries.” Participants can enroll and give consent digitally through an app. Ashley also discusses advances in treatment, such as genetic therapy and improvements to drugs. Genetic therapy has been around since the 1970s, but the first human studies were performed in the 1990s. Many were problematic and the approach was criticized for moving too fast. The scientific community was tasked to go back to the laboratory and learn more. To be effective, the genetic therapy has to get to the cells that matter. Delivery is the biggest challenge. In the last few years there has been success with delivery and genetic therapy. A bacterial defense system called CRISPR has helped researchers target parts of the genome and repair them. In 2017, CRISPR was used to correct a mutation causative of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in human embryos. A heated debate quickly arose about whether to intervene on human embryos. Then in 2018, a researcher announced the birth of the world’s first gene-edited babies. There is now universal agreement that there needs to be more research on the safety of gene editing before it is considered ethical to use on embryos. We are in the golden age of genetic therapy. Doctors can order a genome, health insurance companies are starting to list genomes as a covered benefit, and some systems are using genome sequencing as preventative care. The future also relies on real-time monitoring of our health. Smart watches can be set to assess your specific genetic risks and look for early detection of those diseases. We can also go beyond sequencing human genes and turn to pathogens as well. Genomics played a huge role in fighting the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus). It also jumpstarted the genomic age of vaccines.
 
Genome sequencing is getting cheaper and faster, while the data for comparison is becoming more robust. Genomes are often used for rare diseases, but they are also becoming more useful for everyday care. We need to urgently do more research with diverse populations so it can calculate the best scores. But prediction will become more powerful as we sequence more genomes. The question for you will be, do you want to have your genome sequenced?
 
Other Related Resources
Author's Website- The Ashley Lab
https://ashleylab.stanford.edu/

Health Matters The Genome Odyssey YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcdqVqYx8_c

Commonwealth Club YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZx0Kq5ipxo

Human Genome Project
https://www.genome.gov/human-genome-project

What is CRISPR? New Scientist
https://www.newscientist.com/definition/what-is-crispr/
​
Psychological Concepts and Figures
Antagonist vs. agonist
Anterograde amnesia
Biobank
Bioengineering
Chromosomes
Confidentiality
Congenital insensitivity to pain
Correlations
DNA
Dominant vs. recessive
Embryo
Epigenetics
Ethics
Genes
Genetic counselors
Genome 
Hippocampus
Human Genome Project (HGP)
Immune system
Informed consent
MRI
Mutations
Nature vs. nurture
Nucleus
Opioids
Pharmacogenomics
Pituitary gland
Placebo
Pseudogenes
Random assignment
Stem cells

​Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain
Author: Zaretta Hammond
ISBN: 978-1-4833-0801-2
 
APA Style Citation
Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
 
Buy this Book
https://www.amazon.com/Culturally-Responsive-Teaching-Brain-Linguistically/dp/1483308014
 

​Book Description
Zaretta Hammond attended a progressive public school in San Francisco, CA rather than the school in the projects where she lived because her mother used Zaretta’s grandparents’ address knowing that the way to a better life was through a good education.  When Hammond was in 5th grade, a court order mandated that San Fransisco schools desegregate and her school became instantly more diverse.  Hammond recognized that the children coming from schools near where she lived had trouble keeping up with the material not because they were not bright but because they came from schools with vastly different expectations and instruction. By the time these students were in middle school the differences in level of education were pronounced. Hammond recognized this not as an achievement gap but an opportunity gap, one that still exists today in neighborhoods with socioeconomic challenges and often in communities of color. 
 
Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain combines neuroscience with the practicality of how the brain and body can impact academic performance.  Hammond has created a comprehensive explanation of how instructors can move dependent learners to independent learners by being intentional and reflective about their own classroom organization, their interactions with students, and with an understanding of the biological mechanisms that impact motivation and learning. Hammond describes the book as, “a pedological approach firmly rooted in learning theory and cognitive science”(p.15). Hammond asks educators to acknowledge that many students face unearned disadvantages because of their race, gender, class or language, and she sets out to eliminate these disadvantages in an educational setting. Schools are an extension of culture but when a school environment identifies one particular culture or set of beliefs as “correct” or bases rules and celebrations off of one culture, many others feel excluded and start to believe that school is not for them. 
 
Structures and traditions may be exclusive by giving some students religious holidays off of school and not recognizing others, or organizing school or class events around traditions/celebrations that only some students participate in. In addition, less obvious but powerful forces such as implicit bias may reinforce a system in which there is a belief that some students are more capable of academic success than others because of their gender, ethnicity or the color or their skin. Hammond points out that by third grade many culturally and linguistically diverse students are one or more years behind in reading, which she identifies as intellectual apartheid. With proper scaffolding however, Hammond lays out a path in which all students can find academic success. Often, when students are successful in school students, teachers, and parents attribute the success to personal characteristics of the student and do not take into consideration that the organization of the school had also contributed to the students’ success. The same can be true for those for whom the system does not work. We are quick to make a personal attribution about the students’ lack of effort or ability when the structure of the school or implicit biases may be playing a role in the students’ day-to-day educational experience. We need to start looking at situational factors that may also limit students’ progress.
 
Hammond describes the role of the brain in learning and pays particular attention to the limbic system, which is often considered the emotional center of the brain. When a person is feeling threatened or stereotyped their limbic system is active, which Hammond labels as “amygdala hijack”. When this occurs students are unable to focus on what is happening in the lesson because of many factors such as stereotype threat, microaggressions, or other factors that make a student feel like they are singled out and they cannot live up to their full potential.  Learning involves the development of new neural pathways and if those cannot be practiced shortly after learning something they will be lost. Students who are under a perceived or real threat cannot transfer short-term to long-term memories and gradually fall further and further behind. Often those that feel most threatened are non-English speakers and students of color who consciously or unconsciously detect threats to their safety which impedes learning. 
 
In the second half of the book, Hammond explains how teachers can check their own bias to create more inclusive classrooms in which all students feel welcomed and that they can succeed.  She provides scaffolds that can move dependent learning to more independent critical thinkers. Hammond proposes that culturally responsive teaching is not a set of instructional strategies but rather a mindset in which one must be conscious of their actions, words, body language and consider the subtle and not so subtle messages they may be giving to students. She proposes the method of description, interpretation, and evaluation in which educators consider their own cultural and ethnic experiences and deeply consider how this impacts their world view and how it may influence their behaviors and thoughts. This is a book for all educators who want to create a safe place in which all students can learn and reach their potential. 
 
Other Related Resources
Zaretta Hammond’s Blog: Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain
https://crtandthebrain.com/about/
 
Zaretta Hammond: Lecture on Culturally Responsive Teaching
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2kzbH7ZWGg
 
Collaborative Classroom:  A  Conversation about Instructional Equity
https://www.collaborativeclassroom.org/blog/a-conversation-about-instructional-equity-with-zaretta-hammond/
 
Teaching for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance) 
https://www.learningforjustice.org/author/zaretta-hammond
 
Turn and Talk ASCD: Interview with Zaretta Hammond
https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/zaretta-hammond-on-coaching-and-culturally-responsive-teaching
 
Social Emotional Learning and School Safety Podcast
https://selcenter.wested.org/resource/start-with-responsive/#
 
Edutopia: How to get started with Culturally Responsive Teaching
https://www.edutopia.org/article/getting-started-culturally-responsive-teaching
 
Psychological Concepts and Figures
Amygdala
Brainstem
Cerebellum
Collectivism
Cultural archetypes
Dopamine
Fluid intelligence
Implicit bias
Individualism
Information processing
Just-world phenomenon
Long-term memory
Microaggressions
Mindset
Neocortex
Neural pruning
Oxytocin
Reticular activating system
Schema
Short-term memory
Surface culture
 
 
 

Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive our Life
Author: Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D.
ISBN: 978-1-4019-6198-5
E-book ISBN: 978-1-4019-6199-2
 
APA Style Citation
Taylor, J.B. (2021). Whole brain living: The anatomy of choice and the four characters that drive our life. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, Inc.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Whole-Brain-Living-Anatomy-Characters/dp/1401961983
​

Book Description
In 2008, Dr. Taylor who is a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist delivered one of the first TED Talks and quickly her and TED talks became famous. Her first book, My Stroke of Insight, shared her personal experience of a stroke shutting down her brain over four hours. Because of her background as a neuroscientist, she knew what was happening as her stroke occurred. She suffered damage to her left parietal lobe and her brain was silent for five weeks, but then she began her eight-year recovery. During this time, she came to recognize the power of turning on and off her emotional circuitry by choice. She explains, humans are feeling creatures who think rather than thinking creatures who feel. The left hemisphere is commonly identified as being linear and a sequential processor, while the right hemisphere is a parallel processor. The left brain provides our individuality, while the right brain connects us with the collective whole and consciousness of the universe. Dr. Taylor offers the 4-character framework that identifies a left and right-thinking brain and a left and right emotional brain. By utilizing all 4 characters, she proposes whole-brain living as a way to bring about peace. It is important to note that the left and right brains do not function in isolation. In the 70s and 80s, our society went overboard with split-brain studies and right/left brain comparisons, with schools establishing curricula based on these differences. But modern technology has confirmed that both hemispheres are actively participating at all times.
 
Character 1- Left Thinking
This character perceives and processes information according to these attributes: serial processor, verbal, thinks in language, linear, past/future based, analytical, detail-orientated, finds differences, judgmental, punctual, individual, concise, fixed, focus is on me, busy, conscious, structure/order. This character is not always the friendliest or the best self; it often wants to control and conquer the day. While character 1 is effective in leadership, it is also highly critical of its own performance and comparing itself to others. Rules are to be followed and order is necessary.
 
Character 4- Right Thinking
This character perceives and processes information according to these attributes: parallel processor, nonverbal, thinks in pictures, experiential, present moment-based, kinesthetic/body, wholistic big picture, finds similarities, compassionate, lost in the flow of time, collective, flexible/resilient, open to possibilities, focus is on WE, available, unconscious, fluid/flow. This character is the authentic self and the energy within which we exist. It is the part of our brain that is a spiritual being having a physical experience. Studies have found that while meditating or praying, the left-brain centers become silent. Choosing to bring your mind to the present moment and embody a deep sense of gratitude can bring you in touch with your character 4. By learning to set our intention, we can choose to change the way that energy flows. Multiple details can be juggled at the same time, without being paralyzed by fear or a feeling of being overwhelmed. There is no judgement, simply the wonder of life. Children are often more comfortable with their character 4 than adults.
 
Each moment, information is entering your emotional brain. You are being asked “Am I safe?”  and your amygdalae have to make an automatic threat assessment based on how something feels. The left brain uses the wisdom of your past and sounds the internal alarm if there is a threat. The right brain stays in the moment and does not compare to the past. There are two different emotional responses done simultaneously by each side of your brain. Fear is often triggered by the present moment right brain, while anxiety can also be triggered by an experience or trauma from the past. Both emotional characters can throw a fit at any time because our emotional systems never mature. Cell bodies of our emotional brains are present at birth, while the cell bodies of our thinking characters have moved to the cortex when we were born but then take years to interconnect and fully develop.
 
Character 2- Left Emotion
This character perceives and processes information according to these attributes: constricted, rigid, cautious, fear-based, stern, loves conditionally, doubts, bullies, righteous, manipulates, tried-and-true, independent, selfish, critical, superior/inferior, right/wrong, good/bad. This character often is key to one’s physical and mental well-being. Character 2 needs to filter out immediate danger and help us focus our attention. By focusing on the external world, we end up being suspicious and dissatisfied. Some of our deepest emotions exist in Character 2. If you are feeling unappreciated, undervalued, unwanted, or unworthy, your character 2 is activated. While many of these traits are negative, the core of this behavior is due to pain and fear. When you see someone acting like a bully, seeking revenge, being belligerent, using sarcastic humor, or purposely trying to provoke you, then their character 2 is on public display.
 
Character 3- Right Emotion
This character perceives and processes information according to these attributes: expansive, open, risk-taking, fearless, friendly, loves unconditionally, trusts, supports, grateful, goes with the flow, creative, collective, sharing, kind, equality, and contextual. This character sees everything as interconnected and evaluates the bigger picture. To activate this character, feel a deep sense of gratitude, do something fun and be messy. Joy is the underlying feeling. Kids embrace this character while playing on the playground.
 
Dr. Taylor proposes you can learn to know which character is engaged and make conscious choices about who and how we want to be.  The 4 characters become familiar with one another and create healthy relationships among themselves. She created an acronym to help remember the steps of the B.R.A.I.N. huddle for the 4 characters. B is for breathe (pause button), R is for recognize (which is running in the present moment), A is for appreciate (listen to all 4), I is for Inquire (invite all 4 and strategize), N is for navigate (all 4 bring their best game). There are benefits to having a B.R.A.I.N, huddle, which include pushing the pause button, encouraging all 4 characters to voice their opinion, and knowing that a decision was based on the support of all 4 characters. With more experience you can see how the 4 characters play out in the lives of those around you, you can use it as a tool for quick and precise communication, and personal reflection can lead to positive change. With practice when we run a circuit by choice, it becomes stronger. The B.R.A.I.N, huddle can also be beneficial for resetting a connection with others during conflict or rescuing yourself in a challenging moment.
 
To help understand each of the 4 characters, Dr. Taylor uses analogies and modern topics in society. She explains what each character would title this book, what they might say after reading this book, and provides a message to each of your characters. She also relates each character at work and each character at the beach. The examples are easy to follow and there are personal reflection questions after each character description. Each character is connected to the body in how they would manage an illness, fitness, diet, and dieting. All are described as to how they relate to medical professionals and how they age. Then, each character is characterized for their connection with others. Each character is discussed for their role in romantic relationships, partner patterns, and when a relationship goes bad. Dr. Taylor takes the reader through the 4 character’s role in addiction and recovery. She describes her own addiction to tobacco and draws connections between the power of the B.R.A.I.N. huddle, hero’s journey, and 12 step programs. Finally, she looks at the influence of technology over the last 100 years. She explores the 4 characters for the GI generation, Silent generation, Baby boomers, Generation X, Millennials, Generation Z, and Alpha generation.
 
While you may have a dominant character, each of our 4 characters show up in different situations. You are not bound to your past. Everyone has the power to train their brain to easily shift between the characters and build new neural connections. She truly believes that if you are open to the 4 characters, you will have the power to influence your life in a positive way. She goes on to offer several suggestions on how to practice whole-brain living. Dr. Taylor has done her best to make sure readers do not fall deaf to the message that we all are perfect, whole, and beautiful beings. She believes there are two beautiful hemispheres that process information in their own unique way, but by bringing them together into whole-brain living there is a road map to both a deep inner peace and peace in the world. Her first TED talk was about her, but now her message is about you. According to Dr. Taylor, “You have the power to choose, moment to moment, who and how you want to be in the world… The more time you spend choosing to run the deep inner peace circuitry of your right hemisphere, the more peace you will project into the world and the more peaceful our planet will be. And I still think that’s an idea worth spreading.”
 
Other Related Resources
TED Talk- My Stroke of insight/Jill Bolte Taylor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU

My Stroke of Insight Website
http://www.mystrokeofinsight.com/

Whole Brain Living with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor/ The You-est YOU Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LisJ6vFwEk

Neuro Movement Revolution Podcast: Whole Brain Living with Jill Bolte Taylor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aExhhx12pY

The Secret to Using Your Whole Brain with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor & Jim Kwik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwwC0Vi3FrU

Learn the Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our LIfe/ Dr Jill Bolte Taylor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhOeaxfdPg4

Good Life Project- Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor/ Whole Brain Living
https://www.goodlifeproject.com/podcast/dr-jill-bolte-taylor-whole-brain-living/

Psychological Concepts and Figures
Carl Jung
Michael Gazzaniga
Roger Sperry
 
Addiction
Amygdala
Archetypes
Attachment
Brain stem
Collective unconscious
Corpus callosum
Egocentric
Fast-track pain fibers
Hemisphere
Hippocampus
Intelligence
Limbic system
Motor cortex 
Multiple personality disorder
Myer-Briggs type indicator 
Nature v. nurture
Neuroanatomy
Neurogenesis 
Neuroplasticity
Parietal lobe
Personality 
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Schizophrenia
Scientific method 
Slow-track pain fibers
Split-brain surgery
Stroke
 

The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Birth of Personality Testing
Author: Merve Emre
ASIN: B07B78TJ11
 
APA Style Citation
Emre, M. (2018). The personality brokers: The strange history of Myers-Briggs and the birth of personality testing. Toronto, ON: Random House Canada.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B78TJ11/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
​

Book Description
Have you been asked to take a personality test to be matched to the ideal college roommate or perfect summer job? If so, perhaps you have taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). But what exactly is this test and should you believe its results? Marve Emre, author of The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Birth of Personality Testing takes the reader on a journey to discover the history of the test and its authors Katharine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers.
 
Katharine was a self-reflective and intelligent young child. At a young age she attended college and met her husband Leyman Briggs. Once upon graduating, they lived in the Washington D.C. area and started their family. Katharine began her experiments and personality testing on her only daughter Isabel. Her living room became a laboratory for baby training. Soon she used her methods on neighborhood children and family acquaintances as well. Her daughter Isabel was a bright young child, just like her mother. Writing under a pseudonym, she wrote a checklist for transforming any child into an obedient and curious one.
 
While in college, Isabel met Clarence “Chief” Myers. Isabel quickly fell in love and they were engaged. They kept their engagement secret, which was scandalous and provided a divide with her mother. Upon President Wilson declaring war on Germany, Chief left college and joined the army. They were married June of 1918 and Chief encouraged her to pursue her passions. During WWI, Isabel recognized that there should be a division of labor so everybody works but at the job fit for them. This would become the goal of the MBTI, which promised to match workers to the jobs they were best suited for based on their needs. Isabel titled her first and only book Gifts Differing. When Chief returned, they moved to Philadelphia so he could attend law school. After Chief was fired from his teaching assistance position, she moved back home with her parents to save money. It was at just the right time; her mother was struggling with depression.
 
Katharine was obsessed with Carl Jung and that is not being dramatic. After ordering his book Psychological Types, she spent the next five years contemplating life and classifying all of her friends and family. His book became her Bible. Jung, the man from Zurich, was her personal God on earth. She wanted to bring Jung’s theories to the masses. She wrote another magazine article titled, “Meet Yourself: How to Use the Personality Paintbox.” It provided sixteen ways to grow from infancy to maturity. Later she created a questionnaire, but first she started with a 3x5 index cards method. If the reader recognized a description on a card, they would move it to the top of the table, only to be replaced if something else spoke to them more strongly. Self-discovery became accessible and even fun! Katharine was consumed and wanted to know more. She wrote a letter to Jung, asking more about intuition. Before Isabel returned home to her husband, Katharine shared her notes on type and child-rearing and encouraged her to use type language to improve her marriage.
 
Katharine turned to dream analysis. She was known for documenting her husband’s dreams when he awoke on her 3x5 cards. She also started a dream study club to analyze women in the neighborhood. She did not think of ethical concerns, which would be drafted two decades later by the APA.  Katharine analyzed other people's dreams and sought Jung's opinion.
 
In 1925, Henry Murray and Jung spent three weeks sailing Lake Zurich talking about life and women. Murray fell in love with Christina Morgan and took her to meet Jung. Once hypnotized, her inner self appeared to Jung in images rather than language.  Eventually, Murray was prompted to create images rather than ask for images when testing personality. Morgan was a skilled artist and created 19 original pictures. Subjects were handed a card and allowed to examine it for 20 seconds before being asked to name the main character. Most subjects then told developed stories. Morgan was the co-creator of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), but was never given credit. Murray went on to be the director of Harvard Psychological Clinic and became the public image of American personality psychology.
 
Both Murray and the Briggs family contributed to WWII and spent time trying to type Adolf Hitler’s personality. Murray was approached by the Office of Strategic Services (OCC) to analyze Hitler from his biography, political speeches, and classified reports. While it was fraught with speculation, Murray felt it was his patriotic duty and essential to the war effort. Katharine was fascinated by Hitler and her husband was asked to join a special advisory committee on the atomic bomb. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Isabel used her mother’s materials to create a questionnaire to match people’s different gifts to different professions. She called her device form A and insisted on putting her mother’s last name first- Briggs Myers Type Indicator.
 
Isabel started to work on her own indicator and was convinced to study normal behavior rather than the abnormal. In 1943, Isabel debuted her finished indicator, but not with her mother’s approval. Katharine did not believe it was necessary to have a questionnaire, when only simple observation was needed. But Isabel wanted the indicator to move on to the masses. The test now had 117 questions and offered two answer options.
 
The first request for the MBTI was from the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), led by Murray. They were interested in matching spies to the secret missions that best suited their personalities. The use of Isabel’s indicator meant she now played a role in the war effort. In the 1950’s Isabel’s fortunes rose along with capitalism, but her mother’s dementia was also developing. Isabel sent a letter to Jung sharing form C. Jung had his secretary respond warmly that the type indicator would be helpful to the future of type theory. He died shortly after. Isabel’s clients grew to some of the largest utility and insurance companies in the US. As she became more confident in the indicator, its influence began to spread more. Soon she was using it for admission to medical school. By 1954, she had typed over 5,000 medical students from 45 schools.
 
Isabel attended the first national conference on personality measurement in 1960.  She was not well liked by many members of the ETS staff. However, she was under the wing of president and founder of ETS Henry Chauncey, who was known for administering the SAT to Army and Navy reserve officers and then college admissions. Chauncey wanted to find the test that could do what the SAT did for cognitive testing. He released a memo called “Why the MBTI Seems Promising” with six practical reasons and made several changes to the indicator. First, he had Isabel change the last names so it would not be called BM. He also revised the test and recalibrated the answer keys. Then he switched intuition to N rather than I so as not to get mixed up with introversion. Chauncey’s lengthening and strengthening of the indicator turned the newly debuted form D into a questionnaire of 250 items. He also had the power of the computer, which made it possible to score tests at a much faster rate and collect data. Throughout the early 60s ETS worked to check the validity of each test item.
 
Isabel was hired as a consultant by ETS. For the first five years, she refused to share the answer keys with the statisticians. She thought validating each question was only a delay. During her time at ETS, she had several handlers throughout the transition to form E and F. However, her most challenging mentor was Lawrence Stricker. He was only 27 years-old and younger than her kids when he partnered with her. He prepared a secret document to be provided to the research department that outlined the major problems with the MBTI. Systematically he dismantled her indicator. Isabel was shaken, but returned to ETS being careful to reveal her true feelings. As the ability of validating the MBTI grew more and more impossible, Chauncey was still unwilling to give up. Instead, he shifted his attention to what the test could do without being valid. He believed it had a simple systematic language that any layman could identify with to help better understand their expressed preferences.
 
Isabel’s relationship with ETS was fracturing and she experienced several personal struggles, including her mother’s health declining and both of her children going through a divorce. She had also never asked for royalties on the thousands of tests ETS was selling. It was the mid 60’s when the writing on the wall became clear and ETS had to move on from Isabel and the MBTI. They had invested too much money in the validation and sales were below expectation. But Isabel was hard to shake; she had one last year with ETS. She turned her attention to the nursing field and went out west.
 
In 1968, Katharine died in Philadelphia at the age of 93. Her death, spurred 70-year-old Isabel into action. She spent the next 12 years hoping to preserve the family creation. That year she met Mary Hawley McCaulley, a psychologist at the University of Florida. Mary wanted a test to administer to multiple people that could be scored quickly. She discovered the MBTI in an ETS catalog and sent for a copy. She was skeptical at first, but soon recognized how much her patients reacted to their results. Mary met Isabel and quickly earned her trust. Isabel offered her the scoring key and made copies of the special keys. When Mary returned to Florida, she was determined to start a research center for type. Isabel would often travel to see Mary and help her sort the data. They called the joint venture the “typology laboratory” and would attend conferences together. Over the next decade they gathered 30,000 answer sheets from couples and families. Their hope was to one day create guidelines for couples of all type combinations. By the mid 70s their lab had become a leading center for marriage counseling in the state.
 
When Isabel was 75-years- old, she discovered her daughter dead on the bathroom floor after a surgery. She had lost her mother a few years earlier. It was then that her cancer came back. It was first in her lymph nodes when she was 56, but now it was in her right arm and elbow. Soon it spread to every organ and she was given a year to live. ETS had dismissed her as a consultant in the 60’s, but now they were ending publishing the test altogether. After her daughter’s death, it was Mary’s dedication to type that pushed Isabel. Since she was not an authentic psychologist, she feared the MTBI would die with her. She made it her final mission to find another publisher for her indicator.
 
It was Mary that reached out to Consulting Psychologist Press (CPP) as a last resort. The owners were businessmen and agreed under several conditions. First, the test had to be shortened to be more manageable. Second, Isabel must edit her type descriptions to be more friendly. Finally, she had to give them full aesthetic control. They wanted to make the test more attractive and easier to read. In 1975, Isabel agreed and signed control of the MBTI over to CPP. Soon CPP introduced a self-scoring form G. Her impending death gave up her control, but it also made the test shorter and more appealing to meet the masses.
 
Isabel died on May 5th, 1980 surrounded by her family. The story goes that one of her grandchildren misquoted a favorite line of poetry, to which Isabel drew a breath and corrected him before dying. Later she was cremated and her husband spread her and her daughter’s ashes in the wind. The Center for Applications of Psychological Type (CAPT), a nonprofit research center Isabel and Mary co-founded just before she died is where Isabel’s letters, diaries, and forms A-M are stored. The staff is very protective of her image. In order to receive access to materials, the author had to go through a re-education program for $2,000 and a four-day accreditation session. There were three rules needed to speak type fluently. First, you had to memorize the history of type. Second, you must not refer to the type indicator as a test.  There were no better or worse types. Each of the 16 types were equal and had strengths and weaknesses.  Third, you had to think of personality as innate and fixed. The MBTI became the most popular personality inventory in the world. For those born since the 80s you have probably been introduced to the MBTI at some point: applying to college, applying for a job, office furniture, or even through the American Bar Association. Many assumed that it was two male psychologists that created the indictor. Few know that it was really a mother-daughter team, not trained in psychology that changed the field of personality psychology.
 
Other Related Resources
Author’s Websitehttps://www.merveemre.com/paraliterary
Psychological Concepts and Figures
Anna Freud
Carl Gustav Jung
Charles Darwin
Emil Kraepelin 
Erik Erikson
Gordon Allport
Henry Murray
Ivan Pavlov
John B Watson
Philip Zimbardo 
Sigmund Freud
Stanley Milgram
William James
 
American Psychological Association 
Barnum effect
Behaviorist theories
Bimodality 
Confounding variables 
Creativity 
Cross-sectional research
Culture
Depression
Dream analysis
Empirical approach
Ethical concerns
Eugenics
Experimental design
Genius
Happiness and well-being
Hypnosis
Identity 
Industrial psychology
Innate
IQ 
Laissez-faire parenting
Libido
Longitudinal research 
Natural selection
Nature vs nurture
Obedience 
Percentile ranking
Persona
Personality assessment
Projection
Psychoanalysis
Psychometrics
Reliability
Rorschach inkblot
Schema
Scientific method
Self-actualization
Self-discovery
Self-report
Statistical significance, p values
Stereotypes 
T tests
Tabula rasa
Temperaments
Test-retest reliability 
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) 
Transference 
Type theory
Unconscious 
Validity 

The 57 Bus
Author:  Dashka Slater
ISBN:  9780374303259
 
APA Style Citation
Slater, D.  (2017).  The 57 bus. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/57-Bus-Story-Teenagers-Changed/dp/0374303231
​

​Book Description
Sasha and Richard were teenagers from Oakland, California trying to find themselves in the complicated world of identity, sexuality, friendships, school pressures, and family life.  This book is based on interviews conducted by author Dashka Slater with the individuals involved in an event that would change the lives of Sasha and Richard, their families and friends, and random strangers on the 57 bus that day forever.
 
Sasha was a quirky teenager who loved languages, communism, self-created games, ska-pop-punk bands, and public transport. Sasha was a brilliant academic who attended a small private high school in Oakland. Sasha had recently come out as agender and used the pronouns, they, them, and their. They wore a daily uniform of vest and skirts, bow ties and often top hats, enjoying this gender mash-up.  While Sasha's parents worried about whether they would be accepted, Sasha had a tight-knit group of friends at school and excelled in their classes.
 
Richard attended Oakland High School, which had a diverse population from the many different ethnic neighborhoods in the area. Richard sometimes left school in the middle of the day but maintained a good relationship with the school's truancy officer, Kaprice Wilson. The latter served as a surrogate mother to many of the school's toughest students. Richard asked to be on her caseload and wanted to meet her expectations, and often spent passing periods with other students in her office. Richard's mother was loving but often worked long hours to make ends meet and had not had a chance to finish high school after becoming pregnant at 14. In addition, Richard spent time in a juvenile detention center after he and some of his friends got into a fight on a trip to the beach.  Oakland was a dangerous city, and Richard knew many people who were sent to prison or shot due to the violence in the city.  
 
Both Sasha and Richard rode the 57 bus home after school on a regular basis. Even though Sasha had to make two transfers, they did not care because they were fascinated with public transport.  Sasha often read or did homework during the trip.  One afternoon they had dozed off while reading. Richard and his cousin Jamal were riding the same bus that day.  Jamal handed Richard a lighter after noticing Sasha sleeping and commented saying, "Look at this dude." Sasha was in their usual gear with a gauzy skirt, and Richard, as a prank, held the lighter to the bottom of the skirt. Much to his surprise, the skirt ignited and burst into flames. Richard and Jamal jumped from the bus at the next stop, and some other riders were able to extinguish the flames, but Sasha's legs were badly burned. They had to spend weeks in a burn unit, enduring multiple painful surgeries to graft skin back onto their injured legs. 
 
In his interview with police Richard, stated, "I wouldn't say that I hate gay people, but I am very homophobic." With that statement, Richard was charged with a hate crime and charged as an adult. There was an outpouring of support for Sasha at her school and in the community, and those who were close to Richard were confused as this did not seem to be the actions of the person they knew. Richard went first to the Alameda County Juvenile Hall and seemed to do well there with a lack of distraction and strict schedules. Richard was a 16- year-old junior in high school but was tried as an adult because of his prior record, the identification of this act as a hate crime, and what some saw as a lack of remorse. Richard had written a letter of apology to Sasha and her parents, but they did not receive the letter until years later because of ongoing litigation with the case. Many also believe that race played a role in the harsh sentence applied to Richard's crime.  Each year 250,000 juveniles are tried as adults and lose the privilege of anonymity or the ability to serve their time in a juvenile detention center. Despite Sasha's parents' plea to treat Richard as a minor, they were unsuccessful. However, they did reach out to Richard's mother, who they knew was struggling just as they were. 
 
Eventually, Sasha was back in school and thriving. They were accepted to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  Richard was ultimately sentenced to five years in state prison. Those who knew Richard contend that this was not a hate crime, but a prank gone horribly wrong.  This tragic event speaks not only to the pain and suffering Sasha endured due to the terrible burns on their legs but about the everyday challenges that nonbinary individuals face.  It also speaks to the justice system's flaws that send juveniles into adult prisons rather than juvenile detention centers, often creating individuals who come of age not in a place geared toward rehabilitation but towards punishment. 
 
Other Related Resources
 
Dashka Slater: Author's website
https://www.dashkaslater.com
 
Transgender Resources GLADD
https://www.glaad.org/transgender/resources
 
Online transgender support groups
https://www.verywellmind.com/best-online-transgender-support-groups-4800840
 
The Trevor Project: Organization to support LGBTQ youth
https://www.thetrevorproject.org
 
Live Out Loud: LGBT Youth  Organizations
https://www.liveoutloud.info/resources/lgbt-youth-organizations/
 
IGLYO: Creating LGBTQ youth advocates
https://www.liveoutloud.info/resources/lgbt-youth-organizations/
 
ACLU Factsheet on minors in the legal system
https://www.verywellmind.com/best-online-transgender-support-groups-4800840
 
The Juvenile Justice System
https://www.nap.edu/read/9747/chapter/7
 
Psychological Concepts and Figures
Agender
Cisgender
Discrimination
Gender fluid
Stereotyping
Transgender