Lesson plan
Eight ways to start a conversation
Ready-to-use plans for 15–30 minutes. Make a prediction, play, compare the class pattern and ask why.
0120 minutes
Automatic reading
Stroop
What students see
A colour word appears in coloured ink. Students name the ink colour, even when the word says something else.
What usually happens
Correct responses are often slower when the word and ink disagree. Some students may show a smaller effect, or none in a short run.
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Lesson plan
- 3 min · Predict whether matching or mismatched words will be harder.
- 5 min · Practise, then complete one Stroop run on each device.
- 5 min · Compare the two conditions and the distribution of extra time.
- 7 min · Discuss the effect and propose a fair follow-up.
Discuss with your class
- Why can a word distract us when we are trying to ignore it?
- What would change if the words were in a language we could not read?
- How could we separate a real effect from mistakes or device delay?
The science, in plain words
Reading a familiar word happens so readily that it can compete with naming its ink. Comparing matching and mismatched trials within the same person helps reveal this interference. This is a browser demonstration of Stroop’s classic experiment, not the original procedure.
Read the research
Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions.0220 minutes
Sleep, caffeine & attention
Reaction time
What students see
Students wait for a signal, then tap as quickly as they can. The activity records several responses.
What usually happens
Reaction times vary between taps and between students. A few unusually slow or early taps can change an average.
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Lesson plan
- 3 min · Predict why the same person might respond at different speeds.
- 5 min · Complete the reaction-time activity with the phone held steadily.
- 5 min · Compare the class median, fastest result and spread.
- 7 min · Design a study of sleep or caffeine using existing habits; no change in either is needed.
Discuss with your class
- Could phone hardware explain some of the fastest and slowest results?
- Why is one fast tap less informative than several taps?
- What would we need to measure before blaming sleep or caffeine?
The science, in plain words
Reaction time combines seeing a signal, preparing a response and moving a finger. Sleep-loss research finds effects on attention, especially lapses. Our short activity is not a sleep or caffeine experiment: a class correlation would still need controls.
Read the research
Lim, J., & Dinges, D. F. (2010). A meta-analysis of the impact of short-term sleep deprivation on cognitive variables.0320 minutes
Memory span & chunking
Number memory
What students see
A string of digits appears briefly, then disappears. Students type the digits back in order as strings get longer.
What usually happens
Errors become more common with longer strings. Students report different strategies, including repetition and grouping.
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Lesson plan
- 3 min · Predict how many digits you could recall in order.
- 5 min · Complete a number-memory run without writing digits down.
- 5 min · Look at the spread of memory spans and collect strategy ideas.
- 7 min · Discuss chunking and plan a controlled comparison of strategies.
Discuss with your class
- Does remembering 2026 feel like remembering four separate digits?
- How would writing digits down change the thing we are measuring?
- Could a familiar number make one trial easier than another?
The science, in plain words
Short-term recall has limits, but a “chunk” can hold more than one digit when it has a familiar meaning. Miller’s classic paper explored this idea. Its famous seven is not a fixed limit for every person or every task.
Read the research
Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information.0430 minutes
Biases & everyday judgments
Decision traps
What students see
Short decision puzzles ask students to choose an answer. Some questions probe framing, probability or confidence.
What usually happens
Quick, plausible answers can miss details. Students often disagree about which information mattered.
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Lesson plan
- 4 min · Predict when a quick judgment is useful and when it might fail.
- 10 min · Complete the decision-traps activity independently.
- 6 min · Compare the class scores and explain one surprising answer.
- 10 min · Rewrite a question or describe an everyday example of a bias.
Discuss with your class
- Which detail made an answer feel obvious?
- Would different wording change your choice?
- How could we test a bias without telling people what we expect?
The science, in plain words
People use mental shortcuts to make judgments with limited time and information. These shortcuts can be useful and can also produce predictable errors. A few puzzles illustrate these ideas; they do not establish that someone is a biased or unbiased person.
Read the research
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases.0525 minutes
Expressions & context
Emotion recognition
What students see
Students see face images and choose the expression label that best fits each image.
What usually happens
Some expressions are easier to label than others. Subtle expressions can invite several plausible interpretations.
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Lesson plan
- 4 min · Discuss what a face can and cannot tell us.
- 7 min · Complete the expression-labeling activity.
- 5 min · Compare class accuracy and talk about difficult examples.
- 9 min · Add a story or setting to an ambiguous expression and discuss how it changes the interpretation.
Discuss with your class
- How could context change the meaning of the same expression?
- What information is missing from a still image?
- Would using different faces or labels change our results?
The science, in plain words
Research has found shared patterns in how people recognize posed expressions across cultures. That does not make a facial expression a direct reading of an inner feeling. Our task measures agreement with image labels, not empathy or knowledge of another person’s mind.
Read the research
Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1971). Constants across cultures in the face and emotion.0620 minutes
Self-control & stopping
Go/no-go test
What students see
Students tap for a go signal and withhold the tap for a no-go signal. Repeated tapping makes stopping feel different.
What usually happens
Some students tap when they should hold back; others miss a go signal. Speed and accuracy can pull in different directions.
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Lesson plan
- 3 min · Predict which will be harder: tapping or stopping a tap.
- 5 min · Practise and complete the go/no-go activity.
- 5 min · Compare correct go responses with correct no-go responses.
- 7 min · Discuss habits, errors and a fair way to change the task.
Discuss with your class
- Why does stopping feel harder after many go signals?
- Could someone get all no-go trials right by never tapping?
- How would making the no-go signal more common affect the task?
The science, in plain words
Go/no-go tasks study responding to one signal while withholding a response to another. They involve attention and task rules as well as inhibition. Research shows that changing the task changes what it demands; a short score is not a general measure of someone’s self-control.
Read the research
Simmonds, D. J., Pekar, J. J., & Mostofsky, S. H. (2008). Meta-analysis of Go/No-go tasks demonstrating that fMRI activation associated with response inhibition is task-dependent.0725 minutes
Spatial reasoning
Mental rotation
What students see
Students compare shapes at different orientations and decide whether they are the same shape or a mirror image.
What usually happens
Larger rotations often take more thought. Some students imagine turning the object, while others compare features.
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Lesson plan
- 4 min · Try mentally turning an object and describe your strategy.
- 7 min · Complete the mental-rotation activity.
- 5 min · Compare class accuracy and discuss the hardest orientations.
- 9 min · Design a comparison of angle, strategy or practice.
Discuss with your class
- Did you imagine movement or compare individual parts?
- Why might a mirror image be harder to rule out?
- What would a slower but more accurate response tell us?
The science, in plain words
In the classic mental-rotation experiment, response time increased with the angle between objects. This supported the idea of a mental turning process. Our browser shapes and short run differ from that experiment, and students may use more than one strategy.
Read the research
Shepard, R. N., & Metzler, J. (1971). Mental rotation of three-dimensional objects.0815 minutes
A drawing warm-up
Perfect circle
What students see
Students draw a freehand circle on a screen. The game describes the roundness of the completed shape.
What usually happens
Few drawings are perfectly round. Drawing speed, practice and finger or mouse control all change the shape.
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Lesson plan
- 2 min · Predict what makes a circle easy or hard to draw.
- 3 min · Draw a circle in the activity.
- 4 min · Compare the class distribution and describe different drawing strategies.
- 6 min · Discuss how to test a speed-versus-precision idea fairly.
Discuss with your class
- Would a mouse and a finger produce comparable results?
- What might change if we drew more slowly?
- How could we measure improvement without confusing it with luck?
The science, in plain words
Movement research studies how speed, precision and task demands interact. Fitts’s classic work used aimed movements, not freehand circles. This game is a warm-up for thinking about motor control and measurement; its roundness score is not a validated psychological test.
Read the research
Fitts, P. M. (1954). The information capacity of the human motor system in controlling the amplitude of movement.