What are some tangible items that represent psychology?
September 28, 2015 1:16 PM Subscribe
I'm part of a psychology department at a very small college. We primarily use a couple of classrooms, which each have one wall filled with built-in cabinets and some shelves. They've remained pretty much empty since they were installed a few years ago. It just looks boring, and I want to put things there. Help?
The shelves are adjustable, so smaller or larger things would work. They can't be incredibly valuable, to deter someone walking off with them. If they look interesting or represent psychology in some way, that would be a bonus. I've thought about a phrenology head model, or a toy rat/maze, or a mini-bobo doll. We've got old versions of psych test kits from the 70s that have some outdated tests I might can display. I'd love to hear some other ideas.
The shelves are adjustable, so smaller or larger things would work. They can't be incredibly valuable, to deter someone walking off with them. If they look interesting or represent psychology in some way, that would be a bonus. I've thought about a phrenology head model, or a toy rat/maze, or a mini-bobo doll. We've got old versions of psych test kits from the 70s that have some outdated tests I might can display. I'd love to hear some other ideas.
Best answer: Maybe a little oblique, but how about a short glass and a tall glass to symbolize Conservation (a la Piaget)?
An inkblot card is really good, though.
posted by mhum at 1:36 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
An inkblot card is really good, though.
posted by mhum at 1:36 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
I keep a nice wooden Towers of Hanoi model on my desk as a nod to my psych-major past. Bonus, it's fun to fiddle with on boring conference calls.
posted by Stacey at 1:38 PM on September 28, 2015
posted by Stacey at 1:38 PM on September 28, 2015
Best answer: You can make a very simple and inexpensive art/display stand (for flat things) out of three small pieces of wood. If you make a bunch of these, you can then print pretty infographics, art, or helpful charts/study aids on card stock and invite students to look at them and/or take one. Or, you could ask students to contribute things.
Every idea I'm having for a 3-D psychology-relevant object to display is either expensive/beautiful, or horribly disturbing (e.g. cloth mother/wire mother; pharmaceutical bottle; rat experiment paraphernalia).
posted by amtho at 1:39 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Every idea I'm having for a 3-D psychology-relevant object to display is either expensive/beautiful, or horribly disturbing (e.g. cloth mother/wire mother; pharmaceutical bottle; rat experiment paraphernalia).
posted by amtho at 1:39 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Pieces from a standardized testing kit. Like blocks from a Wechsler of some flavor. You could also add photos or paintings of great figures in psychology, like the Freuds (Anna and Sigmund), Skinner, Sandra Bem, Piaget, etc.
posted by goggie at 1:41 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by goggie at 1:41 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: OH ALSO I have never been able to come up with an excuse to buy myself the plushie statistical distributions from this Etsy site but in your position I might consider it.
Maybe a nice colorful framed fMRI or DTI image if your department does any of that sort of work?
posted by Stacey at 1:41 PM on September 28, 2015 [5 favorites]
Maybe a nice colorful framed fMRI or DTI image if your department does any of that sort of work?
posted by Stacey at 1:41 PM on September 28, 2015 [5 favorites]
Oh, and a model of a brain would be cool too.
posted by goggie at 1:41 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by goggie at 1:41 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
A response box.
posted by srboisvert at 1:46 PM on September 28, 2015
posted by srboisvert at 1:46 PM on September 28, 2015
Nautilus shell.
posted by ostranenie at 1:47 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ostranenie at 1:47 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Brains! In jars, labelled "Abbienormal".....sorry, Halloween is coming and I am thinking of Young Frankenstein.
posted by mermayd at 1:55 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by mermayd at 1:55 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Do faculty in your department have published books? You could print pictures of the covers, mount them on cardboard, and display those (I'd suggest displaying the books themselves, but it would be easy for someone to walk off with them).
posted by bibliotropic at 2:04 PM on September 28, 2015
posted by bibliotropic at 2:04 PM on September 28, 2015
A cigar!
posted by straw at 2:17 PM on September 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by straw at 2:17 PM on September 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
old DSM editions
posted by Jacen at 2:21 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Jacen at 2:21 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Couch? Pill bottle? (Sorry)
A sign from Asylum Avenue in Hartford?
ECT equipment?
Zener cards, or something showing the symbols?
Chart of depression screening questions?
Functional MRI scan?
posted by SemiSalt at 2:25 PM on September 28, 2015
A sign from Asylum Avenue in Hartford?
ECT equipment?
Zener cards, or something showing the symbols?
Chart of depression screening questions?
Functional MRI scan?
posted by SemiSalt at 2:25 PM on September 28, 2015
Prints or postcards of surrealistic painters like Magritte or Delvaux.
posted by Leontine at 2:40 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Leontine at 2:40 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Bell jar.
posted by teremala at 2:56 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by teremala at 2:56 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Or, you could ask students to contribute things.
I like this idea. Can you ask students to bring in things? Might be a good way to break the ice in the first week of classes. I wonder if the crowd participation might deter theft a little. If people took items here and there, it wouldn't really matter so much since that would just guarantee that it's a continually changing display. (And since it's psychology and all, you could have a discussion on what got taken and why.)
posted by Beti at 3:10 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
I like this idea. Can you ask students to bring in things? Might be a good way to break the ice in the first week of classes. I wonder if the crowd participation might deter theft a little. If people took items here and there, it wouldn't really matter so much since that would just guarantee that it's a continually changing display. (And since it's psychology and all, you could have a discussion on what got taken and why.)
posted by Beti at 3:10 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Aren't there action figures for certain historical figures? I think an entire shelf dedicated to little mini figs of Freud would be delightful.
posted by Hermione Granger at 3:26 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Hermione Granger at 3:26 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
This plethora of treasures includes figurines for Freud and Jung!!
posted by Hermione Granger at 3:35 PM on September 28, 2015
posted by Hermione Granger at 3:35 PM on September 28, 2015
Psychologists have done commendable research. But some have done terrible, awful things. Perhaps a section could be devoted to acknowledging those unethical horrors (EG Stanford prison experiment, DSM classification of homosexuality as a disorder) to reinforce your students' moral compasses?
posted by JackBurden at 4:12 PM on September 28, 2015
posted by JackBurden at 4:12 PM on September 28, 2015
Brains! MRIs of brains. EEG or ECG brain scans. Brain pics.
Mirror shades for the Stanford prison experiment.
posted by irisclara at 4:24 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Mirror shades for the Stanford prison experiment.
posted by irisclara at 4:24 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
A dog figurine, sitting next to a bell.
posted by flourpot at 4:37 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by flourpot at 4:37 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Prints of the stylized cat drawings Louis Wain created during his stays at mental health institutions.
posted by ejs at 4:57 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ejs at 4:57 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Popular Science would have little illustrated vignettes about various topics, like this one from 1931 concerning a simple test gathering data about a person's aptitude for musical rhythm. If you could find a bunch like that and print them out enlarged and matted and framed, you could even have rotating exhibits where people might stop by as they pass to see what's new.
posted by XMLicious at 5:59 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by XMLicious at 5:59 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
A box of tissues.
posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit at 8:26 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit at 8:26 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Calipers, the size of a head
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:07 PM on September 28, 2015
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:07 PM on September 28, 2015
My mom is a retired AP psychology teacher, so she has quite the collection of psychology tchotchkes. She has the action figures, the Freudian Slippers, The Great Psychologists Finger Puppets, and Inflatable Scream, just to name a few.
The site I linked to has lots of cool psychology things. : )
posted by SisterHavana at 9:17 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
The site I linked to has lots of cool psychology things. : )
posted by SisterHavana at 9:17 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
A bell (Pavlov).
A mirror (Lacan).
A gold pocket watch (cheesy images of hypnotherapy).
posted by pheide at 10:01 PM on September 28, 2015
A mirror (Lacan).
A gold pocket watch (cheesy images of hypnotherapy).
posted by pheide at 10:01 PM on September 28, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks so much for these -- so many great ideas! We're mainly a teaching institution, so none of our own books, but we do have plenty of opportunities for students to consider ideas. Now I want to try to build wire and cloth mothers...
I marked a few as best, but really appreciate them all.
posted by bizzyb at 1:43 PM on September 29, 2015
I marked a few as best, but really appreciate them all.
posted by bizzyb at 1:43 PM on September 29, 2015
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posted by Emma May Smith at 1:29 PM on September 28, 2015 [2 favorites]