--- title: "PSYC 140 · Work better with people" publisher: Maestro College (Maestro Open) lessons: 35 source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/work-better-with-people full: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/work-better-with-people/llms-full.txt --- # Work better with people (PSYC 140) The psychology of people at work: motivation, influence, teams and what drives customer behavior. An introduction to psychology that explores core principles of human thought, behavior, and emotion, connecting key theories to real-world personal effectiveness, leadership, and professional success. ## Course objectives - Individual and group behavior - Motivation and performance - Leadership, communication, and psychological safety in organizations - Applying behavioral strategies in business - Biological, perceptual, and developmental foundations of behavior - Behavioral economics and the psychology of customer decisions ## Tutor instructions Teach psychology lightly as a general knowledge field. Don't try to analyze or do therapy to the students, they are not patient but Psychology students. ## Course teaching approach - Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution. - Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning. - Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks. - End with one fun closed question about the topic. ## Lessons ### Unit 1: Foundations of psychology and human behavior #### 1. Why psychology exists: explaining human behavior - Identify psychology as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes using Wundt's laboratory work - Distinguish scientific reasoning from intuition using hindsight bias examples - Apply biological, psychological, and social levels of explanation to a simple behavior case #### 2. The brain we are born with - Identify major brain structures using the Phineas Gage case - Distinguish the frontal lobe's role in impulse control and planning - Explain split-brain research and what it reveals about hemispheric specialization #### 3. Experiencing the world - Distinguish sensation from perception by explaining how identical sensory input can lead to different subjective experiences - Identify Gestalt principles in perceptual organization using visual examples - Distinguish top-down from bottom-up processing using perceptual examples and illusions #### 4. Attachment and emotional bonds - Identify attachment as an emotional bond between infant and caregiver - Distinguish secure from insecure attachment using Ainsworth's Strange Situation - Apply attachment patterns to later emotional regulation or relationships #### 5. How thinking changes over time - Describe Jean Piaget’s background and explain how his observational studies of children shaped his theory of cognitive development - Identify sensorimotor, preoperational, and concrete operational stages using object permanence and conservation tasks - Distinguish preoperational from concrete operational thinking based on responses to conservation problems #### 6. Emotion as adaptation - Identify emotions as evolved adaptive responses - Distinguish universal emotional expressions using Ekman's research - Apply emotional functions to modern social contexts, such as online communication, social media, and contemporary group interactions ### Unit 2: The invisible forces that shape us #### 7. The obedience trap - Based on Milgram's Obedience Experiment (1963) — explain how authority influences behavior #### 8. The power of the situation - Based on Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment (1971) — describe how context shapes moral decisions - Based on APA Ethical Guidelines - understand how participant protection evolved after Milgram and Zimbardo #### 9. The conformity effect - Based on Asch's Conformity Study (1951) — explain why people conform to group pressure #### 10. The bystander effect - Based on Darley & Latané's Bystander Experiment (1968) — describe diffusion of responsibility #### 11. The power of the crowd - Based on Le Bon's Crowd Psychology and Zimbardo's Deindividuation research — explain why anonymity changes behavior #### 12. Why we lie to ourselves - Based on Festinger's Cognitive Dissonance Theory (1957) — explain how we justify conflicting beliefs #### 13. Challenge: the invisible forces that shape us - Complete 6 rounds of quick challenges Teaching notes: Create a challenge-based lesson grounded in everything covered in this unit so far. Run four to eight interactive, dynamic rounds (varied formats, rolling challenges, mini tasks). Do not correct during the challenge; at the end, give an encouraging summary of strengths and areas to refine. ### Unit 3: Psychology for professional success #### 14. Fueling motivation - self-determination theory - According to Deci & Ryan's Self-Determination Theory (1985) and the Soma Puzzle Experiment, design a practical micro-intervention that satisfies Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness—proposing one concrete improvement for each that would measurably increase a developer's intrinsic motivation on a task. Teaching notes: Introduce Naomi as the character for this unit. Base Story: It's Naomi's first week as a marketing analyst. Her first big assignment is to create a weekly KPI report and dashboard for other teams. She's told to follow strict steps and use an old tool, and the only feedback she gets is "LGTM." No one explains who needs the report or how it will be used. She loses motivation and starts delaying the project by doing smaller, easier tasks instead. #### 15. Working hard or working right - goal-setting theory - Apply Locke & Latham's Goal-Setting Theory (1990) to convert a vague engineering objective into a challenging-but-attainable target, then express it in SMART form (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) with clear metrics. Teaching notes: Base story: In her second month on the job, Naomi is assigned to “make our sign-up funnel better—it’s not good enough.” She updates the tracking, cleans up the dashboard, and adjusts the campaign and landing-page messaging. At the check-in, her manager asks, “Is it done? Can I review it now?” Naomi isn’t sure she’s met the goal: there’s no clear deadline or measurable target, and some parts (like product UX changes) aren’t in her control. Naomi is working hard, but something doesn’t feel right. #### 16. Confidence reboot - self-efficacy - Craft a plan that includes mastery experience, vicarious modeling, receiving encouragement, managing negative emotions —grounded in Bandura's concept of self-efficacy (1977) to systematically rebuild an engineer's confidence after a public failure. Teaching notes: Base story: It’s Naomi’s third month in her new job. After two high-visibility mistakes—she accidentally launched a campaign with the wrong audience segment, and later shared a dashboard with an incorrect metric definition—Naomi loses confidence in her ability to own important work. She starts procrastinating on her main projects and sticks to safe, low-impact tasks. She begins thinking, “Maybe I’m just not the kind of person who can handle high-stakes work.” #### 17. Critique to catalyst - growth mindset - Using Dweck’s growth mindset research (2006), reframe self-talk into growth-oriented statements that emphasize effort, strategies, persistence, and help-seeking Teaching notes: Base story: In her fourth month on the job, Naomi submits a major proposal for a new reporting and measurement approach. The review comes back with 30 critical comments, including one that says, “This approach is fundamentally flawed.” Naomi immediately internalizes it as, “I’m not good at big-picture thinking.” She ruminates, avoids opening the document for two days, and considers switching to a role with less responsibility. #### 18. Taking the wheel - locus of control - Understand the influence of internal vs. external locus of control (Rotter, 1966) and its effect on success, and learn to sort workplace challenges into circles of Control, Influence, and Concern to form an effective action strategy. Teaching notes: Base Story: Ben, who started around the same time as Naomi, is struggling to complete his tickets. When Naomi asks if he needs help with a tough dependency blocker, he sighs and says, "It's pointless. My manager clearly doesn't like me; he gives me the hardest bugs. Plus, I have to leave early to take care of my kid and it means I have less time than others to make an impact. Honestly, I've just always been unlucky in my career." He sees his lack of progress as entirely due to external factors beyond his control. #### 19. Cooling the heat - ABCDE model - Using Ellis's REBT ABCDE, take an emotionally charged feedback event (A), name the automatic belief (B) and its consequence (C), then dispute (D) that belief to produce two evidence-based alternative appraisals (B′) and choose a constructive new response/effect (E). Teaching notes: Base Story: Naomi shares a plan and setup for a new paid ad campaign with a high budget. A senior teammate, Liam, comments: “This is overcomplicated and risky for this spend—why didn’t you use our standard campaign framework?” Naomi feels her face flush and her heart race. She immediately drafts a defensive, overly detailed, passive-aggressive reply, feeling attacked and disrespected—then pauses before sending it. #### 20. Speak up safely - psychological safety - Suggest ways to team leads to increases psychological safety during a team meeting, and how to deal with occasions where you don't feel safe, referencing Edmondson's pioneering work on team psychological safety (1999) to encourage voice, learning, and risk-taking. Teaching notes: Base Story: Fast forward — Naomi is 8 months into her job and has been doing well, and her flagship campaign is about to launch with a large budget behind it. In a team meeting, the lead proposes a risky last-minute change: rewriting the targeting and reallocating most of the spend within the next 24 hours, as a team “push.” Naomi believes this will create major problems for the launch. She has examples and data to support her concern, but notices no one else is speaking up. She thinks, “Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’ll look inexperienced if I question this. What if they think I’m not a team player?” She stays silent. #### 21. From fraud to fact - imposter syndrome - Applying Clance & Imes's (1978) reattribution principles, identify at least three personal imposter scripts and, for each, define two concrete counter-actions—an evidence check, and a normalization step (peer disclosure)—to shift attribution toward controllable skills and reduce imposter thoughts. Teaching notes: Base story: Naomi, now successful and appreciated at her company, is promoted to lead a major project and receives a significant raise. Despite these clear signs of success, she privately panics: “They made a mistake. I just got lucky. “Sooner or later they’ll realize I don’t actually deserve this”. She starts working extra hours in secret to compensate for what she believes is her inadequacy. #### 22. Challenge: psychology for professional success - Complete 6 rounds of quick challenges Teaching notes: Create a challenge-based lesson grounded in everything covered in this unit so far. Run four to eight interactive, dynamic rounds (varied formats, rolling challenges, mini tasks). Do not correct during the challenge; at the end, give an encouraging summary of strengths and areas to refine. ### Unit 4: The psychology behind customer behavior #### 23. Anchoring & framing effects - Based on Tversky & Kahneman (1974) — describe how anchors and framing shape judgment #### 24. Social influence in the digital age - Based on Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion (1984), identify persuasion techniques in modern media, focusing on social proof, scarcity, authority, and commitment/consistency. - Understand how persuasion techniques influence people’s choices, using concrete media examples. #### 25. Prospect theory and risk - Based on Kahneman & Tversky's Prospect Theory (1979) — explain how people irrationally evaluate gains and losses #### 26. The halo & horn effects - Based on Nisbett & Wilson's Halo Effect Study (1977) — explain how first impressions bias perception #### 27. The paradox of choice - Based on Schwartz's Paradox of Choice (2004) — explain how having more options can lead to decision paralysis and lower satisfaction #### 28. The power of storytelling - Based on Green & Brock's Narrative Transportation Theory (2000) — explain how stories reduce resistance to persuasion and increase emotional engagement #### 29. Why we overpay: pricing psychology - Based on Thaler's Endowment Effect (1980) — explain why people overvalue what they already own and how businesses use this in free trials and returns #### 30. Trust and familiarity - Describe how the mere exposure effect (Zajonc, 1968) builds familiarity and preference over time #### 31. Challenge: the psychology behind customer behavior - Complete 6 rounds of quick challenges Teaching notes: Create a challenge-based lesson grounded in everything covered in this unit so far. Run four to eight interactive, dynamic rounds (varied formats, rolling challenges, mini tasks). Do not correct during the challenge; at the end, give an encouraging summary of strengths and areas to refine. ### Unit 5: Business psychology summary #### 32. Wrap-up: foundations of psychology and human behavior - Applying core psychological concepts across brain, learning, emotion, personality, and development Teaching notes: ### Task * Design an interactive, challenge-driven lesson based on **Unit 1: Foundations of psychology and human behavior**. * Begin by calling the fetch-full-course-syllabus tool, then extract and synthesize the core ideas from Unit 1 to serve as the lesson's foundation. ### Challenge Requirements * Create a playful but rigorous challenge consisting of **8–10 sequential rounds**. * All rounds must exclusively use concepts from Unit 1, including: brain–behavior links, sensation vs. perception, learning and conditioning, attachment, cognitive development and Piaget. * Emphasize **application over recall** — learners should interpret scenarios, explain behaviors, connect theories, or choose appropriate psychological lenses. * Vary interaction styles (case analysis, concept-matching, developmental reasoning, integrative mini-scenarios). * Do not provide hints, feedback, or corrections during the rounds. * Conclude with a concise wrap-up highlighting how well the learner integrated biological, psychological, and social explanations of behavior. * Ensure the challenge reflects the introductory but conceptually rich level of Unit 1. #### 33. Wrap-up: the invisible forces that shape us - Applying social psychology experiments to real-world behavior and ethical reasoning Teaching notes: ### Task * Design an interactive, challenge-driven lesson based on **Unit 2: The invisible forces that shape us**. * Begin by calling the fetch-full-course-syllabus tool, then extract the most relevant experiments and theories from Unit 2. ### Challenge Requirements * Create **8–10 sequential challenge rounds**, each grounded in classic social psychology research from this unit. * All questions must relate exclusively to Unit 2 topics: obedience, situational power, conformity, bystander effect, crowd behavior and deindividuation, cognitive dissonance, and research ethics in psychological studies. * Use realistic social dilemmas, moral conflicts, and modern analogies (workplace, online platforms, crowds). * Mix formats such as scenario diagnosis, identifying dominant situational forces, predicting behavior, and ethical judgment calls. * Do not evaluate or correct responses during the challenge. * End with a wrap-up that reinforces how context and social pressure can override individual intentions — while emphasizing ethical awareness. * Keep difficulty aligned with learners who understand experiments but are now applying them critically. #### 34. Wrap-up: psychology for professional success - Applying motivational, cognitive, and emotional theories to professional scenarios Teaching notes: ### Task * Design an interactive, challenge-driven lesson based on **Unit 3: The psychology behind professional success**. * Begin by calling the fetch-full-course-syllabus tool, then identify key frameworks and tools used throughout Naomi’s story arc. ### Challenge Requirements * Build **8–10 sequential rounds** focused entirely on Unit 3 concepts. * Challenges must draw from: self-determination theory, goal-setting theory (SMART goals), self-efficacy, growth mindset, locus of control, the ABCDE model (REBT/CBT), psychological safety, and imposter syndrome. * Use workplace scenarios similar in tone and realism to the Naomi storyline, but introduce new characters or situations to avoid repetition. * Require learners to **design actions, choose interventions, or reframe thinking**, not just name theories. * Avoid feedback or scoring during the challenge rounds. * Conclude with a wrap-up highlighting strengths in translating psychology into practical, professional decision-making. * Match the applied, tool-oriented competency level expected in this unit. #### 35. Wrap-up: the psychology behind customer behavior - Identifying and mitigating cognitive biases in judgment and decision-making Teaching notes: Task * Design an interactive, challenge-driven lesson based on The psychology behind customer behavior. * Begin by extracting the central concepts and studies from this unit. ### Challenge Requirements * Build 8–10 sequential rounds focused entirely on this unit’s concepts. * Challenges must draw from: anchoring and framing, Cialdini’s persuasion principles in digital media, prospect theory (loss aversion), halo/horn effects, paradox of choice, narrative transportation (storytelling), endowment effect (pricing psychology), and mere exposure (trust and credibility). * Use decision scenarios involving pricing, marketing claims, product/UX design, trust-building, and customer research. * Require learners to predict likely customer choices, choose persuasion tactics, design nudges, or propose test designs, not just name concepts. * Avoid feedback or scoring during the challenge rounds. * Conclude with a wrap-up emphasizing evidence-based influence and practical debiasing habits. * Match the applied, decision-oriented competency level expected in this unit. ## How to use this document You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates. Start with lesson 1 unless the learner asks for a specific lesson. Keep track of which lesson you are on. ## When a lesson is done Teach one lesson at a time. A lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed for it; check each with a small task or question. When it is complete: 1. Say clearly: "Lesson N complete: ." (use the lesson's number and title). 2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned. 3. Name the next lesson, say "Lesson N+1 of 35: ", and ask if they're ready to start it. Start it only when they say yes. After the last lesson, congratulate them on finishing the course.