JoinAll Case Studies
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In keyword search, list the criteria you would like to find cases. Multiple criteria can be listed separated by commas (i.e. directed, high school)
Educational levels are defined as follows: Elementary, Middle, High School, College
Types of cases are defined as follows: Analysis/Issues, Clicker, Debate, Intimate Debate, Demonstration, Dilemma/Decision, Directed, Discussion, Interrupted, Jig-saw, Journal Article, Laboratory, Student Presentations, Mini-case, Problem-Based Learning, Public Hearing, Role-Play, Trial, Flipped, Game
By Jane P. Sheldon
In this case study, students read a conversation between “Lee” and “Sam” as they work together on a class-presentation assignment. Their conversation pertains to a published study investigating whether group drumming can reduce individuals’...
If You Could See Through My Eyes
By Andrew M. Petzold
This directed case study explores the topic of color vision and its variations as experienced in humans. The case begins with a review of visual transduction from photons to recognition within the nervous system. The focus then shifts to an examinati...
What Causes the “Guilty Look” in Dogs?
By Jennifer J. Templeton
This interrupted case study explores the factors that might cause the “guilty look” in dogs, including the dog’s performance of a misdeed and the owner’s response. The case engages students in the scientific method, from making observations a...
By Jody L. Vogelzang, Elizabeth L. MacQuillan, Janna E. Pacey, Geraldine J. Terry, Jeffery A. Trytko, Marie E. VanderKooi
This case study introduces “Rose” and “Michael,” a couple with infertility issues that may be related to Rose’s weight. The story details a visit to a pre-conception clinic and the struggle that Rose and Michael face in addressing underlyin...
By Cheuk Hin Li
This case study follows the struggles of "James" as he copes with extreme pain resulting from an automobile accident. Unable to manage his symptoms with over-the-counter drugs, James is prescribed oxycodone but fails to strictly follow the inst...
By Susan Nava-Whitehead, Kerri W. Augusto, Korryna A. Finkelstein, Shianna Cruz, Joel Clark
This interdisciplinary case study uses the format of a progressive disclosure to explore certain advances in biotechnology and evaluate them within the framework of societal needs, concerns and pressures. When faced with a heart valve transplan...
By Jane P. Sheldon, Diane R. Graves
This directed case study begins with an intentionally ambiguous story: Q suddenly realizes that it is time to relay a message to Z (another inhabitant of their home) to let Z know that it's time to produce some items and send them on to accomplices i...
By Andrew T. Johnson, Anna M. Jähn
This case study is about a German man named Fritz Jähn. Fritz was physically active in his youth and an achievement-striving individual who was academically and professionally accomplished. He distinguished himself as an anesthesiologist and a fathe...
By Jane P. Sheldon, Danielle Balaghi
This case study tells the story of Mo, an individual with social anxiety disorder who seeks mental health treatment. The purpose of this case is not to have students diagnose the central figure, but rather to help students gain insight into one way i...
By Joan-Beth Gow, Lisa A. Carpino
This case study introduces Megi, an active teenager who has recovered from anorexia nervosa. The method of progressive disclosure is used to take students back in time as Megi recalls the physical and psychological aspects of her illness and th...
By Amy B. Dounay, Lori L. Driscoll, Phoebe M. Blessing, Hallie M. Comfort, Joshua M. Mares
This interrupted case study explores the scientific, legal, and societal complexities of repurposing an illicit substance, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), also known as "Ecstasy" or "Molly," into a clinically accepted medicine for treating ...
By Jane P. Sheldon, Susana M. Peciña
This directed case study follows two college roommates, Darrell and Anthony, who have just returned to school after winter vacation. They share that their ageing fathers are concerned about their declining faculties and are amused by their fathers' e...
By Jamie S. Hughes
This case study challenges students to understand and apply a set of concepts from the domain of social psychology to an inflammatory article that was published in The Guardian. Students prepare by reading a chapter on prejudice and stereotyping and ...
By Andrew T. Johnson, Amanda R. Laurenceau
In the 1983 Big Eight Conference championship football game, Neil Harris deflected a pass with 32 seconds to go in a play that stopped the University of Oklahoma from scoring and clinched Nebraska's perfect 12-0 season, a third consecutive Big Eight ...
Abnormal Psychology in the Hundred Acre Wood
By Antoinette Miller
In 2000, Sara E. Shea and co-authors published "Pathology in the Hundred Acre Wood: A neurodevelopmental perspective on A.A. Milne" in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. That article gave provisional "diagnoses" to Christopher Robin and his co...
By Eric Ribbens
This autobiographical case study presents the story of Eric as he learns that he has a genetic eye disease, which progresses to the point that he becomes legally blind. The story is true and, in this respect, similar to another case by the same autho...
Under the Knife and Completely Aware
By Patrick R. Field, Gabrielle Gangemi, Taylor Kinsley
This case study is based on a newspaper article about the suicide of Sherman Sizemore shortly after he underwent an exploratory laparotomy (abdominal surgery). After his surgery, Sherman experienced symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress dis...
By Giselle A. McCallum, Annie Prud’homme-Genereux
This case study uses the example of ionic foot baths to examine how placebo treatments can affect our health and wellness. Inspired by a student’s real visit to a spa, the story begins with a description of the experience of an ionic foot bath, and...
A Social-Cognitive Exploration of Reactions to Leiby Kletzky's Abduction and Homicide
By Jamie G. McMinn, Dana S. Dunn
An eight-year-old boy, abducted while walking home from day camp, is killed and dismembered, and his alleged murderer, a member of the boy's community, is arrested. Students read details about the case with the goal of exploring how people have respo...
By Keith K. Schillo
This case explores the question of whether gender identity is determined strictly by genetics (nature) or social variables (nurture). It is based on a true story about a man who was raised as a girl and later rejected the female gender identity...
Mini Cases in Psychoactive Drugs and Their Effects on the Brain
By Darlene A. Mitrano
Designed for an upper-level psychology class titled Brain & Behavior, this series of mini-cases can be used in any undergraduate course that covers the major classes of commonly abused legal and illicit psychoactive drugs from a biological standp...
By Joan-Beth Gow, Susan Nava-Whitehead, Kerri W. Augusto
In this interdisciplinary case, students meet Josie, the main character, who suffers from a variety of symptoms. Students must grapple with the conflicting data presented, which ultimately leads them to a diagnosis of either porphyria or schizophreni...
By Kristen N. Hausmann, Karen M. Aguirre
This interdisciplinary case study introduces us to the Greens, a family with a recently diagnosed autistic child. Autism is one of several disorders grouped within the acronym ASD, or autism spectrum disorders. Autistic children have problems with co...
By Jennifer Feenstra
Two friends debate whether people leave their parking spaces faster if others are waiting. They decide to see if they can design a study to test their ideas. In this interrupted case study, students develop a research question and hypothesis an...
By Antoinette Miller
This series of mini cases focuses on language deficits (aphasias) and their likely organic causes (problems in specific brain areas). Students read one of the six cases, which are based on actual cases reported in the literature, and connect the symp...
Joe Joins the Circus (or Elephant Love)
By Jennifer Feenstra
In this interrupted case study, students cover concepts and terms related to classical and operant conditioning as they read about how "Joe," an animal trainer for a circus, trains the two elephants in his charge. Joe sets about his task using concep...
By Susan Nava-Whitehead, Joan-Beth Gow
This case study examines the Salem witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in the late 1600s. It is designed to provide students with an opportunity to analyze and critique data and help them understand the scientific method. Originally...
By Antoinette Miller
This series of mini cases focuses on the cortical areas associated with vision and visual perception. Each case depicts a breakdown in visual perception that may be traced to damage in an area or areas of the visual system and is based upon an actual...
Stereotype Threat and Recommendations for Overcoming It
By Robert W. Grossman, Selena Kim, Siu-Lu Tan, Thomas E. Ford
This case study uses an example of racism experienced by a Korean American student to explore the concept of stereotype threat and its impact on college classrooms and student performance. The case was designed for use with college faculty in teach t...
By Robert W. Grossman
This case uses an excerpt from the novel I Never Promised You a Rose Garden to teach students to recognize symptoms of mental illness. Students read the excerpt and then work in small groups of two to three to identify and label symptoms of mental il...
By Deborah Engelen-Eigles
This case examines a rare condition known as Body Integrity Identity Disorder, in which an individual has a persistent and consuming desire to become an amputee. Students apply Charles Horton Cooley’s theory of the "looking-glass self" to explore f...
Mini Cases in Movement Disorders
By Antoinette Miller
This collection of six short cases focuses on brain areas and neurotransmitters involved in the control of movement. Students are divided into working groups and given one or more of the case descriptions. Each scenario depicts a breakdown in the mot...
The Irresistible Costs of Impressing Others
By Jamie G. McMinn
Recent research indicates that people who boast to friends and those who are modest to strangers are less able to regulate their behaviors on other tasks. This case study presents a scenario in which four college roommates use different strategies to...
By Susan Behrens, Linda Carozza
This case study on clinical practice, preparation, and acumen follows the story of Emily, an intelligent, hard working, and motivated student who yet encounters difficulties in the clinical fieldwork component of her senior seminar. A follow-up secti...
War, Death, and Cognitive Dissonance
By Jamie G. McMinn
This case study explores cognitive dissonance theory, a theory proposed by psychologist Leon Festinger in 1956 to explain the tension that exists when peoples’ attitudes are incongruent with their behaviors. Students read a news article describing ...
By Sheila O’Brien Quinn
Using the story of death row inmate Charles Singleton, who developed paranoid schizophrenia while in prison awaiting execution, this case study explores the relationship between a society’s concept of mental illness and its treatment of people who ...
By Stephanie L. Brooke, Janet Morahan-Martin
This case illustrates concepts of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment within the context of a counseling relationship. Its primary purpose is to teach students about the dynamics of the therapeutic relationship, specifically that the relationship is...
Paired Associates Learning, the Shortfalls of Behaviorism, and the Rise of Cognitivism
By Elizabeth J. Meinz
In this interrupted case study, students learn about a series of studies conducted in the late '50s/early '60s by Robert Young at the University of Texas at Austin. The studies, which explored the type of phenomena that behaviorism has had a difficul...
By Sherry Ginn, Elizabeth J. Meinz
This case describes a study conducted by students in which a number of ethical issues arise, including the treatment of research participants and the supervision of student research assistants by faculty. By examining the way in which the study was c...
A Case of Seasonal Affective Disorder
By David F. Dean (rr)
“Melanie Johnson” is a 32-year-old accountant who has moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, from her hometown of Sarasota, Florida. For the first time in her life, she has been experiencing periods of depression, lethargy, and excessive sleeping. ...