An article found here provides an example of how, even after a jury reaches a guilty verdict in a murder case, a judge’s sentence can reflect belief in the defendant’s diminished capacity due to drug use. The case should stimulate a lively classroom discussion about whether the judge’s lenient sentence was justified.
Here is a link to an article describing seven strange illnesses, some clearly biological and some partially psychological.
A 2022 news story found here updates the status of John Hinckley, Jr., the man who shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and was ultimately released from a mental institution. A longer, and more detailed update appears here.
A news story found here recounts the case of a homeless man who was falsely identified as a criminal with a different name. Because he refused to admit being that man, he was committed to a mental institution where he was medicated for two years before the error was corrected. The most interesting part of the story is that the more agitated he became over being mistaken for someone else, the more certain the hospital staff was that he was delusional. For a long time, no one considered the possibility that his anger and distress were justified.
This link presents the story of a 22 year-old woman whose childhood treatment of brain cancer resulted in stunted growth, leaving her looking like an 8 year-old child. The story includes a description of the social consequences of this mismatch between appearance and actual age.
On May 9, 2026, at 10:14 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 750 airplane was involved in an accident at Page Field in Fort Myers, Florida. The first officer reported that on a previous flight in the accident airplane, the crew had received multiple alerting system messages which the captain reported to maintenance. Then, as they took off during the accident flight, the same messages repeatedly occurred. The captain instructed the first officer to pull the audio warning circuit breaker once cruise altitude was reached so as to prevent further warnings, which were presumed to be false. During final approach to the Fort Myers airport, the first officer was flying the aircraft, and the captain began the before-landing checklist. However, he was interrupted by the air traffic controller who issued landing clearance and this distraction led him to forget to go back and complete the list. A vital item on that checklist was to lower the landing gear, and as confirmed by surveillance footage from the airport, the airplane approached the runway with the landing gear in the retracted position. Unaware of that fact, the pilots allowed the aircraft to touch down, resulting in a crash landing. Neither the captain nor the first officer were injured, but the plane was badly damaged and the captain’s memory lapse could easily have resulted in a deadly explosion and fire.
At this site you can read about how emotions associated with jealousy led a woman to murder the girlfriend of her former lover. The article contains a link to a Netflix movie about the case.
Here is a news article about the use of hypnosis instead of anesthesia for surgery
This article recounts a case of diffused responsibility resulting in the death of a man who could easily have been saved had any of numerous passersby had stopped to help. This one tells the story of a man who lost his life while saving others. Presenting these examples in tandem is likely to stimulate discussion of the factors that influence people to help others or ignore their plight.
This YouTube video provides a great, and funny, example of problem solving by a young child. It might also be useful for illustrating accommodation and assimilation in developmental psychology.