Crash Course Psychology #36: Biomedical Treatments by Teach Simple

About this resource

What's inside this resource

A video-guide worksheet accompanies Crash Course Psychology Episode 36, Biomedical Treatments, asking students fifteen open-response questions that follow the episode in order. Students work through how psychotherapy's effectiveness is assessed, the distinction between treatment effectiveness and efficacy, and the randomized clinical trial as the field's gold-standard research design. Later questions cover specific biomedical treatments, including mood-stabilizing medication and brain-stimulation techniques such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and deep brain stimulation (DBS). A closing question asks students to name lifestyle factors — exercise, sleep, social interaction, and nutrition — that support mental health alongside clinical treatment. A companion response document gives a model answer for each of the fifteen questions.

Product description

From the author

Crash Course Psychology #36: Biomedical Treatments is an informative video worksheet designed to supplement lessons on mental health treatments. Students watch the thirty-sixth Crash Course Psychology video explaining biomedical therapies then analyze the content by answering 15 critical thinking questions. \n\nThe digital worksheet covers key concepts like psychotherapy effectiveness, classes of psychotropic medications, electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, deep brain stimulation, and lifestyle changes. An answer key is included so educators can efficiently grade the assignment. This versatile resource works well for whole-class instruction, small group work, homework, substitute plans, and more. It is compatible with Google Classroom and other learning management systems.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Explain the difference between treatment effectiveness and efficacy in psychology.
Describe the randomized clinical trial as the field's gold standard for treatment outcome research.
Identify categories of biomedical treatment, including mood-stabilizing medication and brain-stimulation techniques (ECT, rTMS, DBS).
Name lifestyle factors that support mental health alongside clinical treatment.

Teaching tips

Assign the fifteen questions in order while playing the video, since they follow the episode's own sequence from psychotherapy assessment through lifestyle factors.
Editing the .docx down to items 11 through 15 leaves a shorter viewing guide covering the treatments themselves — psychotherapy, mood-stabilizers, ECT, rTMS and DBS, and lifestyle change.
Compare student answers to the response document afterward, since several questions (e.g. ECT, rTMS, DBS) call for precise technical definitions.

Skills covered

Video-based note-taking — students write answers to fifteen questions in the order the episode raises them, opening with the question Bernice's case poses and closing with the lifestyle factors that support mental health.
Concept differentiation — students explain the distinction between treatment effectiveness and efficacy.
Technical vocabulary — students define specific biomedical treatments such as ECT, rTMS, and DBS.
Research-method literacy — students describe the randomized clinical trial as a treatment-outcome research design.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

What does the worksheet ask about besides medication treatments?

It also covers non-medication brain-stimulation options — electroconvulsive therapy, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, and deep brain stimulation — plus lifestyle factors like exercise, sleep, and nutrition that support mental health.

How does the question set distinguish effectiveness from efficacy?

Question 7 asks students to explain psychology's specific distinction between the two terms, a nuance the episode draws out when discussing how treatment outcomes are actually measured.