Tag Archives: Discussions

Developmental Psychology Discussion Prompts

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  • Watch “The Benefits of a Bilingual Brain”. This TEDx Education video makes a strong argument for the beneficial biological and cognitive implications of bilingualism. But what do you think are the possible social developmental consequences for bilingualism? Do bilinguals or multilinguals develop differently than monolinguals, socially-speaking? If so, would there be a difference between compound, coordinate, and subordinate bilinguals? If no, why not?
  • Have you changed much since you were a child? Research on temperament indicates that not only are our temperaments stable during our infancy and childhood, but that it remains relatively stable into adulthood. For example, if your activity level was high as an infant/child, then chances are you are highly active adult. Ask a parent/caregiver/family member what they remember about your temperament as a child. What was your characteristic mood, activity level, and emotional reactivity? How are you like now, as an adult, based on these 3 factors? Have you changed?

Personality Discussion Prompts

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  • For a few days, keep a pencil and pad of paper by your bedside. Immediately on awakening each morning, write down anything you can remember about the dreams you had the night before. After a few days, read over your dream diary and look for themes. Do you see any recurring themes or elements in your collection of dreams? What are some of the common symbols in your dreams, and what do you think they represent? To help you answer these questions, find a quiet place and relax. Start by describing your dream aloud, and then just keep talking, saying anything that comes to mind, no matter how foolish or trivial. After doing this exercise, have you learned anything about yourself or about what is important to you?
  • Consider the many characteristics that make you unique. List the 5 adjectives you think best capture your personality. Now, think of someone you know well- for example, a friend, family member, or significant other.  Ask your target person to list the 5 adjectives he/she thinks best describe you. Compare your lists. Were there similarities between the lists? Were there differences between the lists? After doing this exercise, have you learned anything about yourself or how others may perceive you?

Psychotherapies Discussion Prompts

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  • Psychologist Martin Seligman follows an approach called “positive psychology”, where he says that how you think about events in your life determines your response to them. He also believes that particular patterns of seeing the world- like optimism and pessimism- are key components of mental health. How do you typically perceive events in the world, particularly negative ones? Do you consider yourself an optimist or a pessimist, generally-speaking? While Seligman targets depression, do you think this approach could be used for some of the other disorders mentioned in Mental Disorders? Are there drawbacks or weaknesses to his approach?
  • In your opinion, what was the purpose of the Rosenhan (1973) study? What did his results indicate? Is there anything that can or should be done, given his results?

Mental Disorders Discussion Prompt

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Think of the last time you felt some psychological distress (ex. sadness, stress, anxiety, etc.). How did you handle it? Did you think about anything, or say something to yourself? Did you share your experience with another person/other people? Why or why not? Do you think it’s better to share these thoughts/feelings, or is it better to keep them private? Based on the different perspectives of psychology, which one/s would you say best explain/s your experience?

Biological Foundations Discussion Prompts

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  • Drugs have a clear impact on neurotransmitters, whether prescribed or not. If you’re like me, coffee is a prerequisite to start my day. Caffeine makes me alert and focused, and without it I feel sluggish and drowsy. Have you had a recent experience with ‘drugs’? Caffeine? Nicotine? Painkillers? Insulin? (While insulin is a hormone, too much or too little of it affects physical and psychological functioning for diabetics like me). What happened? How did it make you feel?
  • Disney Pixar’s 2015 movie, Inside Out, illustrates how emotions such as Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness guide a young girl through her experiences after moving to a new city. I want you to play your version of the movie, by detailing a few hours (or half a day, or an entire day) of your life as played out by the neurotransmitters, hormones, nervous system, and/or brain. For example, your response could look something like this:

I woke up late for class this morning, so my Sympathetic Nervous System kicked my body into flight-or-fight mode, by increasing my heart rate and breathing. Fear was definitely taking place. I immediately rushed out the door to catch my train, and this burst of energy could be linked back to the adrenaline hormone. As I sat in the train, I felt my body go back to normal, which was my Parasympathetic Nervous System calming me down. Not only did I arrive to class on time, but the professor was absent! I felt so happy and relieved, which was probably my Serotonin level increasing for the moment.

Psychological Research Discussion Prompt

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Choose at least 3 of the following research methods: a) Naturalistic Observation; b) Case Study; c) Survey; d) Correlation; e) Experiment, and discuss how you would use each one to study the following hypothesis: Watching violent television increases aggression in children. Within your answer, be sure to state your operational definition of “watching”, “violent television”, “aggression”, and “children”.

What is Psych? Discussion Prompts

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  • Does the body rule the mind, or does the mind rule the body? In terms of psychology, what do you think? Do you think it’s one over the other, or both? Give an example of each in your response.
  • Select at least 3 of the following perspectives in Psychology (Biological, Cognitive, Behavioral, Social/Cultural, Psychodynamic, Humanistic) and discuss how each perspective would explain the causes for aggression. Give an example.

Social Psychology Discussion Prompts

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  • Have we stereotyped stereotyping? Some social psychologists believe so. They claim that stereotypes are not always inaccurate and do not invariably lead to biased judgments of others, as most people seem to believe. Other social psychologists draw a distinction between the content accuracy and application accuracy in the use of stereotypes. According to them, even if the content of a stereotype is accurate, applying the stereotype to judge an individual within a group is still likely to yield inaccurate perceptions. What do you think? Can stereotypes lead to accurate perceptions of others? Choose one of the ‘camps’ in this debate, and make sure to include an example in your response.
  • What is your status compared to others? Are you ‘more influenced’ by some people more than others? Look at the last few emails (between 2-3; not text messages) that you sent to someone and compare them with the last few they sent you. Notice the percentage of “I-words” each of you used (ex. “I went to the park”, “I am going on a trip”, etc.) Here’s the rule: The person who uses fewer “I-words” is the person who is higher in status. If the two of you are about the same in “I-word” usage, you probably have an equal relationship. Aside from the percentage of “I-words”, was there a difference in the content of the emails? Was there a difference in tone? Were the results surprising to you? How does this exercise illustrate the definition of Social Psychology?