Week 11 Blog Prompt: Personality

Hand writing on a notebook We all want to know more about our ourselves, and psychological tests are one way to explore our personalities. While the full psychological tests are often long and require a fee to take, there are an abundance of free versions online. Take the four personality tests linked below, discuss how accurately they describe your perception of your personality, and discuss the credibility of each test. Make sure to use the tag "Personality" on your post.

I look forward to seeing what you write!

Header image: CC by Flickr user Caitlinator

Share Via:

Week 10 Blog Prompts – Motivation

Hand writing on a notebook Here are the two prompts for this week. Regardless of which one you choose, please use the tag "Motivation." Option 1 America is currently facing an obesity epidemic that some experts have labeled the biggest public health threat we have today. We have all heard the recommendations to eat healthier and get regular exercise. Some people, however, are taking the message of healthy eating too far. A new mental health disorder called orthorexia nervosa has been proposed, in which eating healthy food becomes an obsession. One set of proposed criteria are available here. Look over the criteria and comment on whether or not you think this is a good way to define the boundary between eating healthy and having a mental disorder. Also find two sources that discuss orthorexia and describe what information they add to your opinion on ...

Share Via:

Week 9 Blog Prompts – Intelligence

Hand writing on a notebook Here are the two prompts for this week. Regardless of which one you choose, please use the tag "Intelligence."

Option 1:

Many people consider intelligence to be largely determined by genetics, but there is substantial evidence that the environment and social processes play a large role as well. Since schools are a place where children try to determine how smart they really are, it is important for educators to understand the impacts of their subtle or not-so-subtle interactions with students. Watch these three videos: Jane Elliott’s classic blue eyes/brown eyes experiment, Claude Steele explaining stereotype threat, and Rosenthal & Jacobson’s discovery of the Pygmalion effect. In your blog post, react to what you saw in the videos, reflect on your own interactions with educators throughout your school career, and discuss what, ...

Share Via:

Week 8 Blog Prompts – Consciousness

Hand writing on a notebook Option 1 (please use the Tag "Drugs" on your post): Recently, several states have legalized recreational use of marijuana. This has lead to both celebration and condemnation depending on who you ask. Medicinal use of marijuana is still controversial as well. In your blog post, take a position on both medical and recreational use of marijuana. Should they be legal or not? Find a source to support your arguments and a source that summarizes the opposite position and discuss both in your post. Make sure to critique how trustworthy each of the sources are. Option 2 (please use the Tag "Sleep" on your post): In this TED talk, Russell Foster outlines 3 prominent theories about why we sleep. Watch the talk and argue for the theory you find the most convincing. Include a link to another source that provides ...

Share Via:

Week 7 Blog Prompts – Learning

Hand writing on a notebook Regardless of which prompt you choose, please use the Tag "Learning" on your post. Option 1: Skinner passionately believed in the power of operant conditioning. He thought it was such a powerful influence that it proved free will is an illusion. See Skinner make this claim here. You can read more about "radical behaviorism" at this link. After reading these sources, find another source that either defends or contradicts Skinner's claim, then respond to Skinner's assertion that there is no such thing as free will. Do you agree or disagree? Why? Make sure to discuss the strength of the arguments for an against and the credibility of the sources. Option 2: Violence in the media has been controversial for decades, but over the last 20 years there has been increasing attention to the amount of violence in ...

Share Via:

Week 6 Blog Prompts: Sensation & Perception

Hand writing on a notebook Regardless of which prompt you choose, please use the Tag "Sensation & Perception" on your post. Option 1: Synesthesia is a condition in which people's perceptions of one sense activates another (for example hearing colors or seeing sounds). Watch Daniel Tammet explain his experience of synesthesia in a TED Talk entitled "Different Ways of Knowing." Share your reactions to this video and discuss how you think this condition would affect someone's day-to-day life. You also need to find an internet source which provides more information on the condition. Make sure to critique the credibility of the internet source and provide a link to the source in your post. Option 2: Can we use magic to help people on the autism spectrum? This is actually a serious question. There is some evidence that people on the autism spectrum are less likely to be ...

Share Via:

Week 5 Blog Prompt – Memory

Hand writing on a notebook Regardless of which prompt you choose, please use the Tag "Memory" on your post: Option 1: Elizabeth Loftus is one of the preeminent researchers in false memories. Her research has shed light on the fallibility of eyewitness testimony, the over-reporting of satanic ritual abuse, and the ease of implanting false memories. Her TED talk outlines much of her research and illuminates the fragility of our memory. Watch the TED talk and discuss your reactions. Make sure to specifically address Loftus’s implication that we could manipulate memory for positive outcomes (like enjoying vegetables) by discussing potential pros and cons and stating whether or not you believe we should consider tampering with memory. Option 2: Now that we have discussed memory, evaluate your study habits. Describe how you studied for the first exam in this class and explain what you could do ...

Share Via:

Week 4 Blog Prompts – Neuroscience

Hand writing on a notebook Regardless of which prompt you choose, please use the Tag "Neuroscience" on your post. For your blog prompt this week, you are to choose one of the following TED talks:

Each talk focuses on a different aspect of the brain. In your response, address the following issues:

What drew ...
Share Via:

Week 3 Blog Prompts – Development

Hand writing on a notebook Regardless of which prompt you choose, please use the Tag "Development" on your post. Here are the prompts for this week: Option 1 Tiger moms, jellyfish dads, and helicopter parents. These terms all refer to various parenting styles and each has been both promoted as an ideal and criticized as "the problem with kids these days." Explain each of these parenting styles, discuss the pros and cons of each style, and connect each one with one of Baumrind's parenting styles with which it shares the most in common. Then briefly outline your thoughts on the ideal way to parent. Option 2 Your book briefly discusses James Marcia's theory of identity development (p. 98). Look up more information so you can explain his theory, discuss how accurate you think the theory is, and which of the 4 identity statuses you believe fits you ...

Share Via:

Week 2 Blog Prompts – Research Methods

Hand writing on a notebook Regardless of which prompt you choose, please use the Tag "Research Methods" on your post. Here are the prompts for this week: Option 1 For this week’s discussion, I want you to design a research study about a topic you find interesting in psychology. You can choose any topic you would like as long as you relate it to something from our textbook. In your post make sure to do the following:

List your research question
State your hypothesis (what you think the outcome would be and why)
Decide which methodology you would use (i.e., survey, observation, etc.) and explain your choice
Describe your procedure (what you would have participants do, how you would recruit participants)

Make your research idea something feasible that you could actually do as a student researcher. In other words, assume you have a fairly small budget and a ...

Share Via: