Category Archives: Blog Prompts

Bonus blog prompt: Theoretical lenses in psychology

Hand writing on a notebook This week in class we discussed a number of different theoretical approaches to understanding human behavior and mental processes. For practice using these different theoretical lenses to explain behavior, you can use the following example: Miguel has been struggling with his coursework lately. He has felt very tired in recent weeks and has found it difficult to focus on his studies. Even though he is always tired, he has trouble falling asleep at night, is irritable during the day, and picks fights with his roommates. He is a bit of a perfectionist and gets mad at himself when he makes even tiny mistakes. It’s gotten to the point where he doubts his ability to do anything right. If you write a blog post where you explain what is going on with Miguel from the perspectives below, I will award ...

Week 2 First Impression Prompt – 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 human behavior or mental processes. 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)
  • 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 limited amount of time. If you’re a psychology major, ...

Week 15 First Impression Prompts – Mental Health Treatment

Hand writing on a notebook Here are the prompts for this week. Regardless of which prompt you choose, use the tag "Mental Health Treatment." The first impression posts will be due by the beginning of class on Wednesday, 12/6. The refinement posts will be due at noon on Sunday, 12/10.

Option 1:

Your textbook lists 4 major types of psychotherapy (psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and humanistic). Rank these types of therapy according to how helpful you think they would be if you needed therapy and explain what it is about each one that you like/dislike.

Option 2:

Former First Lady Michelle Obama contributed a considerable amount of energy and support into a campaign targeting increased awareness of mental health issues called Change Direction. Using the information provided on their website (http://www.changedirection.org) evaluate how effective you think the campaign will be in ...

Spotlight Blog 3 Prompts

Regardless of which option you choose, make sure to use the tag "Spotlight" on your post. Also include the tag listed for the option you choose below. The spotlight post is due at 2pm on Sunday, 12/10. Option 1 - Use the tag "Social" People are often told to resist peer pressure and think for themselves, but as we've learned, this is more easily said than done. Too often, especially for teens, this advice is not followed with concrete recommendation about ways to resist pressure from others. I want you to identify three websites that provide methods for resisting peer pressure and discuss how likely you think the strategies they provide are to be successful. Make sure to explain your rationale using what we've learned in class and your textbook. Each of the three websites need to be targeted at a different audience but ...

Week 14 First Impression Prompts – Mental Illness

Hand writing on a notebook Here are the prompts for this week. Regardless of which prompt you choose, use the tag “Mental Illness.” The first impression posts will be due by the beginning of class on Wednesday, 11/29. The refinement posts will be due at noon on Tuesday, 12/5. Option 1 Schizophrenia is often depicted dramatically in the media, and has been the subject of many major films like A Beautiful Mind, The Soloist, and Donnie Darko. Less frequently, however, do people get the chance to think about the daily life of someone who experiences hallucinations and delusions. Watch this video which simulates the experience of a person with schizophrenia, share your reactions, and compare this to how you typically see schizophrenia in the media. Option 2 People often associate schizophrenia with the homeless population ...

Thanksgiving Break First Impression Post – Motivation

Hand writing on a notebook **In case you need an additional first impression or refinement post to make it to the required 8 for the semester, the following prompts are available for yout to do over break. This material is related to Sections 10.1 and 10.2 in the textbook, but we will not be covering this in class. For refinement posts make sure you read Chapter 10 to incorporate material from the text.** Here are the two prompts for break. Regardless of which prompt you choose, please use the tag "Motivation." The first impression posts will be due by the 10pm on Sunday, 11/26. The refinement posts will be due at noon on Saturday, 12/2. Option 1 America is currently facing an obesity epidemic that some experts have labeled the biggest public health threat we have today. ...

Bonus Blog Prompt – Johari Window

Hand writing on a notebook As part of our exploration of personality, each of you completed an online Johari Window. This process helps you learn how similar your self-perceptions are to how others see you. For this bonus blog post, I want you to discuss what that process was like for you, how similar your self-description was to what others selected, how valid of a measure of personality do you think this is, and what, if anything, you learned about yourself in this process. Include a link to your Johari window in your post. This bonus post is due Saturday, 11/18, at 8pm and is worth 1.5 points of extra credit. Be sure to use the tags "Bonus Posts" and "Personality." I look forward to seeing what you write! Header image: CC ...

Week 12 First Impression Prompts – Social Psychology

Hand writing on a notebook Here are the two prompts for this week. Regardless of which prompt you choose, please use the tag "Social." The first impression posts will be due by the beginning of class on Friday, 11/17. The refinement posts will be due at noon on Sunday, 11/26. Option 1: The Implicit Association Test (which can be accessed through this link) is a tool to identify biases which may be outside your conscious awareness. The results of this test cannot determine whether or not you are racist, sexist, homophobic, etc., but they are useful to help you understand yourself and how you interact with others. For this post, you must take two separate IAT tests from the link above. You do not need to share your results if you don’t want to, but ...

Week 11 First Impression Prompts – 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. The first impression posts will be due by the beginning of class on Wednesday, 11/8. The refinement posts will be due at noon on Tuesday, 11/14.

I look forward to seeing what you write!
Header image: CC by Flickr user Caitlinator

Week 10 First Impression Prompts – Intelligence

Hand writing on a notebook Here are the two prompts for this week. Regardless of which prompt you choose, please use the tag "Intelligence." The first impression posts will be due by noon on Saturday, 11/4. The refinement posts will be due at noon on Tuesday, 11/7. 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. In your blog post, reflect on your interactions with educators throughout your school career, and discuss what changes to the school system could improve students’ performance in the classroom. Option ...