Oral Discussion Topics

by Dr. Janet Waters

I have structured these questions to be typical of discussions that may occur in your university classes in the various disciplines. Most of our classes emphasize interactive discussion. Practice will improve your fluency, but you might hesitate to talk in these discussions if you are shy, or you aren't sure about your language skills. These discussion topics are designed to give you practice in discussing these sorts of topics, so you will be more willing and able to participate in these class discussions.

 With a sympathetic and interested friend, discuss:

1. Use an example from current or past Western literature, movies or tv shows to explain and illustrate one of the following concepts or theories in Psychology: For example:
   Freud's theory of personality (e.g. Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat)
   Attribution theory & the self-serving bias
   A Cognitive heuristic – e.g. representativeness, availability heuristic, hindsight bias, etc.
   The "Bystander effect" in altruism
   Attachment theory in development
   Cognitive Dissonance theory
   Defence Mechanisms
   Behaviourist principles: (Positive Reinforcement, Negative Reinforcement, Punishment)
   Observational Learning
   Stereotypes
2. Birth order and personality.  Research suggests that your birth order (whether you were the oldest, middle or youngest child in your family) affects your behaviour to some degree.  What effects do you think psychologists have found, on average, between first-born and "later-born" people?  How would that apply in your family?
3. After reading the applicable chapters in the text, discuss how you can apply some of the principles and theories to developing strategies you could use  to study more effectively or reduce stress in one of the following:
   Memory
   Stress
   Motivation
   Problem-solving
4. Everyone dreams, every night, though some people never remember their dreams.  Why do you think some people remember their dreams, while others don't?  Which of the dream theories could explain your most recent remembered dream?
5. Psychology has been a largely western enterprise until recently; currently Psychology is focused on including a diversity of inputs from both genders and from a variety of cultures, classes, and perspectives.  How would you think your culture of origin could differ from North American culture in one of the theories or concepts in Psychology?
   E.g.: Personality theory; Attribution theory & the self-serving bias;  Child-rearing practices and their affects on attachment; Stress; Psychopathology and therapy.