Category: Personal Psychology

  • The Xtreme Zone

    Research the Milgram experiment, read about the game show “The Game of Death“. What ideas about obedience to authority and societal dependance is Shakespeare suggesting in Hamlet? Watch the CBC documentary. http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/passionateeyeshowcase/video.html?ID=1851450627 http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/passionateeyeshowcase/2011/gameofdeath/   February 2013 Update: I am unable to find an online version of the entire video at CBC.CA I did find a…

  • “Since you been gone”

    Write about a time when a friend or relative returned from an absence and seemed to have a very different personality. Did you believe that the change was real? What circumstances might cause a person to change greatly in a short period of time?

  • False Flattery

    Write about a time when some one used flattery to manipulate you into doing something. Have you ever tried to manipulate someone else through flattery? What were the results?

  • Under Pressure

    Write about a time when, under pressure, you acted in away that surprised you.

  • Traumatic Screenplay

    Suppose you are writing a screenplay about someone your age who has a mental breakdown as a result of a traumatic experience. Write about what that person’s appearance, conversation, and actions would be like.

  • Stand on Principle

    Reflect on a situation where you took a strong stand on principle about an issue that other people did not think was important. What did you gain or lose by doing this?

  • Spontaneous Laughter

    Sometimes people find themselves laughing and/or joking in a situation where they are expected to be serious. How would you explain this unexpected response? Have you ever found yourself in this situation? If so, explain why you think you responded the way you did.

  • Just Soaking Things In

    If you were sitting on a bus and overheard a conversation in which one person call another person a “sponge,” what would you think it meant?

  • Too Wrapped Up in Your Own Problems

    Describe an occasion when something terrible happened to someone close to you (a family member or a friend), but you have been too wrapped up in your own problems to think about that person’s troubles. What was your first reaction to the other person’s bad news? How did you behave toward him or her? In…

  • Do’s and Don’ts

    Most of us have had, or will have, reason to confront another person and express a lot of anger that we have been storing up. In your blog make a list of “do’s” and “don’ts” about this type of confrontation. Then think of a confrontation you have already experienced. How many of your “do’s” and…