Research Topics
Choose one of the following for a topic of your research article summary or develop your own research topic from any area mentioned in our textbook.
Chapter 2: Neuroscience and Biological Foundations
- Brain plasticity (functional/structural) and neurogenesis
- Drugs and how they affect the brain (at the Synaptic Gap)
- How stress affects learning, emotions, memory or health
- How to improve brain function
Chapter 4: Sensation and Perception
- Subliminal perception and its influence on behavior
- Critical time frames in development for visual and/or auditory processing
- The influence of pheromones in human behavior
- The relationship between smell and memory
- Methods to deal with pain without the use of drugs
Chapter 5: States of Consciousness
- Multi-tasking and productivity
- Effects of sleep-deprivation on health
- The use of hypnosis in mitigating pain or anxiety
- Psychological effects of meditation
- Contributing factors to drug addiction (i.e. genetics, peers, family, community)
- Treatment for drug addiction
Chapter 6: Learning
- Classical conditioning and PTSD
- Operant conditioning and behavior management (reward/punishment)
- Learned helplessness and domestic violence
- Observational (social) learning and violence
- Mirror neurons and social connections
- Medias effect on behavior
- How to improve your self-regulation (self-control)
- Learned Optimism
Chapter 7: Memory
- How to improve your memory
- Factors that can help prevent forgetting
- What contributes to memory distortions (forming false memories)
- What physically happens to the brain when we learn and remember information
Chapter 8: Thinking, Language and Intelligence
- The influence of genetics and environment on a person’s intelligence
- Using mental imagery to improve sports performance
- How to improve creative problem solving skills
- Mental benefits of learning multiple languages
- Can your IQ be improved
- Does a higher IQ predict a better life outcome
Chapter 12: Motivation and Emotion
- How to increase student motivation
- What role does emotion have in motivation
- What are the roles genetics and environment play on obesity
- How can we improve our emotional intelligence
- Effective ways to treat anger management problems
- Effective ways to treat eating disorders
Chapter 9: Lifespan Development
- Psychological characteristics of long-lasting marriages
- New findings in epigenetics (how the environment factors can influence gene expression)
- How to facilitate the language development of infants
- How is the adolescent brain different than and adult brain and how do these differences influence behavior
- Effects of child care on psychological development
- Effects of divorce on a child’s psychological development
- The link between exercise and mental/emotional health
- How to raise a psychologically healthy child
- Bullying—who gets bullied and what parents/teacher can do to stop it
- The function of play in psychological health/well-being
Chapter 11: Gender and Sexuality
- Role of social media in continuing gender stereotypes
- What determines sexual orientation (nature or nurture)
- What physiologically occurs in the brain during sex
- What are the psychological characteristics of long-lasting relationships
- What societal intervention is most effective in reducing teen pregnancies (or STI’s)
- What are the factors that influence attraction
Chapter 13: Personality
- The influence of genetics and environment on a person’s personality
- Ways to improve self-efficacy (your belief in your own capabilities to handle a challenge)
Chapter 16: Social Psychology
- Attractiveness & bias: are the attractive treated differently?
- Relationship between violent video games and aggression
- How can we lessen the influence of stereotypes?
- What factors contribute to a person conforming to the group?
- What factors contribute to a person obeying an authority figure?
- What factors contribute to people acting in an altruistic manner?
Chapter 3: Stress, Health and Coping
- Ways to effectively manage stress
- The relationship between telomeres, aging and stress
- How can stress be a good thing, physically and psychologically
- How does gratitude correlate to reduced stress and depression
Chapter 14: Psychological Disorders and Chapter 15: Therapies
- Causes (genetic/environmental) of anxiety or depression
- Effective treatments of anxiety or depression
- ADD/ADHD: Latest research and recommended treatment
- How do psychotherapeutic medications work
- Effective treatments for bipolar or schizophrenia disorder