Psychology physical, emotional and cognitive changes

1. Describe the physical, emotional and cognitive changes that occur during childhood and adolescence. Describe Piaget’s stages of cognitive development.

2. Describe how technology influences children, adolescence and adults. In what ways can technology be considered dangerous to each of these generations? How does technology fit into your life?

3. Imagine that you are a social worker. How would you help people deal with and avoid stress in their everyday lives? Suppose a patient asked you what stress you encounter and how do you deal with it? What would you say? Do you think social support is a good way to alleviate stress? Why or why not?

4. In what ways is the flight-or-fight (sympathetic nervous system activation) response helpful to humans in emergency situations? Can you give an example of a situation when your fight or flight response was activated and how you responded? How did you feel?

5. What is a neuron? What are the key components of a neuron? Describe one neurotransmitter and how it impacts emotion or behavior.

6. Suppose that a new miracle pill allows a person to function with only one hour of sleep per night. However, because a night’s sleep is so short, a person who takes the pill will never dream again. Knowing what you do about the functions of sleeping and dreaming, what would be some advantages and drawbacks of such a pill from a personal standpoint? Would you take such a pill? Why or why not?

7. Imagine that you are a substance abuse counselor. One of your patients is a recovering alcoholic. What would you explain to him about alcohol and how it impacted his brain? Suppose your patient went on to tell you that recently he started experimenting with cocaine. How would you explain its impact on his overall health?