Essay Questions

  • Chapter 1 – Essay questions

    1. How has cyberpsychology incorporated aspects of other branches of psychology when explaining human interaction with technology?
    2. Of the three main aspects of cyberpsychology, which has the most relevance to our daily lives, and which should most future research be focused on? Why?
    3. The most important aspects of cyberpsychology are those which focus on the branches of applied psychology. Discuss.
    4. Are our lives better or worse as a result of Internet technologies? What elements of these technologies lead you to your response?

  • Chapter 2 – Essay questions

    1. Conducting research online makes for better research. Discuss.
    2. How has the growth in internet users facilitated observational research (research that uses Non-Reactive Data Collection methods)?
    3. Compare and contrast the advantages of conducting research online with more traditional offline modes of collecting data.
    4. Outline and review the major ways in which conducting online research can raise ethical issues for a researcher.

  • Chapter 3 – Essay questions

    1. Evaluate how well theories of communication developed with offline communication in mind can help to explain Computer Mediated Communication.
    2. The ‘lean medium’ of online communication and Walther’s hyperpersonal model would appear on the surface to be contradictory. How can such contradiction be understood in the light of theory and research in Computer Mediated Communication?
    3. Online communication provides excellent connectivity for business and educational reasons. However, it can never fully replace face-to-face meetings and teaching. Discuss.
    4. Have abbreviations and acronyms irrevocably altered language? Is this a positive or negative development? Why?

  • Chapter 4 – Essay questions

    1. Analyse the varying selves that exist in the online world compared to the real world.
    2. Compare and contrast the Equalisation Hypothesis and the Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE).
    3. Evaluate the positive and negative effects of anonymity in social network sites.
    4. ‘Impression management could not exist without anonymity in the online world.’ Examine your answer with regard to current research.

  • Chapter 5 – Essay questions

    1. Explain both the personality and motivations of Trolls.
    2. Critique the role of anonymity in the context of negative behaviour online.
    3. Examine the ways sexual harassment can occur online and suggest possible ways sexual harassment online can be prevented.
    4. Evaluate the research on “gamer identity” focusing on the role of gamer identity in toxic gaming cultures.

  • Chapter 6 – Essay questions

    1. Online dating is both similar and different to offline dating. Drawing from psychological literature, describe the differences, with particular focus on the creation of online dating profiles.
    2. Explore how couples use uncertainty reduction strategies, from meeting a potential partner to terminating a relationship.
    3. Computer-mediated communication is different to face-to-face communication. Analyse the ways in which people utilise these differences in the various stages of their relationships, giving at least three examples with support from psychological literature. 
    4. Explore the motivations for engaging in online dating, both practical and psychological.
    5. Deception is widespread in online dating. Describe the prevelance and in what manner it manifests, and explore the motivations for deception in the online dating environment. 

  • Chapter 7 – Essay questions

    1. William James thought that attention could not be highly trained ‘by any amount of drill or discipline’. Posner would disagree. Do you think attention can be trained? Why/why not?
    2. ‘We can no longer afford to indulge our automatic desires for mental distraction’. Discuss.
    3. Which strategies do you think would be most effective at training your attention? Why?
    4. Do you think that having grown up with the Internet gives individuals multitasking skills? Explain.
    5. ‘The bottom line is that our students are multitasking and we cannot stop them without placing them in a boring, un-motivating environment. The trick is to develop educational models that allow for appropriate multitasking and that improve learning’ (Rosen et al., 2010, p. 95). Do you agree with the statement? If so, why?

  • Chapter 8 – Essay questions

    1. Explain the terms group identity, social capital, social identity, and social loafing as they relate to online groups.
    2. Discuss the increasing use of the internet as a source of social support for individuals.  
    3. Outline some dangers of over-reliance on social networks (i.e., Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) for primary social support.
    4. Discuss the impact of individuals experimenting with their social identity online (both for the individual and the group as a whole).

  • Chapter 9 – Essay questions

    1. Explain the differences between compliance and conformity. Provide examples from the on-line environment to illustrate your answer.
    2. Captology is a multidisciplinary field with a myriad of possible applications. Discuss the various fields and causes to which persuasive technologies can contribute.
    3. Explain how you persuasive technologies can enhance inclusion.
    4. Discuss the ethical issues that might be faced from using persuasive technologies.
    5. How far would you go when playing a game using avatars in terms of how you would treat the avatars? Would it be ‘easier’ to cause pain rather than kill an avatar ?
    6. Why do you think people go along with cyber – trends like the Ice Bucket challenge?

  • Chapter 10 – Essay questions

    1. Explain how at least three cognitive psychology theories or models can aid our understanding of why individuals might engage in risky online privacy management behaviours.
    2. Evaluate the applicability of Petronio’s Communication Privacy Management Theory to online communication.
    3. How does the ability to utilise online social spheres lead to an increase in online disclosures?
    4. Legislation regarding the right to be forgotten online is ineffective unless users are educated about the risks of online information sharing. Discuss. 

  • Chapter 11 – Essay questions

    1. Examine the applicability of theories of crime to cybercriminal cases.
    2. Is offender profiling useful in finding the perpetrators of cybercrimes? Why or why not?
    3. While cybercrime is very dynamic, many aspects of it can be understood and predicted by a thorough understanding of criminology and broader psychological principles. Describe why these are important, with reference to at least one type of cybercrime.
    4. Compare and contrast two typologies of cybercrime in terms of enhancing understanding of online criminal behaviour. Which is most relevant to crime online?

  • Chapter 12 – Essay questions

    1. Outline how the Internet can support people with poor mental health.
    2. Discuss how online-gaming can be considered addictive.
    3. Social Networking is a way of life for many people today.  Compare and contrast the positive and negative aspects of Social Networking on mental health.
    4. Does Internet addiction really exist?
    5. Evaluate how the Internet can act as a support to people with poor mental health.

  • Chapter 13 – Essay questions

    1. Discuss the use of three technologies commonly used to help sport personnel prepare to perform in their sport setting.
    2. Explain how sport psychology consultants use technology in their applied work with their clients.
    3. Outline the dangers associated with searching for health related information online.
    4. Detail the benefits and risks associated with the use of wearables (i.e., Fitbits) for health goal targeting and monitoring.

  • Chapter 14 – Essay questions

    1. Outline the major historical changes that have occurred in the workplace in the last 120 years.
    2. Discuss the challenges that technology poses for organizations in the 21st century.
    3. How have virtual organizations and virtual teams changed how individuals interact with each other in the workplace?
    4. Evaluate the challenges that technology poses for people in the workplace today.

  • Chapter 15 – Essay questions

    1. Identify a technology and its main features and discuss how it has changed learning.
    2. The use of multimedia, particularly video, is transforming learning. Consider this in terms of Mayer’s cognitive theory of multimedia learning.
    3. Evaluate how well theories of learning developed before the Internet can help explain learning with the Internet.
    4. The Internet enables mastery. Discuss.

  • Chapter 16 – Essay questions

    1. Discuss the ways in which online shopping customers can be segmented into groups in order to assist with marketing in meaningful ways to them. What characteristics can be used to create segmentation, and how does this assist in communicating with them?
    2. Evaluate the motivations, beliefs and attitudes that shape a willingness or resistance to shop online.
    3. Discuss the benefits to both the consumer and the brand of a strong consumer-brand relationship, with particular focus on how social media impacts that relationship.
    4. Describe the ways in which persuasion can be used in online shopping to change consumer behaviour. Use at least

  • Chapter 17 – Essay questions

    1. Identify the benefits and risks to young people using technology.
    2. Examine the development of young people that occurs through the participation in the gaming world. 
    3. Analyse the reasons for identity exploration in the online world by adolescents.
    4. Discuss the role of anonymity and disinhibition in cyberbullying and elaborate on the psychological effects of being cybervictimised.

  • Chapter 18 – Essay questions

    1. Identify the benefits and risks to older adults using technology.
    2. Older adults use technology to facilitate and support their daily lives, consider some ways existing technology can support older adults further.
    3. Digital inclusion can be evaluated from a social and psychological perspective, how can digital devices and applications be designed to focus on older adults?
    4. Older adults face a number of cybersecurity risks, consider some of the high risk environments for older adults online and how they can be counteracted.

  • Chapter 19 – Essay questions

    1. Explain the differences between usability and user experience. Provide examples to illustrate your answer.
    2. Human-computer interaction is a multi-disciplinary field. Discuss the various fields that contribute to human-computer interaction and the manner in which they can contribute.
    3. State and describe the four stages of a typical human-computer interaction project. Include diagrams to support your answer.
    4. Describe the three categories of user evaluation techniques. Discuss at least one example evaluation technique from each category.
    5. Technology X will have a massive impact on future human-computer interfaces. Suggest a possible technology X to complete this sentence. Describe the technology you have chosen and provide a justification for your choice.

  • Chapter 20 – Essay questions

    1. Video games have evolved significantly since the first video games were created in the 1950s and 1960s. Discuss the key factors that have driven this evolution. Provide specific examples to support you answer.
    2. Why do people play video games? Identify the main theoretical motivations that encourage video game play.
    3. Some might argue that playing a video game is like taking a drug. Discuss this idea making reference to the way in which video games alter consciousness, and problematic video game play.
    4. Psychologists debate the impact of video games on players. Discuss the debate on Gaming Addiction OR Gaming and Violence with reference to at least one theoretical model of how gaming affects people.

  • Chapter 21 – Essay questions

    1. Evaluate the additional benefit that virtual reality therapy offers over traditional therapies in the treatment of phobias or addictions.
    2. Identify the advantages of using virtual reality in the diagnosis of paranoia and ADHD.
    3. Describe the mechanism by which virtual reality can reduce the perception of pain.
    4. Evaluate the role of presence in the psychological applications of virtual reality.

  • Chapter 22 – Essay questions

    1. Critically evaluate the potential use of artificially intelligent chatbots as psychotherapists.
    2. The complexities in defining human intelligence make it impossible to determine whether          artificial intelligence is ever reached. Discuss.
    3. Evaluate whether the ethics of using artificially intelligent robots as caregivers for the     elderly are appropriately considered by the manufacturers of such robots.
    4. It is possible that Non-Player Characters (NPCs) in video games could become too realistic due to the artificial intelligence they utilise during interactions with players. Discuss.
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