This list of psychology essay topics includes the elements of popular presentation of psychology, or “pop” psychology. People in the academic world probably should not be as surprised as we are that people are still willing to believe in a wide array of bizarre causal mechanisms for mental illness and in the treatments those beliefs inspire, despite a complete lack of empirical evidence supporting them. The realm of pop psychology certainly overlaps the science of psychology, but there are large areas of the two that rarely meet. But many topics in popular psychology may offer students a great opportunity for an essay.
Psychology Essay Topics: Biological Bases of Behavior
- Addiction
- Aphasia
- Biofeedback
- Brain
- Brain Imaging Techniques
- Chemical Imbalance
- Epilepsy
- Imprinting
- Nervous System
- Prefrontal Lobotomy
- Sleep and Dreaming
- Split-Brain Surgery
- Stroke
- Ten Percent Myth
Psychology Essay Topics: Psychological Disorders
- Addiction
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Amnesia
- Aphasia
- Asperger’s Disorder
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Autism
- Chemical Imbalance
- Down Syndrome
- DSM-IV
- Epilepsy
- Learning Disability
- Mad Cow Disease
- Mental Retardation (MR)
- Mood Disorders
- Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD)
- Munchausen Syndrome
- Narcolepsy
- Nervous Breakdown
- Paraphilias
- Pervasive Development Disorders
- Phobias
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
- Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)
- Schizophrenia
- Tourette Syndrome
- Williams Syndrome
Psychology Essay Topics: Chemicals and Drugs
- Addiction
- Chemical Imbalance
- Depressants
- Gingko Biloba
- Kava
- Opioids (Opiates)
- Psychedelic Drugs
- St. John’s Wort
- Stimulants
Psychology Essay Topics: Historic Figures and Associations
- Alfred Kinsey
- American Psychological Association (APA)
- B. F. Skinner
- Carl Gustaf Jung
- Francis Galton
- Ivan Pavlov
- Jean Piaget
- John B. Watson
- Lev Vygotsky
- Noam Chomsky
- Wilhelm Wundt
- William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson
- William James
Psychology Essay Topics: Popular “Gurus” and Movements
Psychology Essay Topics: Psychology and Pseudoscience
- Acupuncture
- Alien Abduction
- Aromatherapy
- Astrology
- Body Type
- Cold Reading
- Craniosacral Therapy
- Deepak Chopra
- Dianetics/Scientology
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Homeopathy
- James Randi
- John Gray
- Parapsychology
- Past-Life Regression
- Pseudoscience
- Rebirthing
- Rolfing
- Satanic Ritual Abuse
- Self-Esteem
- Subliminal Perception
- Ten Percent Myth
- Thought Field Therapy
- Transcendental Meditation
Psychology Essay Topics: Psychological Assessment
- “Big Five” Personality Factors
- Brain Imaging Techniques
- Howard Gardner
- Intelligence
- Projective Tests of Personality
Psychology Essay Topics: Psychological Research Methods
- Brain Imaging Techniques
- Correlation
- Hawthorn Effect
- Nonspecific Effects
- Obedience to Authority
- Parapsychology
- Research Methods in Psychology
Psychology Essay Topics: Theories and Ideas in Psychology
- Attachment
- Bilingualism
- Birth Order
- Body Type
- Brainwashing
- Chemical Imbalance
- Cognitive Dissonance
- Diffusion of Responsibility
- Emotional Intelligence
- Gestalt
- Media Violence and Its Effects on Children
- Memory
- Moral Development
- Mozart Effect
- Obedience to Authority
- Parapsychology
- Parenting Styles
- Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
- Savants and Prodigies
- Self-Esteem
- Stockholm Syndrome
- Subliminal Perception
- Ten Percent Myth
Psychology Essay Topics: Psychology and the Law
Psychology Essay Topics: Psychological Treatments
- Acupuncture
- Aromatherapy
- Biofeedback
- Cognitive-Behavior Therapy
- Craniosacral Therapy
- Depressants
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Gestalt
- Gingko Biloba
- Homeopathy
- Hypnosis
- Past-Life Regression
- Prefrontal Lobotomy
- Primal Therapy
- Psychiatry
- Rebirthing
- Rolfing
- St. John’s Wort
- Split-Brain Surgery
- Stimulants
- Thought Field Therapy
- Transcendental Meditation
This list of psychology topics is by no means a complete guide to everything there is to know about psychology, but it will serve as a starting point for those who wish to find out more. We have included important historical figures in the development of psychology and attempted to cover a broad range of topics about which the average non-psychologist may have heard something and can find interesting.