How to Make Psychology Games for Fun Learning
Learning the different disorders can be overwhelming in psychology. Understanding what the symptoms of these disorders look like can be confusing because many are similar to one another. A fun way to learn about these disorders is to play out 10- minute role acting skits with students. This combined with an open discussion and a presentation on a specific disorder will create a learning environment that is enjoyable.
Things You'll Need
- List of the different psychological disorders
- List of the students assigned to the disorders
- A table and chairs set up in front of the class for four students to use as a setting for this activity
Instructions
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Role Playing To Learn The Different Disorders in Psychology
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Assign a psychological disorder to each student in your class. Have them study these disorders inside and out. Instruct them to learn the symptoms, such as how someone might act and what someone might say who is suffering from this disorder. They need to know the average age on onset, and environmental factors vs. innate factors. Give the students one week to become knowledgeable in these disorders. Let them know that they will need to know enough about what the symptoms look like to portray this diagnosis in a subtle way in front of the class.
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Next randomly pick four students to do a role-playing vignette in front of the class. Take the students into the hallway, out of earshot of the rest of the class. Assign the roles of family members, such as mother, father, son, daughter, grandmother, or an outside friend. Ask them to role-play the dinner hour, with the family around the table discussing the day. Set up an area in the front of the room with four chairs around a table or desk to recreate the dinner table. Instruct the students to seriously portray the symptoms of the disorder they have been assigned while at the dinner table.
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Explain to the students that these symptoms need to be realistic and not exaggerated. Someone assigned to generalized anxiety disorder might present with worries about homework, friends not inviting him somewhere and so on. Another student might be assigned to bipolar disorder. Her discussion, using pressured speech, would relate to that condition's manic stage, for example, all the shopping she's done. Assign a person to direct the role play in each group. This might be the student playing the father or mother. He needs to ask pointed questions and help promp and direct the discussion in this exercise.
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Ask the class observing this to try and distinguish the diagnoses they are witnessing from their classmates. Then that particular student can speak about the diagnosis for five minutes, explaining it and why he chose the symptoms that hid did. Have him explain what else this diagnosis would mean for the person he is role playing. By facilitating this activity, you can point out the differences between the diagnoses and see that they are presented correctly.
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Do this as a college-level activity to help the students focus on what the diagnosis actually looks like in real life. Reading about a specific diagnosis is one way to learn about the different factors that are involved in a disorder. Actually seeing what this might look like when a person is afflicted with this disorder helps bring a better understanding of the different disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM). It will also foster empathy in the students for the various disorders they are portraying and observing.
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Tips & Warnings
When a member of the class gets the diagnosis correct, ask her what she saw or heard to bring to come up with her answer. This will prompt discussion in the classroom.
These are serious exercises; warn the students that this is in no way a venue to make fun of or exaggerate the diagnosis.
