Depends on the educational level of the audience. Odd numbers of responses. Sensitive behaviors may not be appropriate for odd numbers of responses because they allow respondents to fail to respond and fail to think about it. Reliability drops when number of items go above 5 to 7 in Likert format. Less educated people react reliably under very complex scales if they do not emphasize verbal queues.
Prompts have a memory crowding effects which displace real information.
Prompts may also convey importance or desires of the researcher to the respondent. Problems are most pronounced in opinion questions. Factual questions may benefit from cues or prompts to guide the respondent into the right category. Consider using them in most verbal interviews. Non-directive probes can be appropriate.