Your paper can be made in 2 ways:
Personal experience:
Pick a story involving you that links your personal experience to one of the topics that we cover in class. Be sure you are able to tie it in to what we study: Brain and behavior (genetics), the scientific mind (critical thinking), sensation and perception, learning and memory, personality, or abnormal psychology (behavioral disorders). The story does not have to be about something that happened to you, it could also be something that happened to a friend/family member that you witnessed
For a score of 20 points, the paper must:
Clearly describe a specific relevant event/experience from your life.
Fully explain how the event is related to theory and/or empirical findings on the topic.
Accurately use any relevant technical terms.
Follow standard conventions for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Film analysis: Pick a film that involves psychology directly (as a main plot or big reveal at the end) and analyze what is going on with the character or characters and summarize how it was handled. Examples of films include A Beautiful Mind, Shutter Island, and The Soloist.
For a score of 20 points, the paper must:
Have a good summary of the movie
Have a good summary/outline of the problem at hand (of the character/characters)
Explain if there was any intervention or treatment for the character/s (therapy, medication, etc.)
Explain what you would have done in that situation (either as the person afflicted or the person trying to help)
Explain if it does a good job portraying the illness in your opinion, or if it just makes the person/illness look better/worse/different than you think it should
What is expected for the format of the paper?
1.5 – 2 pages, DOUBLE SPACED, in 12-point font (times new roman)
Proper grammar and spelling (you have SPELLCHECK, so don’t be afraid to use it)
Reference to your topic from the book (Myers, PAGE #) OR (www.google.com/psychology (Links to an external site.)) for example (copy and paste the web address)
Include the things I asked for in the description
Some Topics include:
Abnormal psychology- depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, anxiety, phobias, eating disorders, OCD, etc. You can also look at types of therapies or how medicine (drugs) help/ what they do
Cognitive psychology- dreams, consciousness, attention, false memories, sensation and perception, language
Brain and behavior- nature vs. nurture, structure and function of parts of the brain, genetic diseases and factors
Social psychology- Ingroups and outgroups, conformity, attitudes, stereotypes and prejudice, persuasion
Developmental psychology- Language acquisition, bullying, media violence and children, gender roles, child abuse, learning disabilities, parenting styles, the aging process
Personality- Theories of personality, introvert/extrovert, big 5 theory of personality
