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Psych 101 - General Psychology

Guidelines for Course Paper

Brief Explanation:

In addition to entertaining us, movies offer detailed portrayals of human behavior and psychology. Your task in this assignment is to analyze FROM A PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE the behaviors and events depicted in one of the films listed below. Keep in mind that you are not being asked to critique the film in terms of its value as a work of art, or as entertainment, and this is not a film review or a written explanation of the movie. Rather, you should think carefully about the human actions and events portrayed in the film. Personal experiences or opinions should NOT be included in your paper, and know that your paper should present research and information on CAUSE, SYMPTOMS, and TREATMENTS, even if each of these is not portrayed in the film.

Research & Structure:

- You must locate at least four (4) reputable, professional journal articles on the topic to use as references for your paper. These journal articles are accessible via the electronic system in the Ohlone College Library. Check with Library staff for assistance. Although scientific texts are appropriate in many cases, they are NOT acceptable for this assignment. The only exception is the DSM-V (the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders), and only for defining the disorder. (See supplemental page.) ALSO, DO NOT USE magazine articles, newspapers, Reader’s Digest, Psychology Today, or any other unscientific sources.

- Any paper that does not use ONLY journal articles as sources, or that does not cite research, or that is not written in APA format, or that otherwise does not fulfill the basic requirements of this assignment will not be graded, and will receive a zero.

- Since policing the Internet is not possible, Internet sources are NOT considered reputable, and CANNOT be used as research. (note: Electronic access to Ohlone Library sources is acceptable, but Internet sources are not. Learn the difference.)

- A copy of the first page of each of your references must be turned to the professor. These pages must include the title, authors’ names, dates of publication, etc.

- The Course Paper is to have five (5) pages of double-spaced text, typewritten in 12 point characters (use Times New Roman font); do not count the cover page or references page. If you follow these guidelines, there is no reason that you cannot pass this assignment.

Assignment:

- View the film you choose at least once. (Two viewings may offer a distinct advantage). Then, after reviewing your notes and readings:

(a) briefly describe the relevant scene, providing details about what aspect of the disorder was portrayed;

(b) describe in detail the psychological disorder as it is being portrayed in the film;

(c) elaborate on how the selected scene conforms (and/or fails to conform) to the psychological disorder you have identified, as well as to the research findings that support the principle (for example, describe how the scene is similar to, or different from, relevant studies you have read).

Students often ask me to decide for them what structure their paper should take. I leave that to you, however. You can choose which scenes to describe and evaluate in your paper.

Structure & Grading:

- Your written analysis should be succinct and well written. Be sure to include a short Introduction to orient the reader, as well as a short Conclusion to tie things together. The Introduction & Conclusion will be worth 5% each of your final paper grade. Each discussion point of your psychological principle will be worth 20% each. APA style and Grammar/Spelling will be worth 15% each.

Films: Psychological Disorder

1. Memento (2000) Anterograde Amnesia

2. Adam (2009) Asperger’s Syndrome

3. A Beautiful Mind (2001) Schizophrenia

4. Sybil (1976) or The Three Faces of Eve (1957) Dissociative Identity Disorder

5. Single White Female (1992) Borderline Personality Disorder

Basic Explanation of American Psychological Association (APA) Style

In the late 1920’s, researchers from anthropological and psychological journals met to discuss writing styles being used to report information in journals at that time. From this meeting began what is now the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), a text that sets common guidelines or rules for writing research articles for publication. These rules are meant to make the process of reporting and interpreting scientific findings easier by providing a universal method of writing this information.

The following includes a small sampling of some of the most important guidelines regarding APA style writing. It is by no means meant to be a comprehensive listing of all of the APA regulations, however it provides a good introduction to some of the most basic rules. If you are already familiar with APA style, feel free to follow these and any other rules with which you are familiar; however, if this is all new to you, rest assured that you will only be held accountable for the information on this page.

1. Your paper must have the following: A separate cover page at the beginning; 1 inch margins at top, bottom, and sides; a separate reference page at the end of the paper which lists ALL of the sources mentioned in the text of your paper. Do not include any sources that were not actually cited in your paper.

2. Whenever information from a study is mentioned within the text of your paper, state only the last name of the author(s), followed by the year in which the journal article was published. If there is more than one author, list the last name of each author in the order in which they are listed in the source. Examples:

One author: Johnson (2013) found this to be...

Two authors: Johnson and Peterson (2019) reported on...

More than two authors: Johnson, Peterson, and Hocking (2016) state that...

3. If you directly quote an author, using her/his own words, put quotations around the statement(s), followed by the name of the author, a comma, and the publication date of the article, and the number of the page on which you found the quote. If there is more than one author, list each author separated by commas, and put an ampersand (&) before the last one. Notice that the period to end the sentence goes AFTER the last parenthesis. ONLY ONE DIRECT QUOTE PER PAPER, MAXIMUM! Examples:

One author: “Significant differences were shown between the sexes” (McManus, 2012, p. 122).

Two authors: “Significant differences were shown between the sexes” (McManus & Zapata, 2015, p. 11).

More than 2 authors: “Significant differences were shown between the sexes” (McManus, Zapata, & Black, 2013, p. 5).

4. If the study has more than two authors, you are only required to mention ALL of the names ONCE. After that, each time you mention that study in your paper, you only need to write the last name of the first author listed, followed by the words “et al.” and the date of the article’s publication. It’s as if the words “et al.” take the place of the other last names, so you do not have to keep typing them. (Don’t forget to put the page number if it is a direct quote.) Examples:

Simple citation: As mentioned earlier, Johnson et al. (2019) found significant results in their study using rats.

Direct quote: As the researchers stated, “These results hold potential implications for all such research” (Johnson et al., 2019, p. 11).

5. Reference Page;

- Includes an alphabetized list of every reference you cited in your paper (and no others);

- Alphabetizing should be done using the first letter of the lead researcher’s surname (last name);

- Is left-justified, except the word “References” which is centered at the top of the page (do not underline, bold or italicize it)

- If a reference lists the pages as 34 (10p), this means that the article begins on page 34, and has ten pages. Therefore, you would list the pages as 34-43 in your reference list.

- If a reference lists an issue number, you must include it. Volume 27, issue 3, for instance should be written as 27(3), with no spaces, and italics for the volume number only..

6. Non-sexist/non-biased language is to be used throughout your paper. APA guidelines in this area help writers use language that encourages fair treatment of individuals and groups, and helps them avoid perpetuating demeaning attitudes and biased assumptions. Paramount to this effort are five basic areas: Gender, Sexual Orientation, Racial or Ethnic Identity, Disability, and Age (see next page for a detailed explanation of these rules).

APA Guidelines for Non-sexist/Non-biased Language

Gender:

- do not use the masculine pronoun he to refer to both sexes.

- do not use the masculine or feminine pronoun to refer to define roles by stereotypical sex (e.g., “the nurse...she).

- do not use the word they to correct for this or any other ambiguity. The term they should be used only when referring to

more than one subject.

- do not use the word man as a generic noun or as an ending for an occupational title (e.g., policeman).

Sexual Orientation:

- do not use the term sexual preference; instead, opt for the term sexual orientation.

- do not use the term homosexual; instead use gay men, lesbians, and bisexual women or bisexual men.

Race and Ethnic Identity:

[sic]

- do not use Negro or Afro-American; instead, use Black or African American.

- do not use Oriental; instead use Asian American.

- the terms Black and White should always be capitalized when used to refer to race.

- generally, it is good to be as specific as possible when referring to ethnicity: Hispanic, Latino, Chicano, Chinese,

Vietnamese, Korean, Pakistani, and so on.

Disabilities:

- do not use language that equates persons with their condition (e.g., schizophrenics, or the disabled).

- do not use language that has superfluous, negative overtones, or is a slur (e.g., stroke victims, cripple).

- use the term disability to refer to an attribute of a person.

- use the term handicap to refer to the source of the limitations (e.g., legal handicap, reading handicap).

- do not use the terms challenged or special, as they are often regarded as euphemistic.

Age:

- high school age and under, use girls and boys.

- for persons 18 years and older, use men and women.

- do not use the term elderly; instead, use the terms older men, older women, or older person.

- do not use the term senility; instead, use the term dementia.

Supplemental Page – DSM-V Use

Because so many students have requested permission to use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) to define and describe the disorder they’ve chosen, I have decided to allow this resource to be used, even though it is a book. This requires that I teach you how to cite a book and how to include it on your references page (if you choose to utilize it). Please see the information below, and remember that NO OTHER BOOKS can be used in researching your topic.

Reference Page Format:

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th

ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Simple Citation:

According to the DSM-V (2013), a number of symptoms present with this disorder.

Direct Quote:

“Major Depressive Disorder is characterized by one or more Major Depressive Episodes” (DSM-V, 2013,

p. 345).

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