ap psychology comprehensive review

8/9/2019 AP Psychology Comprehensive Review

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AP Psychology Summer Assignment

Read this first:

For this assignment you are required to integrate what will be the curriculum

material of the AP Psychology course with movie material in a cohesive way.

This is not assignment that focuses solely focusing on disorders (although

disorders might be present in the characters), so make sure you focus on other

areas of class content such as psychological and social concepts and issues and

other elements of human behavior. Make sure you develop your ideas with

evidence from the movie and clearly explain and connect psychological

concepts, ideas and events.

Students are to watch

f the following movies. Descriptions of each movie

are listed at the end of this assignment sheet:

As G ood As I t Gets

Awakenings

A B eautiful Mind

Benny & Joon

Lars and the Rea l Girl

Harold and Maude

Harvey

W hat's E ating Gilbert

Grape?

The Basic Idea

After viewing the movie, your task is to connect the lives of the main characters,

or events in the film, to some of the curriculum topics of AP Psychology. It will be

necessary for you to research certain issues, concepts and disorders of the

psychology curriculum for a successful completion of this assignment.

Your work should be descriptive and illustrative, but not necessarily exhaustive.

There will be no page number requirement (however, 4-5 pages would be the

probable length of a well-discussed paper), but incomplete development and

paper brevity may cost you points off of your grade.

Remember

the task of the assignment is to connect the material, not to

summarize the movie


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If you are still struggling to conceptualize the assignment, please feel free to use this

structure below. This is just a template for a proper description of the film. After filling in

the pieces, it would still be necessary to put your thoughts in a multi-paragraph format. I

have offered you two examples to help you conceptualize the assignment.

For obvious reasons you may not use the examples below on your report

Statement/belief/opinion: Evidence from movie

Melvin shows signs of IMelvin

demonstrates several

obsessive-compulsive behaviors associated with

disorder. (from the film OCD. For example, he

As Good As It Gets

ashes his hands with

scalding water twice, and

ompulsions are repetitive

uses new bars of soap

ehaviors designed to reduce

:between washings. He walks

th obsessive thinking. When

down the sidewalk avoiding Melvin washes his hands, it

the cracks and any human

eems he might be getting rid

contact. He locks and

f

a fear of germs. The second

unlocks the door five times, ashing is just extra security.

and then turns the light on elvin's behavior with the

and off five times. He taps

ocks and lights probably

his toes on each side of the reduce his concern over some

floor before he places his

feet in his slippers.

Ben demonstrates an

addiction to alcohol.

(from the film Leaving

Las Vegas

'We first meet Ben as he is

he diagnostic definition of

shopping in the liquor store. addiction involves tolerance

1He has a full cart of liquor

nd withdrawal. Tolerance is

potties. He drinks while he

described as an ability to

'drives. He appears to drink andle more and more of a

early in the morning (when

ubstance before being

the bartender suggests that similarly affected. Ben's ability

he should be drinking

o

handle alcohol and still

coffee). His behavior shows function is an example of his

;impaired judgement. He is

ncreased tolerance. Ben also

socially inappropriate with

experiences violent withdrawal.

the woman at the bar, and

e experiences delerium

the woman at the bank. He Aremons, which is the physical

spends time with the

response to the absence of the

prostitute and has his

drug. Ben also meets other

;wedding ring stolen because ;diagnostic criteria such as

of his alcohol impairment. He 'social penalties. He loses his

has been fired from his job

ob and his family (we

due to his drinking.

ssume).

Connection to class

Obsessions are intrusive

thoughts that seem to bother a

person even when the person

doesn't want them to.

negative consequence, so

they

get strengthened through

negative reinforcement.

You would turn this information into one of the five or six paragraphs

that you develop in your paper.


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I would suggest that you create a similar structure and take notes during the movie.

Please feel free to make these boxes bigger than they are to accommodate your

thoughts and ideas

tatement/belief/opinion regarding Evidence from that onnection to

articular movie

ovie sychological issue

tatement 1

Statement #2

Statement #3

Statement #4


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You must choose 3 of the movies listed below for this assignment.

As Good A s It Gets

Genre: Drama/Comedy Year: 1997 Rating: PG 13

Actors: Jack Nicholson Greg Kinnear Helen Hunt

Topics: Psychopathology OCD Personality Disorder Social Bias

Academy A ward w inner for Best Actor and Best Actress. Jack Nicholson plays M elvin

Udall, a cranky, bigoted, writer with terr ible case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. His

l i fe i s turned upside dow n w hen his neighbo r , gay ar t is t Simon, played by Greg K innear ,

i s beaten in a b rutal mugging. Hospi ta l ized Simon en trusts h is beloved dog to M elvin. In

addi t ion, Melvin seems to b e fal l ing in love wi th Carol , the only w ai t ress w ho w i l l

to lerate h im. The f i lm addresses OCD, bias (homophobia) and at t itude change.

Awakenings

Genre: Drama Year: 1990 Rating: PG 13

Actors: Robin Williams Robert DeNiro Julie Kavner

Topics: Psychopathology Neuropsychology Treatment

A wo nderful movie based on O liver Sacks ' c l in ical cases pe r formed in the 1960's a t

Bronx Psychiat r ic Ho spi ta l . I t chronicles the new ly discovered drug of L-dopa 's an d i t s

extreme Parkinsonian effects on encephal i t is le thargica and neuronal sup er-

sensitivity. Also an interesting glimpse inside a mental hospital in the 1960s. Why do

you th ink pa ranoia/psychosis developed af ter prolonged L-dopa t reatment?

Beautiful Mind, A

Genre: Drama Year: 2001 Rating: PG 13

Actors: Russell Crowe Ed Harris Jennifer Connelly

Topics: Psychopathology Treatment Schizophrenia Marital/Family Dynamics

Stress and Coping

Academy A ward w inner for Best Pic ture and B est Suppor t ing Actress. Russel l Crowe

portrays Professor John Nash, a brill iant mathematician. There is a major plot twist - stop

reading here i f you don ' t want i t spoi led. .. We learn that we are m isled - s i tuat ions and

characters turn out to be por t rayals of Nash 's delusional th inking and hal lucinat ions due

to schizophrenia. W e see him spi ral dow nw ard in the throws of h is psy chot ic th inking or

the s ide ef fects of h is medicat ions. What do you th ink ab out the suggest ion that he

w as able to self-challenge and treat the reali ty of the hallucinations, as at the end of the

movie? W hat do yo u th ink th is movie d id for publ ic percept ion of schizophrenia?


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Benny Joon

Genre: Drama/Comedy Year: 1993 Rating: PG 13

Actors: Johnny Depp Mary Stuart Masterson Aidan Quinn

Topics: Psychopathology Schizophrenia Personality Disorder MaritaUFamily

Dynam ics, Stress and Coping

Johnny Depp por t rays Sam a quiet eccentric who emu lates the w ays of s i lent movie s tar

Buster Keaton and who deve lops a re la t ionship wi th a young w oman w ho

is schizophrenic por t rayed by M ary Stuar t Master ton. Good por t rayal of the cer ta in

st resses on family members d eal ing w i th men tal i llness, as Joon 's brother devo tes h imself

to her care.

Harold and Maude

Genre: Drama/Comedy Year: 1971 Rating: PG

Actors: Ruth Gordon Bud Cort Vivian Pickles

Topics: Psychopathology Mood Disorders Marital/Family Dynamics

The self-dest ructive and needy weal thy teenager H arold i s obsessed by death and sp ends

his le isure t ime at tending funerals , watching the demolishing of b ui ld ings, and simulat ing

suicides trying to get attention from his indifferent, snobbish and egocentric mother. His

sessions w i th h is p sychologist are a lso for h is amusement .

W hen H arold meets the anarchist seventy-nine-year-old M aude at a funeral , they become

fr iends an d the old lady in t roduces him to a hap pier s ide of l i fe . M eanw hi le , h is mother

enlists him in a dating service and tr ies to force H arold to join the army. On the day of

M aude 's e ight ie th bi r thday, Harold p roposes to h er but he f inds the t ruth abo ut l i fe a t the

end of hers. Involves faked suic ides, and a real one, bu t are the characters actual ly

depressed?

Harvey

Genre: Comedy Year: 1950 Rating: NR PG

Actors: James Stewart Josephine Hull Peggy Dow

Topics: Psychopathology Psychotic Disorders Substance Use Disorders

Treatment, Marital/Family Dynamics

Academy Aw ard w inner and c lassic comedy w i th J immy Stewar t hal lucinat ing (?) that a

six-foot rabbi t named Harvey is h is constant companion. Consider the p or t rayal of

psychiat ry and the mental asylum and the ap parent ease wi th w hich one seemed to be

able to commit a person. Also, one might th ink H arvey w as a resul t of too much alcohol ,

but do we actually see Jimmy Stewart ever drink? Hmmm. Harvey s gentle and

personable a t t i tude tow ards everyone is considered a personal i ty d isorder i s i t a d isorder

to be too nice, too pol i te? A h, i f we al l w ere so af f l icted


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Lars and the Real Girl

Genre: Comedy/Drama Year: 2007 Rating: PG-13

A ctors: Ry an G osling, Emily M ort imer, Kell i G arner

Topics: Psychopathology, Psychotic Disorders, Treatment, M aritaUFamily

Dynamics, Social

Lars i s an off ice w orker in a small t ime. He 's an o dd, reclusive guy , but n ice and

harmles s. Expose d to the concep t of a "mail order doll" (anatomically correct) by a co-

wo rker , he orders a dol l , not for sexual reasons, but as par t of a delusional system he uses

to repress bad memories. Lars in t roduces the dol l as h is foreign gi r l f riend, who is in a

wh eelchai r. The resul ting responses f rom his family and communi ty , as wel l as the very

empathet ic physic ian, make th is a "feel good" movie. The f i lm t r ies to sho w a

sympathet ic s ide to mental i l lness and model sup por t ive family and communi ty response.

I t "take s a village" to treat me ntal i l lness.

What s Eating Gilbert Grape

Genre: Drama/Comedy Year: 1993 Rating: PG-13

Actors: Johnny Depp, Leonardo diCaprio, Jul iet te Lewis

Topics: Psychopathology , Moo d Disorders, Neuropsychology, Developmental,

M ari taUFamily Dynamics, Stress and Coping

Slice of l i fe f ilm, wi th Johnny Depp as the yo ung adul t car ing for h is family - a

depressed, morbidly obese m other , a brother Arnie, wi th a severe mental d isorder , two

sisters and a father who has left them all while working at the town s slowly dying

Convenience store. Gilbert s life, his future, is thwarted but it is his love and guardian

angel nature for h is family that keeps him going.

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