Complete the project as instructed and submit it through the Dropbox by the due dates. There are a few small steps along the way, so be sure to follow the instructions and check the due dates in the Course Schedule. 

1) Choose a movie and a theory/theorist.

You will watch one of the movies listed from the perspective of a developmental theorist. This gives you an opportunity to dig deeper into one of the major theories/theorists we studied this semester and apply that theory in a more concrete manner. Please choose only ONE theory or theorist to focus on. You may reference other theories/theorists, but I want you to focus on ONE overall theory or theorist for the paper. Make sure that you state which theory you will be using in your introduction paragraph so that I know what to look for in the rest of the paper. You will also want to include a solid description of the theory in the first few paragraphs to give the rest of the paper context. Choose only one character in the movie to focus on! Pretend you are writing a case study on the character from the perspective of the theory that you choose.

• Eat, Pray, Love
• Dan in Real Life
• It’s Complicated
• Kids
• Parenthood
• Precious
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Sixteen Candles
• The Bucket List
• The Outsiders
• The Squid and the Whale

Examples of developmental theories/theorists include the following:  Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory (Stages); Learning Theories (Behaviorism/Skinner); Social-Cognitive Theory (Bandura); Cognitive Theories (Piaget); Sociocultural Theory (Vygotsky); Information Processing Theory; Ethology and Evolutionary Biological Psychology; and Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner).

I recommend that you choose your theory/theorist before watching the movie and do enough research to feel comfortable with the theory/theorist. You will have to use outside sources beyond the textbook to get a more comprehensive understanding of the theory/theorist. You will then be able to find solid examples of the observed developmental stages that fit the theory. You can choose to watch a movie other than those listed above, but you must get previous approval from me. If you do not get approval, you will not earn credit for the project. Please know that some of these movies have offensive language, graphic scenes, and so on. It is fully your responsibility to do research into the film content before viewing it if you are concerned about these issues. I accept no responsibility for any negative impacts these movies may have on you, because it is up to you to make an informed decision about which movie to watch.

2. Your paper should have a strong integration of both theory and movie excerpts throughout the paper.

I do not want a summary of the movie. I want an explanation of the observed developmental stages presented in the movie and examples to support them. For each example you provide, please say how or why that example fits the theory. If a particular example does not fit the model, please include a few sentences about how it does not fit. There will likely be some parts of the movie or the characters that do not fit the model well. In this case, feel free to talk a bit about another theory/theorist that might better explain the developmental stage.

3. Cite your sources throughout the paper and provide a reference page.

APA style is required throughout the paper. Please use www.apastyle.org.aspx, http://owl.english.purdue.edu, ccconline tutor – Brainfuse, or your home school writing lab if you are not familiar with APA style. As part of APA style, you will include a cover page, reference page, headers with page numbers, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, double spaced, and so forth. There is no need to include an abstract.

REQUIREMENTS:

• The minimum word count for this paper is 2,000 words.
• You must include at least five sources, three of which must come from academic journals (see list of academic journals that follows).
• I expect an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. College-level writing is required.

1. Choose one person from the following list whom you feel played an important role in the history of psychology: Freud, Pavlov, Skinner, Maslow, or Piaget. Describe what that person did, the approximate time that this person lived, what makes their contribution important, and criticisms of their work or theoretical position (10 points).

2. David’s history teacher asked him why so many German people complied with Hitler’s orders to systematically slaughter millions of innocent Jews. David suggested that the atrocities were committed because the Germans had become unusually cruel, sadistic people with abnormal and twisted personalities. But this is wrong.  Your task in this question is to use your knowledge of “the fundamental attribution error” and especially of Milgram’s research on obedience to highlight the weaknesses of David’s explanation and to offer a more likely explanation for the slaughter of millions of Jews during World War II.  This question is to evaluate your understanding of the fundamental attribution error and Milgrim’s research on obedience.  (10 points).

3. Choose a behavior that you would like to modify or change using the principles of operant conditioning. Be sure to use and explain the following terms: operant conditioning, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, schedules of reinforcement, shaping and extinction.  (10 points).

4. Imagine that you were involved in a legal case in which an eyewitness claimed that he has seen a person commit a crime. Based on your knowledge about memory and cognition (see textbook to bolster your knowledge for this question; attend to research by Loftus especially), discuss some of the problems of eye-witness accounts.  (10 points).