COURSE TITLE

HELP UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

BACHELOR OF PSYCHOLOGY PROGRAM

JANUARY SEMESTER 2014

MODULE TITLE

:Psychology of Film

MODULE CODE

:PSY 317

MODULE DESCRIPTION :This module will explore how movies illustrate various psychological issues and phenomena, as well as how movies reflect the social psychology of different communities and different eras. This module will also explore the impact that films have on people emotionally, cognitively and behaviourally.

LEARNING OUTCOMES :

A. Transferable SkillsAt the end of the course students will be able to:

A. Knowledge and understandingIdentify and articulate how film content incorporates psychological phenomena.Observe how film has a psychological impact on viewers.

B. Cognitive SkillsApply critical and evaluative thinking when analyzing the content and the impact of films.

C. Practical / Professional Skills/Transferable SkillsDemonstrate the ability to write and produce a short film on a given topic in psychology.

PREREQUISITES

:Students must have completed PSY 205 (Social Psychology)

REF. SITE

:

MODULE LEADER Dr. Goh Chee Leong

gohcl@help.edu.myTutors:

Ong Chia Wei: ong.chia.wei@help.edu.myReuben Liu: reuben.liu@help.edu.my

MODULE ASSESSMENT:Weekly Blog 10%

Essay 20%Short Film Project 20%Final Examination 50%

CREDIT HOURS

:Completed 3 credit hours

Film Genres that will be explored

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9Historical Films

Comedies

Family Dramas

Romantic Films

Action Films

Horror Films

Documentaries

Art films

Film Noir

Psychological Themes that will be explored

Social Influence Prejudice and Discrimination

Personal Identity Violence

Group Dynamics Justice

Family Systems Death and grief

Cognitive Dissonance Learning and Conditioning

Love and Romance Motivation and transformation

Friendship Loneliness

Intercultural differences Conflict

Intelligence and Giftedness Fear Stages of development Psychological DisordersWork and vocation Therapy and Counselling

Assessment Details

Weekly Blog (10%)

All students will need to start a 317 academic blog site. Guidelines on how to begin a blog have been posted in the myacel site.

Your blog site address will need to be emailed to the tutor by Jan 24. Blog name should follow this format: PSY317yourname. Eg. PSY317CheeLeong.Every week starting from the week beginning January 20 students will be required to write a minimum of 1 blog entry on the movie that we have watched in class. This entry will be due every Tuesday at 12 noon exactly ONE WEEK after the previous weeks film screening.

Your blog entries may take one of many different approaches: you can reflect on parts of the film that you found interesting or had an impact on you. You can describe how this film illustrates a particular psychological theory or idea. You can link part of the film to your own life experiences. You can critique the film, describing what you liked or disliked about the story or the acting. You can even set up links to other films or TV shows that share similar themes to the film. The blog entry should be a minimum of 300 words. Note that your lecturer, tutor and fellow classmates will be given access to this blog so please use your discernment when deciding what to write and share.Essay (20%) Essay due: March 3 (Monday 5pm)Select ONE of the movies you have watched in the 317 class and write an essay on ONE of the following topics.

1. Discuss how the film illustrated theories and concepts in human personality.

2. Discuss how the film illustrated theories and concepts in human development

3. Discuss how the film illustrated theories and concepts in social psychology

4. Discuss how the film illustrated theories and concepts in abnormal psychology

Your essay should include specific examples of the psychological theories and concepts contained in the film and should include a discussion of whether these theories and concepts have been accurately illustrated.

Length 700-1000 words each not including cover page, references and appendices. Students are required to state the total number of words in the cover page of the assignment.

All assignments are to be submitted to Turnitin for plagiarism checking before final submission.

Go to: http://www.turnitin.com________________________________________________________________Short Film (20%) Students are to form small groups. Each group is to complete a 10 minute short film based on the theme:

FREEDOM Group list should be emailed to tutor by Jan 25 5pm. Include group leader in the list.

Furthermore, films will need to incorporate at least one psychological theory in its storyline.The films will be handed in on March 28 (Friday at 5pm) in the form of a DVD.Films will be judged on:

= quality of script(story)

= quality of acting

= quality of production

= connection with Theme2% bonus marks will be assigned to groups who are able to produce a 2 minute photo montage or documentary on the making of your film.

Examinations (50%)The final examinations will comprise of essay questions. It will be an open book examination with students free to reference any books or written materials during the examination.The examination questions will be based on films watched in the course of the lectures and the content of the lecture discussions.

__________________________________________________________________ Department of Psychology Policies

Please note that the policies below apply to all students enrolled for this subject: BPsych students, BBusPsych students and ADP students. Students from other departments taking this subject as an elective are bound by all policies stated here except research participation and attendance at colloquium + other compulsory events.

1. Academic Misconduct

Academic misconduct includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, falsifying documents, and general unethical behaviour. Students who have been found engaging in acts of misconduct can be referred to the Departmental Assessment Investigative Committee (DAIC) for further investigation. If found guilty, the following penalties can be meted out at the discretion of the committee:

1. 0 for assessment

2. F grade for the subject

3. Suspension from the program

4. Expulsion from the program2. Plagiarism note

All students must use the APA citation style refer to the guide posted on My Acel.

Plagiarism is defined as any unacknowledged use of ideas and material produced by someone other than the writer him/herself.

Please note that you are NOT to submit an assignment that you have already submitted to any subject, whether in the same or different semester

All assignments must be submitted to Turnitin. Failure to do so will result in 0 marks for that particular assignment.

The following rules apply:

1) Any information taken from any source must be cited.

2) If you copy the words (more than 3 words in the same sequence) from the source, this is called a direct quotation. Quotation marks must be used and this must be cited.

3) If you re-write or summarize the information in your own words, this is called a paraphrase. No quotation marks are necessary, but the source must be cited.

CategoryDescriptionAction

Blatant plagiarism Complete paragraphs and/or sentences used without in-text acknowledgement

Clear intent to plagiarize

For cases of blatant plagiarism, students may be called before the Dept Assessment Investigative Committee (DAIC) consisting of the Head of Department and two Senior Lecturers. The following decisions can be made at the discretion of the lecturer and/or the DAIC:

1. 0 for assignment

2. F grade for the subject

3. Suspension from the program

4. Expulsion from the programIn addition to this, all faculty staff will be made aware of the students who appear before the committee. Reference /recommendation letters will not be provided for these students.

Accidental plagiarism One or two in-text citations omitted

Quotation marks omitted

Little or no evidence of intent to plagiarizeMaximum 50% of available points

Lecturer discretion

Student to be notified of action. This will be accompanied by a discussion/consultation on how the mistake can be avoided in future.

Poor paraphrasing Material is acknowledged but at best, the paraphrasing is only limited to a few words being changed Quotation marks are also not used)

Little or no evidence of intent to plagiarizeMaximum 50% of available points

Lecturer discretion

Student to be notified of action. This will be accompanied by a discussion / consultation on how the mistake can be avoided in future.

3. Mid-Term / Class Test Attendance Policy

i. For class tests / mid-terms that are 1 hour or less students are not allowed to enter after / leave before the first 10 minutes of the test.

ii. For class tests / mid-terms that more than 1 hour students are not allowed to enter after / leave before the first 30 minutes of the test.

iii. For class tests / mid-terms, students are not allowed to leave in the last 10 minutes of the test.

4. Barring from Final Examinations

Please note that effective from the Jan 2011 semester, for all Psychology subjects, students must attempt any assessment within the enrolled subject that is 10% and above, and obtain at least 10% of the total marks for that particular assessment. Failure to do so will result in the student being barred from Final Examinations for that particular subject.

For example, for a subject that has the following assessment:

Quizzes: 5%

Assignment 1: 10%

Assignment 2: 15%

Mid-terms: 30%

Final Exams: 40%

If a student does not submit/attend any of the following: Assignment 1 / Assignment 2 / Mid-terms (and obtain at least 10% of the marks for those assessments), this student will be barred from sitting for the final examinations of this subject. E.g. if a student attempts Assignment 1 and receives only 8 marks out of 100 (or 0.8% out of 10% - i.e. less than 10% of the marks for that assessment), they will be barred from that subjects final examinations.

Please note that students have to submit their assignments within 7 days of the due date (the 7 days include weekends). Assignments submitted after that will not be considered. (i.e. students who submit assignments later than 7 days after the due date will be barred from final exams)

5. Late Assignment Deductions

Late submission of assignments will incur a penalty of 2% per day (24 hours)(including Saturdays and Sundays). This 2% deduction per day is incurred on the total percentage of the assignment.

For example:Assignment 1, worth 20% of your total grade, is marked upon 100 marks.The 2% deduction per day is from the 20% and not from the 100 marks.If a student submits the assignment 2 days late = 4% deduction = student receives a 16% maximum for the assignment.

6. Compulsory Participation in Experiments

(This policy applies to all BusinessPsych / BPsych students***)

Please note that it is compulsory for every student to participate in 1 hour of research this semester: 1 hour in total for the whole semester, regardless of the number of Psychology subjects you are enrolled in (E.g, a student enrolled in 3 Psychology subjects and a student enrolled in 1 Psychology subject will have to participate in the same number of hours (1 hour) of research).

Failure to do so will result in 2% being deducted from each Psychology subject that you are enrolled in. Please see the Head of Department if you are uncomfortable with attending experiments and would like to obtain alternative forms of assessment. No bonus marks will be allocated for participation of more than 1 hour of research.

***For the January 2014 semester, the following students are exempted from this requirement:

1. BPsych students who are only enrolled in PSY 313 Undergraduate Thesis 2 and no other Psychology subject.

2. BPsych students who are enrolled in PSY 201. (This does not apply to students with AE/AA grades for PSY 201).

Important Note: Students must ensure that they attend every experiment that they sign up for. Failure to attend an experiment will result in the number of hours of that experiment being deducted from the compulsory hours you have completed. For example, if one signs up for a 2-hour experiment but fails to attend this experiment, the compulsory research hours in the system will be stated as -2 hours. As such, this student will need to participate in a total of 3 hours of experiments to fulfil the 1 hour compulsory requirement. Please refer to the Department of Psychology admin staff if you have any questions about this.

7. Ipsy.help.edu.my/experiments

Students may sign up for all experiments at http://ipsy.help.edu.my/experiments. Please note that the experiments website has been revamped, and each student will need to create a new account. There are instructions on the main page for all experimenters and participants, so please refer to the instructions there.

Attention: All Experimenters

Kindly update your participants' attendance latest by Friday, Week 13 (11th April). It is the experimenters responsibility to ensure that all students who have signed up and attended the experiment receive a confirmation of attendance.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attention: All Participants

Please double-check your compulsory research participation hours for accuracy. If there are discrepancies, kindly notify your experimenters to update your attendance. The last day to do this is Friday, Week 13 (11th April). No changes will be entertained after this.

8. Compulsory Events

In the January 2014 semester, it will be compulsory for all students to attend the following events:

1. So You Think You Are A Psychologist Saturday 15 Feb 2014

2. Colloquium Saturday 19 April 2014

Failure to do so will result in 2% being deducted from each Psychology subject that you are enrolled in. Further details about these events will be disseminated closer to the date of the events.

Students with valid reasons for being exempted from these events are to consult the following academic staff:

1. So You Think You Are A Psychologist Mr Alex Lui

2. Colloquium Ms Winnee Cheong

9. Policy on Participation for Group Assessment

1. It is the policy of this department that when group assessments are assigned, each individual in that group holds the following responsibilities:

1.1 in the case of written assessment, to contribute to the finished product, be it presentation notes, a research report or a project report. This contribution may include archival research, drafting, editing or formatting.

1.2in the case of an oral presentation, to verbally present part of the presentation. No individual should be exempt from speaking during the oral presentation.

1.3 to be clear on what your specific roles and contributions are to the group effort, as well as the expectations your group members have in terms of your contributions.

1.4 attend group meetings unless there are legitimate and documented reasons for missing them.

1.5 attend group meetings with supervisors unless there are legitimate and documented reasons for missing them

2. Group members have a right to report fellow members for negligence if there are deemed to have failed in any of the responsibilities listed above.

2.1 Group members are encouraged to raise these complaints with their lecturers and attempts made to resolve differences before a formal complaint is lodged.

2.2 Negligence (social loafing) reports can be filled in by one or several members of the group (see attached form) using forms that can be downloaded from the myacel site.

2.3 Negligence reports should be submitted to the course lecturer who will then make a decision having investigated the issues raised. The group member accused will have an opportunity to defend themselves against the allegations made.

2.4 If a student is found to be negligent in this matter, a lecturer can penalize them by deducting any amount of marks from their group assessment marks and/or their individual assignment marks.

10. Evaluations

Every semester, there will be 2 evaluation processes for each subject:

1. Mid-semester evaluations:

These evaluations are held in class and consist of 2 subjective questions. This is so that lecturers and tutors can receive feedback in the middle of the semester, in order to address student concerns and make improvements within the same semester.

2. Compulsory end of semester evaluations:

These evaluations are conducted online and consist of Likert-scale questions as well as 2 subjective questions. The purpose of this is to obtain feedback that will be beneficial for future semesters.

Students are strongly encouraged to fill in BOTH evaluation forms as feedback is important and can help the faculty make important decisions about the curriculum and the direction of the course.

COURSE OUTLINE PREPARED BY: Dr Goh Chee Leong

PSY 317 Jan 2014

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