Psyc 213 Integrative Paper Assignment – Instructions and Grading Rubric

Topic

Select one of the following topics to write about:

1. Evaluation of media portrayals of people with psychological disorders

Your paper should analyze and synthesize information from a variety of chapters and media sources. For example, what commonalities exist on how mental illness is portrayed in two or more media sources that you described? Another example of synthesis would be to address themes in media portrayals that apply to more than one category of psychological disorders. Be sure to include psychological disorders from at least three chapters in your book.

Your paper should critically evaluate the information presented in the media based on what you learned about psychological disorders and treatment in the textbook. What parts are correct? Which aren’t? Give specific examples in your paper. Be sure to strategically us information from the textbook to support your claims.

At the end of your paper, you should create guidelines or tips for how the media should portray mental illness based on the information that you provided earlier in your paper. Be specific in your suggestions and give specific examples of how some of the media portrayals you mentioned earlier could be changed and why those changes will be beneficial. Be sure to clearly link this information to points and examples that you presented earlier in the paper.

1. Analysis of society’s colloquial use of mental health terms or diagnoses (e.g., “OCD,” “psychotic,” “phobic, ” “retarded,” “antisocial,” “bipolar”) in light of the criteria for the corresponding psychological disorders

Your paper should analyze and synthesize information from a variety of chapters. For example, identify themes in the colloquial use of terms related to psychological disorders from at least three chapters in your book. Be sure to give specific examples.

Your paper should critically evaluate the way that psychological terms are used in a colloquial (casual) manner in American society. Evaluate the common uses of these terms in light of the criteria for psychological disorders. How are the terms used correctly or misused, and how could this affect people with actual mental health problems? Be sure to use information from your textbook strategically to support your claims.

At the end of your paper, you should create guidelines or tips for how psychological terms should be used and how people should respond to the misuse of psychological terms based on the information and examples that you presented earlier. Be specific in your suggestions and give specific examples of how this change could happen. Be sure to clearly link this information to points and/or examples that you presented earlier in the paper.

General Paper Requirements

-Your paper should have a thesis or main point that serves to organize your paper (see Writing Guide hyperlinks below).

-Additionally, each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that organizes the information presented in the paragraph and relates back to your thesis (see Writing Guide hyperlinks below).

-Paragraphs should follow logically from one to another. It often helps to have a transition sentence at the end of a paragraph that links the information in that paragraph to what you’re going to present in the next paragraph.

-Your paper should critically and comprehensively address your topic using information from a minimum of three separate chapters about disorders (chapters 4-13). You can reference information from any chapters, but be sure that thoroughly integrate information from at least three “disorder” chapters.

-You should cite the textbook every time that you summarize information from your textbook authors (see citation guide below). You should not simply regurgitate information from the textbook but use the information to back up your thesis. While online and other non-academic sources may be appropriate for giving examples of media portrayals and colloquial uses of psychological terms, your textbook should be your exclusive source for factual information about diagnoses and treatment.

-Do not use other people’s critique of media or language; find your own examples and draw your own conclusions. In other words, don’t Google “media portrayals of psychological disorders” and use information that somebody else researched and wrote.

Paper Formatting and Length Requirements

-6 to 8 full pages in length (excluding title page or headings, excluding reference page). Six pages is the absolute minimum. If it looks to be barely six pages, I will check your spacing, headings, and margins very closely. There is no penalty for writing more than 8 pages.

-double spaced

-Times New Roman, 12 pt. font (like this instruction page)

-standard 1-inch margins on all sides (like this instruction page)

-no extra space between paragraphs (In MS Word, under the “home” tab, click “Paragraph.” Under “spacing,” check the box marked “don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style”).

-No title page required

-APA style reference page required (see https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/). Textbook should be included in reference section along with any other media sources cited in your paper (for questions 1 and 3)

Durand, V. M. & Barlow, D. H. (2015). Essentials of Abnormal Psychology, 7^th ed.

Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Citation Guide

In-text citations should be APA style. Example: (Durand & Barlow, 2015). The citation should be included as part of a sentence, not written as a sentence fragment. For example, “Symptoms of depression must include either depressed mood or anhedonia” (Durand & Barlow, 2015).

If any part of your paper includes a direct quote, include the page number in the citation directly following the quote. Example: (Durand & Barlow, 2015, p. 204) Please note that quotations are rarely appropriate in academic papers! It is better to summarize information in your own words.

A citation at the end of a sentence means that you used that source for the information contained in that sentence. This means that you need to be clear about your source for EVERY sentence that contains information from the book. Any time you claim a “truth” about disorders or treatments, you must get this information from the textbook and cite it. You can do this in several ways. You can put a citation at the end of each sentence that summarizes material from the book. For example:

Phobias are….. (Durand & Barlow, 2015). There are several different categories of phobias, including…. (Durand & Barlow, 2015). A person with a phobia must experience….(Durand & Barlow, 2015). This means that fears that do not cause problems in person’s life would not meet criteria for phobias. Some people who say that they have phobias are mistaken. For people who suffer from phobias, the symptoms can cause intense distress and significant avoidance of daily activities (Durand & Barlow, 2015).

A better way to organize a paragraph that contains numerous sentences that paraphrase information from the same source is to introduce the source in the first sentence of the paragraph. Once the authors are introduced in the main body of the sentence, future sentences can start with phrases like, “The authors further state…” and “They note that…” For example:

Durand and Barlow (2015) describe phobias in their textbook. They define phobias as….. They note that the DSM-5 (APA, 2013) includes multiple categories of phobias, such as…. Examples of animal phobias include fears of…. Examples of situational phobias include fears of….. The authors stress that phobias must impair a person’s life in some way. This means that…..

Writing Guide

For help in understanding what a thesis statement is and how to organize paragraphs in your paper to support your thesis, please see the following writing guides prepared by the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Writing Center:

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/thesis-statements/

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/paragraphs/

Other writing tips to keep in mind

• No contractions
• No personal pronouns (I, we, us, you) and do not write about your personal experiences.
• Person comes before disorder (“A person with an autism spectrum disorder” instead of “Autistic person”)
• Periods go inside quotations. Example: “The princess slayed the dragon.”
• Write in complete sentences.
• Use parallel structure when listing multiple things in a sentence. This is correct: “A patient may have a depressed mood, anhedonia, a lack of energy, and insomnia.” This is NOT correct: “A patient may have a depressed mood, anhedonia, lack energy, and eat more than normal.” This is not correct because the “may have” clause works for the first two items in the list but not the second two.
• Use spell check and proofread your paper for grammatical mistakes and readability.

Grading Rubric

Up to 20 points – Paper has a clear, thoughtful thesis that addressed the topic, and paragraphs are organized coherently to support this thesis.

18-20 (A): clear and thoughtful thesis that addresses the topic, paragraphs organized well, most paragraphs begin with a topic sentence, good transitions between paragraphs

16-17 (B) thesis is clear but generic or does not fully address the topic, paragraphs are organized well, most paragraphs begin with a topic sentence, good transitions between paragraphs

14-15 (C): thesis is present, paragraphs generally organized in support of thesis, but paragraphs are generally lacking topic sentences or good transitions

12-13 (D): thesis is present but paragraphs are not organized well to support this thesis

Below 12 (F): thesis is not present. Points will be assigned based on how well the paper is organized to address the topic in the absence of a thesis statement.

Up to 20 points – Paper critically analyzes and synthesizes information related to issues presented in the writing prompts for the topic. Information from the textbook is integrated throughout the paper to support the writer’s claims.

18-20 (A): Synthesizes information across at 3 least chapters in the textbook and addresses the writing prompt thoroughly and thoughtfully. Uses specific examples to support claims. Demonstrates a high level of critical thinking.

16-17 (B): Synthesizes information across at 3 least chapters in the textbook and addresses the writing prompt thoroughly and thoughtfully. Uses some specific examples to support claim, but does not demonstrate a high level of critical thinking.

14-15 (C): Synthesizes information across at least 3 chapters in the textbook. Addresses the basic prompt but does not address it thoroughly or fails to use specific examples to support claim.

12-13 (D): Synthesizes information across at least 3 chapters in the textbook but does not address the basic prompt, includes inaccurate information, or includes sources other than the textbook for factual information about disorders.

Below 12 (F): Does not synthesize information across at least 3 chapters or paper contains numerous instances of inaccurate information. Points will be assigned based on the degree to which parts of the prompt are addressed and the extent of the inaccurate information. Please note that failure to include (and cite!) information from at least 3 chapters of the textbook (chapters 4-13) will result in an automatic 0 for this section of the paper.

Up to 20 points – Paper critically evaluates issues presented in the writing prompts for the topic against information in the textbook.

18-20 (A): Addresses the writing prompt thoroughly and thoughtfully, using specific examples. Uses the textbook media/societal examples to accurately to support the claims but does not simply regurgitate information from the textbook. Demonstrates a high level of critical thinking in the analysis or application.

16-17 (B): Addresses the writing prompt thoroughly and thoughtfully with specific examples. Uses the textbook and media/societal examples to accurately to support the claims but does not demonstrate a high level of critical thinking.

14-15 (C): Addresses the basic prompt but does not address it thoroughly or lacks specific examples. Uses the textbook and media/societal sources to accurately to support the claims.

12-13 (D): Addresses the basic prompt but does not support claims well with information presented in the textbook. For example, information is presented from the book, but it is not used strategically to specifically evaluate the examples.

Below 12 (F): Does not address the prompt or includes inaccurate information. Points will be assigned based on the degree to which parts of the prompt are addressed and the extent of the inaccurate information.

Up to 20 points – Paper ties information presented earlier in the paper to a creation of specific tips or guidelines as presented in the writing prompts for the topic

18-20 (A): Presents a comprehensive set of guidelines that are clearly and specifically tied to information and examples presented elsewhere in the paper. Guidelines go beyond generic advice and demonstrate a high level of critical thinking.

16-17 (B): Presents a comprehensive set of guidelines that are clearly and specifically tied to information and examples presented elsewhere in the paper. Guidelines go beyond generic advice but do not demonstrate a high level of critical thinking.

14-15 (C): Presents a set of guidelines that are related but not specifically tied to information presented in the paper or guidelines are generic and do not reflect critical thinking (i.e. paper satisfies only one of these two requirements).

12-13 (D): Presents guidelines that are related but not specifically tied to information presented in the paper and guidelines are generic and do not reflect critical thinking (i.e. paper satisfies neither requirement).

Below 12 (F): Does not present guidelines, the guidelines are not clearly related to information presented in the paper, and /or inaccurate information is presented. Points will be assigned based on the degree to which parts of the prompt are addressed and the extent of the inaccurate information.

Up to 20 points – Paper is well written and follows paper specifications and writing tips outlined in the instructions

18-20 (A): Paper contains no typos or grammatical errors and follows all paper specifications and writing tips outlined in the instructions. Paper is at least 6 full pages in length.

16-17 (B): Paper meets most of the paper specifications and writing tips. Paper is at least 6 full pages in length.

14-15 (C): Paper contains numerous writing errors but still communicates the information in an understandable way. Paper is at least 6 full pages in length.

12-13 (D): Writing errors show a fundamental lack of basic communication skills in written English and/or does not cite sources when presenting factual information. Cite the textbook every time you provide factual information that you learned in this course. Paper is at least 6 full pages in length.

Below 12 (F): Writing errors interfere with the reader’s ability to understand what the writer is trying to communicate or paper is less than 6 full pages in length. Points will be assigned based on the degree to which the paper specifications are met. Please note that papers less than 5 full pages in length will automatically receive a zero for this section.