Many faculty have suggested that using movies and empirical articles in advanced psychology courses can be useful pedagogical techniques. For example, Conner's (1996) feature film assignment for a cognitive psychology class helped students apply knowledge gained in class to nonacademic situations. This approach is perhaps even more important in introductory courses for non-majors. An enjoyable activity involving movies may draw them into the discipline of psychology and encourage them to think critically about the media. This activity is related to social psychology and is very relevant to everyday experience, so it is easy for introductory students to find applications of the topic to a wide variety of film depictions. 

This activity serves several purposes. First, it encourages students to critically evaluate media presentations from a scientific perspective. This is particularly important given the present proliferation of "pop" psychology books, talk shows, and radio personalities. Second, this activity demonstrates social psychology's applicability to real life. Instead of just reading or hearing about social psychological research, this assignment encourages students to examine it in their everyday experiences. Finally, this activity gives students practice reading psychological research articles. This gives students a feel for how research is actually conducted. It also gives them experience with primary rather than secondary sources. This is an important general skill that all students should develop.

Procedures
Students will be asked to write a paper ranging from three to five pages, linking a journal article to a film. After presenting the lecture on social psychology, and requiring students to read the chapter in their text, provide the following instructions:

"For this assignment, you will apply a social psychological article to a feature film. The purpose of this activity is to give you practice reading empirical psychological research and evaluating the media from a scientific perspective. I encourage you to find a film and a corresponding journal article on a topic that is interesting to you. You may choose any topic from the field of social psychology, including but not limited to topics within the areas of interpersonal attraction, aggression, and prejudice. Along with a journal article, you are encouraged to include information from the textbook and from in-class material if you feel it would enhance your paper. Please include citations of the film and article, as well as the article's abstract."

Students are provided with a list of suggested journals (e.g., Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin). It may also be useful to approve articles before students proceed further.

Prior to turning in the final paper, peer review of the assignment can be used to provide students with feedback about their writing. Peer review can also improve the quality of the final paper. Rather than simply asking students to assign a grade to a paper, students are provided with the following guidelines:

• Point out strengths as well as elements that need more work.
• Be specific. Point to particular places in the paper where revision will be helpful. Offer suggested language for revision.
• Don't hesitate to respond as a reader. (For example: I got confused here. I saw your point clearly here.)
• Make comments in the spirit of helpfulness. Take comments in the spirit of helpfulness.

It may also be useful to provide peer readers with specific questions to guide their feedback (For example: Is the journal article thoughtfully, correctly, and critically applied to the film? Suggest improvements.)

When I have used this assignment, it was worth 15% of the final grade. I provide students with the following grading criteria:

• Film and journal article cited; abstract of article included with paper; film and article meet the requirements.
• Clear and accurate discussion of the journal article.
• Clear description of the film in general and scene(s) in particular that relate to the social psychology principle.
• Journal article thoughtfully, correctly, and critically applied to film. Be sure to discuss how the material in the article and film are similar and/or different. How well is the psychological principle portrayed in the film?
• Written in coherent and organized manner; integration good; properly proofed.

Examples of feature films and the associated topics that have been used in the past include:

Shrek (matching hypothesis)
American Beauty (misattribution of arousal)
Legally Blonde (contact hypothesis)
Casino (catharsis hypothesis)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (deindividuation)
Interview with the Vampire (equity theory)

Feedback about this assignment has generally been positive. One student wrote, "I thought the paper was an important addition to class because it required the forging of the link between textbook and real world. Learning psychology seems useless if one's understanding does not ever surpass a strictly academic level." Another student said, "After the paper, I began to see examples of social psychology on TV and in other movies as well. It's really interesting to see how much of it is present in media, and I never really thought about it until now."

Although I used this assignment during an introduction to psychology course, it would also work well in a social psychology course. In the introductory course, students were aware of the assignment from the first day of class. Linking a psychological concept to a feature film helped introductory students remember social psychology content. More importantly, it illustrated the relevance of the psychology to everyday life, and encouraged students to think critically.


Reference
Conner, D. B. (1996). From Monty Python to total recall: A feature film activity for the cognitive psychology course. Teaching of Psychology, 23, 33-35.


This article originally appeared in the spring 2006 issue of the Psychology Teacher Network newsletter, published by the American Psychological Association. It is reprinted on AP Central through a collaboration agreement between the College Board and the APA.