Brain In The News Or Movies Tv Series: PTSD and Amygdala Hyperactivity

You have two options for this assignment: either select a news story/popular press article that relates to a neuroscience/biological psychology topic, OR pick a movie or a TV series you are familiar with that involves a topic related to neuroscience/biological psychology.
DUE DATE FOR YOUR ESSAY: SAT FEB 10th midnight
DUE DATE FOR STUDENT RESPONSES: TUES FEB 13th midnight
OPTION 1: SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR A NEWS STORY
Select a news story/popular press article that relates to a neuroscience/biological psychology topic. Analyze this news story based on what you have learned about neuroscience in this class and based on other reliable sources. Find at least TWO reliable sources that discuss the news story topic. It's fine to use our textbook as one of those, but not required. I recommend you find a peer-reviewed article from an academic journal (using the library search tool), but it's fine to use other reliable sources, such as books, academic websites, or quality non-peer reviewed journal or magazine (e.g. The New Yorker).
The evidence from your sources can either support or refute the popular press news story. You may also find sources that support AND sources that refute the story. 
Once you have identified a news story, write an essay with the following parts:
1. Describe the news story and list it as a source in the reference list in APA format. Provide a link to it (if possible). Explain how biological psychology/neuroscience is represented in this news story. What is the purpose/goal of using neuroscience in this news story? What is being accomplished in this story: is it related to research, disorders, future inventions, cognitive processes, etc.? 
2. Critically evaluate the portrayal of neuroscience in the news story. Based on what you have learned, how accurately are the biological psychology/neuroscience concepts portrayed? What improvements and/or clarifications related to neuroscience should the authors make, if any? How valuable is the information gained from this news story? 
In your essay, you need to refer to and discuss specific neuroscience concepts. You must refer to at least TWO reliable sources (in addition to the news story itself) that discuss issues related to the news story (you can use the library website to access articles; I will show in class how this is done, and you can also get help from the library or come talk to me or email me). You can use as many additional sources as you'd like, but these two sources are required. With all your sources, use APA format in-text citations and reference list. 
To clarify: you need at least these sources for this assignment: the news story itself, and two other sources such as peer-reviewed journal articles, our textbook, other articles, etc. related to the news story topic. Cite them in the text and list all of them in the reference list in APA format. 
Your assignment needs to be at least 2 pages long (double spaced). There is no maximum length. 
USE DIRECT QUOTES SPARINGLY OR NOT AT ALL; THIS PAPER NEEDS TO BE MOSTLY OR COMPLETELY IN YOUR OWN WORDS, so when you refer to sources, paraphrase them. 
OPTION 2: SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR A MOVIE/TV SERIES
If you pick this option instead, you need to identify and analyze a movie/TV series that somehow relates to neuroscience.
Once you have identified a movie/TV series, write an essay with the following parts:
1. First, name the movie/series and provide some general information about it (year, director, country of origin, possibly some names of actors if you wish). Briefly describe the main events/idea of the movie/series. This does not have to be a detailed plot description, and please do not include spoilers of critical events for students who have not seen the movie/series: do not reveal the most critical surprises (e.g. who the killer was, a critical end result)! It may be necessary to reveal something important about the events to discuss the neuroscientific aspects of the plot, but try to be as considerate as possible of those students who would not like to know the critical events. 
2. Explain how biological psychology/neuroscience is represented in this movie/series. What part does it play in the movie/series? Does it relate to cognitive processes, behaviors, disorders, development, etc.? What time period are the neuroscientific aspects based on (past, present, future)? What is the perspective and/or emotional approach to neuroscience in the movie (for example, is it portrayed as scary, threatening, funny, etc.)? 
3. Critically evaluate the portrayal of neuroscience in the movie/series. Based on what you have learned or can find out in other sources, how accurately are the biological psychology/neuroscience concepts portrayed? How realistically are they represented based on the knowledge you have acquired? What improvements and/or clarifications related to the portrayal shoud be made in the movie, if any? 
In addressing these questions, you need to refer to and discuss specific neuroscience concepts.
Your assignment needs to be at least 2 pages long (double spaced). There is no maximum length. 
You must refer to at least TWO reliable sources (in addition to the movie/series itself) that discuss issues related to the movie (you can use the library website to access articles; I will show in class how this is done, and you can also get help from the library or come talk to me or email me). One of the sources can be our textbook (but does not have to be). You can use as many additional sources as you'd like, but two sources are required. With all your sources, use APA format in-text citations and reference list. 
To clarify: you need at least these sources for this assignment: the movie/TV series story itself, and two other sources such as peer-reviewed journal articles, our textbook, other articles, etc. related to the movie/series topic. Cite them in the text and list all of them in the reference list in APA format. 
When you refer to any sources (whether it's a direct quote or a paraphrase), you need to use APA format in-text citations and an APA format reference list. USE DIRECT QUOTES SPARINGLY OR NOT AT ALL; THIS PAPER NEEDS TO BE MOSTLY OR COMPLETELY IN YOUR OWN WORDS, so when you use sources, paraphrase them. 
In addition to writing and posting your own essay, you need to read other students' posts and comment on two of them by Tuesday Feb 13th. Your comments should address the content of the student's assignment, showing that you read it and thought about it. You receive 5 points for each comment (see grading below).
GRADING (the same for both assignment options)
I will look for the following things when I grade your assignment:
a) Clarity/quality of writing/following instructions (up to 10 points): The assignment is organized and written in formal language. The student has written the assignment using mostly or completely their own words (not many direct quotes), and uses educated vocabulary and appropriate grammar. The student has chosen a news story or a movie/TV series that portrays biological psychology/neuroscience in some way and refers to at least two relevant sources that relate to the topic of the news story or movie/series. 
Needs improvement – 3 pts
Satisfactory – 6 pts 
Excellent – 10 pts
b) Critical Thinking (up to 10 points): The student is able to accurately discuss and critically evaluate the relevant neuroscience concepts in an educated fashion. The student makes connections to our class material and/or other neuroscience material they discovered, uses accurate, relevant terminology, and presents their own ideas. 
Needs improvement – 3 pts
Satisfactory – 6 pts 
Excellent – 10 pts
c) Format/citations (up to 10 points): the student uses APA (American Psychological Association) format in-text citations and an APA format reference list (the rest of the formatting does NOT need to follow the APA guidelines [spacing, abstract etc.]). 
APA format in-text citations and reference list not attempted – 0 pts
Student has APA format in-text citations in every section of the text in which information is obtained from a source:
Includes author last names or article title if there is no author: 2 pts
Includes year of publication or n.d. (no date): 2 pts
Student has made no other mistakes: 1 pt (other mistakes include for example not using parenthesis or not using et al. when appropriate, or including information that should not be there, e.g. first names, journal names, etc.) 
APA format reference list:
Correct order of the items in the reference list entry (see the APA guide): 2 pts
All the required items are included in the reference list entry for the type of source in question (e.g. article, book, film, website): 3 pts
d) 2 comments in response to 2 different student posts (up to 10 points): There is no specific length requirement for the comments, but you need to address the content of the student's post, showing that you read it and thought about it. You receive 5 points for each comment that follows the instructions.
Post your summary in the REPLY box below, and then respond to two students by selecting "Reply" underneath their post.
ABOUT PARAPHRASING
Remember that your posts need to be written by you, not copied from someone else! When you cite sources, you take ideas from others and give them credit for it, but you need to paraphrase the information. Paraphrasing means that you form the sentences in your own words, and do not directly copy the sentence structure of the original source. DO NOT USE COPY AND PASTE AT ALL. These papers are meant for you to express your ideas and present your knowledge. You'll need sources to gather knowledge, and you need to always credit them in your posts, but the words you use must come from you. See also the information about plagiarism and paraphrasing in the other APA format documents in Canvas. 
APA STYLE IN-TEXT CITATIONS: 
When you cite a source in the text of your post, use the last name of the author(s) and publication year in parentheses. 
For our textbook, APA format in-text citations look like this:
(Hockenbury, Nolan & Hockenbury, 2016)
Or you could say something like this:
According to Hockenbury, Nolan and Hockenbury (2016), ...
That's it, no other information needed in the text; no first names, no book name, etc. By the way, the textbook itself uses APA format in-text citations, so a good way to learn the format is to just look at how they cite in the text. 
If for example the author of the source is Nicholson, and the publication year is 2011, cite like this in the text of your post every time you take any information from this source:
(Nicholson, 2011).
Or with two authors: (Nicholson & Pham, 2011)
If there are 3-5 authors, give their last names the first time you mention the source in the text:
(Nicholson, Pham, Pinel & Karp, 2007).
For subsequent references use the first author and "et al." 
(Nicholson et al., 2007)
With more than 6 authors, you can always use the first author and "et al." in the text. 
Examples in sentences:
According to Santrock (2014), the maximum human lifespan is thought to be 122 years.
OR: The maximum human lifespan is thought to be 122 years (Santrock, 2014).
Cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant (Smith, 2010). Alcohol, on the other hand, is a strong depressant (Zhang & Jones, 2001).
Or: 
According to Smith (2010), cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant. In contrast, Zhang & Jones (2001) discuss the effects of a strong depressant, alcohol, on the central nervous system. 
If there is no author (which may sometimes happen with websites), use the website title in place of the author (or the first few words of it). Use double quotation marks. If there is no publication date, use n.d. (no date).
For example, if the website title is SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION, and there is no author and no date of publication listed on the website, cite like this in your post every time you refer to information on that website:
("Synaptic transmission", n.d.)
If you ever quote the direct words from a source (which I don't want to see much of, so do it sparingly if at all), you need to put the quoted sentence in quotation marks, followed by the author last names, year and page number. This shows that you did not form that sentence yourself. 
Note that in APA format, paraphrases do not require the page number but always require the author last names (or website title with no author) and year (or n.d.). 
REFERENCE LIST IN APA FORMAT:
List the sources at the end of the summary in APA format (in alphabetical order by first author last name). There are APA guides in the APA format module. You need to find the type of source you are using in the guide (e.g. journal article, book, film), and list the source at the end of your post in the manner shown in the APA guide. 
EXAMPLES FROM THE APA GUIDE:
This is how you list an article reference entry:
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of article. Periodical name, volume, and page numbers. DOI (digital object identifier, if present)
Specific examples:
Kaplan, K. A., & Harvey, A. G. (2013). Behavioral treatment of insomnia in bipolar disorder. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 170, 716-720. Retrieved from http://www. ajp.psychiatryonline.org
Skiba, D. J. (2009). Digital object identifiers: Are they important to me? Nursing Education Perspectives, 30, 394-395. doi:10.1016/j.lookout.2008.06.012
Magazine article:
Kluger, J. (2008, January 28). Why we love. Time, 171(4), 54-60.
Website reference list entries:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. Retrieved from http://Web address
Examples: 
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (2008). Biofuels basics. Retrieved from http://www(dot)nrel(dot)gov/learning/re_biofuels.html
American Psychological Association. (2010, June 1). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Retrieved from http://www(dot)apa(dot)org/ethics/code.html (Links to an external site.)Link to external website.
If the website has author names, put those first, just like with articles shown above. 
Note that your list of references at the end of the paper and your in-text citations MUST MATCH! In other words, if you mention Smith (2010) in text, the source by Smith must be listed in the reference list, and your reference list cannot include sources that you are not mentioning in the text.
DON'T FORGET TO COPY AND PASTE YOUR SUMMARY IN THE PLAGIARISM CHECK IN THIS MODULE (SEE THE INSTRUCTIONS THERE)