IB SL & HL Psychology
Abnormal Psychology Unit Project
Overview
Using your two chosen disorders, you will create a multi-media product that presents responses to the
learning outcomes below. This product will be published to the Web.
Learning Outcomes:
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(#6) Describe symptoms and prevalence of ONE disorder from TWO of the following groups: anxiety
disorders, affective (mood) disorders, and eating disorders.
(#7) Analyze etiologies (in terms of biological, cognitive, and/or sociocultural factors) of ONE disorder from
TWO of the following groups: anxiety disorders, affective (mood) disorders, and eating disorders.
(#9) Examine biomedical, individual, and group approaches to the treatment of one disorder.
(#12) Discuss the relationship between etiology and therapeutic approach in relation to one disorder.
Prevalence – The fact or condition of being widespread in a particular area at a particular time.
Etiology – The cause, set of causes, or manner of causation of a disease, disorder, or condition.
Tasks (use square bullets as a check list)
 Finalize the two disorders you will research (ensure you have one disorder from two of the three groups).
 Research and describe the symptoms, diagnostic criteria, and prevalence of your two disorders.
Due date _________________
 Research and analyze the biological, cognitive, and/or sociocultural causes (etiologies) of your two
disorders.
Due date _________________
 Choose one of your two disorders. Research and examine the biomedical, individual, and group
approaches to treatment for that disorder. Be able to draw a conclusion as to which is most effective or if
a mix of approaches is most effective.
Due date _________________
 Research and discuss the relationship between the causes (etiology) and the most effective treatment
upon which you concluded in the previous bullet.
Due date _________________
 If you are researching the same disorder as someone else in class, you can collaborate and share
information in the research process. If you are going to create any original video or photographic media,
you can collaborate in this process and share that media within your products. Your final product must be
written and assembled individually, however.
 Keep track meticulously of all sources referenced.
 Create a storyboard for the layout of your final product, showing placement and arrangement of text and
media along with how multiple posts/pages will be hyperlinked and where.
Due date _________________
 Assemble your responses and media into a final product that will be presented through an online medium
(either a blog or wiki – TBD in class).
Due date _________________
Product
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The final product will be multi-media in nature; thus, you should have a combination of text, video, and
images throughout the presentation.
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The overall look and feel of the product should be like a “special report” section of an online newspaper.
Your responses and media can be laid out in one continuous post/page or you can separate responses
onto different posts/pages and hyperlink to them from a main page. Design and ease of use of your layout
will be important to the overall success of your product.
You should have MLA style parenthetical citations for all secondary sources and media within the final
product. All internet-based sources and media should be HYPERLINKED in the respective parenthetical
citation.
All video and images used in the final product must be Creative Commons licensed or labeled for legal
reuse OR you should create your own video and images. If you create your own video(s), any background
music used must be Creative Commons licensed, Royalty Free, or you should create your own music.
At the very end of the presentation, you should have a complete works cited, including the sources you
hyperlinked.
Assessment
The responses to the four learning outcomes will be assessed at the time of the respective due date. These
will be posted on the class blog. Feedback will be given on the blog, and you’re expected to make any changes
as you work toward publishing the final product. You will be given feedback on your storyboard in class on the
due date, and then the overall final product will be assessed as a cohesive piece of work. The rubrics below
will be used in the assessment process.
Learning outcomes
Describe symptoms and
prevalence of ONE disorder
from TWO of the following
groups: anxiety disorders,
affective (mood) disorders,
and eating disorders.
Analyze etiologies (in terms
of biological, cognitive,
and/or sociocultural factors)
of ONE disorder from TWO
of the following groups:
anxiety disorders, affective
(mood) disorders, and eating
disorders.
Examine biomedical,
individual, and group
approaches to the treatment
of one disorder.
Discuss the relationship
between etiology and
therapeutic approach in
relation to one disorder.
Exemplary
Proficient
Approaching
Concerned
The response shows a
sophisticated understanding
of the outcome, presenting
detailed and accurate
knowledge of the symptoms
and prevalence of the two
chosen disorders.
The response shows a good
understanding of the
outcome, presenting mostly
accurate detail and
knowledge of the symptoms
and prevalence of the two
chosen disorders.
The response shows an
adequate understanding of
the outcome, presenting
some accurate detail and
knowledge of the symptoms
and prevalence of the two
chosen disorders.
The response shows a
sophisticated understanding
of the outcome, presenting
detailed and accurate
knowledge all possible
etiological factors. Explicit
evidence bringing out the
essential elements of the
causes is clearly presented.
Reference to one study per
factor is included.
The response shows a
sophisticated understanding
of the outcome, presenting
detailed and accurate
knowledge of all possible
treatments. Reference to
one study per treatment is
included.
The response shows a
sophisticated understanding
of the outcome, presenting
detailed and accurate
knowledge. Explicit evidence
uncovering the
interrelationships between
treatment and disorder is
clearly presented. At least
two studies are included and
explained in the discussion.
The response shows a good
understanding of the
outcome, presenting mostly
accurate detail and
knowledge of all etiological
factors. Evidence bringing
out the essential elements
of the causes is presented.
Reference to two studies is
included.
The response shows an
adequate understanding of
the outcome, presenting
some accurate detail and
knowledge of some
etiological factors. Limited
evidence bringing out the
essential elements of the
causes is presented.
Reference to one study is
included.
The response shows an
adequate understanding of
the outcome, presenting
some accurate detail and
knowledge. Reference to
one study is included.
The response shows limited
or no apparent
understanding of outcome,
presenting little accurate
detail and little knowledge
of the symptoms and
prevalence of the two
chosen disorders.
The response shows limited
or no apparent
understanding of outcome,
presenting little accurate
detail and little knowledge
of etiological factors. Little
or no evidence bringing out
the essential elements of the
causes is presented.
Reference to no study is
included.
The response shows limited
or no apparent
understanding of outcome.
Reference to no study is
included.
The response shows a good
understanding of the
outcome, presenting mostly
accurate knowledge.
Reference to two studies is
included.
The response shows a good
understanding of the
outcome, presenting mostly
accurate knowledge.
Evidence uncovering the
interrelationships between
treatment and disorder is
presented. At least two
studies are included in the
discussion, but explanations
are limited.
The response shows an
adequate understanding of
the outcome, presenting
some accurate detail and
knowledge. Limited
evidence uncovering the
interrelationships between
treatment and disorder is
presented. At least one
study is included in the
discussion with limited or no
explanation.
The response shows limited
or no apparent
understanding of outcome.
Little or no evidence
uncovering the
interrelationships between
treatment and disorder is
presented. No study is
included in the discussion.
Final Product
Design and Organization
Overall Content
Responsible Digital
Citizenship
Students advocate and
practice safe, legal, and
responsible use of
information and technology
Exemplary
Proficient
Approaching
Concerned
The presentation and
layout of the final product
clearly allow for easy use,
navigation, and reading by
the viewer. The final
product shows evidence of
spontaneous fluency and
originality that is
recognized by others as
high in quality.
The combined content is
consistent throughout all
responses, expertly
insightful, and goes well
beyond the grasp of the
subject/topic typically
found at this level of
experience.
The student took great care
to ensure all images, video,
and other multimedia were
original, had a Creative
Commons license, and/or
labeled for legal reuse.
Attribution was given to all
of the authors of any
artistic element used and
all were clearly and
correctly parenthetically
cited with Internet-based
sources hyperlinked. A
complete and correctly
formatted works cited was
included at the end of the
product.
The presentation and
layout of the final product
mostly facilitate easy use,
navigation, and reading by
the viewer. The final
product shows evidence of
fluency and originality that
are consistently
spontaneous.
The presentation and
layout of the final product
creates some problems for
use, navigation, and
reading by the viewer. The
final product includes some
evidence of fluency and
originality when prompted
by the teacher or another
peer.
The combined content is
not consistent throughout
all responses and shows
developing insight for the
subject/topic typically
found at this level of
experience.
The presentation and
layout of the final product
is unfinished and/or
creates many problems for
use, navigation, and
reading by the viewer.
Indications of fluent and
original thought or
unprompted elaboration is
not yet seen.
The combined content is
irrelevant or disconnected
throughout all responses
and shows little or no
insight for the subject/topic
typically found at this level
of experience.
The students may have
used an image, video,
and/or other multimedia
that was protected under
copyright, but it was cited.
Attribution was given to a
few of the authors of any
artistic element used
and/or there were gross
errors in parenthetical
citations. Some Internetbased sources were not
hyperlinked. A works cited
was included, but
contained many errors in
format.
There was blatant
infringement of copyright
by inserting downloaded
images, video, and/or
other multimedia from the
internet that was not
licensed for reuse. No
attribution is given. No
Internet-based sources are
hyperlinked. No works
cited is included.
The combined content is
mostly consistent
throughout all responses
and shows thoughtful
insight for the
subject/topic typically
found at this level of
experience.
The student took care to
ensure almost all images,
video, and other
multimedia were original,
had a creative commons
license, and/or labeled for
legal reuse. Attribution was
given to most of the
authors of any artistic
element used and most
were parenthetically cited
with Internet-based
sources hyperlinked. A
complete and mostly
correct works cited was
included at the end of the
product.