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AP Psych! Read a Book
.
Time to Exercise Your Mind and more fully exercise your understanding in
psychology, You are expected to read a book relating to psychology within the
next month. There will be a book report which will include a chat with me after
school and a written report. We will have a conversation after school about the
book that you read. You will also need to write and type a short critique of the
book, explaining what you found valuable, what the author was hoping to
explain/express, what relationship this book has to other material in the class,
compare it to current psychological theory, questions that you’ve had, other
reading you’ve done, and relating it to the world outside of the classroom.
The paper will be 3-5 pages using APA style. More on that later.
Due Date for written report: Friday, January 21, 2010
Right now, the idea is to find something interesting to read and just enjoy it.
There are many books relating to psychology. Feel free to choose from this list or
select a book of your own choosing which you will check with me to bake sure
that it fits the criteria. Here are some suggestions to get you started on your
search. You can also use the topic psychology as you check a bookstore or
library for ideas.
Disorders
A Child Called It.( There are several more by him, including A man Called David)
Dave Pelzer.
Severe childhood abuse and neglect, foster care, becoming whole.
Sybill.
Flora Rheta Schreiber
Multiple personality disorder
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I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Joanne Greenberg
Multiple personality disorder
The Eden Express
Mark Vonnegut
Schizophrenia
Eclipse
Kristine L. Franklin
Depression
A Brilliant Madness
Patty Duke, Gloria Hockman
Manic-Depressive disorder
Girl Interrupted
Susanne Kaysen
Borderline Personality Disorder
Trapped in the Mirror
Elan Gobomb
Children of Narcissists
The Stranger in the Mirror
Marlene Steinberg, Maxine Schnall
Dissociation
Reviving Ophelia
Mary Piper
Female adolescent issues, eating disorders, self-esteem, depression, etc.
Ophelia Speaks
Sara Shandier
Same as above but freom the perspective of a female adolescent
The Minds of Billy Mulligan
Daniel Keyes
Multiple personality disorder
Dibs: In Search of Self
Virginia M. Aline
Childhood disorder, play therapy
Why They Kill
Richard Rhodes
Profiling Killers
The Sky is Falling
Raeann Dumont
Phobias, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders, Panic Attacks
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One Child
Torey L. Hayden
Childhood Abuse
Driven to Distraction
John J. Ratey
Attention Deficit Disorder
A Child Called Noah
Josh Greenfield
Family dealing with Autism
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime (Non-Fiction)
Mark Haddon
The world of the autistic.
Theory
Man’s Search for Meaning
Victor Frankl
Logo therapy, existentialism, dealing with the experience of the Holocaust
Man’s Search for Himself
Rollo May
Personality Theory
Becoming Carl Rogers
Humanistic psychology
Walden Two
B. F. Skinner
Community based on operant conditioning
Beyond Freedom and Dignity
B. F. Skinner
Behaviorism
Man and His Symbols
Carl Jung
Archetypes
What Freud Really Meant
David Stafford-Clark
Simple analysis of Freud
Neurology
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Oliver Sacks
Brain disorders
An Anthropologist from Mars
Oliver Sacks
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Case studies on neurological disorders
The Shattered Mind
Howard Gardner
Studies of individuals with brain injuries
Motivation
The Power of Positive Thinking
Norman Vincent Peale
Cognitive improvement, a classic
What Color is Your Parachute?
Richard Nelson Bolles
Finding an occupation, planning a career
The Art of Happiness
Dali Lama
Perspectives on dealing with a world of difficulties.
This is actually based on interviews with a psychologist.
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (There are other related titles also )
Stephen Covey
Time Management
Other Interesting Reads
Multiple Intelligences
Howard Gardner
Study of how different individuals learn
There Are No Children Here
Alex Kotlowitz
2 boys growing up in Henry Horner homes; followed for a year.
Stolen Lives
Malika Oufkir
Moroccan family is imprisoned for 2 decades after the father is executed
On charges of attempting to assassinate the king.
Emotional Intelligence
David Goleman
I. Q. vs E. Q.
Tuesday’s with Morrie
Mitch Albom
Facing Death
Morrie: In His Own Words
Morrie Schwartz
Facing Death
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Prozac Nation
Elizabeth Wurtzel
Overmedication of America
Even the Rat was White
Robert Guthrie
Discrimination in the history of psychology
Kafir Boy
Mark Mathabane
Growing up in South Africa under apartheid
All Over But the Shouting
Rick Bragg
Growing up in poverty in the South, finding options.
An Unquiet Mind
K. R. Jamison
Psychiatrist with manic depression, reluctant to take lithium
On Death and Dying
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Classic study of terminally ill patients and their adjustment to knowing they are dying.
On Grief and Grieving
Elisabeth Bubler-Ross and David Kessler
Reflections of grief and grieving, completed as Kubler-Ross was herself dying
How We Die
Sherwin B. Nuland
Attempt to explain that seldom discussed topic.
Another Country
Mary Pipher
The emotional world of our elders
Having Our Say
The Delaney Sisters
Reflections on a long life, well lived, from sister who lived past 100.
Witness for the Defense
E. Loftus K. Ketcham
Eyewitness identification and what psychology has to tell us about human memory
The Pursuit of Happiness
David G. Meyers
By the author of your textbook!
The Design of Everyday Things
D. Norman
Relationship between psychology and product design
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1984
George Orwell
Classic fiction on mind control
Other places to search for more books:
www.amazon.com
www.barnesandnoble.com
www.multi-site.com/books/apsychology.html
If you are selecting a novel not on the above list, be sure and check with me to be
sure that it fits the donficnes of our assignment. Be sure that he book is based on
a true story. Pop psychology tends to be full of fictional books based on
psychological issues and the fictional aspect can be very misleading to the
reader.
Have fun. Choose something you believe can benefit you rather than something
that seems to be a “quick read.” Pick something you might not otherwise dip
into. Being interested makes it enjoyable.
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Book Review Instructions
(50 points)
Due Friday, January 21, 2010
This review is in addition to our conversation about the book you’ve read. When
you have completed typing your review, it should be 3-5 pages long (double
spaced, font not larger than 12). It should be clear that you have read the entire
book and provided a critical analysis. The paper must include all of the
components explained below. This is intended to guide you in developing a
scholarly understanding of the work you selected.
1. Write a brief synopsis of the major points of the book. This section should be
two or three paragraphs, not more than that. This synopsis would most likely
follow your introductory paragraph for the report.
2. Determine which psychological perspective it was written from. Would the
author’s point of view be considered behavioral, psychoanalytic, socio-cultural,
etc. or do they present an eclectic approach to their subject? Explain and defend
your thinking.
3. Find two articles that either support( elaborate on) or challenge what your
book has to say. Psych Articles in ProQuest will be especially helpful; at least
one article must be from ProQuest. The authors you use need to be reliable, not
shelly’s blog on mania for example. You will use APA style citations for the
articles you choose. Remember: Reliable research helps to inform us, babble
does not. Draw the connections in your writing between the psychological
portions of the book and the science of psychology. Attach the articles to your
final report. The articles can (hmmm..should) be messy, indicating you read
actively.
4. If dealing with mental illness, do you agree with the methods used treatment?
Why or why not? Do you have any suggestions that might work better? Explain
your point of view. If reading about another subject, do you think the advice or
viewpoint given in the book is relevant to everyday life? Why or why not? What
could you suggest for a healthy life? Or for addressing such a situation?
5. Evaluate the strengths and weakness of the book. The information you found
in the articles from ProQuest should be helpful in this section also.
6. The website below has directions for APA style citations. For this paper, this
is the component of APA style writing that needs to be used in the report.
www.webster.commnet.edu/apa/