AP Psychology Final Assessment
Part I: Creative Application (Independent Project)/30% of final grade
 Challenging your creativity and “right-brain” thinking, apply terms discussed in this course in any venue that you
choose. Your project should include a minimum of FIFTEEN psychology terms. You will need to explain how
your terms are applied to your project on a typed, 12 point font, Times New Roman document. Each term
should be highlighted. Your project should be creative and interesting-think outside the box. Try to develop a
project that no student has attempted thus far. Be prepared to present, explain & answer question and turn in
completed assignment on exam day. You will be graded on creativity/originality, effort/resourcefulness, and
educational value.
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Examples of venues students have chosen to do:

Poetry

Website

Short story

Bio models (brains, endocrine system, etc.)

Photo essay

Scrapbook

Video

Musical performance

Drama performance

Artwork
Grading Rubric:
4
3
2
1
Educational Value
Demonstrates a complete and
detailed understanding of
terms associated with the
field of psychology
Has a complete understanding
of the terms associated with
the field of psychology
Understanding is so
incomplete or has
misconceptions that it cannot
be said that the topic/terms
are understood
Effort/Resourcefulness
Project shows much effort
and was completed on time
Creativity/Originality
Was extremely clever and
presented with originality; a
unique approach that truly
enhanced the project
Project shows a good deal of
effort and was completed on
time
Was clever at times;
thoughtfully and uniquely
presented
Has an incomplete
understanding of the
terms/topic and/or has
misconceptions about the
information. However,
maintains a basic
understanding of the topic.
Project shows little effort
and/or was not completed on
time
Added a few original touches
to enhance the project but did
not incorporate them
throughout
Project shows no effort and
was not completed on time
Little creative energy used
during this project; was bland,
predictable, and lacked “zip”
Part II. Psychology Newspaper (Independent Assignment)/20% of final grade
You will develop a student newspaper covering two sections, news and leisure articles. Listed below are possible article
ideas that would go with each section. You are responsible for creating 20 articles. Ten of the articles should be related
to leisure and ten should be news articles. Ten should be clipped out of an outside source and ten should be developed
originally. Each article should have a 1-2 sentence caption below it that uses a psych term that we have covered this
year and should show application of the term. The term should be highlighted or boldfaced. For example, “This article
about the dress habits of teens shows conformity because it indicates that many teens try to dress like their peers.
Possible News Items
Possible Leisure Stories/Items
International Stories
Sport Stories
National Stories
Travel Stories
Local Stories
Comics
Obituaries
Horoscopes
Letters to the Editor
A Movie/TV Ad
Editorials
Consumer Ads
Weather Stories
Movie Reviews
Feature Stories
Book Reviews
Human Interest Stories
Business Stories
Education Stories
Advice Columns
Restaurant Reviews
Games or Activities
Length of Original Work:
Sport Stories (100-200 words): For this you could write a story about the accomplishment of a friend who is an athlete.
Obituaries (100-150 words): You could do this on a psychologist studied.
Advice Column (approximately 100 words): Question and your “advice”
Book, restaurant or movie review (100-200 words): Write from a personal experience.
Travel Stories (100-200 words): Write a short article about a place you have visited recently.
Ads, Horoscopes, Activities: Use your best judgment on the depth.
Grading: (80 points)
10 News Stories (2 points for story and correctly applying psych term)
10 Leisure Stories (2 points for story and correctly applying psych term)
Part III. Clinical Role-Play Video (Group Assignment)/50% of final grade
Overview: This project will be a cooperative effort among two or three group members. It is designed to give you the
opportunity to explore and highlight concepts covered in the Abnormal Psychology Unit. Since Abnormal Psychology is
such a complex and abstract field of study, it will be helpful to have a “realistic” example of textbook definitions of a
clinical nature played out in various role plays.
Assignment: Each group will be assigned a mental illness and a therapy design. The setting for each role play is a
therapist-patient visit in a clinical setting (perhaps an office visit or a dialogue in a mental hospital). Below are the
specific descriptions for each member of the group and their assignments. Each individual should have an active and
equal part in the completion of this assignment.
Role 1: Presenter The presenter is responsible for giving any necessary narration so that the audience understands the
background for the role play. This is also the person who should present any visuals (posters, overheads, etc.) the group
feels will add to the presentation. The presenter’s main duty is to give an overview of the disorder and the therapy
method. This may be at the beginning or at the end of the role play or both.
Role 2: Therapist The therapist should be very familiar with the style of therapy assigned to the group so that any adlibbing will be in character. The patient should be careful to not become a caricature of the mental illness, and should
try to be as sincere and as accurate as possible.
Role 3: Patient Like the therapist, the patient needs to have a very good knowledge of the role they will be playing so
that ad-libbing will be in character. The patient should be careful to not become a caricature of the mental illness and
should try to be as sincere and as accurate as possible.
*In total, the presentation/video should be about 10-12 minutes in length. It is quite appropriate to use props or visual
aids that will add to the effectiveness of your presentation. You should also wear attire appropriate to your roles as
well.
*You will need to meet during and outside of class to ensure the role-play is more realistic and polished.
Research: Our textbook gives a good overview of mental disorders and therapies however; it does not give a specific
description of each type. Since this is a research project, it is important to gather information from several sources, and
to be sure to use current and relevant materials. You will have class time to develop scripts, practice and rehearse, but
you will need to do some outside work as well. To help you develop your script and role-play it will be helpful to read
some case studies and to view some videos that pertain to your case.
Written Requirements: Each group member is responsible for submitting THREE sources (excluding the DSM-IV) as a
brief bibliography in the APA style. Group members cannot use the same sources. This is due on the day of the exam
and should be handed in with your final draft of your script (12-point font, Times New Roman, double spaced) as well as
the recorded role-play video.
*You will be graded on your script, organization, research, role-play and bibliography. Grading Rubric:
4
Script
The script is dynamic,
engaging, and original. It is
unique and well developed.
Organization
The role-play is put together
in an organized fashion.
The story line is presented
clearly demonstrating mental
disorder and therapy.
Research
Student accesses
ample information
appropriate for the script/
role play and accesses more
than 3 credible sources
APA format is completed
followed
Bibliography
3
The script is original and
interesting, though some
parts may not have been fully
developed or explored.
The role-play is somewhat
organized. Thought was put
into the organization, though
some parts are not clear or
thought out as well regarding
mental disorder and/or
therapy.
Student accesses adequate
information appropriate for
the script/role-play and
accesses 3 credible sources
APA format is followed with 12 mistakes in citations
2
Much of the script was not
developed or thought out
well. There are some original
ideas, some of the content
was based on other stories.
The role-play is not well
organized. It does not follow
any structure to highlight
mental disorder and/or plot.
1
The script is not original, is not
developed, and does not hold
the audience's attention
Student accesses some of the
information appropriate for
the script/role-play and uses
fewer than 3 sources
Student accesses very minimal
information appropriate for
assignment and accesses no
sources or sources that are
not credible.
APA is not followed/no
bibliography completed
APA is somewhat followed
with several mistakes
*Role-play must be saved to a CD, DVD, or flash drive to be turned and viewed on exam day.
The role play is unorganized.
The audience has trouble
following the role-play and/or
the student has little to no
demonstration of the mental
disorder and/or therapy.