Cinema Thrillers: Reviews of Films Highly Rated by Psychology Students

Abstract

Psychology, developmental psychology in particular, is a field that lends itself to the use of audiovisual materials in instruction. Students are typically eager for a more direct experience with the phenomena of development than they can obtain through texts and lecture presentation alone. In the course of teaching several sections of a survey course in developmental psychology during the past few years, I have experimented with many different experiential learning modes to complement lecture and text presentations. Class demonstrations, field observations, supervised tutorial experience, and group research projects have met with varying degrees of success, but the approach that has brought the most consistent and enthusiastic student response has been the use of high-quality educational films.By spending many hours in reviewing available films, and then winnowing the best of those films reviewed through several quarters of student evaluations,

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“…Furthermore, the findings of this study reveal that using movies to understand psychology has solid advantages including enhanced understanding of psychological concepts, presenting abstract ideas concretely and in a more realistic way, and facilitating class discussions. This is in agreement with a number of studies (for example, Boyatzis, 1994;Christopher, Walter, Marek, & Loenig, 2004;Conner, 1996;Davidson, 1990;Kinney, 1975;Moskovich & Sharf, 2012;Nissim-Sabat, 1979). Reflections after the workshop promoted discussions, which in turn furthered learners' critical thinking skills, this finding supports the conclusions established by Costin (1982).…”

“…All the afore stated, and numerous other researches reiterate and reinforce the benefits of incorporating movies into pedagogy which include, but are not limited to, making course topics immediate, relevant, and concrete (Kinney, 1975;Moskovich & Sharf, 2012;Nissim-Sabat, 1979); presenting behavior with such great intricacy and detailing that is not possible with other modes of instruction (Bolt, 1976). When coupled with deliberations and discussions, movies are found to encourage students' direct engagement with psychological concerns, which are integral in refining their critical thinking skills (Costin, 1982).…”

Using Feature Films as Tools for Analysis in a Psychology and Law Course

“…Although film viewing might be considered a passive process, students can actively search films for course materials embodied in them and apply course theories and methods of analysis to them (Bolt, 1976;IWorris & Ducey, 1978;Fleming, Piedmont, & Hiam, 1990). Feature films make course topics immediate, relevant, and concrete for undergraduates (Fleming et al, 1990;Kinney, 1975;Nissim-Sabat, 1979). They present behavior in greater complexity, more clearly imbedded within the social world, than do other modes of presentation (Bolt, 1976).…”