The Relationship between Psychology and Movies Essays -- Good Will Hunt

Movies are most of the time related to a human being’s life. Movies apply psychology to their plots. For example, movies like the StepMom directed by Chris Columbus, and Good Will Hunting directed by Gus Van Sant show us that psychology is part of our lives in a day to day base. It could go from a divorce to a person who is scared to take a step in life. The textbook, Psychology: Core Concept, by Philip G. Zimbarbo, Ann L. Weber, and Robert L. Johnson, utilizes examples from these movies. We are going to see how these movies relate to the core principles of psychology. In Chapter four, we see how psychology starts all the way from the beginning of our lives. It shows how we as organisms change over time. We go from being a zygote to an embryo and then to a fetus. Then we go into behavior performance since we are born until we die. We start with little things like responding to sounds, recognizing our moms, moving from side to side, walking, talking, playing, and so forth. One big aspect of our life is learning to talk. We start out babbling, and then go into our one- word two-word stage, until we are able to learn grammar. Another aspect of our life is cognitive development. This is where our thinking changes. This theory comes from the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. We start out by assimilating information. We assimilate through out our lives. Then there are stages we go through from birth to adulthood. The first stage is the Sensorimotor Stage which is from birth to the age of two. In this stage, the child relies heavily on innate motor response to stimuli. (pg.133.) Then there is the stage call Preoperational Stage which is from the age of two to about seven years. In this stage we learn to use our language in a well developed mental representation. (pg134.) Then there is the stage from seven to eleven years this is call the Concrete Operational Stage. In this stage, is capable of understanding conversation but still is incapable of abstract thought (pg.134.) The last stage is the Formal Operational Stage. This stage is from about 12 years and on. This stage is when our abstract thought appears. Then it continues to social and emotional development. This is where they child develops a theory of mind which is an awareness that other people’s behavior may be influenced by beliefs, desires, and emotions that differ from one’s own (pg. 137.) This makes up... ...his chapter. Matt Damon plays Will Hunting, a boy genius who was severely abused as a child and has been in trouble with the law ever since. He works as a janitor in a school. While working he solves an impossible mathematical problem on the blackboard. When the math professor, Lambeau, finds out that it was the janitor that solve the math problems he was amazed. This led him to go to Will’s court hearing and get him to be release under his supervision. Will is in court for The court had him meet a therapist. He first sees a psychiatrist who did not help him. Then he had hypnosis that did not work either. Then he meets the therapist who was played by Robin Williams. Sean helps Will Hunting change his life. Both Will and Sean are haunted by the past. These led to Will believing in Sean and the therapy starts to work. Also their similarity of the meaning of the world. will live life with a wonderful philosophy that he could go through the rest of his life without having to r eally know anyone.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Psychology is involved in all aspect of our lives. It answers many questions. Through movies like the ones mentioned above we are able to how psychology works.