Psychology 380: Abnormal Psychology University of Massachusetts – Spring 2014 Tuesdays/Thursdays 11:15am to 12:30pm (Mahar 108)
Professor: Christopher E. Overtree, Ph.D. Office: Psychological Services Center, Tobin Hall Suite 123 (first floor) Office Hours*: By appointment. Email: umass.psych380@gmail.com
*The best way to contact me is during class, office hours or by email. *All emails with general questions or concerns about the course should be sent to umass.psych380@gmail.com. These emails will be forwarded to the appropriate teaching assistant or professor depending on the nature of the question. TA’s individual contact information is below. Graduate Teaching Assistants Tessa Lundquist, M.S. Office: 642 Tobin Hall Hours: Thursday 10-11am, and by appointment Email: tlundqiust@psych.umass.edu Undergraduate Teaching Assistants Jacob Dustin Office: TBA Hours: Tuesday/Thursday 1:00-2:00 Email: jdustin@umass.edu Sarah Boari Office: TBA Hours: Tuesday 9:00-11:00 Email: sboari@umass.edu Ashley Cipotelli Office: TBA Hours: Monday 2:00-4:00 Email: acipolle@umass.edu Mariah Levine Office: TBA Hours: Monday 11:30-1:30 Email: mrlevine@umass.edu Emily Benson Office: TBA Hours: Wednesday 1:00-3:00 Email: benson@umass.edu Whitney Carpenter Office: TBA Hours: Wednesday 4:00-6:00 Email: wcarpent@umass.edu Catherine LaPlant Office: TBA Hours: Tuesday/Thursday 2:30-3:30 Email: claplant@umass.edu All Undergraduate TA’s are available by appointment as well - just send us an email! Rebecca Ametrano, M.S. Office: 642 Tobin Hall Hours: Tuesday 10-11am, and by appointment Email: rametrano@psych.umass.edu
Course Overview: This is a course designed to introduce students to clinical psychology, a field that deals with research and clinical work in the areas of diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of psychological disorders. This course will review various forms of psychopathology including: anxiety, mood, eating, dissociative, addictive, childhood, impulse control, personality, psychophysiological, psychotic, and sexual disorders. Based on a review of contemporary research findings, lectures and discussion will focus on the most relevant approaches for understanding, diagnosing, and treating psychological disorders. Course Content: Class Meetings: The course is lecture in format, though students are encouraged to ask questions during class. In addition, videos, case vignettes and other methods will be used to provide students with the opportunity to understand the material in realistic contexts. Abnormal Psychology, Spring 2014 Page 1
Moodle: This course will have a Moodle site, which will be used primarily as a location to a) store course materials and information, b) provide updates to the syllabus and c) host supplementary readings or media. All course announcements will be delivered to you via the Abnormal Psychology Email List, which contains ONLY your official UMass Email Address. Changes to the syllabus will be posted on Moodle so you must access this site periodically in order to receive this information. You must have a valid computer account assigned by the UMass Office of Information Technology (OIT) to access the course Moodle site. You may access Moodle using your OIT login and password from the following address: https://moodle.umass.edu/ Course Facebook Page: The Moodle site will primarily host the information about this course. Professor Overtree’s Abnormal Psychology Facebook Page will be an additional source for interactive components of this course (www.facebook.com/abnormalpsych). Students are encouraged to become a “fan” of this page and view the information contained there, which will include web links, videos, readings from the popular press and other information. Students are encouraged to post on the site, submit links of interest to students in Abnormal Psychology, post videos of interest or add any interactive features you feel will make this a vibrant and educational tool. Students should be advised that all postings should adhere to standards of common decency, and University rules. Students who fail to follow these standards may be removed from the site and/or subject to University discipline. Students who do not wish to create a Facebook page are not required to do so. Textbook Materials: Available from the University Textbook Annex and/or online from various online merchants. Other recommended readings will be listed and posted on Moodle. Two copies of each book will be placed on reserve in the library. ● Comer, Ronald J. (2012). Abnormal Psychology (8th Ed w/ DSM-5 Update). Worth. ISBN: 978-1-4641-3719-8 (No supplementary materials are required). ● Akeret, R.U. (1996). Tales from a Traveling Couch: A Psychotherapist Revisits His Most Memorable Patients. ISBN: 0393314987
Academic Honesty and Other Responsibilities: Students should be prepared by completing the reading and assignments before the appropriate class. All material presented in lectures, videos, readings, and class activities will be covered on the examinations. Students are expected to arrive to class on time and not to leave prior to the end of class except for emergency situations. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in class by asking or answering questions, but should also refrain from talking, using cell phones, or otherwise distracting others. Each person’s conduct in the room contributes to the smooth running of the course. All students are expected to adhere scrupulously to the University policy concerning academic honesty and violations will be pursued according to the code of conduct. More information on the University's academic honesty policy, can be found at this web site: http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/codeofconduct/acadhonesty/ Changes to the schedule of assignments or exams will be announced in class and sent to your UMass email. You are responsible for finding out about such changes even when they are not noted in the syllabus. You should periodically check Moodle to note any changes to the course schedule. Policy on Illness and Communicability: The course structure has been designed to accommodate students who are ill via the posting of lecture materials and notes on the web. Because of the particular concerns about the communicability illnesses on college campuses, UMass recommends that those persons with symptoms of communicable illness practice "social distancing" and self-isolation to minimize contagion.
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Evaluation and Grading: Examinations: There will be four exams held during regular class time and noted on the course schedule below. Each exam covers material for the time period specified and are not cumulative. The exams will include 50 multiple-choice questions and will include items from the readings, lectures, Moodle site, special audio/video content, and other in-class material. Makeup tests will not be given for individual exams unless they are due to a University excused absence or illness (with a doctor’s note). There is no final exam but there are two ways to earn additional points towards your exam grade as well as a selection of extra credit opportunities. Two Ways To Earn Additional Exam Points: There are two additional opportunities for students to earn up to 10 additional exam points. Students may choose only one of these optional opportunities. You cannot lower your grade in either of these opportunities. Optional Discussion Groups: Some students may wish to extend their learning and facilitate their studying by joining a discussion group. Discussion groups will be facilitated by our undergraduate TA’s and there will be face-to-face and online versions. Discussion groups will begin the week of February 3rd and are subject to availability. Because discussion groups require your commitment and attendance to be effective, you must decide if you wish to participate prior to January 30th. Except in extreme situations and with instructor approval, students who choose to participate in a discussion group cannot drop the group mid-semester and choose to take the optional extra-credit exam instead. Grading will be based on the quality, frequency and depth of your participation. Optional Extra-Credit Exam: An alternative for students who do not feel they can make a commitment to join a discussion group is to take an optional extra-credit exam covering material from the entire semester. This exam will be 50 multiple-choice questions. Grading Scale: Your four exams (plus additional earned exam points) will be averaged to create your course grade according to the grading scale below. If you choose one of the extra credit opportunities (see below), as many as 3 points can be added to your final grade. Percentage 93-100% 90-92% 86-89% 83-85% 80-82 76-79% Letter A AB+ B BC+ Percentage 73-75% 70-72% 66-69% 60-65% Below 60% Letter C CD+ D F
Extra Credit From Participation in Research: As psychologists, our understanding of the human mind and behavior is based largely on empirical findings from studies such as those conducted in our Psychology Department. We strongly encourage you to participate in psychological studies. First, we believe that you will gain some direct knowledge of the research process. Second, your participation provides an important contribution to the field of psychology and will be greatly appreciated by the members of the Psychology Department. You may receive extra credit by participating in research offered by researchers in the department of psychology. Your participation earns you credits which can be used to raise your final grade. You may apply as many as 6 credits to this course, for a total of 3 points on your final grade (e.g. 2 credits per point). More information about experimental participation can be found at the link supplied below. It is strongly recommended that you participate in the beginning-of-the-semester online pre-screen survey, which will qualify you for a larger number of studies and provides you with 2 initial credits. The online prescreen questionnaire is available from Jan 22 to Feb 12th. You can complete studies until May 1st and allocate your points to different psychology courses until May 8th. To enrolled and complete the prescreen or register for other research, visit: http://umasspsych.sona-systems.com/ To review the instructions and details, please visit: Abnormal Psychology, Spring 2014 Page 3
http://psych.umass.edu/research_and_training/human_subjects/students/
If you are interested in an alternative assignment, read below: If you are not interested in participating in research for extra credit, you may write a 4-5 paper researching the approaches to treatment for a mental disorder covered in this class. If you wish to undertake this alternative extra-credit assignment, please put your request in writing by sending an email to umass.psych380@gmail.com prior to April 1st, 2014. Papers are due Tuesday April 22nd, 2014 in class.
Course Calendar: Additional Assignments/Readings will be listed on Moodle, Facebook, via email and/or in-class announcements.
Models of Abnormality and Treatment Clinical Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment Psychological Assessment Review Session for Exam 1 FIRST EXAM Ethics and Legal Issues Monday Schedule-No Class Anxiety Disorders Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders Stress Disorders Somatic and Dissociative Disorders
Akeret (1)
Tuesday, February 4
Abnormal Psychology (4)
Thursday, February 6 Monday, February 10 Tuesday, February 11 Thursday, February 13 Tuesday, February 18
Thursday, February 20 Tuesday, February 25 Thursday, February 27 Tuesday, March 4
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Wednesday, March 5 Thursday, March 6 Tuesday, March 11
Review Session for Exam 2 SECOND EXAM Depressive Disorders and Treatment Bipolar Disorder, Suicide and Treatment Spring Break Spring Break Eating Disorders Substance Use and Addictive Disorders Disorders and Sex and Gender Review Session for Exam 3 THIRD EXAM Psychotic Disorders THIRD EXAM Abnormal Psychology (14/15) Abnormal Psychology, Ch. 16 Akeret (5) Abnormal Psychology (17) Abnormal Psychology (17) Akeret (Epilogue) SECOND EXAM Abnormal Psychology (8/9)
Thursday, March 13
Abnormal Psychology (10) Akeret (4) Spring Break Spring Break Abnormal Psychology (11) Abnormal Psychology (12)
Tuesday, March 18 Thursday, March 20 Tuesday, March 25 Thursday, March 27
Tuesday, April 1
Abnormal Psychology (13)
Wednesday, April 2 Thursday, April 3 Tuesday, April 8
Thursday, April 10 Tuesday, April 15 Thursday April 17 Tuesday April 22
Personality Disorders Sociopathy Psychopathology in Children Psychopathology in Children
Wednesday, April 23 Thursday April 24 Tuesday April 29
Review Session for Exam 4 FOURTH EXAM EXTRA CREDIT EXAM (Optional) FOURTH EXAM EXTRA CREDIT EXAM (Optional)
There is no final Exam. Have a great summer!
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