Survey of Clinical Psychology Course Information

Transcription

1 Survey of Clinical Psychology Course Information Basic Requirements Psychology 3320-B consists of 15 lessons, four written assignments, and two equally weighted exams. The course carries three semester credits through the University of Utah Division of Continuing Education. Prerequisite: An introductory psychology course. NOTE: It is easier to integrate the information from this upper division course if you have already taken courses in statistics, research methods, and abnormal psychology. Text Timothy J. Trull. Clinical Psychology: Concepts, Methods, and Profession (7th Edition) Thomson/Wadsworth Grading Policy Your final grade for Psychology 3320-B is determined as follows: Assignments 33.3% Exam I 33.3% Exam II 33.3% Total 100% Each of the four written assignments is worth 100 points. Scores obtained on the written assignments will be averaged and will count for one third of your total grade. The exams are each worth 100 points and comprise the other two thirds of your grade. Final grades will be assigned based on the following scale: % A % C % A % C % B % D % B % D % B % D % C+ Below 60 E NOTE: Independent Study policy requires that you pass the exams in order to pass the class. Your grade whether passing or failing will be recorded with the University of Utah Registrar.

2 viii Pyschology 3320-B Survey of Clinical Psychology Course Format Each lesson in this manual is divided into three sections: the Reading Assignment, Learning Objectives, and the Commentary. The Reading Assignments are in the text and are tied closely to the Commentary section of the lessons. The Learning Objectives help focus your study and provide a guide for successfully completing the assignments and passing the exams. Each written assignment combines information from the text and the course manual and covers material presented in several lessons. The assignments provide a structured review of the lesson material, assess your understanding of it, and establish a forum for constructive feedback from the instructor. Assignments The four written assignments in this course are designed to help you think critically about the issues examined. Assignments differ significantly, so complete instructions are given with each. However, each assignment involves essay writing that must be concise, clear, and complete. Assignment 4 is more lengthy and comprehensive than the first three. The assignments must be typed and double-spaced. Assignments must be submitted in the exact order requested. Please keep a copy of your work since items can get lost in transit. To Submit an Assignment: 1. Assignments must be submitted in the exact order requested. 2. Make a copy of the original to keep: things can get lost in the mail or garbled in electronic delivery. 3. Attach an assignment cover sheet to the front of each assignment (three are included at the end of this course manual). 4. Send the assignment to Independent Study in one of the following ways: In Person Deliver to the office or deposit in an assignment drop box inside wing A of the Annex building or the drive-up box in the parking lot on the east side of the Annex. Send a test message to [email protected] and we will reply with detailed instructions. FAX Send a test fax to and we will fax back detailed instructions. Mail Mail to: UNIVERSITY OF UTAH INDEPENDENT STUDY ATTN: ASSIGNMENTS CLERK 1901 E SOUTH CAMPUS DR RM 1215 SALT LAKE CITY UT Very detailed submission instructions are located at the back of this course manual on the colored pages. 5. You may submit one assignment per seven day period. Assignments submitted in excess of this limit will be returned to you. If you have questions about your status what assignments have been received, graded, or are on their way back to you call or We re open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

3 Course Information ix Exams Exams for this course consist of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. Exam I covers lessons 1 through 7, while Exam II covers lessons 8 through 15. Exam II is not comprehensive. Both are closed book and closed notes exams and each will take about two hours to complete. Complete instructions for taking the exams follow lessons 7 and 15 in this course manual. Exams must be taken in the exact order requested. NOTE: Exams are not returned to the student. A comment sheet about the exam results will be sent to the student with the grade. If a student would like to view the actual exam, please contact the Distance Education office. Independent Study Academic Honesty Guidelines The University of Utah policy on academic honesty applies to Distance Education students. Students enrolled in University of Utah courses are expected to be aware of the seriousness of academic dishonesty. Unacceptable behavior includes cheating on tests, plagiarism, and collusion. Plagiarism means the appropriation of any other person s work and the unacknowledged incorporation of that work in one s own work offered for credit. Collusion means the unauthorized collaboration with any other person in preparing work offered for credit. Students found engaging in academic dishonesty are subject to a variety of penalties such as resubmission of assignments, re-examination, and failure in the course (see PPM Chapter X, Section V: STUDENT ACADEMIC CONDUCT, Section B-3 for a complete listing). Plagiarism is taking another person s ideas or writings and using them as your own. In other words, you can t copy something right out of your textbook and stick it in an assignment which makes it appear as though you had written it. Instructors generally read the text numerous times. Some instructors refer to the text constantly while grading. That means they are familiar with both the content and with the style of writing. If an instructor detects plagiarism in an answer, you will be given no credit for that answer. You may fail that assignment. If you do it again in a future assignment, your standing in the course will go on hold, and you will be referred to the director of Distance Education. This may also result in a failing grade for the course. Feel free to contact your instructor for clarification on the subject of academic honesty. Also feel free to ask questions while you re writing your assignments. If you re unsure about this issue of academic honesty, or about issues about textbook content, contact your instructor. Guidelines for Quoting and Paraphrasing You can quote or paraphrase from your textbook: Quoting When you copy any phrase or string of words (four or more words in a row) you must credit the author. Example 1: On page 369, a certain text says that insulin is a short-term hunger trigger. To include this phrase in your answer, credit the textbook author:

4 x Pyschology 3320-B Survey of Clinical Psychology Paraphrasing Insulin is released into the bloodstream at the sight of food and acts as a short-term hunger trigger (Myers, p. 369). You may reword or paraphrase as long as you do it correctly. You cannot change one or two words in a sentence and consider that an adequate paraphrase. Paraphrasing means that you may use the author s idea, but you must reword the sentence completely. When a person sees food, insulin is released into the bloodstream, and the person becomes hungry. You may not use the term short-term hunger trigger unless you quote it and reference the page. It s a special and unique phrase coined by textbook author Myers. Crediting the Source Whether you quote or paraphrase you must credit the source of the information. One way to credit a source is to include the author s last name and the page number where the passage can be found. How to Produce Sterling Written Assignments Example 2: Quote from Fiske and Taylor s Social Cognition (p. 213): One s poor abilities tend to be perceived as common, but one s favored abilities are seen as rare and distinctive. (Fiske and Taylor, p. 213) Another way to credit an author is to add something such as: According to the authors of the text,... Fiske and Taylor argue that... Darley and Gross (1983, cited in Fiske and Taylor, p. x) support the idea that... You should not copy entire paragraphs even if you do use quotes. Why not? Well, rarely is one of the assignment questions aimed directly at what the text author was writing about. You often have to integrate the material, or compare and contrast two concepts or terms. In other words you won t be able to find a whole paragraph that gives exactly the answer the instructor is looking for. You are about to start a Distance Education Independent Study course. It s quite a bit different from taking a traditional, classroom lecture type course, so you may be wondering what it is you ll have to do in order to pass this class. Well, this part of the course manual contains hints that you should incorporate while preparing assignments. Glance over this material before doing your first assignment. When completing written assignments: 1. Refer to both the text and to commentary in this course manual. Remember to cite references properly. Don t forget while answering questions that there could be relevant material in the course manual as well as in the textbook.

5 Introduction xi 2. When giving examples, come up with your own examples rather than using the ones from the text. You ll learn the material much, much better if you have to think of how to apply what you ve learned in a new way. 3. Remember to address each and every part of a question. Many students answer the first part of a two or three part question, forgetting to comment on the rest of what was asked. You can only receive full credit for answering the whole question. 4. Go into enough depth to carefully answer each and every part of the question being asked. Do not go overboard. Be concise, but be thorough. Essay answers will necessarily vary in length as a function of what s being asked. Your answers should most often be between about one-third and one-half of a page in length. One short paragraph containing a few sentences will probably never be sufficient, while answers that exceed one page in length may be too wordy or go into more detail than needed. 5. Organize your answer. An essay with a proper introduction, body and conclusion generally provides more understanding (hence a better grade) than an essay that is not structured. It s easier for a reader to follow your train of thought when your answer is laid out clearly. The brief introduction should let the reader know the nature of the answer your thesis and agenda. Within the body of the essay, address each and every part of the question one at a time, being careful to make the necessary connections between each point. The conclusion should tie things together and remind the reader of the central point(s). You may not think that the way you write should be counted toward your grade. But if your reader can t understand what it is you ve written, then you ve essentially failed to communicate that you have the right answer. This may negatively affect your grade. Since Independent Study classes have a tremendous emphasis on written work, writing style is especially important. Review this section before you hand in an assignment. NOTE: Spelling, punctuation and sentence structure are all part of writing style. Final Step: Read It Out Loud. If you re not sure that your sentence is grammatically correct, try reading it out loud. If it doesn t sound right, then it probably isn t correct grammatically. Introduction The discipline of psychology, broadly defined, involves the study of behavior and mental processes. In your introductory course in psychology, you probably were exposed to many of the specific areas or fields that are encompassed within this discipline. Examples include social, cognitive, industrial, developmental, and clinical psychology. The main purpose of this course is to provide you with a basic understanding of the field of clinical psychology. Lessons and reading assignments focus on the history and development of the field, the basic theories that underlie research, assessment, and therapy, and many of the different specialty areas and types of careers that are encompassed within clinical psychology. After completing this course, you should understand (among other things): what clinical psychologists do, how they are trained, how they differ from other mental health professionals, how theory and research guide clinical work, and what kinds of changes are taking place in clinical psychology.