Instructor: Sarah Corrow Sarah.Corrow@ccv.edu Johnson State College External Degree Program PSY-3330-JY02 QE-Psychology of Addictions Syllabus Spring 2015 Dates: Accelerated Online Section Jan 19 to Mar 15 (no class Feb 23 to Mar 1) Location: Online using Moodle (http://myjsc.jsc.edu) ADA Statement: Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact JSC s Learning Specialist in Academic Services, as soon as possible to ensure that accommodations, if needed, are implemented in a timely fashion. Please call 802-635-1264 or email Richard.Simmons@jsc.edu. Academic Honesty: (from JSC Catalog) Students are expected to conform to the highest standards of academic honesty in all of their academic work at Johnson State College. Academic dishonesty in any form is prohibited and unacceptable. Acts of dishonesty for which a student may be disciplined include, but are not limited to, receiving or providing unauthorized assistance on an examination and plagiarizing the work of others in writing assignments. The American Heritage Dictionary defines plagiarism in the following way: To steal or use (the ideas or writings of another) as one s own. Students are responsible for knowing what specific acts constitute plagiarism; if students are uncertain as to whether a particular act constitutes plagiarism, they should consult with their instructors before turning in assigned work. Texts: Texts are available through the JSC bookstore. Call 802-635-2503 or go to www.jsc.bkstr.com. Addictions, Second Edition, 9780415583008, Psychology Press Uppers, Downers, All Arounders: Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 9780926544307 Course Description: This course is intended to serve as an introduction to problems associated with addiction. It is targeted at problems associated with substance abuse, but will also address issues associated with
other compulsive behaviors; eating disorders, addictive sexual behavior, gambling etc. Class will be interactive and dynamic in nature and will include a blend of online discussions and exercises. Prerequisites: PSY-1010, MAT-1080 Intro to Quantitative Reasoning or passing the Quantitative Reasoning Assessment. Goals and Objectives: We will focus on understanding of addictions, common misconceptions, accepted definitions and criteria for diagnosis. We will trace the changing view of addictions and develop an understanding of the physiological, psychological, and spiritual aspects of addictions. We will explore both assessment and therapeutic approaches in treatment and prevention. Students will explore the use and importance of research in psychology. They will look at the concepts of bias, causation and correlation and how to read and understand data presented in research. This includes reading and understanding graphs, tables and other methods used the present information in research results. To demonstrate and apply this knowledge the students will complete the project outlined in the syllabus. Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on: Participation in class discussion weekly participation requirements will be listed in each week. Generally students are expected to respond to the instructor s question and respond to a classmate s posting. Response must be substantive and relate to the topic being discussed. Responses such as I agree with Joe are not acceptable and will be graded as 0 unless the student explains why he/she agrees. College level writing is expected. Completion of journals timely completion of assigned journals is expected. Late assignments will not be accepted. Completions of final paper/project Students are expected to complete a final paper/project on subject relating to addiction. This assignment can be completed in a number of ways; more detailed information will be posted in our course shell. Each area is worth the following percentages of your final grade: Participation = 40% Journals = 25% Final Paper = 35% Final Paper: Students will pick a substance or behavior of addiction, they will provide core information about the substance and then report out on addiction rates, treatment methods and efficacy of the treatments over a defined time period (10 years) they will need to recognize changes in trends of use (population shifts, gender shifts etc.) and discuss these changes.
In preparation for this students are required to participate in a midterm (weeks six and seven) discussion about the scientific method, and how it applies to research and reading, understanding and interpreting research. We will also discuss the ethical responsibilities related to scientific research. Format and requirements for the final paper: The final paper must be formatted in the following manner: Part One: Substance or behavior of addiction this must be a 1 to 3 page description of the substance, its physiological, psychological and societal effects. The student must tell what the drug/behavior is, how it affects the user physically and mentally and how the user then impacts society. The student should also explore cultural beliefs about the substance/behavior and describe stereotypes related to substance/behavior. Part Two: Addiction rates the student will provide information about addiction rates for the substance/behavior in the US for the last 10 years (2002 to 2012). The student will analyze and report out on changes in trends of use (population shifts, gender shifts etc). The student will form a hypothesis as to why he/she thinks there has (or has not) been a shift and provide research to support said hypothesis. Methods and Efficacy of treatment - the student will provide information about treatment options for the substance/behavior in the US for the last 10 years (2002 to 2012) and the efficacy of said treatments. The student will analyze and report out on the treatment methods and will form a hypothesis as to why he/she thinks treatment (in general) has (or has) not been effective and provide research to support said hypothesis. This section must be between 3 and 5 pages long. Part Three: Conclusion and personal thoughts This section must be 1 to 2 pages. This section is a wrap up of the information provided in parts one and two and the students thoughts about what he/she has learned in the course of writing the paper. Please note: All sources for this paper must be peer-reviewed. The students are expected to provide at least 5 sources and all sources must be cited and referenced in APA format. Syllabus: Week One: Welcome to class. We have one discussion topic this week: Discussion What do you know about addiction and substance abuse? What do think, feel or know about the subject?
In preparation for week two please read chapters one, two, three and four in Addictions by Teesson, Hall, Proudfoot and Degenhardt and chapters one and two in Uppers, Downers, All Arounders: Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs by Inaba, Cohen, von Radics, Cholewa and Rupee. Week Two: This week s discussion is based on the readings from chapters one, two, three and four in Addictions by Teesson, Hall, Proudfoot and Degenhardt and chapters one and two in Uppers, Downers, All Arounders: Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs by Inaba, Cohen, von Radics, Cholewa and Rupee. Discussion So, who becomes addicted? What are the biological effects that contribute to addiction? What are the psychological effects that contribute to addiction and chose and describe a theory of addiction in your own words. Journal One what is the difference between abuse and dependence? In preparation for week three Please watch the following video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5lqrxgm63g and read the six articles at http://www.amstat.org/news/blastland_bbcprimer.cfm. Week Three Please watch the following video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5lqrxgm63g (FIX LINK) and read the six articles at http://www.amstat.org/news/blastland_bbcprimer.cfm. Discussion - In the video many topics are discussed. What stood out to you as important? What left you with questions? Also, does correlation equal causation? Why or why not? Why is it important to understand the placebo effect? How do belief and culture affect our view of the world and how in turn does that effect how we view research? Journal Two- Do a little research on your own about how you can mislead with statistical information and answer the following questions: how easy is it to lie with statistics and research data? Why is it important to understand how to read and interpret research correctly? Provide examples of statistics being used to mislead readers. In preparation for week four please read chapters, five, six and seven in Addictions by Teesson, Hall, Proudfoot and Degenhardt and chapters three and four in Uppers, Downers, All Arounders: Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs by Inaba, Cohen, von Radics, Cholewa and Rupee. Week Four For this week we read chapters, five, six and seven in Addictions by Teesson, Hall, Proudfoot and Degenhardt and chapters three and four in Uppers, Downers, All Arounders: Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs by Inaba, Cohen, von Radics, Cholewa and Rupee.
Discussion What in the section of reading made you say Aha! What made you say huh? And Journal Three Describe the effects of the substances covered in the reading on the brain and In preparation for week five please read chapters eight and nine in Addictions by Teesson, Hall, Proudfoot and Degenhardt and chapters five and six in Uppers, Downers, All Arounders: Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs by Inaba, Cohen, von Radics, Cholewa and Rupee. Week Five This week we read chapters eight and nine in Addictions by Teesson, Hall, Proudfoot and Degenhardt and chapters five and six in Uppers, Downers, All Arounders: Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs by Inaba, Cohen, von Radics, Cholewa and Rupee. Discussion What in the section of reading made you say Aha! What made you say huh? And Journal Four Describe the effects of the substances covered in the reading on the brain and In preparation for week Seven please read chapters seven, eight, nine and 10 in Uppers, Downers, All Arounders: Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs by Inaba, Cohen, von Radics, Cholewa and Rupee. Week Six - No Class this week. Week Seven This week we read please read chapters seven, eight, nine and 10 in Uppers, Downers, All Arounders: Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs by Inaba, Cohen, von Radics, Cholewa and Rupee. Discussion What in the section of reading made you say Aha! What made you say huh? And Journal Five Describe the effects of the substances covered in the reading on the brain and Week Eight Discussion please review your initial post in week one. Has your definition of addiction changed? If so how? What new ideas has this class generated for you and what was the most important thing that you learned? Final paper/project due, wrap up and goodbyes