Texas A&M University Texarkana Abnormal Psychology Psy. 316 Fall 2015 Instructor: Tommie Hughes, Ph.D. Office: University Center 219 Telephone: 903-223-3016 e-mail: tommie.hughes@ tamut.edu Office Hours: Monday 1:00-1:30, Tuesday 5:00-7:00, Wednesday 1:00-1:30, 4:00-6:00, and by Appointment Prerequisites: Introduction to Psychology Required Text: Comer, Ronald J. (2015). Abnormal Psychology (Ninth Edition). New York: Worth and W. H. Freeman & Company. ISBN: 10 1-4641-7170-X. Student Learner Outcomes: 1. Student will be able to define the meaning of abnormal behavior in culture, law, and the mental health profession, and to explore the historical understanding of abnormal behavior from ancient times through the present. 2. Student will be able to describe theoretical explanations of abnormal behavior including psychological, biological and sociocultural models. 3. Student will be able to describe the various classifications of abnormal behavior including disorders of mood, personality, thinking, behavior, and psychosocial physical factors. 4. Student will be able to describe the evolution of treatment for abnormal behavior from early methods to current trends in psychotherapy, medication and sociocultural interventions. Course Evaluation: A letter grade will be earned based on the following criteria: 1. Examinations Students will have five opportunities to demonstrate mastery of course material. These exams are worth a maximum of 50 points each. Exams will be taken online via Blackboard 9.1. Exam availability dates are noted on the course schedule. Permission to take an exam at times other than scheduled must be arranged with the instructor prior to the scheduled exam. Students who do not take the exams as scheduled or make appropriate arrangements will receive 0 points for the missed exam. Regular exams are multiple-choice. Makeup exams will be short answer/essay. Students will be allowed to drop the lowest test score. 2. Class Presentation Project Students will prepare a class presentation on a topic selected from your abnormal psychology text. Source material may be from journal articles, other psychology texts, or any source of valid information, including media. Your class text may be used for content, but not as a primary source. In other words, the presentation should not be solely an outline of your text. The project is a group collaboration with 4-5 persons per group. The topic
must be turned in for approval by September 2 nd. Project performance is worth a maximum of 50 points. A portion of the grade comes from your participation in evaluating all student presentations on November 30 th and December 2 nd. 3. Journal Article Summary Students will prepare two summaries of an article from a professional journal (e.g. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, American Psychologist, etc.). See Guidelines for Journal Summary for instructions. Due date is noted on the class schedule. Each summary will be worth a maximum of 25 points. 4. Class Participation Activities Students will have the opportunity to participate in five activities in class during the semester. Participation earns a maximum of 5 points for each activity. The Class Participation Activities can only be done in class and cannot be turned in later. 5. Homework Assignments There will be six homework assignments. Assignments will be accepted at the end of class on the date due. Assignments will be accepted at the end of class on the due date (Maximum 10 points each). 6. Online Assignments There will be two online assignments. The assignments are noted on the course schedule and will be discussed in class prior to due dates. Assignments will be accepted at the end of class on the due date (Maximum 20 points each). 7. Extra Credit Students will have the opportunity to earn a maximum of 30 extra credit points during the semester. Students may do additional journal article summaries for a maximum of 10 points each. Journal articles for extra credit are due by December 2 nd and will not be accepted late! 8. Final Course grade will be assigned on a point accumulated basis, according to the following scale: Points Accumulated Grade Earned 383-425 A 340-382 B 298-339 C 255-297 D 0 255 F 9. At the end of the semester, students will be asked to evaluate the quality of the course and the instructor by means of an anonymous questionnaire. The instructor reserves the right to make any changes in the syllabus that she deems necessary at any time throughout the semester. Students who miss class are responsible for obtaining information from that class. Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Academic honesty is expected of students enrolled in this course. Cheating on examinations, unauthorized collaboration, falsification of research data, plagiarism, and copying or undocumented use of materials from any source, constitute academic dishonesty, and may be grounds for a grade of F in the course and/or disciplinary action. The student is responsible for reading and
understanding the University Policy on Academic Integrity. For help identifying and avoiding plagiarism go to http://www.turnitin.com/research_site/e_home.html Disability Accommodation As stated in the Texas A&M University-Texarkana Student Handbook, ""Students with disabilities may request reasonable accommodations through the A&M-Texarkana Disability Services Office by calling 903-223-3062." A&M-Texarkana Email Address Upon application to Texas A&M University-Texarkana an individual will be assigned an A&M- Texarkana email account. This email account will be used to deliver official university correspondence. Each individual is responsible for information sent and received via the university email account and is expected to check the official A&M-Texarkana email account on a frequent and consistent basis. Faculty and students are required to utilize the university email account when communicating about coursework. University Drop Policy To drop this course after the 12 th class day, a student must complete the Drop/Withdrawal Request Form, located on the University website (http://tamut.edu/registrar/droppingwithdrawing-fromclasses.html) or obtained in the Registrar s Office. The student must submit the signed and completed form to the instructor of each course indicated on the form to be dropped for his/her signature. The signature is not an approval to drop, but rather confirmation that the student has discussed the drop/withdrawal with the faculty member. The form must be submitted to the Registrar s office for processing in person, email (Registrar@tamut.edu), mail (P. O. Box 5518, Texarkana, TX 75505) or fax (903-223-3140). Drop/withdraw forms missing any of the required information will not be accepted by the Registrar s Office for processing. It is the student s responsibility to ensure that the form is completed properly before submission. If a student stops participating in class (attending and submitting assignments) but does not complete and submit the drop/withdrawal form, a final grade based on work completed as outlined in the syllabus will be assigned. Technical Requirements for online component of course: Minimum System Requirements: The following computer system requirements are recommended for an online course: OS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista; Mac OSX 10.2 & above RAM: 256 MB, Processor: 2.0 GHz, Free space on HDD: 500MB Internet Connection: (Broadband/DSL preferred), Dial Up 56k minimum Browser: Internet Explorer 6 or 7, Mozilla Firefox 2.0, Safari 1.0 Java: Version 6 Update 11 or later, Sound card and speakers Software Requirements: Pop-up Blockers: All pop-up blockers installed on your computer must be set to allow pop-ups from Blackboard Java Runtime Environment: You must have the Java Runtime Environment installed. This is a free plug-in for your browser that can be obtained by going to http://www.java.com Additional Plug-ins: You may need additional software based on the content that your instructor posts in their course. Commonly needed applications are:
Microsoft Office 2007/2003/XP Suite/Works (not free software) Adobe Acrobat Reader (free download) Windows Media Player (free download) Real Time Media Player (free download) Quick Time Media Player (free download) Macromedia/Adobe Flash (free download) Macromedia/Adobe Shockwave (free download) Student Technical Assistance: If a student experiences technical difficulties with blackboard they are to immediately notify blackboard. Please note blackboard personnel should only be contacted for technical difficulties. Problems with Blackboard will be dealt with upon notification from Instruction Technology. If a student experiences problems with blackboard during a quiz or exam, they can choose to notify the instructor to ensure acknowledgement. For additional resources, see below: -enhanced and online courses are found at this link: http://www.tamut.edu/webcourses/index.php?pageid=37 ling your specific problem here: http://www.tamut.edu/webcourses/gethelp2.php Julia Allen Office hours are: Monday - Friday, 8:00a to 5:00p 903-223-3154 Julia.allen@tamut.edu Jay Ferguson (alternate) 903-223-3105 jayson.ferguson@tamut.e du Nikki Thomson (alternate) 903-223-3083 nikki.thomson@tamut.ed u
SCHEDULE ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY FALL 2015 Date Topic/Reading Assignment August 24 Introduction Chapter 1 Abnormal Psychology: Past and Present 26 Chapter 1 continued 31 Chapter 3 Models of Abnormality Presentation Topic Due & Group Members September 2 Chapter 3 continued September 7 Labor Day Holiday! No Classes 9 Chapter 3 continued 14 Exam 1 Chapters 1 & 3 Class Does Not Meet Exam Available Online September 14 & 15. 16 Chapter 5 Anxiety Disorders 21 Chapter 5 continued Homework Assignment 1 Due 23 Chapter 6 Stress Disorders Homework Assignment 2 Due 28 Chapter 6 continued First Journal Article Due 30 Exam 2 Chapters 5 & 6 - Class Does Not Meet Exam Available Online September 30 &October 1 October 5 Chapter 7 Depressive & Bipolar Disorders 7 Chapter 7 continued Homework Assignment 3 Due 12 Chapter 9 - Suicide 14 Chapter 9 continued Homework Assignment 4 Due 19 Exam 3 Chapters 7 & 9 - Class Does Not Meet Exam Available Online October 19 & 20. 21 Chapter 12 Substance Use and Addictive Disorders
26 Chapter 12 continued Homework Assignment 5 Due 28 Chapter 14 Schizophrenia November 2 Chapter 14 continued Homework Assignment 6 Due Second Journal Article Due 4 Exam 4 Chapters 12 & 14 - Class Does Not Meet Exam Available Online November 4 & 5. 9 Chapter 16 11 Online Assignment 1 16 Chapter 17 Disorders of Childhood & Adolescence Online Assignment 1 Due 18 Chapter 17 continued 25 Online Assignment 2 26 & 27 Thanksgiving Holiday 30 Class Presentations Online Assignment 2 Due Extra Credit Journal Article Summaries Due Will not be accepted Late!! December 2 Class Presentations Class Does Meet! Exam 5 Online Chapters 16 & 17 - Exam Available Online December 2 & 3.
JOURNAL ARTICLE SUMMARY 1. Each article must be from a professional peer reviewed journal (e.g. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of Personality, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, American Psychologist, Behavior Therapy, etc.), and must be directly related to abnormal psychology. 2. Components of the summary: Each of the components should have a heading and section devoted to that content a. Introduction to the overall topic of the article b. Content such as description of elements of the study with emphasis on the results and discussion. c. Your reaction to the article how you felt and what you thought about the article. Relate to what you have been learning in class and/or related readings. This should be the last section of the summary. d. Reference in APA style 6 th Edition. This is a citation of the article summarized at the end of the paper. 3. The summary is to be typed with appearance commensurate with upper level undergraduate university work. The quality of writing is important and will be considered in points earned. Remember that this is a summary and directly lifting significant portions for the article could be considered plagiarism. 4. Length should be 2 3 pages (double-spaced, 12 pt font). 5. Attach a copy of the journal article to your summary. 6. Each summary is worth a maximum of 30 points. 7. Due dates are noted on the Course Schedule. All of the above elements will be taken into consideration in evaluating the summary and assigning points earned. Example of APA citation: Self, C. A. & Rogers, R. W. (1990). Coping with threats to health: Effects of persuasive appeals on depressed, normal, and antisocial personalities. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 13, 343-357. Source is the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition.
Guidelines for Presentation 1. Students will form groups of 4-5 students and prepare a class presentation on a topic from the course material. Students are encouraged to incorporate material from a variety of sources to illustrate the topic. This may include journal articles, psychology reference material, film, video or print from the popular culture. Your text may be a reference, but should not be the sole reference. For each group, students will select one of three portions of the material to cover (1) History and description of the disorder (2) A case example and diagnostic criteria met (3) Explanations and treatment. 2. Topics must be turned in in writing for approval by the instructor by September 2 nd. This should also include a list of group members by first and last name. 3. Each student will turn in a written report on his/her portion of the presentation. This is due at the time of the presentation (2-3 pages). The report is to be typed and include the following: a. Student name and course identifying information. b. A summary of the material presented. c. The student s reaction to participating in the project including 1) interest in the topic 2) attitude about the topic before and after the work 3) how the topic relates to what you are learning in class (1/2 to 1 page). d. A reference page in APA style containing a minimum of five reference sources. One of these can be the class text. This page should be references for the individual student s portion of the presentation. 4. Students will plan on approximately 10 minutes for the presentation. All members of the group must participate in the presentation. 5. Project performance will be evaluated on the following basis 1) content a maximum of 30 points, 2) presentation of the information a maximum of 15 points, and 3) review of other students projects a maximum of 5 points. This makes the total possible points a maximum of 50 points.