Psychology 224: Abnormal Psychology

Spring 2005

Monday and Thursday, 11:10-12:20

 

Professor: Sally Theran, Ph.D.

Office: 484B Science Center; phone: x3001

Email: stheran@wellesley.edu

Office hours: Thursdays, 4 pm – 5:30 pm, or by appointment

 

Course Objectives:

The goals of this course are to give you a background in the history of abnormal psychology, current classification of psychological disorders, differential diagnosis, information on research and theoretical perspectives on the causes of psychological problems, and current treatments.

 

Class Format:

            This class will meet twice a week in a large seminar format; the class meetings will consist of a combination of lectures, discussion, small group discussion, and class activities. It is expected that you will have read the reading material prior to the class meeting so that you can actively participate in discussions. I will bring in case material to enrich your understanding of the course topics, and we will occasionally view films to enrich our discussions. You are expected to attend class everyday. If you miss class, you are responsible for obtaining information on material covered in class from one of your classmates.

            Please feel free to attend my office hours, and contact me if you are having problems with or have any questions about the course material.

 

Requirements:

            There will be three exams that will consist of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. The first two will be taken during class, and the last exam will be during finals week, Tuesday, May 17^th, from 2:30 pm – 4 pm. There will be two short papers for this course that will involve a diagnostic summary and analysis of a therapy case. These will be discussed further during the beginning of the semester. Finally, class participation is a component of your final grade in the course, and you are expected to be an active participant during the class.

 

Student with Disabilities

            Students with disabilities who are taking this course and who need disability-related accommodations are encouraged to work with Barbara Boger, the Director of Programs of the Pforzheimer Learning and Teaching Center (if you have learning or attention disabilities) and Jim Wice, the Director of Disability Services (if you have a physical disability) to arrange these accommodations. Their offices are located in the Pforzheimer Learning and Teaching Center in Clapp Library.

 

Policy on Extensions

 

Please do not ask me for an extension on any assignment or for postponement of an examination. I will not determine if you deserve an excused extension for an assignment or an exam, but I will accept your personal judgment based on the policy outlined below.

 

Excused extensions

 

There are only two contingencies which are acceptable for the excused postponement of assigned work: personal illness or family crisis. If either of these contingencies prevents you from satisfying your assignments, you are entitled to an excused extension. If an excused extension is taken, the following steps must be taken:

 

1) Prior to the class period at which the work is due (or at which the exam is to be given), you must notify me (ext. 3001) that you will not be present at the exam or that the assignment will not be submitted. This notification must be made before the actual class begins.

 

2) You must contact me within one day of the missed assignment/exam to make arrangements to complete the work.

 

3) You must submit to me with your assignment a written statement indicating that you are acting in accord with Wellesley's Honor Code. The statement may be brief and needs only to indicate: 1) that you are requesting an excused extension; 2) that the reason for the extension is consistent with the criteria described above; and 3) that you are acting in accord with Wellesley's honor code. You do not need to specify the reason for the extension, but must specify that your situation meets the above criteria. The statement should be submitted with the late assignment or exam. (I will assume that any late work submitted without a written statement is an unexcused extension.)

 

Unexcused late work

 

Any late work/missed exam for which the procedures above are not followed will be considered unexcused late work. Such work will be subject to the following penalties:

 

Papers/assignments will be accepted up to one week after the due date and will be penalized 5% for each day that passes beyond the due date.

 

Missed exams must be completed before graded exams are returned to the class. The exam grade will be reduced 5% for each late day beyond the scheduled date of the exam that it is taken.

 

Grading guidelines:

 

Each assignment and class participation will be graded on a scale from 1-100. If you are an active participant in class discussions, you will receive 100% for your participation. The assignments will be weighted accordingly:

 

Class Participation:     10%

Exam 1:                       20%

Exam 2:                       20%

Exam 3:                       20%

Paper 1:                       15%

Paper 2:                       15%

 

Grading:

 

A   =	4.0    =	92.5% +
A- =	3.67 =	89.5% - 92.4%
B+ =	3.33  =	86.5% - 89.4%
B   =	3.0    =	82.5% - 86.4%
B-  =	2.67 =	79.5% - 82.4%
C+ =	2.33 =	76.5% - 79.4%
C   =	2.0    =	72.5% - 76.4%
C-  =	1.67 =	69.5% - 72.4%
D   =	1.0    =	59.5% - 69.4%
F    =	0.0    =	<59.4%

 

 

Course Readings

The majority of reading will be from the textbook, but occasionally the text will be supplemented by a journal article or magazine article that will enrich your knowledge of the topic. This is noted below, and will also be announced in class and on the course conference. These articles will all be available via e-reserve on the course conference unless otherwise noted.

 

Texts: 

Comer, R.J. (2004). Abnormal Psychology (5^th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

 

Articles (CPK)

1.     Spiegel, A. (2005, January 3). The dictionary of disorder: How one man revolutionized psychiatry. The New Yorker. 56-62.

2.     Groopman, J. (2000, April 10). The doubting disease. The New Yorker. 52-57.

3.     Solomon, A. (1998, January 12). Anatomy of melancholy. The New Yorker. 46—61.

4.     Carey, B. (2004, July 13). With toughness and caring, a novel therapy helps tortured souls. The New York Times, pp. D1, D6.

5.     Carey, B. (2004, July 13). So far, holding up under scrutiny. The New York Times, p. D6.

6.     Acocella, J. (1998, April 6). The politics of hysteria. The New Yorker. 64-79.

7.     Franzen, J. (2001, September 10). My father’s brain. The New Yorker. 81-91.

Course Outline:

Week	Date	Topic	Readings
1	January 31   February 3	Overview and History of abnormal psychology Diagnosis	Skim Ch. 1   Ch. 4, CPK#1
2	February 7 February 10	Models of abnormality pt. 1 Models of abnormality pt. 2	Ch. 3 (pp. 49-56; 64-69) Ch. 3 (pp. 56-63; 70-87)
3	February 14 February 17	Anxiety Disorders (GAD, phobias) Anxiety Disorders (Panic, OCD)	Ch. 5 (pp. 121-142) Ch. 5 (pp. 143-159); CPK #2
4	February 21 February 24	NO CLASS - Holiday Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Ch. 6
5	February 28 March 3	PTSD cont. First Exam
6	March 7   March 10	Mood Disorders – Depression   Mood Disorders – Bipolar	Ch. 8 (pp. 237-257); Ch. 9 (269-288); CPK #3 Ch. 8 (pp. 257-267); Ch. 9 (289-295)
7	March 14 March 17	Schizophrenia Schizophrenia         First Paper Due	Ch. 14 Ch. 15
8	March 21 March 24	NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK
9	March 28 March 31	Personality Disorders Personality Disorders	Ch. 16, CPK #4, 5 -
10	April 4 April 7	Eating Disorders Eating Disorders	Ch. 11 -
11	April 11   April 14	Sexual Disorders Guest speaker: Dr. Shira Maguen Second Exam	Ch. 13
12	April 19 (TUESDAY) April 21	Somatoform Disorders Dissociative Disorders	Ch. 7 (pp. 199-212) Ch. 7 (pp. 213-235); CPK #6
13	April 25 April 28	Substance Abuse Disorders of childhood & adolescence Second Paper Due	Ch. 12 Ch. 17
14	May 2 May 5	Disorders of aging and cognition Suicide	Ch. 18, CPK #7 Skim Ch. 10
15	May 9	Wrap-up
	Tuesday May 17, 2:30 – 4 pm	Third Exam

 

Note: This is a tentative schedule of the semester’s topics. A specific week’s or day’s topic may change, as may the readings. These will be announced on the course conference.

 

           

 

	Department of Psychology   Wellesley College                                          ________________________________________________

Guidelines for Requesting Recommendations

 

The request for a recommendation should be made at least one month prior to the due date. All necessary materials should be delivered to the recommender at this time. Always give the potential recommender the option to decline.

 

The student should provide the following materials:

 

·      If you are applying to graduate school, please provide a summary sheet indicating the following for each school: name of the institution; name of the department/program to which you are applying; the degree you will be working toward (M.A.; Ph.D.); date the recommendation is due.

Example:

            Michigan State University – Clinical Psychology – Ph.D.    due: Jan 1, 2005

            Boston College – Counseling Psychology – M.A.                 due: Jan 15, 2005

            University of Michigan – Social Work – M.S.W.                  due: Feb 1, 2005

 

·      If there are forms for the recommendation, please complete the top part of all of the forms.

 

·      If you are applying for a fellowship, internship, etc., please provide:

o      a few sentences in your own words describing the program, fellowship, etc. (what sort of intellectual/personal qualities is the program seeking in its applicants?)

o      the name/address of the person to whom the letter should be addressed

o      the date the recommendation is due

 

·      Copies of personal statements or essays that you plan to include with your application.

 

·      Current transcript (xerox copy is fine)

 

·      Your resumé (with important experience/activities highlighted)

 

·      A stamped, addressed envelope for each application. (Recommendations will be mailed in envelopes provided. If envelopes are to be sealed and returned to student, a self-addressed envelope with appropriate postage should be provided.)

 

·      Please answer the questions on the following page and return your answers to me with the materials listed above. (It is fine to write your answers by hand under each question.)

1) Please list the courses that you have taken with me, indicating the semester in which you took each course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) What would you like me to know about you as I write this recommendation? (Feel free to include details that we have discussed in prior conversations.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) What particular skills, interests, or experience do you hope to highlight in your application?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4) What have you been doing since we last worked together?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5) Are there any weaknesses in your application of which you would like me to be aware? (It often helps for me to know--this does not mean that I'll mention them!)

 

 

 

Checklist

 

            List of graduate programs and deadlines

 

            Copies of applicable forms with top sections completed

 

            Information about fellowship(s) and deadlines

 

            Copies of application statements/essays

 

            Transcript (unofficial copy is fine)

 

            Resumé

 

            Stamped, addressed envelope for each application

 

            Answers to questions above