PSYCHOLOGY 381
ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY

Spring, 2004 
3:45-5:00 p.m., Mon & Wed
Room 103 CESL

Announcements

Schedule of Topics/Exams

Book Companion Website

Look-up your exam scores

Streaming Psychopathology (password provided in class)

Course Description

This course will provide a broad survey of what is considered to be abnormal behavior.  Emphasis will be placed on a scientific, empirical view.  The primary focus of the course is the description of various symptoms, syndromes and illnesses, but research and theories concerning etiology will also be covered.  Additionally, treatments of abnormal behavior will be briefly discussed.

Readings

Most of the assigned reading will be contained in the texts listed below.  The texts should be available at the ASUA bookstore.  A small packet of additional readings is also required, and will be available by links in the online syllabus (http://www.gened.arizona.edu/jallen/PSYC381).

Oltmanns, T.F., & Emery, R.E. (2004).  Abnormal Psychology (4th Ed.).  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Oltmanns, T.F., Neale, J.M., Davison, G.C. (2003). Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology. (6^th Ed.)  Hoeboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Evaluation

There will be four non-cumulative exams.  From among the first three tests, the test on which you score lowest will not be counted towards your final grade.  Your final grade will be determined by summing the two best of the first three exams, plus the final.  Thus, whereas one of the first three exams will be dropped from your score, the non-cumulative final exam cannot be dropped.  These exams will be primarily in multiple-choice format.  The exams will cover both the readings and the lecture, in approximately equal proportion.  You are responsible for material in any of the readings listed on the syllabus, but only for the chapters or pages listed.  The exams are the property of the instructor.  Do not take exams from the classroom.

In order to do well on the tests, you should keep current on the readings and attend class.  It is very easy to get behind on the readings;  strive to have the readings completed prior to the class period for which they are assigned.

Your letter grade will be determined in the following way:  The highest total score (as described above, after dropping the lowest of the first three exams) attained by any student in the class will become the reference score for grading.  The student(s) with this highest total score will receive a grade of 100%.  All other students will receive a percentage grade based upon this highest score, and the following scale will be applied:

For example, if there were 100 possible total points, and the highest score attained by any student was 90, then 90% of 90 = 81; all students with total points greater than or equal to 81 would receive a letter grade of A. Similarly, 60% of 90 is 54; only those students with less than 54 total points would receive failing grades. This is not grading "by the curve"; with this system, it is conceivable that everyone could receive a letter grade of A. There will be no extra credit options.

Missed Classes and Make-up Exams

In the unfortunate event you should miss a class, you will have to borrow notes from another class member. You will also be held responsible for any changes or additions to the syllabus which are announced in class. There are virtually no satisfactory excuses for missing an exam. No make-up exams will be offered. If you need to miss an exam, it will be counted as your exam with the lowest score and therefore will be the exam which will be dropped before computing your grade. In the extremely unlikely event that travels will keep you from more than one exam, an alternative exam will be given only if prior arrangements have been made with the instructor.

The Virtual Instructor and Virtual Classroom

If you find that you cannot attend office hours, or that you have a question at times outside of office hours, you may contact the me via email (jallen@u.arizona.edu).  I typically check every weekday, so you will likely get a response within the day. 

I have also set up list service.  I will use this for making announcements, and for sharing information that may be of general interest (e.g. abnormal psychology in the news).  I will also use this list service to alert you to exam score information, and will post any announcements or changes to the list service before you might be able to receive them in class. 

This list service is "open."  This means that anyone who is subscribed to the list can post to the list.  This is a privilege, so please use discretion when posting to the list.  Appropriate use would include:

• Sharing some something in the media related to the class by posting a link to some material, or a short blurb in the body of the message.
• Organizing study groups or review groups for the class.
• Asking for clarifications in the reading or lecture from students.

Inappropriate use would include:

• Political statements (even if I agree with them!)
• Advertisements for products or for events unrelated to class material (e.g. your recitals, concerts), or other items that most folks would consider SPAM.
• Inflammatory or mean statements towards members of the class (e.g. statements deriding a student for posting something or asking a question).

If the list cannot be used responsibly, I'll make it a closed list, where all propaganda circulated to the list will come only from me.

All students officially registered for the class on January 10, 2004, have been automatically subscribed.  If you registered late, you may subscribe to the list by sending a message from your Email account to:

  LISTSERV@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU

and including the following in the body of the message:

 SUB PSYC381ALLEN Your Full Name

Syllabus on the Web

The Syllabus on the web is linked to http://www.u.arizona.edu/~jallen -- from there follow the link to courses.  The on-line version contains links for each lecture to outlines of the lecture notes for that topic.  If you print these notes ahead of time, you will have considerably less writing to do in class, allowing you instead to focus on the concepts at hand.  This version of the syllabus will also contain specific information concerning exams as it becomes available, and will post exam scores (identified only by a code number) as soon as they have been obtained and compiled.

Electronic Reserves

Some articles are scanned and available on-line by clicking on the link in the list of readings below. You will need the password provided in class, and you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and/or print the files. If you do not have it, you can download it for free from http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html .

Code of Academic Integrity

Cheating on any exam will result in a failing grade for the course, a notice will be sent to the Dean's office, and expulsion from the University of Arizona can result.  Please be familiar with the University of Arizona's Code of Academic Integrity, available at
http://info-center.ccit.arizona.edu/~studpubs/policies/cacaint.htm

Personal Psychological Problems

     In a class this large, there will undoubtedly be some students having psychological difficulties or wanting to help someone who does. I am hopeful that you will learn some valuable things in this course, but there is no reason to believe that learning about psychology by itself will help you solve your own or someone else's psychological difficulties.  Although I am a licensed psychologist, I cannot serve as your or your friend's therapist.  It is not ethical for psychologists to serve as someone's counselor and additionally as someone's instructor.  I can, however, point you in the direction of a competent colleague who could provide assistance.  It may be worth mentioning that nearly half the population will experience substantial psychological difficulty at some point in their lives.  Seeking help does not indicate a problem, but is a smart move if one is experiencing difficulties.
     There are many options for treating psychological difficulties.  These include taking prescription drugs, working to identify on counter-productive beliefs and thinking about the self and the world, engaging in relaxation techniques, working on past experiences, dealing with family and relationship problems, developing better social skills, learning better study habits, reducing study-related anxiety, and developing problem-solving strategies.  All of these approaches can be useful. Our knowledge of what works best, and for what type of problem, is limited, but we do know from research that obtaining help from a reputable mental health professional is definitely better than not doing anything. People do improve and change but not until they make the effort to do so. So if you are miserable, or for other reasons feel that you may have a psychological problem, by all means seek help! Pass this advice on to others in need. The easiest first step is to make an appointment to see someone with Counseling and Psychological Services at the Student Health Center, 621-3334.

Tentative Schedule of Topics and Readings
 

Note: "O&E" refers to the Oltmanns & Emery Text. "ONDL" refers to the case study book. Any other readings will be found by clicking on the link provided above.  

Reading References

Purchased Texts

Electronic Reprints

This page were last updated ... circa April 2004 .
Located at http://www.gened.arizona.edu/jallen/PSYC381

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