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Psychology 40111-001
Abnormal Psychology
Fall 2008 Tuesday-Thursday 12:30p to 1:45p
Kent Hall 102		  
Instructor: David M. Fresco, Ph.D.
Teaching Assistant: Tricia Robertson trober14@kent.edu
Office: 226 Kent Hall Annex
Office Hours: Tuesdays 1:45-4, Thursdays 11-12:30,1:45 to 4, & By appointment
Email/Telephone: fresco@kent.edu / (330) 672-4049
Keeping in touch: Through flashline, I have a complete list of all students' kent.edu email addresses. I will use this list to send announcements to the whole class. I encourage you to check your kent email address everyday or to use the autoforward feature if you use a non-kent email address. You can learn about autoforwarding here.
Course Web Page: http://www.personal.kent.edu/~dfresco/
Assigned Text:

 

Comer, R. J. (2009). Abnormal Psychology (7th Edition). New York: Worth Publishers. (ISBN: 9781429216319) It's available at the bookstore. Our textbook also has a very nice webpage with additional resources. You can visit the webpage here.

 
Description:

The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the study of psychopathology (i.e., mental disorder, mental illness, “abnormal” behavior). The field of psychopathology is large and diverse involving numerous endeavors and opinions. As such, it will be difficult to give full attention to any one topic or approach. However, we will do our best to cover important subjects in sufficient detail. Lectures will utilize a multimedia approach (e.g., text slides, figures, and videos) to provide a better understanding of the phenomenology and context of these disorders.  Through these lectures, you will learn how to recognize different forms of psychopathology in terms of their characteristics, causes, and current surrounding issues. In addition, you will learn about the most common treatments for these conditions.

 
Examinations: There will be five tests. Four of the tests will take place during the semester and the fifth test will occur during the final examination period. The tests will be multiple choice. The exams are not cumulative. If you miss an exam due to illness or other university excused absence, you MUST leave me a message PRIOR TO the scheduled exam. You may be required to provide documentation for this absence (e.g., a note from the doctor). Failure to contact me, or to provide documentation for the absence if requested will result in a grade of “0” for the exam. Make-up exams may differ in form and content.
Computer/Internet:

Some of the materials that I will provide for you may be audio/video files that require you to install free software on your computer. 

QuickTime from Apple Computer. 

iTunes from Apple Computer.

Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe.
Notes: I do provide handouts for my lectures in hopes that you will not simply spend your time writing what you see on the screen or the board.  You can download them from the iTunes U webpage  (see below). Do not assume that you know it all just because you have my notes. Experience has shown me that students who do not attend class and think they can get by on downloading the notes do poorly!  Also, the pdf files are rather large, so you might do well to download them from a computer with a high speed connection.
Podcasts: Technology willing, lectures will be recorded as enhanced podcasts that can be downloaded with    iTunes a free software title for Macintosh and Windows and/or copied to an iPod. To access the podcasts, you will need to install iTunes on a computer with a fast Internet connection, and visit Kent State’s iTunesU portal with a web browser. There you will need to provide your flashline login and password. The web browser will then bring up iTunes and then the KSU iTunes Music Store page. It’s easy, and I will demonstrate in class. Just as simply downloading classnotes will not take the place of coming to class, just listening to podcasts will also not take the place of coming to class!
Final Grade:

Test 1                                         20%
Test 2                                         20%
Test 3                                         20%
Test 4                                         20%
Test 5                                         20%

Note: Starting with Spring 2006, I will use +/- Grading to assess your grade.

Grades will be assessed as follows:

92 to 100 = A
90 to 91 = A-
87 to 89 = B+
82 to 86 = B
80 to 81 = B-
77 to 79 = C+
72 to 76 = C
70 to 71 = C-
67 to 69 = D+
60 to 66 = D
00 to 59 = F

Because of confidentiality concerns and new KSU regulations, grades will only be posted electronically using the Vista/WebCT system. You will be asked to login to this system using your FlashLine login and password to see your grade.

 
Extra Credit:

There will be a few extra questions on the exams.  Answering a question correctly will add one point to your exam score.  There will be no penalty for answering incorrectly.
In addition, I am going to experiment with 1-minute written assignments that will be worth 1-point each to be applied to your lowest exam grade.  You must be present to get the point.  The assignment may be write a 1-minute opinion on some relevant topic. Or it might be write an exam question to be used on the next exam.

 
SDS: University policy 3342-3-18 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content.  If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments.  Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through Student Disability Services (contact 330-672-3391) or visit www.kent.edu/sds for more information on registration procedures.

 

WEEK OF
TOPICS/ASSIGNMENTS
NOTES
Aug-31 First Class Meeting, Introductions, Nuts & Bolts of the class; Introduction to Abnormal Psychology; Clinical Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Ch 1

Chs 4 & 2
Sep-07 Clinical Assessment (Cont'd); Research in Abnormal Psychology

 

Chs 4 & 2 (Cont'd)

 
Sep-14 Theories of Psychopathology

 

Ch 3

 
Sep-21

Review for Exam 1

Exam 1 covering Chs. 1, 2, 3, 4

  
Sep-28

 

Anxiety Disorders

 

 Chs 5 & 6
Oct-05

 

Anxiety Disorders (cont'd); Review for Exam 2
Exam 2 covering Chs. 5 & 6

 

  
Oct-12

(Note: DMF at NIMH in Washington, DC Oct 12-14; Lecture by Tricia Robertson on 13 Oct 2009)

Mood Disorders & Suicide

 

Chs 8, 9 & 10
Oct-19

 

Mood Disorders & Suicide (Cont’d)

 

  
Oct-26

 

Review for Exam 3
Exam 3 covering Chs. 8, 9, 10

 

  
Nov-02

 

Eating Disorders
Somatoform Disorders

 

 Chs 11 & 7
Nov-09 Substance-Related Disorders

 

Ch 12

 
Nov-16

Review for Exam 4
(Note: DMF at ABCT Nov 18-22; Lecture by Tricia Robertson on 19 Nov 2009)

  
Nov-23

Exam 4 covering 11, 7, & 12
(Note: Thanksgiving Recess; No Class 26 Nov 2009)

 

  
Nov-30 Schizophrenia

 

Chs 14 & 15

 
Dec-07 Schizophrenia (cont'd);
Personality Disorders;
Review for Final Exam (Exam 5)		 Ch 16
 

 

Final Exam Covering Chs. 14, 15, 16
Wednesday, 16 Dec 2009 12:45 to 3:00