!COURSE
OBJECTIVES ....1
! INSTRUCTOR .................1
!NUTS AND BOLTS OF THE
CLASS............................... |
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! YOUR GRADE ................ |
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! PODCASTS .................... |
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! TEXTBOOK .................... |
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! EXTRA CREDIT & RESEARCH |
OPPORTUNITIES ................ |
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! COURSE CALENDAR ...... |
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PSYCH 40111-002 |
Spring 2016 |
“To dispel the misery of the world”
-His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama
Tuesdays & Thursdays 12:30p to 1:45p Kent Hall Addi<on 102
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, it is expected that students will be able to:
1.Describe and evaluate the historical and cultural viewpoints as well as current theoretical views of psychological disorders.
2.Compare and contrast the symptoms of psychological disorders with non-pathological behaviors.
3.Describe the clinical picture and discuss clinical assessment of each of the major psychological disorders using the DSM for reference.
In-class activities that support outcomes: Activities may include, but are not limited to, class/group discussion, lecture, demonstrations, quizzes, exams, presentations, and viewing and discussing videos.
Out-of-class activities that support outcomes: Activities may include, but are not limited to, textbook readings, homework assignments, readings from professional and lay periodicals, participating in research studies, and writing article summaries and/ or reflection papers.
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TEXTBOOK
Comer, R. J. (2015). Abnormal Psychology Update (9th Edition). New York: Worth Publishers. (ISBN 1-4641-7170-X). It's available at the bookstore. Our textbook also has a very nice webpage with additional resources. You can visit the webpage here.
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 iOS device such an iPad or iPhone. To access the podcasts, you will need to install iTunes on a computer or iOS device. You will also need an AppleID, which is the same login you use to buy music or software. Finally, you will need to click on this link to get the access code for our class. Once in a while, my computer misbehaves and the recording is lost, but for most lectures, I will post the recording within a day of it being made.
EXTRA CREDIT
There are two ways to earn extra credit in this class. First, 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.
RESEARCH PARTICIPATION
Throughout the semester, we will be discussing many findings of psychological research. But what might not be obvious is the fact that much of this research was conducted at top research universities like Kent State, with participants much like yourself. The descriptions of psychological research that appear in textbooks necessarily omit a great deal of information about what participants actually do in these studies, and what the experience is really like. Serving as a research participant gives you a unique, behind- the-scenes look at how research is conducted.
You can earn extra credit in this class by earning research participation points. These points may be earned either through participation in research studies (conducted by researchers in the Department of Psychology after review by Kent State University's Institutional Review Board) or by writing brief reviews of research articles. Regardless of which option you choose, the goal is to supplement the broad coverage of many topics in class with experiences that will deepen your understanding of psychological research. You can earn up to 5 points toward your final grade. Every two research points you earn in the participant pool equals 1 point toward your final grade. Up to 10 research points (or 5 percentage points).
If you choose to participate in research studies, note that these are REAL studies that are being conducted by REAL researchers (for example, faculty projects and graduate student dissertation research). Please take your participation seriously
–you are helping to promote a better understanding of human thought, emotion, and behavior. (Who knows – you may even participate in a study that gets published in a psychology journal and discussed in future classes like this!). Be sure to use the research experience requirement to learn something about research in Psychology. After every research study, you will be told the purpose of the study. Take this opportunity to ask questions!! Ask why the researchers did what they did, what they expect to find, etc.!!! This is your opportunity to learn first-hand about how psychologists study behavior.
Also, it is very important to show up on time to any studies you sign up for! Not only will you help out the researchers – who have taken time to prepare for your appointment – but also you can EARN BONUS RESEARCH PARTICIPATION POINTS for showing up on time to all studies you sign up for (or, when necessary, by canceling your appointment more than 24 hours in advance of the appointment time). So please show up to all times you sign up for or cancel at least 24 hours in advance!
DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE SEMESTER TO COMPLETE THE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENT!!!! If you do, there will probably not be enough experiments left to participate in. Read the attached packet about research participation very carefully for details about how the research participant pool operates and the alternative of doing research papers instead of participating in experiments.
