Psychology 315L
ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY LABORATORY
Winter 2005
Tu 1:00 - 4:20 p.m.. Room: RNEC 102
Instructor:
Office:
e-mail:
webpage:
Steven Bacon, Ph.D.
DDH D117
sbacon@csub.edu
www.csub.edu/~sbacon/
Office Hrs:
Phone:
MW
1:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Th
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
664-2008
Course Description:
Psychology 315L will focus on how we know what we know about abnormal psychology. We will examine
1) the kinds of questions that people interested in abnormal psychology ask, 2) how they choose their
research methods to answer specific research questions, and 3) how they reasonably draw conclusions from
their work. We will concentrate on a smaller area of inquiry, psychotherapy outcomes, which illustrates
many of the challenging conceptual issues in abnormal psychology research. In addition, you will have the
opportunity to develop and hone your own research skills through lab exercises that require you to collect,
analyze, and interpret data and to clearly communicate your findings. Prerequisites include Psyc 300 and
Psyc 315 (or concurrent enrollment in Psyc 315).
Department Goals:
The following goals of the Department of Psychology will be addressed in the course:
Goal 3: Discovering Psychological Knowledge
a.
Formulates testable research hypotheses.
b.
Designs appropriate empirical tests of research hypotheses that take into account the strengths and
limitations of different research designs.
c.
Identifies threats to internal and external validity, and proposes improvements to reduce these
threats in studies from the literature.
d.
Selects and appropriately applies inferential statistics to distinguish between outcomes that do and
do not support hypotheses.
e.
Conducts appropriate library and electronic searches in order to identify and acquire information
that is relevant to a target topic.
f.
Reads and understands psychological research articles at the level of an educated consumer.
g.
Communicates scientific findings clearly and accurately in appropriate written formats.
Goal 5: Ethics and Values in Psychology
b.
Describes and explains ethical codes and standards that guide the work of students and
professionals in psychology.
c.
Demonstrates understanding and acceptance of research ethics through relevant behaviors.
Method of Evaluation:
Grade Weighting
Homework (4)
Quizzes (best 4 of 5)
Lab 1
Lab 2
Project Proposal
Final Exam
20%
10%
15%
15%
20%
20%
Four homework exercises will be assigned over the course of the quarter. These brief papers will
involve analyzing assigned readings and practicing skills developed in Psyc 300.
Abnormal Psychology Lab Syllabus
Psyc 315L, Winter 2005, Page 2
Method of Evaluation (continued):
Five quizzes covering assigned readings and the previous session’s lecture/discussion will be given
at the beginning of class. You must be on time to take the quiz. You will keep the scores from your
best four of the five quizzes. Missed quizzes can be made up only under rare circumstances with
the approval of the instructor.
Two labs and a project proposal will also be assigned. Labs will be started in class and completed
outside of class. Students will receive detailed instructions for each lab and the project proposal,
including which APA-formatted sections are required. Late homework, lab assignments, and
proposals will be penalized.
Students are expected to be present for all lab meetings and to participate actively and usefully in
class discussions and in running lab studies. If you must miss a lab due to illness or other
emergency, please clear it (in advance, if possible) with the instructor.
The cumulative final exam will cover material from the readings, lectures, and labs. It will include
multiple choice and essay questions, and may include a take-home section.
Grading Scale:
93-100. =
90-92.9 =
87-89.9 =
83-86.9 =
A
AB+
B
80-82.9 =
77-79.9 =
73-76.9 =
70-72.9 =
BC+
C
C-
67-69.9 =
63-66.9 =
60-62.9 =
00-59.9 =
D+
D
DF
CSUB Policies:
All campus rules for plagiarism, cheating, and incomplete grades will be strictly enforced. Definitions and
consequences may be found in the 2003-2005 CSUB catalog (plagiarism and cheating, p. 57; incomplete
grades and withdrawals, pp. 77). Please familiarize yourself with these policies as you will be expected to
abide by them.
The last day to withdraw from class without a "W" being recorded is January 24, 2005.
The last day to withdraw from class for a serious and compelling reason is February 21, 2005.
("Serious and compelling" is not your call. The catalog explains that you must receive approval
from the instructor and department chairman or school dean).
Students with disabilities should work with Disability Services (664-3360) and the instructor to arrange
appropriate support.
Abnormal Psychology Lab Syllabus
Psyc 315L, Winter 2005, Page 3
Reserve Articles:
1.
Lohr, J. M., Fowler, K. A., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2002). The dissemination and promotion of pseudoscience
in clinical psychology: The challenge to legitimate clinical science. The Clinical Psychologist,
55, 4-10.
2.
Ogles, B.M., Lambert, M.J., & Fields, S.A. (2002). Essentials of outcome assessment (pp. 20-70).
New York: John Wiley & Sons.
3.
Stice, E., Telch, C.F., & Rizvi, S. L. (2000). Development and validation of the Eating Disorder Diagnostic
Scale: A brief self-report measure of anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating disorder. Psychological
Assessment, 12, 123-131.
4.
Boudewyns, P.A., Stwerka, S. A., Hyer, L. A., Albrecht, J. A., & Sperr, E.V. (1993). Eye movement
desensitization for PTSD of combat: A treatment outcome pilot study. The Behavior Therapist, 16,
29-33.
5.
Kendall, P.C., Flannery-Schroeder, E.C., & Ford, J.D. (1999). Therapy outcome research methods.
In P.C. Kendall, J.N. Butcher, & G.N. Holmbeck (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in
clinical psychology (2nd ed.)(pp. 330-363). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
6.
Kazdin, A.E. (1994). Methodology, design, and evaluation in psychotherapy research. In A.E. Bergin &
S.L. Garfield (Eds.), Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change (4th ed.)(pp. 19-77).
New York: Wiley and Sons.
7.
Seligman, M.E.P. (1995). The effectiveness of psychotherapy: The Consumer Reports study. American
Psychologist, 50, 965-974.
8.
Jacobson, N.S., & Christensen, A. (1996). Studying the effectiveness of psychotherapy: How well
can clinical trials do the job? American Psychologist, 51, 1031-1039.
9.
Addis, M.E., Wade, W.A., & Hatgis, C. (1999). Barriers to dissemination of evidence-based practices:
Addressing practitioner=s concerns about manual-based psychotherapies. Clinical Psychology:
Science and Practice, 6, 430-441.
Abnormal Psychology Lab Syllabus
Psyc 315L, Winter 2005, Page 4
Lab Topics and Assignments
DAY/
DATE
Tu
1/4
TOPIC
READING DUE
HOMEWORK DUE
Intro to abnormal psych lab
None
None
Reserve #1: Lohr et al.
HW #1 (SPSS review)
Quiz 2
Reserve #2: Ogles et al.
HW #2 (analysis of
Discuss HW #2
Reserve #3: Stice et al.
Ethics
Review of research
methods/SPSS
Tu
1/11
Quiz 1
History of psychotherapy
outcome research
Discuss Lohr et al.
Discuss HW #1
Outcome measures- intro
Prep for LAB1
Tu
1/18
Stice et al)
Outcome measuresReliability & validity
Complete LAB 1
Tu
1/25
Quiz 3
Discuss HW #3
Reserve #4: Boudewyns
HW #3 (analysis of
et al.
Boudewyns)
Diagnostic measures
Treatment manuals
Discuss LAB 1
Tu
2/1
Discuss LAB 1
Reserve #5: Kendall et al.
LAB 1 report
Reserve #6: Kazdin,
HW #4 (clinical trials
Clinical trials/
efficacy studies II
Prep for LAB 2
Tu
2/8
Tu
2/15
Complete LAB 2
LAB 1 feedback
Discuss LAB 2
Discuss Kazdin/design
issues
HW #4 feedback
Work on proposals
pp. 19-34.
Reserve #6: Kazdin,
pp. 34-44
articles)
None
Tu
2/22
Quiz 4
Reserve #7: Seligman
Discuss LAB 2
Reserve #8: Jacobson &
Effectiveness studies
LAB 2 report
Christensen
Work on proposals
Tu
3/1
Quiz 5
Reserve #9: Addis et al.
Applications: evidence-
Reserve #6: Kazdin,
None
pp. 61-67
based practice, clinical
guidelines
LAB 2 feedback
Work on proposals
Tu
3/8
Th
3/17
Presentations
None
Project Proposal
FINAL EXAM
None
None
2:00-4:30 p.m.