Syllabus
Psychology 664
Winter 2001
1
Syllabus
Psychology 664
Behavior Therapy
Winter 2001
Mondays 9:00-11:50 am
2531 Wood Hall
Instructor:
Office:
Phone:
Email:
Office Hours:
Amy Naugle, Ph.D.
3524 Wood Hall
387-4726
amy.naugle@wmich.edu
Mondays 12:00-1:00
Mondays & Wednesdays 4:00-500
By appointment
NOTE: YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR KNOWING THE CONTENTS OF THIS SYLLABUS. ALSO, I RESERVE THE
RIGHT TO MODIFY THE CONTENTS AND REQUIREMENTS OF THE SYLLABUS OVER THE COURSE OF THE
SEMESTER.
Required Texts:
Barlow, D. H. (1993). Handbook of psychological disorders (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford.
Masters, J. C., Burish, T. G., Hollon, S. D., & Rimm, D. C. (1987). Behavior therapy: Techniques
and empirical findings (3rd ed.). San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Course Objectives:



Provide an overview of the field of behavior therapy
Introduce students to the basic techniques of behavior therapy and other empirically supported
psychological interventions
Develop skills in delivering behavioral interventions through didactic and in vivo rehearsal
Attendance:
Class attendance is required. If you are going to miss a class, please let me know ahead of time. More
than one unexcused absences will seriously jeopardize your grade in the course. There will be no
opportunities to make-up points for class participation or practice exercises that occur during class
resulting from absences.
Reading Assignments:
It is expected that you will read each assignment prior to coming to the class in which the topic will be
covered. This will allow you to ask for clarification on what you have read and to engage the lectures
more actively.
Syllabus
Psychology 664
Winter 2001
2
Requirements:
Your final grade will be based on the following evaluation criteria:
Participation
20 points per class (Total possible=200 points)
Weekly assignments
25 points per assignment (Total possible=200 points)
Exams:
200 points each (Total possible=400 points)
Class presentations
100 points
Total Points Available:
A
BA
B
CB
C
DC
D
E
92-100%
88-91%
84-87%
78-83%
72-77%
68-71%
60-67%
Below 60%
800 points
736-800 points
704-735 points
672-703 points
624-671 points
576-623 points
544-575 points
480-543 points
Below 480 points
Participation
Students are required to attend all classes and to actively participate in discussions and classroom
exercises. You are expected to have read the materials on the assigned topic prior to the time class meets.
Beginning on January 22, each class session you will be given a participation grade worth up to 20 points.
Your lowest participation grade will be dropped. These points will add up and will account for a
substantial portion of your final grade. You will not pass this class if you do not participate to a
significant degree. I will be evaluating the quality of your questions, comments, and observations during
each class session. Quality and quantity count. I am looking for give and take among class participants.
Classroom exchanges should be thoughtful and should demonstrate your critical thinking skills. Do not
merely make clarifications or restate what has already been said or written. As always, good humor
counts if it is accompanied by a significant intellectual contribution. Humor alone isn’t as laudable. You
will be given weekly feedback via email on your participation grade. If you have questions about how to
improve your performance in this area, please see me sooner rather than later.
Weekly assignments:
Each week you will be given a homework assignment to be completed during week and handed in at the
beginning of the following session. Each assignment is worth 25 points. For each day that an assignment
is handed in late, 3 points will be deducted from your grade on the assignment. It is to your advantage to
turn in the assignments on time. Your lowest two weekly assignment grades will be dropped.
Exams:
Two take home exams will be administered over the course of the semester. The exams will be some
combination of writing and skills rehearsal exercises. Each exam is worth 200 points. The skills
rehearsal portion of the exams will require that you work with one or more of your classmates and will
need to be videotaped.
Syllabus
Psychology 664
Winter 2001
3
Class presentations:
During one of the final two class sessions, you will be required to work with a team of your peers to
present an overview of a manualized treatment that is based on behavioral or cognitive-behavioral
techniques. Teams will consist of two or three persons. The teams and topic assignments must be
approved by me ahead of time, and should be formulated by February 5. The presentation is worth 100
points. The presentation should last no longer than 1½ hours. As a presenter, you are responsible for the
following:
1)
2)
Providing an overview of the manualized treatment you have selected in
presentation/lecture format. In your discussion of the treatment, you will need to identify
assessment strategies, treatment techniques, and methods for evaluating the effectiveness of
the treatment. You can also discuss how you think the treatment might be improved.
Demonstrating through rehearsal/modeling at least one component of the intervention
3)
Preparing a handout of the relevant treatment components for your peers. The handout
should be thorough and also user friendly. It should be NO LONGER than 3 typed pages.
4)
Providing a written summary of the treatment outcome research on the intervention you
have selected. Be prepared to critique the research study or studies you have found.
5)
Engaging your classmates in the presentation. I am not wedded to a particular strategy
for how you do this. The task is to involve people in the process of the presentation and to
make it interesting. Your peers will be evaluating the quality of your presentation.
Incompletes:
The university has a strict policy about incompletes. Please do not request that I give you an incomplete
unless your situation is in accordance with the school policy.
Policy on Academic Honesty:
This course will honor fully the University’s policy on academic dishonesty. A description of the policies
and procedures for academic honesty are outlined in the university catalog. Please do not cheat on exams
or in any other respect with regard to this course. Cheating and other forms of dishonesty may result in
serious consequences for your training career at WMU and could be costly to your ultimate academic
goals.
Severe Weather Policy:
In the event that WMU classes are canceled due to weather, activities (including exams) for the canceled
class will be covered in the next class session
IF YOU ARE HAVING DIFFICULTY WITH THE COURSE MATERIAL PLEASE SEE ME
RIGHT AWAY. STUDENTS WHO ARE PROACTIVE IN SEEKING HELP GENERALLY END
UP DOING VERY WELL.
Syllabus
Psychology 664
Winter 2001
4
Course Outline
Date
January 8
January 15
January 22
Topic
Introduction & syllabus review
What is behavior therapy?
History of behavior therapy
NO CLASS (MLK Holiday)
Readings/Assignment
1. Masters, et al. (1989). Ch. 1
2. Spiegler & Guevremont (1998). Antecedents
of contemporary behavior therapy
Case formulation
Behavioral assessment
What constitutes effective behavior therapy?
1. Masters, et al. (1989). Ch. 1
2. Hayes, Nelson, & Jarrett (1987). The
treatment utility of assessment: A functional
approach to evaluating assessment quality
3. Haynes & O’Brien (1990). Functional analysis
in behavior therapy.
4. Kanfer & Saslow. Behavioral diagnosis
Skills rehearsal: Identification of target
problem; initial assessment strategies
Assignment #1 due
January 29
Relaxation
Systematic desensitization
Breathing retraining
1. Masters, et al. (1989). Ch. 2
2. Barlow (1993). Ch. 1, Ch. 2
Assignment #2 due
February 5
Skills rehearsal: Relaxation training,
systematic desensitization, interoceptive
exposure, breathing retraining
Exposure-based treatments
February 12
Skills rehearsal: Response prevention,
gradual and prolonged exposure
Cognitive-behavioral treatments
February 19
Skills rehearsal: Identifying dysfunctional
thoughts, cognitive restructuring, thought
stopping
Cognitive-behavioral treatments
Skills rehearsal: Identifying dysfunctional
thoughts, cognitive restructuring, thought
stopping
1. Masters, et al. (1989). Ch. 7
2. Barlow (1993). Ch. 2, Ch. 5
Assignment #3 due
1. Masters, et al. (1989). Ch. 9
2. Spiegler & Guevremont (1998). Cognitivebehavioral therapy: Cognitive restructuring
Assignment #4 due
1. Barlow (1993). Ch. 6
2. Haaga & Davison (1991). Cognitive change
methods.
Additional readings may be assigned
Assignment #5 due
February 26
NO CLASS (Semester Break)
March 5
Self-control
Relapse prevention
1. Masters, et al. (1989). Ch. 10
2. Kanfer & Gaelick-Buys (1991). Selfmanagement methods
3. Laws (1995). A theory of relapse prevention
Assignment #6 due
March 12
Modeling
Behavioral rehearsal
Assertion training
1. Masters, et al. (1989). Ch. 3, Ch. 4
2. Spiegler & Guevremont (1998). Cognitivebehavioral therapy: Coping skills
Syllabus
Psychology 664
Winter 2001
5
Assignment #7 due
March 19
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
(ACT)
1. Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson (1999). Acceptance
and Commitment Therapy (selected chapters)
March 26
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
1. Barlow (1993). Ch. 10
2. Linehan & Schmidt (1995). The dialectics of
effective treatment of borderline personality
disorder.
April 2
Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP)
April 9
Presentations
April 18
Presentations
Assignment #8 due
Assignment #9 due
Readings to be assigned
Assignment #10 due