Abnormal Psychology
Psy 280: Fall 2012
Sect. 001: Mon/Wed 8:30-9:50am, 108 Ernest Bessey Hall
Instructor:
Prof. Buchanan
Office hours: Wednesday 10:00-11:00am
(105C Psychology Building)
Email:
Put “Psy 280” in the subject line to ensure it is answered promptly.
-Please direct email to the graduate TA, who will be able to answer questions or
forward them to me if necessary.
Graduate TA:
Zori Kalibatseva <kalibats@msu.edu>
Office hours: Monday 12:30-1:30pm (127B Psychology Building)
Undergraduate
Assistants:
Kerry Gniewek <gniewekk@msu.edu> Kerry Gniewek
Office hours: Tuesdays 2:30-4:30pm (TBA)
Course Goals & Objectives: This course will provide a broad overview of various forms of abnormal
behavior. The primary emphasis will be on adult psychopathology and the social, cultural, and
biological influences on mental health. This course is intended to be an introduction to
psychopathology. I encourage you to take advanced courses on related topics for an in-depth
examination of particular disorders, populations, or treatment methods (e.g., Psy 304, 330, 480,
488, 489).
Required & Recommended Materials (2):
1) Buchanan, N. T. Abnormal Psychology (Lecture Notes). Boston, MA: Pearson Custom
Publishing ISBN 1256808792.
**The lecture notes include an electronic version of the textbook. If you want to use
the e-book, you do not need to buy the print version of the text (below).
2) Nevid, J.S., Rathus, S.A., & Greene, B. (2008). Abnormal psychology in a changing world (8
Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall ISBN-10: 0205773400.
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Course Requirements:
Readings: Be sure to read the required material before class. You will get more out of the lecture
and be able to ask questions if you have already read the material.
Attendance: We will not take attendance in this class. Please note that there will be material in
lectures that will not be covered in the text (and vice versa). Exams will cover material from both.
In order to be successful in this course, you are strongly encouraged to attend all lectures. If you
do need to miss class, you must get lecture notes from a classmate or one of the undergraduate
assistants. Lecture outlines are provided in the coursepack. The lecture may deviate from these
notes, but they will provide a general outline of what you missed on any given day.
Exams: There will be four exams. Only the best three exam scores will be counted for your grade.
If you have taken the first 3 exams and are satisfied with your grade, you will not need to take
the final exam. Exams may include multiple choice, short answer, fill-in-the-blank, etc. The first
three exams will not be cumulative; however, the final exam will be cumulative. Any material
from lecture, the text, videos, and related materials (even comments from other students) are fair
game. Test scores will be posted on ANGEL once they are available from the scoring office.
You must have your MSU Student ID with you in order to take the exam. We will match your
Abnormal Psychology (Psy 280) p. 2
Fall 2012--Buchanan
ID with both you and your PID when you turn in the exam. Without your ID, you will not be
able to take/turn in the exam and will receive a zero for that exam.
If you are late to an exam: You will not be able to start an exam once a student has finished
the exam and left the room.
Disputing items on an exam: If you get an answer wrong on the exam and believe your
answer should be re-considered, you must fill out an Item Dispute Sheet and turn it in within
two weeks of the exam. After two weeks, no changes will be made. The item dispute sheet is
available on ANGEL (under Lessons).
Exam review sessions: If time is available on catch-up days, they will also host a review
session during class. These are not meant to be exhaustive reviews, nor should they be seen
as an adequate replacement for reading the text, attending class, etc. They are just guides and
opportunities for you to ask questions about the material. The TA/UA will not have a lecture
prepared for the review session. Instead, they will only be answering questions. If there are no
questions, the session will end early.
Extra Credit:
1) Psychology Subject Pool: Each student has the opportunity to earn extra credit by
participating in experiments via the psychology subject pool. You can earn up to 10 points
toward your final grade via subject pool participation. The last day to participate in subject pool
will be December 7th by 5:00pm.
a. PLEASE NOTE: Experimenters might not upload your participation points right away. In
order to ensure your points are credited in time, please finish your experiments several
days before this deadline. When I download your credit after the deadline, I will not be
able to go back to change your grade.
b. If you fail to show up for an experiment, the HPR system deducts points from your
total points. You are allotted points based on your total, so if you are penalized, you will
need to do extra experiments to get the full 10 points. For more information on how to
participate, please see the “Human Research Participation Student Information Sheet”
available on Angel (under Lessons).
c. If you are not 18-years-old or older: At this time, minors cannot participate in HPR.
Please contact the HPR administrator for alternative opportunities to get equivalent
credit [Leslie Baldwin lbaldwin@msu.edu].
d. HPR Alternative: Participate in research is voluntary. If you do not wish to participate in
research studies, you can complete a review of an empirical research article as an
alternative. This assignment should take approximately 5 hours, which is equivalent to
the time required to earn 10 points via HPR. If you would like to use this alternative,
please contact the professor directly to get an article and reviewer guidelines.
Grading Scale:
4.0 = 90-100%
3.0 = 80-84%
2.0 = 70-74%
1.0 = 60-64%
3.5 = 85-89%
2.5 = 75-79%
1.5 = 65-69%
0.0 = below 60%
Grading procedures:
1) Total points earned will be divided by the total points possible for the class. This percentage will
be translated into your final grade (see chart below). Hence, you are not being graded on a curve;
it is possible for every student in the class to receive a grade of “A”. Extra credit is added to your
total points, but the total points possible will only be based on formal class material (exams).
2) Grading example based on a possible 405 total points in the class. This presumes each exam is
worth 135 points and the top 3 out of 4 test scores are used in the calculations.
Abnormal Psychology (Psy 280) p. 3
Fall 2012--Buchanan
Exam 1 = 98 points
Exam 2 = 105 points
Exam 3 = 110 points
Exam 4 = 102 points
**Exam 1 is dropped because it is the lowest exam score.
Total exam points = 317 out of a possible 405 total points.
+2 points for attendance extra credit
+8 points for extra credit in Subject Pool
Student’s total points for the class = 327 (317 +2+8). This number is divided by 405 (total number
=of possible points in the class. 327/405 = .807 (multiple by 100 to change to a percent) = 80.7%
80.7% = 3.0 based on the grading scale provide above.
3) Because extra credit is built into the course, your final grade will not be rounded or altered
in any way.
4) Course material and grades will be posted to ANGEL. You are responsible for any and all items
posted on the course website. Please check it often for new material, class announcements,
changes, etc. If you are unfamiliar with ANGEL, there is a help guide in the upper right-hand
corner of the webpage: www.angel.msu.edu
Accommodations: Please let me know if accommodations are required as soon as possible. I will
do my best to make the appropriate arrangements. If you will be taking your exams with the
RCPD office, the Alternative Testing Authorization Site form is available on ANGEL (under
Lessons). This form has the majority of the needed information already filled out for you. It is
your responsibility to call RCPD (353-9642) to schedule your testing, download this form, fill it
out, and bring it to me. RCPD requires that you bring the form to their office AT LEAST ONE
WEEK PRIOR to the exam and TWO WEEKS FOR FINAL EXAMS.
Things you should never do (for any class):
Arriving Late & Cell Phones: Rude behavior is unacceptable and disturbing class is unfair to your
classmates. Please turn off cell phones, etc., before entering the classroom. If you are a few
minutes late once or twice, please ease in quietly, do not let the door slam closed, and do not
disturb your classmates.
Cheating/Plagiarism: Don’t do it! Academic integrity is one of your greatest resources, if you
cheat or are academically dishonest in any way, you will receive a failing grade for the course
and I will pursue university-wide action, including expulsion. The university policies regarding
academic integrity can be found at:
https://www.msu.edu/unit/ombud/academic-integrity/index.html
Note: On the following pages you will find a tentative schedule. A specific topic may change for a
given week or day.
Abnormal Psychology (Psy 280) p. 4
Fall 2012--Buchanan
Abnormal Psychology: Tentative schedule
Wk
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Sec. 1
M/W
Date
8/29
9/3
9/5
9/10
9/12
9/17
9/19
9/24
9/26
10/1
10/3
10/8
10/10
10/15
10/17
10/22
10/24
10/29
10/31
11/5
11/7
11/12
11/14
11/19
11/21
11/26
11/28
12/3
12/5
12/12
Readings
----Ch. 1 pp. 1-18
Ch. 2
Ch. 3
Ch. 5
Ch. 6
------------Ch. 7 p. 208-225
Ch. 7 p. 225-241
Ch. 8 p. 242-275
----Ch. 8 p. 275-285
Ch. 13
--------Ch. 9
----Ch. 10 p. 326-341
Ch. 10 p. 341-353
Ch. 12
----Ch. 11
-------------
Topic
Introduction & Defining abnormal behavior
NO CLASS–Campus Holiday
Definitions & Multidimensional models
Multidimensional models of abnormal behavior (cont.)
Classification, assessment & diagnosis
Stress, health & Adjustment Disorders
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety Disorders (cont.)
Catch-up & Review
Exam #1
Dissociative Disorders
Somatoform Disorders
Mood Disorders
Mood Disorders (cont.)
Suicide
Personality Disorders
Personality Disorders (cont.)
Catch-up & Review
Exam #2
Substance abuse & dependence
Substance abuse & dependence (cont.)
Eating Disorders & Obesity
Sleep Disorders
Schizophrenia & Other Psychotic Disorders
NO CLASS–Campus Holiday
Schizophrenia & Other Psychotic Disorders (cont.)
Gender Identity, Sexual disorders & dysfunction
Sexual Disorders (cont.) & Evaluations
Exam #3
FINAL EXAM: Wed. 12/12, 7:45-9:45am, 108 Bessey Hall