Abnormal Psychology
Psychology 280 Section 001 Spring 2015
Location:
Time:
108 Ernst Bessey Hall (EBH)
Tuesday and Thursday, 8:30 – 9:50 am.
(Final Exam: Wednesday 5/6/15; 7:45-9:45 am; 108 Ernst Bessey Hall)
Professor:
Tim Goth-Owens, Ph.D.
E-Mail: gothowen@msu.edu
Phone: (Off campus office) 337-2900
(H) 332-6993
I prefer email and face to face conversations. I am usually hard to reach by telephone.
Campus Office: 110C Psychology Building (I am only in this office during office hours and for
scheduled meetings with students.)
Office Hours: Tuesday 12:00-1:00, Thursday 10:15 – 11:15, and by appointment
Course Assistance:
Chelsea Kneip Graduate Assistant
E-Mail: kneipche@msu.edu
Office: To be determined
Office Hours: To be determined
Taryn Smith Undergraduate assistance
E-Mail: smit1906@msu.edu
Office: To be determined
Office Hours: To be determined
Kathleen Moon Undergraduate assistance
E-Mail: moonkat2@msu.edu
Office: To be determined
Office Hours: To be determined
Overview:
This course will provide detailed coverage of the problems, disorders and varieties of atypical
behavior as expressed in adults (primarily). We will emphasize the concepts and methods of an integrative,
sometimes known as biopsychosocial, perspective on psychopathology as they illuminate the biological,
genetic, familial, and social-cultural factors influencing the onset and maintenance of psychological disorders.
Descriptive psychopathology, as typified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fifth
Edition (the DSM-5) will be evaluated with respect to the integrative perspective. We will review a range of
psychological disorders and will emphasize those that are the most common and have the strongest
evidentiary base.
Objectives: 1. Students will clearly understand the difference between the training and professional roles of
clinical psychologists and psychiatrists. 2. Students will understand and recognize the differences between
science and pseudoscience and between clinical science and “pop” psychology as these apply to the subject
matter of Abnormal Psychology. 3. Students will become knowledgeable about psychological disorders and
symptoms as presented in the DSM-5. 4. Students will be able to use an integrative psychopathology
perspective to understand risk and protective factors influencing the expression and course of disorders,
continuities and discontinuities between normal and disordered development, and the interplay among
biological and psychosocial factors in disordered behavior. 5. Students will be effective consumers of mass
media information about psychological disorder. 6. Students will become conversant with the treatment
strategies used with individuals who have psychological disorders.
Required Text and Options: The required text for this course is a customized text, published by McGraw-Hill
specifically for PSY 280-001, spring 2015. Both paper and electronic versions of this text are
available. The paper text (ISBN: 9781308314181) has been ordered through the usual
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Spring, 2015
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University procedures and should be available in all of the major local book stores. At the time I
prepared this text the quoted net price from McGraw-Hill was approximately $75.
An electronic version of this text is available through McGraw Hill’s eCreate online bookstore
(https://create.mheducation.com/shop/). (ISBN: 9781308314143) and I was also quoted a price
of approximately $75.
This text will not be available from any other online retailers, in any other editions, and you will
not be able to resell it upon completion of the course. The text includes 11 of 16 chapters of
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2014). Abnormal Psychology (6th edition), New York: McGraw-Hill. It also
includes six additional brief articles that provide more detailed coverage of some of the topics
we will be addressing. The price for that text would have been $205 new from Amazon, at least
$169 used, and $62 to rent. Previous editions would not be acceptable and we would have not
used five chapters from the book. Given that all Abnormal Psychology textbooks are in new
editions (because the publication of the new edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders required reorganization and major revisions in all of these texts), I chose a
reading option that I hoped would be the most financially feasible for the greatest number of the
300 students enrolled in this course.
One copy of the required text is also on reserve at the MSU Main Library.
Additional Required Reading: These articles are available in PDF format or as a link to MSU Library’s
electronic resources on the D2L site
Loftus, E. (1993). The reality of repressed memories. American Psychologist, 48, 518-537.
Patihis, L., Ho, L.Y., Tingen, I.W., Lilienfeld, S.O., & Loftus, E.F. (2014). Are the memory wars over? A
scientist-practitioner gap in beliefs about repressed memory. Psychological Science, 25, 519530.
Schafersman, S.D. (1994). An introduction to science: Scientific thinking and the scientific method.
Free Inquiry Website.
Class Format: Class sessions will consist of formal lectures, discussion, quizzes, tests, and in-class
exercises.
Attendance:
Cred`e, M., Roche, S.G., & Kieszczynka, U.M. (2010). Class attendance in college: A meta-analytic review of
the relationship of class attendance with grades and student characteristics. Review of Educational
Research, 80 (2), 272-295.
I am required to be in class each day and to engage with you in some type of educational experience. That
means that there are people (including those who sign my paycheck) who must believe that your being in the
classroom with your professor is an important part of your education. You may or may not agree with that
belief, but it is, nonetheless, one that is operational in our class. Apparently, it is not unusual for some students
to begin a new class by asking themselves: “Do I have to go to class?” and “Do I have to read the text?” This
course is designed to help you answer those questions easily and concretely. The answer to both questions is
“yes”. (Of course, this answer is ultimately just a recommendation; you are free to approach this class as you
see fit. You are more likely to earn a high grade if you follow my recommendation).
Since you have to come to class, I will try to make you glad that you did. However, there will be more than 300
different personalities and sets of personal circumstances in play each day the class meets. Some of you will
always be glad you came to class and some of you will never be glad that you came to class. Most of you will
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Spring, 2015
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sometimes be glad you came to class. If there is something about my style that makes the classroom
experience negative for you, please let me know. There may be circumstances in which I can make
adjustments that will make class more positive for you. Unfortunately, massive change in my personality does
not appear to be one of them.
I will spend a considerable amount of time preparing the activities for each class meeting. I will do so because
I believe that in-class activities contribute substantially to your achievement of course objectives. If you miss
class you will miss these activities. They will sometimes overlap with material presented in your text, but not
always. There will be a substantial number of questions on tests that you will be able to answer only if you
have access to notes from class. The course materials I place on D2L will be outlines that will not take the
place of your own personal notes. Neither my course assistants nor I will provide you with any written material
beyond what I will make available on D2L. For my part, in trying to make class time meaningful to you, I will
assume that what goes on in class is important. If you miss class, please do not ask me if you missed
anything. The answer is yes and the syllabus, my posted notes on D2L and your fellow students can direct
you to what you missed.
Expectations: You can expect me to come to class each day, to be on time and to be prepared. You can
expect me to treat you politely and respectfully. I ask the same of you and I ask you to extend that air of polite
and respectful behavior to everyone in the class. The goal is to create a small community in which we learn
together, we learn from each other and we benefit from our time together. An atmosphere of trust and respect
is necessary to achieve such a goal. If you complete the assigned reading for each class prior to coming to
class, you will gain more from the in-class experience. If you text, sleep, watch movies, listen to music,
manage your electronic social life, browse the Internet, and engage in social conversations before and after,
rather than during class, you will contribute greatly to the development of a successful learning community. If I
treat you with disrespect, I would expect you to bring it to my attention in a polite and respectful manner. If you
treat me with disrespect, you should expect me to bring it to your attention in a polite and respectful manner. I
do generally feel disrespected when I see students engaged with social media during class; when I see you
engaged with social media, I may call you out, stop and stare until you get the message, or discontinue
whatever it is I am doing and consult my phone to find out what important matters I am missing in the world of
social media.
Assignments:
1) Pretests: Check this out. 60 free points for the course (15% of the course total). The pretest instructions
and due dates are on D2L. All you have to do is complete the pre-test by the due date. They are not graded.
You get full credit for completing them. You get no credit for anything other than completing them on time. You
need to pay attention to the due date and give yourself plenty of advance time to complete the assignment.
There are absolutely no opportunities to make up this work if you miss a due date. No explanation or excuse
will be accepted. I suggest you complete these well in advance of the due date in order to avoid
disappointment. Pre-tests prime you for the upcoming reading you will do and research suggests that
completing pre-tests contributes to your comprehension and recall of the material you will be reading.
2) Read all of the course text and the three additional assigned readings posted on D2L. Complete assigned
readings prior to the class period for which they are scheduled. In class quizzes will frequently cover the day’s
assigned reading.
3) There are five exams in this class. With the exception of the first exam, all exams are cumulative; they cover
all course topics from the first day of class to the day of the exam. Your lowest exam score will be dropped.
4) In class quizzes will be administered randomly and without prior announcement numerous times over the
course of the semester. (Notice that I am not specifying any particular number of quizzes.) The format for
quizzes and tests is multiple choice. Your five lowest quiz scores will be dropped.
Please note: I will not address every section of each of the assigned reading in class. The fact that I did not
discuss a topic does not mean that you are not expected to know it. Your exams will potentially cover anything
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Spring, 2015
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that is addressed in the readings, anything that is discussed in class, anything that is posted on D2L, and
anything I send you in an email.
Quizzes administered during the beginning of class will cover assigned readings for that day’s class session.
Quizzes administered at the end of class will address assigned readings for that day and/or material presented
in class on that day. Quizzes are open note/open text. On some days you might have a quiz both at the
beginning and at the end of class. When a quiz is administered at the beginning of class, you will have
approximately 5 minutes to complete the quiz from the time the questions are presented. If you are late to
class on those days, you will have to hand in your quiz when that 5 minute mark is reached. If you arrive after
the quiz has been administered and handed in, you will have used one of your five dropped quizzes. So, if you
think it will be hard for you to arrive on time to class, do not squander your five dropped quizzes unnecessarily.
You may need them for your late arrivals. In the event that you try to do a classmate a favor and take and
submit a quiz on his/her behalf, and you get caught, you will fail the course and be referred to University
administration for additional disciplinary action.
Your lowest five quiz scores will be dropped from your final course grade. The contribution of your quiz
scores to your final grade will be computed as follows: Each quiz consists of four questions and each question
is worth 1 point. The first question on each quiz is always a point simply for attendance. Your lowest five
scores will be dropped (absence on a quiz days yield a zero; there are no make-ups for missed quizzes). 100
quiz points are available for your final grade; the percentage of correct responses to possible responses for
your remaining quizzes will determine your points, e.g. 78% = 78 points. Quiz points make a substantial
contribution to your final score for the class. You will probably not be able to earn a 3.5 or 4.0 in this course
without strong attendance and without routinely reading and studying the materials prior to each class session.
Missed quizzes. Notice that you will drop five quiz scores. Given this liberal policy, there will be no
opportunity to make up missed quizzes, except in the very unusual circumstances noted below.
Missed Exams. Because your lowest exam score will be dropped; there will be opportunity to take exams
earlier than the scheduled time, later than the scheduled time, and no opportunity to make up missed exam. If
you miss an exam, your score will be zero for that exam and that exam will be dropped from the calculation of
your final course grade.
In the event that a prolonged illness or other circumstances cause you to miss more than five quizzes, I will,
given proper documentation of your situation, provide you an opportunity to make up the number of quizzes
missed that exceeds five. (For example, if you miss six quizzes due to the prolonged medical problem you can
make up one quiz; if you miss seven quizzes, you can make up two quizzes, etc.)
Academic Integrity: Any and all forms of cheating and plagiarism are unacceptable. Students are expected
to complete exams without assistance from any sources. Please be aware that I am not a mind reader and if,
during a test, I notice you conversing with another student, looking in the direction of other students’ tests, or
engaging an electronic device, I will treat that as cheating. It is possible that such behaviors would not be
evidence of cheating, but I will treat them as such. Any student caught cheating or plagiarizing (for those
completing the honors option) will receive a failing grade in this course. Be absolutely certain that you
understand what plagiarism is. If you submit written work that directly quotes from a source without placing the
words in quotes and indicating the source of these words, you are guilty of plagiarism, whether intentional or
not. Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report states that "The student shares with the faculty the
responsibility for maintaining the integrity of scholarship, grades, and professional standards." The
Department of Psychology adheres to the policies on academic honesty as specified in General Student
Regulations 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades; the all-University Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and
Grades; and Ordinance 17.00, Examinations. For extensive details see Spartan Life: Student Handbook and
Resource Guide (http://splife.studentlife.msu.edu/regulations/general-student-regulations) and/or the MSU
Web site
Psy 280-001
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Grades:
A total of 400 points can be earned in the course. These are distributed as follows:
Pre-tests (5)
60 points (15% of course total)
∞
Quizzes 15 exams (drop the lowest score;
60 points per exam)
100 points (25% of course total)
Total
400 points
240 points (60% of course total)
Errors in reporting your grades: If we fail to record a score on D2L for a test or quiz that you have taken or
if we enter a score incorrectly please inform a course assistant or me (by e-mail) as soon as you become
aware of the error. We will fix it if we have made an error. However, please note: You have two weeks from
the time quiz scores are posted to inform one of us of an error. We will not make corrections on quiz
scores after two weeks have passed. Note that if you believe you did not receive credit for a quiz, you must
tell us precisely which quiz. A comment like “I am sure I did not miss that many quizzes, but I do not know
which one is missing” will not result in our attempting to make a correction. You must track your performance
and progress in this class regularly.
Extra credit: Extra credit opportunities are available for participation in Psychology Department research
projects or for completing an alternative written assignment. A maximum of 8 extra credit points can be earned
(2% of the overall course points). Specific details about these options will be posted on D2L during the
second week of class. You can choose one extra credit approach or the other. You cannot choose both. You
can earn one extra credit point for each ½ hour of research participation (and ½ hour of research participation
equals one research credit within the HPR system. So, 8 HPR credits = 8 PSY 280 course points = 4 hours of
research participation). Please note: if your HPR credits are applied to PSY 280 they cannot be applied to any
other psychology course. If you apply HPR credits to some other psychology course, they cannot be applied to
PSY 280. Attempting to apply the same credits to multiple courses will be viewed as cheating and will result in
your earning a 0.0 grade for PSY 280.
Honors option: An honors option is available for this course for students who wish to receive the “H”
designation after this course on your transcript. Details of the honors option are posted on D2L. Participation
will be limited to the first 20 students who complete and hand me the signed contract for the honors options
(see D2L for details).
Grading scale: Final course grades are dependent upon a straight percentage of points earned during the
course. There is no “curve”, which means that no one in the course is statistically required to do poorly and
everyone in the course is eligible to earn a 4.0 for the semester. *Note carefully: to get a 4.0 for the course
your must earn 91% of course points (364 points).
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.0
91* – 100%
86 – 90%
80 – 85%
72 – 79%
67 – 71%
62 – 66%
57 – 61%
<57%
364 - 400 points
344 – 363 points
320 – 343 points
288 – 319 points
268 – 287points
248 – 267points
228 – 247points
< 228 points
If your grade in this course is very important to you, e.g., if there is some reason that your life will be adversely
affected by earning 2.5 instead of a 3.0, do everything in your power to get as many points as possible
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quizzes, tests, etc. At the end of the semester, percentages of total points earned that include a fraction of a
point will be raised to the next whole percentage point. Beyond that adjustment, I will not raise anyone’s grade
at the end of the semester simply because s/he is within a point or two of a higher grade. Please do not ask. It
is a violation of University standards for me to allow an individual student an opportunity to earn a few extra
points by doing some additional work at the end of the semester, unless that opportunity is available to
everyone in the class and that opportunity was announced ahead of time to the entire class. Please do not ask
me to do this either.
If you are receiving services from RCPD and are eligible for accommodations in class or during tests,
please let me know as soon as possible. If you have or think you might have learning, emotional,
neurological or physical characteristics that adversely impact your ability to access course content or your
ability to demonstrate mastery of course objectives, you may be eligible for services through MSU’s Resource
Center for Persons with Disabilities. http://www.rcpd.msu.edu/ .
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***Reading assignment page numbers below are based on the custom Abnormal Psychology text created for this
course (on the upper corners of each page in a GREEN BLOCK on each page; ignore the page numbers on the
bottom of each page ). Reading is expected to be completed prior to the scheduled class meeting.
Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Day
T
Date Reading***
Topic
Course
Syllabus
on
D2L
Course Introduction; Human Learning;
1/13
Th
1/15
Sun
T
Th
T
1/18
1/20
1/22
1/27
Text, pp. 14-25
Text, pp. 27-38
Loftus (1993)
Th
1/29
Text, pp. 38-45
T
Th
2/3
2/5
Exam
Patihis, et al (2014);
Text, pp. 45-60
Sun
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
Sun
T
Th
2/8
2/10
2/12
2/17
2/19
2/24
2/26
3/1
3/3
3/5
BREAK
9
T
Th
10
T
Th
Sun
11
T
Th
Sun
12
T
Th
13
T
Th
Sun
14
T
Th
15
T
Th
Fr
Finals Wed
Week 7:45 am
3/17
3/19
3/24
3/26
3/29
3/31
4/2
4/5
4/7
4/9
4/14
4/16
4/19
4/21
4/23
4/28
4/30
5/1
5/6
Schafersman (1994);
Text, pp. 3-14
Academic Performance
The science of psychopathology, common
misunderstandings of the scientific method
Unit I pretest due before 11:30 pm
Research methods
History
Clinicians and scientific evidence: no science
vs. bad science vs. pseudoscience
The roots of modern perspectives
Honors contract due by the end of class
Exam #1 – Unit 1
Theories and treatments
Text, pp.138-158
Text, pp.158-169
Unit 2 pretest due before 11:30 pm
Integrative perspective I
Integrative perspective II
Assessment
Diagnosis and diagnostic systems
Exam #2 – Units 2, 1
Anxiety I: Trauma
Unit 3 pretest due before 11:30 pm
Anxiety II: Panic and Phobias
Anxiety III: GAD and OCD
XXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXX
Text, pp. 174-192
Text, pp.192-200
Text, pp. 200-217
Exam
Depression
Bipolar disorder
Suicide
Exam #3 – Units 3,2,1
Unit 4 pretest due before 11:30 pm
ADHD
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Honors paper due before 11:59 pm
Dementia
Schizophrenia: Symptoms and Types
Schizophrenia; Causes and Treatments
Exam #4 – Units 4,3,2,1
Unit 5 pretest due before 11:30 pm
Borderline Personality Disorder
Eating Disorders
Substance use disorders: Alcohol
Substance use disorders: Cannabis
Last day to earn HPR credits
Text, pp. 60-81
Text, pp. 82-84
Text, pp. 86-99
Text, pp. 99-124
Exam
Text, pp.126-138
Text, pp.218-240
Text, pp.254-268
Text, pp.240-253
Text, pp. 270-286
Text, pp.286-303
Exam
Text, pp.304- 335
Text, pp.336-377
Text, pp.378-398
Text, pp.398-415
Final Exam
108 Bessey
Exam #5– Units 5,4,3,2,1