PSY 243: Behavior Disorders (Fall, 2002)
Dr. Stephen Dine Young
Office: Science Center 156
Office Hours: MW1-2; F 11-12 & by appointment
Phone: 866-7319
e-mail: youngst@hanover.edu
Class Times: MW 3:00-4:50
Course Description and Goals
The first goal of this course is to introduce students to the field of behavior disorders (sometimes called ‘abnormal psychology’ or ‘psychopathology’) so that you become familiar with the identifying characteristics (diagnosis), causes (etiology) and treatments of commonly recognized mental disorders. The second goal is to help you carefully and critically evaluate the process by which particular behaviors are designated as ‘disordered’ (or ‘pathological’ or ‘abnormal’). Important issues involving values, research methodology and theory will be considered. Finally, you will be encouraged to apply your knowledge of behavior disorders to broader aspects of human functioning in such domains as culture, literature, religion, etc. Issues of human ‘sameness’ and ‘difference’ will be repeatedly highlighted.
Texts
Sarason, I.G. & Sarason, B.R. (2002). Abnormal psychology: The problem of maladaptive behavior (10th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Kaysen, Susan. (1993). Girl, interrupted . Turtle Bay Books.
On Reserve
Benedict, R. (1959). Patterns of culture (pp. 130-172). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Hitchcock, A. (Prod. & Dir.). (1954). Rear window. Paramount.
Keen, S. (1986). Faces of the enemy: Reflections on the hostile imagination (pp. 19-24; 99-105). San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Kramer, P. (1993). Listening to Prozac (ix-xix; 1-21). NY: Viking Press.
Loftus, E.F. (1993). The reality of repressed memories. American Psychologist, 48(5), 518-537.
Sacks, O. (1990). The man who mistook his wife for a hat (pp. 3-22). New York: HarperPerennial
Shapiro, D. (1965). Neurotic Styles (pp. 54-64). New York: Basic Books.
Spiegel, D.A. (1999). Dissociative disorders. In R.E. Hales, S.C. Yudofsky & J.A. Talbott (Eds.), American Psychiatric Press textbook of psychiatry. Wash, DC: Am. Psychiatric Press.
Sylvain, C., Ladouceur, R. & Boisvert, J.-M. (1997). Cognitive and behavioral treatment of pathological gambling: A controlled study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65(5), 727-732.
Szasz, T. (1960). The myth of mental illness. American Psychologist, 15, 113-118.
Watkins, M. (1990). Invisible guests: The development of imaginal dialogues (Ch. 151-172). Boston: Sigo Press.
Wood, R. (1977). Hitchcock’s films (pp. 100-107). South Brunswick, NJ: A.S. Barnes.
Exams
There will be three in-class exams for this course including the final exam. The first two tests will be worth 100 points each, while the final exam will be worth 150 points. The final exam will cover 2/3 new material and 1/3 cumulative material. All tests will be primarily short essay, long answer and matching. The content of the tests will be drawn from both class and the readings.
Madison State Field Trips
A tour of Madison State Hospital will be required for this class. Times will be arranged early in the semester. In addition, we will arrange two or three “party groups” where we visit different units of the hospital. Everyone will be required to attend one of these groups, but I strongly recommend you do as many as you can.
Course Writings
Three papers/presentations will be expected in this course. The first will be a 4-5 page reaction paper to Girl, Interrupted worth 50 points. The goal of this paper will be to help students struggle to understand the experience of mental illness and psychiatric treatment that Kaysen describes.
The second project will be a class presentation. This presentation will be worth 50 points. Early in the semester, each student (some students will be teamed up) will be assigned a particular chapter. It will be the student’s responsibility to find some outside material to extend the topic beyond what is in the book. The total length of the presentations should be about 15-20 minutes per person. Students will work with me to determine the content of these presentations.
A final paper (8-10 pages) will be worth 100 points. For this paper, each student will identify a character in some narrative medium (e.g., film, television, literature, poetry, theater, etc.) that they believe is symptomatic of one or more of the disorders discussed in the course. Students will describe, diagnose and speculate on the causes and possible treatments for this “disordered” character.
Detailed instructions will be presented in class. Papers turned in late are subject to a 10% deduction per weekday.
Pop Quizzes
Over the course of the semester, there will be five unannounced pop quizzes. Each will be worth 10 points. The questions on these quizzes are intended to tap basic comprehension of reading assignments (see syllabus).
Attendance, Preparation & Participation
Attendance will be taken for each class, but it will not be formally factored into your course grade. However, I reserve the right to slightly adjust course grades by one step (e.g., B+ to A-) for those individuals who have demonstrated outstanding attendance and preparation, thoughtful participation in class, or some other evidence of learning not captured in the formal grading (e.g., pursuing their intellectual curiosity independently or during office hours). I will also adjust grades downwards (e.g., C- to D+) for individuals who are repeatedly absent or unprepared for class. Regular class attendance will be essential for doing well in this course as a significant amount of material will be presented only in class.
Grading (Total of 600 points)
540-600 A
480-539 B
420-479 C
360-419 D
359 & Below F
Assignment of +’s & -’s will be made based the overall distribution of scores and other factors (e.g., participation and attendance).
Class Schedule
Date Topic Reading
9/2 Introduction to course; Definitions of mental S&S, Ch. 1
illness
9/4 “Formal parallels”; Historical background S&S, Ch. 1 & 2
9/9-9/11 Girl, Interrupted; a woman’s recollection of Kaysen
her psychiatric hospitalization as an adolescent
9/16 Theories of mental illness/Etiology S&S, Ch. 3
9/18 The classification of mental illness; The myth of S&S, Ch. 4; Szasz
mental illness?
9/23 Assessment S&S, Ch. 4
9/25 Stress Disorders/Physiological Disorders S&S, Chs. 5 & 6
9/30 Exam #1
10/2 Dissociation S&S, Ch. 5; Spiegel; Watkins
10/7 PTSD/repressed memory/somatoform disorders S&S, Chs. 6 & 7; Loftus
10/9 Anxiety disorders S&S, Ch. 7
10/14 Fall Break
10/16 Mood disorders S&S, Ch. 10
10/21 Mood disorders (cont.); Medications S&S, Ch. 10; Kramer
10/22-10/28 Schizophrenia & other psychotic disorders S&S, Ch.11
10/30 Paranoia as a mode of human functioning Keen; Shapiro; Benedict
11/4 Exam #2
11/6 Sexual variations/disorders; Voyeurism as a S&S, Ch.8; Wood; Hitchcock
‘cultural pathology’
11/11 Personality disorders S&S, Ch. 9
11/13 Cognitive disorders S&S, Ch. 12; Sacks
11/18 Substance disorders; Dual diagnosis S&S, Ch. 13
11/20 Childhood disorders S&S, Ch. 14
11/25 Developmental disorders S&S, Ch. 15
11/27 Thanksgiving Break
12/2 Treatment; Outcome research S&S, Ch. 16; Sylvain, et al.
12/4 Mental health systems S&S, Ch. 17
Wk. of 12/9 Final Exam (as per college schedule)