2320B-001
Psychology 2320B-001
Abnormal Child Psychology
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
This is a theory course is designed to introduce the wide-ranging theories of developmental psychopathology in children and adolescents. Topics will include the major DSM diagnostic categories for childhood disorders, as well as research and treatment. The course orientation is empirical, with an emphasis on recent research findings with this population.
Antirequisites: Psychology 2042A/B, 2043A/B, 3320F/G
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.
Prerequisite: At least 60% in a 1000-level Psychology course
2 lecture hours and 1 tutorial hour, 0.5 course
Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Elizabeth Hayden
Office: Westminster Hall, room 314
Office Hours: by appointment
Email: ehayden@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: Matthew Vandermeer
Office: Westminster Hall, room 228
Office Hours: by appointment
Email: mvande66@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: Ola Mohamed Ali
Office: Westminster Hall, room 226
Office Hours: by appointment
Email: omohame7@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: Andrew Daoust
Office: Westminster Hall, room 226
Office Hours: by appointment
Email: adaoust3@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Lectures: 1:30-3:30, Tuesdays, UCC-56
Time and Location of Tutorial 002: 9:30-10:30, Thursdays, UCC-53
Time and Location of Tutorial 003: 10:30-11:30, Thursdays, UCC-53
Time and Location of Tutorial 004: 9:30-10:30, Thursdays, UCC-54A
Time and Location of Tutorial 005: 10:30-11:30, Thursdays, UCC-54A
Time and Location of Tutorial 006: 9:30-10:30, Thursdays, AHB-1B08
Time and Location of Tutorial 007: 10:30-11:30, Thursdays, AHB-1B08
If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you. Please visit: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Required: Mash, E.J. & Wolfe, D.A. (2016). Abnormal Child Psychology (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Other materials available on the course website (https://owl.uwo.ca/portal/site/11b931a1-a7af-4225-9078-3e334a1fbc6d) as noted below.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
The goal of this course is to familiarize you with current concepts and research on major psychological and mental disorders of childhood, including issues of assessment, prevalence, course, major etiological theories, and treatment. Class meetings will consist of lectures that give a broad overview of the topic for that class and tutorials designed to provide the opportunity for greater in-depth discussion and exploration of specific topics.
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Student learning outcomes are diverse. Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes relevant to abnormal child psychology, and identify concepts and current states of knowledge in social science, specifically abnormal child psychology. These outcomes will be assessed via exams and thought papers.
Engage in a critical scholarly discussion on a psychological topic using evidence to support claims, and apply psychological principles to the understanding of everyday problems. These outcomes will be encouraged and developed via class discussion and thought papers.
5.0 EVALUATION
Course grades are based on performance on two exams, each worth 35% of your grade, respectively, tutorial attendance/participation (worth 10%), and four short thought papers, worth 5% each.
Exams: These consist of items in multiple choice and t/f format. The final exam is not cumulative per se, but answering some questions correctly will require integration of conceptual material covered prior to the midterm.
Tutorials: Your attendance at, and participation in, course tutorials will constitute 10% of your grade. Your grade will reflect attendance at the tutorials, your thoughtful contributions to the discussion, and the extent to which you pay respectful attention to the TA and the group discussion during this time. Your own contributions should show critical thinking and that you have read, and thought about, the assigned readings for both the lecture and tutorial that week.
Thought papers: Four thought papers, worth 5% of your grade each, also contribute to your final grade. The first two of the papers will focus on content from the first half of the course, with the second two drawing upon material from the second half of the course. You will choose a topic for each thought paper from a list of options provided on the course website. Papers are to be submitted prior to 5PM through TurnItIn on the due dates noted below in the class schedule.
Concerns about grades can be reviewed with either a teaching assistant or the professor. Students wishing to have a grade reviewed must submit a brief note outlining the specific concerns regarding the grade and justification for re-evaluation. Either a teaching assistant or the professor will then re-grade the assignment. It is possible that, on review, students may receive a lower grade than originally assigned.
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses
72% 2190-2990 level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf ):
A+ 90-100 One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A 80-89 Superior work that is clearly above average
B 70-79 Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C 60-69 Competent work, meeting requirements
D 50-59 Fair work, minimally acceptable
F below 50 Fail
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
|
Exam |
When |
Weight |
|
Midterm exam |
Feb. 28 during class time |
35% |
|
Final exam |
As scheduled during final exam period (Apr 9-30) |
35% |
The details for the final exam were not available at the time of the printing of this syllabus. To avoid potential conflicts with the final exam for this course, students are strongly encouraged to refrain from making end-of-term travel plans that could potentially conflict with the final exam schedule. Check the UWO website for the final exam schedule as it becomes available.
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
|
Date |
Topic |
Reading from text or course website |
|
Jan. 10 |
Lecture: Introduction to developmental psychopathology; Conceptual models of psychopathology & risk |
Chapters 1-2 |
|
Jan. 12 |
Tutorial: How do we define mental disorder? |
Relevant materials from course website |
|
Jan. 17 |
Lecture: Methods in psychopathology research |
Chapter 3
|
|
Jan. 19 |
Tutorial: Specific examples of published research in psychopathology |
Relevant materials from course website |
|
Jan. 24 |
Lecture: Diagnosis & classification; Assessment |
Chapter 4 (up to, but not including, section on treatment) |
|
Jan. 26 |
Tutorial: Structured clinical interviews; First thought paper due |
None
|
|
Jan. 31 |
Lecture: Treatment |
Chapter 4 (section on treatment only)
|
|
Feb. 2 |
Tutorial: Examples of behavioral interventions |
Relevant materials from course website |
|
Feb. 7 |
Lecture: Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
|
Chapter 8 |
|
Feb. 9 |
Tutorial: Is ADHD overdiagnosed? |
Relevant materials from course website |
|
Feb. 14 |
Lecture: Oppositional Defiant & Conduct Disorders (ODD & CD) |
Chapter 9 |
|
Feb. 16 |
Tutorial: Treatment of CD; Second thought paper due |
Relevant materials from course website |
|
Feb. 21 |
No Lecture—Reading Week |
None |
|
Feb. 23 |
No Tutorial—Reading Week |
None |
|
Feb. 28 |
MIDTERM EXAM |
None |
|
March 2 |
No tutorial |
None |
|
March 7 |
Lecture: Anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders |
Chapter 11
|
|
March 9 |
Tutorial: PTSD |
Relevant materials from course website |
|
March 14 |
Lecture: Mood disorders I |
Chapter 10
|
|
March 16 |
Tutorial: Depression in very young children |
Relevant materials from course website |
|
March 21 |
Lecture: Mood disorders II |
None
|
|
March 23 |
Tutorial: Pediatric bipolar disorder; Third thought paper due |
Relevant materials from course website |
|
March 28 |
Lecture: Autistic spectrum disorders & childhood-onset schizophrenia |
Chapter 6 |
|
March 30 |
Tutorial: Controversies in autistic spectrum disorders |
Relevant materials from course website |
|
April 4 |
Lecture: Eating disorders (EDs) |
Chapter 14
|
|
April 6 |
Tutorial: Elimination Disorders; Fourth thought paper due |
Chapter 12 (pp.449-454) |
8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com
Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
9.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2016/pg117.html
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html
10.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:
http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2016 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.
