Psychology 3990G 001
Special Topics in Psychology - "Use Disorders: Origins and Treatment"
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
WESTERN UNIVERSITY
LONDON CANADA
Department of Psychology
2022 - 2023
Psychology 3990G Section 001
Special Topics in Psychology--Use Disorders: Origins and Treatment
- CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
This course will cover information on factors involved in the development of use disorders (substance use disorder, gambling, and other potential behavior use disorders) and some approaches to the treatment of these disorders
Antirequisites: Not Applicable
Prerequisites: Psychology 2820E or both Psychology 2800E and Psychology 2810
3 seminar hours
Course Weight: 0.5
Unless you have either the prerequisites 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. Riley Hinson
Office and Phone Number: 6334 SSC, 519-661-2111 ext 84649
Office Hours: By appointment
Email: hinson@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Classes: Mondays, 09:30-12:30 hours, SSC 3026
Delivery Method: In-person
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness @Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.
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 contact Accessible Education at aew@uwo.ca or 519-661-2147.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
No required textbook. Readings for each week will be posted to OWL.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES
The purpose of the course is to provide students exposure to both the scholarly literature and research related to many aspects of addiction.
By the end of the course the successful student should be able to:
- Memorize, describe and apply main concepts and principles related to drug use and addiction
- Locate and critically evaluate scholarly material related to real world challenges faced by those with drug use problems and those providing help to such individuals
- Communicate scientific information in oral and written forms.
- Critique information presented in scientific and popular media related to drug use and drug addiction
|
Learning Outcome
|
Learning Activities |
How Assessed |
|
Knowledge and Understanding |
||
|
1. Depth & Breadth of Knowledge Memorize (M), describe (D) and apply (A) main concepts and principles related to drug use and addiction |
Reading Class discussion Guest lectures
|
Oral Presentations of current news Contribution to Class Discussion (DA) Essay Questions on Tests |
|
Abilities |
||
|
2. Knowledge and Application of Methodologies |
Reading of literature |
Oral/written reports |
|
3. Communication Skills Communicate scientific information in oral and written forms. |
Classroom activity |
Contribution to class activity and Paper |
5.0 EVALUATION
The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives as listed in section 4.0 and are considered necessary for meeting these learning objectives.
- Topic Paper. 30 Points In consultation with the course instructor you will write a paper on a topic related to the origins and/or treatment of use disorders. The paper must be at least 2500 words (this would be about 10 pages of double-spaced, 12 cpi font, 1 inch margin). It must include a reference list of at least 10 references, although more will probably actually be used. The Topic Paper is due no later than the last day of class. It will be submitted to TurnItin.
- There will be 2 tests. A total of 32 Points One test will occur during term and one during the final exam period. For each test you will be given several essay style questions on the test and you will choose 1 to write on during the test period. Each test will be worth 16 points
- “In the News” discussion articles: At some point during the term each student must locate an article/report/video/etc. “in the news” related to use disorders. The article must be approved by the instructor. You will provide a link to the article that will be posted on OWL. You will write a minimum 1 page discussion of some issue raised by the article. This is not a summary of the article since it can be read, rather it is a discussion of issues raised by the topic of the article. (Example: A few years ago an article was published about someone suing the Ontario government for its requirement that a person with an alcohol use disorder had to be 6 months sober in order to receive a liver transplant. There are many possible issues related to this—it stigmatizes those with AUD’s, a similar requirement is not in place for tobacco smokers needing lung transplants, etc.). This paper will be posted to OWL. Every other student must also provide a comment on the article or the issue that the submitting student highlighted or some other issue that they think of. The comments will be graded as acceptable or unacceptable in terms of thoughtfulness and relevance. These must be submitted with 5 days (including weekend day) of the target article being posted. At the end of term each student will have 1 submitted “In the News” article and 1 page discussion paper, and comments on other students “In the News” articles. This component is worth 30 Points. Three of the points (10%) will be based on your article and the one page discussion you provide. The remaining 27 marks are allotted to your comments on other students “In the News” articles.
- Attendance/Participation. 8 marks Attendance will be taken at every class. The % of attended classes will be used to determine the number of marks earned in a very straightforward manner (% of class attended for full class time x 8). If you actively participate in class (as determined by the instructor) when there are opportunities to do so, you can earn some bonus marks to be added to your final grade. Each participation check mark will be worth between 0.1-0.3 (depending on the quality of the participation as determined by the instructor) marks to be added to your final course grade. It is possible to get more than one participation check mark per class.
5.1 POLICY ON MISSING COURSEWORK
PLEASE NOTE: Because this is an essay course, as per Senate Regulations, you must pass the essay component to pass the course. That is, the average mark for your written assignments must be at least 50%.
This course is exempt from the Senate requirement that students receive assessment of their work accounting for at least 15% of their final grade at least three full days before the date of the deadline for withdrawal from a course without academic penalty.
- If you are excused by Academic Counselling from writing one of the tests, you will be given a make up.
- If you do not submit an “In the News” article and one-page paper, or if you fail to provide a comment on submitted “In the News” articles within the 5 day limit, those marks will be lost. If you are excused by Academic Counselling for a time that cover the 5 day limit, you will be allowed to submit a comment without penalty.
- The Topic Paper must be submitted by the due date. Unless you are excused the following late penalties will apply: Each 24 hour late period will result in a lost of 10% of the available marks, i.e., 3 marks lost per 24 hour late period. For example, if the due time is 23:00 hours on a particular day, and you submit any time form 23:01 hours on that day up to 22:59 hours the next day, that incurs a 10% or 3 mark loss.
- There is no make up of attendance/participation marks. If you are excused by Academic Counselling from some classes, then the % of attended class will be based on all other classes.
The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level to 2099-level courses
72% 2100-2999-level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows Western’s 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
Note that in the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages, instructors may be required to make adjustments to course grades. Such adjustment might include the normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course components.
Policy on Grade Rounding: Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests to change a grade because it is needed for a future program be considered. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every assessment within the course.
6.0 ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE
|
Topic Paper |
30%, due April 10 |
|
Test 1 |
16%, will occur February 27 |
|
Test 2 |
16%, will occur during April Exam Period |
|
In the News component |
30%, occurs throughout the entire term |
|
Attendance and Participation |
8% |
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
The class schedule topics should be considered tentative and are subject to change.
Jan 9 Introduction to Class
Jan 16 Overview of Drugs and Use Disorders in DRM V
Jan 23 Factors related to the development of SUD’s
Jan 30 Factors related to the development of SUD’s
Feb 6 Factors related to the development of SUD’s
Feb 13 Factors related to the development of SUD’s
Feb 20 Reading Week
Feb 27 Test
Mar 6 Treatment of SUD’s
Mar 13 Treatment of SUD’s
Mar 20 Treatment of SUD’s
Mar 27 Treatment of SUD’s
Apr 3 Treatment of SUD’s
Apr 10 Treatment of SUD’s
8.0 Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum.
With this, we respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have to this land, as they are the original caretakers. We acknowledge historical and ongoing injustices that Indigenous Peoples (e.g. First Nations, Métis and Inuit) endure in Canada, and we accept responsibility as a public institution to contribute toward revealing and correcting miseducation, as well as renewing respectful relationships with Indigenous communities through our teaching, research and community service.
9.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offences. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offences because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offence are described at the following link: https://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 offences. 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).
Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams will be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.
In classes that involve the use of a personal response system (PRS), data collected using the PRS will only be used in a manner consistent to that described in this outline. It is the instructor’s responsibility to make every effort to ensure that data remain confidential. However, students should be aware that as with all forms of electronic communication, privacy is not guaranteed. Your PRS login credentials are for your sole use only. Students attempting to use another student’s credentials to submit data through the PRS may be subject to academic misconduct proceedings.
Possible penalties for a scholastic offence include failure of the assignment/exam, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
10.0 POLICY ON THE USE OF EXAM PROCTORING SOFTWARE
If a remote proctoring service is used, the service will require you to provide personal information (including some biometric data). The session will be recorded. In the event that in-person exams are unexpectedly canceled, you may only be given notice of the use of a proctoring service a short time in advance. More information about remote proctoring is available in the Online Proctoring Guidelines. Please ensure you are familiar with any proctoring service’s technical requirements before the exam. Additional guidance is available at the following link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/onlineproctorguidelines.pdf
* Please note that Zoom servers are located outside Canada. If you would prefer to use only your first name or a nickname to login to Zoom, please provide this information to the instructor in advance of the test or examination. See this link for technical requirements: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us
11.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR ILLNESS OR OTHER ABSENCES
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
https://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:
- For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;
- For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation.
https://www.registrar.uwo.ca/faculty_academic_counselling.html
Students seeking academic consideration:
- are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;
- must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hoursafter the end of the period covered SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence
Students seeking accommodation for religious purposes are advised to contact Academic Counselling at least three weeks prior to the religious event and as soon as possible after the start of the term.
12.0 Contingency Plan for Return to Lockdown: IN-Person & Blended classes
In the event of a COVID-19 resurgence or any other event that necessitates the course delivery moving away from face-to-face interaction, all remaining course content will be delivered entirely online, either synchronously (i.e., at the times indicated in the timetable) or asynchronously (e.g., posted on OWL for students to view at their convenience). The grading scheme will not change. Any remaining assessments will also be conducted online, as determined by the course instructor.
13.0 STATEMENTS CONCERNING ONLINE ETIQUETTE
In courses involving online interactions, the Psychology Department expects students to honour the following rules of etiquette:
- please “arrive” to class on time
- please use your computer and/or laptop if possible (as opposed to a cell phone or tablet)
- please ensure that you are in a private location to protect the confidentiality of discussions in the event that a class discussion deals with sensitive or personal material
- to minimize background noise, kindly mute your microphone for the entire class until you are invited to speak, unless directed otherwise
- In classes larger than 30 participants please turn off your video camera for the entire class unless you are invited to speak
- In classes of 30 students or fewer, where video chat procedures are being used, please be prepared to turn your video camera off at the instructor’s request if the internet connection becomes unstable
- Unless invited by your instructor, do not share your screen in the meeting
The course instructor will act as moderator for the class and will deal with any questions from participants. To participate please consider the following:
- If you wish to speak, use the “raise hand” function and wait for the instructor to acknowledge you before beginning your comment or question.
- Please remember to unmute your microphone and turn on your video camera before speaking.
- Self-identify when speaking.
- Please remember to mute your mic and turn off your video camera after speaking (unless directed otherwise).
General considerations of “netiquette”:
- Keep in mind the different cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the students in the course.
- Be courteous toward the instructor, your colleagues, and authors whose work you are discussing.
- Be respectful of the diversity of viewpoints that you will encounter in the class and in your readings. The exchange of diverse ideas and opinions is part of the scholarly environment. “Flaming” is never appropriate.
- Be professional and scholarly in all online postings. Use proper grammar and spelling. Cite the ideas of others appropriately.
Note that disruptive behaviour of any type during online classes, including inappropriate use of the chat function, is unacceptable. Students found guilty of Zoom-bombing a class or of other serious online offenses may be subject to disciplinary measures under the Code of Student Conduct.
14.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar: https://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services: www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site/Current Student Information for information on the following:
- 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
- Calendar References
If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf
Please first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca).
Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.
Policy on the Recording of Synchronous Sessions: Some or all of the remote learning sessions for this course (if scheduled) may be recorded. The data captured during these recordings may include your image, voice recordings, chat logs and personal identifiers (name displayed on the screen). The recordings will be used for educational purposes related to this course, including evaluations. The recordings may be disclosed to other individuals participating in the course for their private or group study purposes. Please contact the instructor if you have any concerns related to session recordings. Participants in this course are not permitted to privately record the sessions, except where recording is an approved accommodation, or the student has the prior written permission of the instructor.
