Psychology 3301G-650
Clinical 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 course offers a survey of major topics in clinical psychology, including assessment and intervention approaches; experimental psychopathology; ethical, professional and theoretical issues; and emerging trends.Antirequisite: Psychology 2301A/B, the former 3300A/B
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.
Prerequisites: Psychology 2820E or both Psychology 2800E and 2810
3 lecture/seminar hours, 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. Dana Ménard, C. Psych
Office and Email: dmenard@uwo.ca
Office Hours: By appointment
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
Hunsley, J., and Lee, C.M. (2014). Clinical psychology: An evidence-based approach (3rd Ed.). Mississauga, ON: John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd. Available in ebook or print format.4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course will provide an overview of the field of clinical psychology covering:1) Definitions and history of clinical psychology
2) Clinical psychology research methods
3) Psychopathology and abnormal behaviour
4) Clinical assessment including clinical diagnosis and the assessment of intelligence, personality and behaviour
5) Intervention methods used by clinical psychologists
6) A review of subspecialties within clinical psychology including neuropsychology, forensics, paediatric and child psychology
7) Professional issues and training in clinical psychology.
Lectures, online discussions, and written assignments will complement material presented in the textbook. During the online discussion, I will post questions to facilitate understanding of aspects related to the week’s topic.
5.0 EVALUATION
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
|
ASSIGNMENTS |
DEADLINES |
GRADE |
|
Participation |
N/A |
12% |
|
Written assignment #1 |
January 29, 2016 |
10% |
|
Written assignment #2 |
February 26, 2016 |
10% |
|
Written assignment #3 |
March 25, 2016 |
10% |
|
Mid-term exam |
February 7, 2016 |
23% |
|
Final exam |
As scheduled during final exam period |
35% |
5.1) PARTICIPATION
Participation is an essential element of an online course. You will be expected to participate in discussion with the entire class. In the online forum, I will post questions for the class to discuss and moderate this discussion. It is a requirement for students post at least twice during the week: once during the first half of the week (Monday through Wednesday), and again during the second half of the week (Thursday through Sunday).
A grade for participation will be based on an assessment of the quality of your participation. You have to post something, but what you say is more important than how much or how often you post. Good quality participation reflects of your mastery of required readings, and includes thoughtful questioning and raising points/issues you encounter in the reading, and involvement in discussions. As participation is a key element in this course, it is important that we foster and maintain an atmosphere of respect and civility. All class members have a role in creating this atmosphere by responding to comments with interest, and allowing all students to participate. When a student’s behaviour is not consistent with the above, one of the instructors will contact the student privately. If a student’s behaviour continues to be disrespectful, s/he will be removed from the discussion.
5.2) WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
There will be three written assignments due for this course and each should be 1,000 to 1,500 words in length. For each assignment, I will post the topic online on the first day of class for that month (i.e., January 4, February 1, March 7). The topic will be about some area of controversy or disagreement in the world of clinical psychology. You must take a position on this issue and defend it by citing 5-10 empirical journal articles or book chapters. In assigning a mark, I will be looking for evidence of critical thinking, such as comparison and contrast of related points from different sources, or discussion of the strengths and weakness of arguments, evidence, and theory in this area.
Several psychology journals can be accessed online through Western Libraries, and your course textbook has a list of major journals relevant to clinical psychology that you may find useful. Format your references and citations according to APA style (6th ed): these guidelines are available online through Western Libraries under “Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.” The overall format of your paper should follow the APA style guidelines, but you do not need to include an abstract.
5.2) EXAMS
Both the midterm and the final exam will be comprised of material from the assigned readings as well as material presented during lectures. Half of each exam will consist of multiple choice questions while the other half will be short-answer/essay questions. Multiple choice questions will come from assigned textbook readings whereas the short-answer questions will reflect material presented during lectures and online discussions. The mid-term exam will cover course material from January 4 to February 7 while the final exam will cover course material covered between February 8 and April 6, 2016. The final exam will not be cumulative, meaning that it will not cover course content presented prior to the midterm. No "aids" are allowed in exams.
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
Written assignment #2 – Friday, February 26, 2016 at 10pm
Written assignment #3 – Friday, March 25, 2016 at 10pm
Midterm exam – Saturday, February 7, 2016
Final exam – To be determined
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
|
Wk |
Date |
Topic |
Textbook chapters |
|
1 |
Jan. 4 |
Course Overview, Organization & Greetings |
|
|
2 |
Jan. 11 |
Overview and History of Clinical Psychology |
1 & 2 (pp. 45-73) |
|
3 |
Jan. 18 |
Research Methods in Clinical Psychology |
3 & 4 |
|
4 |
Jan. 25 |
Assessment: Overview |
5 & 6 |
|
5 |
Feb. 1 |
Assessment: Intellectual and Cognitive Measures |
7 |
|
|
Feb. 7 |
Midterm |
Chapters 1-7 (minus pp. 78-84) |
|
6 |
Feb. 8 |
Assessment: Self-Report and Projective Measures Assessment: Integration and Clinical Decision-Making |
8&9 |
|
|
Feb. 15 |
Reading week |
|
|
7 |
Feb. 22 |
Prevention |
10 |
|
8 |
Feb. 29 |
Intervention: Overview |
11 |
|
9 |
Mar. 7 |
Intervention: Adults and Couples |
12 |
|
10 |
Mar. 14 |
Intervention: Children and Adolescents & Pediatric Psychology |
13 |
|
11 |
Mar. 21 |
Intervention: Identifying Key Elements of Change
|
14 |
|
12 |
Mar. 28 |
Health, Neuropsychology & Forensic |
15 |
|
13 |
April 4 |
Becoming a Clinical Psychologist |
2 (pp. 78-84) & appendix 2 |
|
|
April 9-30 |
FINAL EXAM AS SCHEDULED |
|
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
The University of Western Ontario’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2015/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
- 2015 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.
Appealing Marks:
Students are welcome to meet with the instructors to discuss any aspects of their evaluation that are not clear. Students may appeal any mark given in the course. To ensure that concerns are fairly reviewed, students wishing to have a grade reviewed must submit a brief note outlining the specific concerns regarding the grade and justification for grade revision. An appeal must include: (a) the original material submitted (if material was returned) and (b) a written statement by the student of the issue(s) with the grading. The statement should include the specific aspect of the grading in question and his/her rationale for why a grade should be altered. The original material will be re-graded and reviewed along with the rationale for the appeal. The mark as re-graded by the instructors will be the final mark. This mark may be higher or lower than the original grade.
