Course: Health
Psychology (PSY 386) Term: Summer 2004
Location:
Pullen 111 Time: M, W
Instructor:
Allen Salo, Ph.D. Office
& Hours:
Phone: 768-9411 Normal
Hall 311
Email: saloa@umpi.maine.edu By Appt.
Home Page: http://www.umpi.maine.edu/~saloa/
________________________________________________________________
I. Course
Overview
The course is designed to
introduce students to the field of health psychology and various issues that
relate to this sub-discipline within the broader field of psychology.
II.
Teaching/Learning Methodology
This course will primarily be
taught from a survey/discussion format. ….The
instructor is responsible for establishing, nurturing, and monitoring the
learning environment whereas the student is responsible for preparing for class
by reading the text material, attending class regularly, contributing to class
discussion, preparing adequately for quizzes and/or exams, and completing other
required coursework.
III. Required
Materials
Required
Text: DiMatteo, M. R. & Martin, L. R. Health Psychology (2002). Allyn & Bacon :
On-line
Access: A Blackboard companion site
can be accessed at the following URL: http://www.courses.maine.edu/index.html
(no cost is required).
IV. Course
Requirements
Attendance - Regular attendance is expected and highly
recommended. My experience with this and
similar courses suggests that most students find the course difficult to pass,
at least with a reasonable grade, unless they come to class on a regular
basis. I encourage attendance by
incorporating material in the exams that will be from lecture and not covered
within the text. I would estimate that
about 35% of the exam material will come from lecture, 35% from text material,
and 30% will be some form of overlap.
Quizzes – Eight
short quizzes will be given, as identified on the syllabus, to facilitate
regular reading and critical thinking about the topic of the week. A mean score for these will be used in your
grade calculation (described below) following the dropping of your two lowest
quiz scores.
V. Assignments
The following is an outline of the reading assignments
(chapters) and approximate dates of coverage during the semester.
Coverage
Dates Chapters,
Support Articles, and Primary Topic
Day
1 – (M) 5/24 1 Introduction
Day
2 – (W) 5/26 2 The Process of Medical Care
Quiz
1 Due (over chapter 1)
------------- Note: No Class Monday, May
31 – Memorial Day -----------
Coverage
Dates Chapters,
Support Articles, and Primary Topic
Day
3 - (W) 6/2 3 Communication
in the Medical Encounter
Self
Improvement Proposal Due
Quiz 2 Due (over chapter 4)
Day
4 - (M) 6/7 5 Staying Healthy
Quiz
3 Due (over chapter 5)
Day
5 - (W) 6/9 7 The Process
of Illness
Quiz
4 Due (over chapter 7)
Day
6 - (M) 6/14 8 Pain
Quiz
5 Due (over chapter 8)
Quiz
6 Due (over chapter 9)
Day
8 - (M) 6/21 11 Serious
Illness: The Patient’s Perspective
Quiz
7 Due (over chapter 11)
Day
9 - (W) 6/23 12 A
Life-Span Perspective on Chronic Illness, Disability & Aging
Quiz
8 Due (over chapter 12)
Day
10 - (M) 6/28 13 Terminal
Illness and Bereavement
Day
11 - (W) 6/30 14 The
Future of Health Psychology
Self
Improvement Summary Portfolio Due
(3%
option for Class Presentation of Project)
VI. Grading
System
Grading - Final grades will be based on scores from attendance/participation,
the average quiz scores (minus the two
lowest), completion of homework questions or tasks, a detailed self-Improvement
project outline, and a final self-improvement summary document (portfolio) that
clearly describes and reveals process with outcomes. These activities are listed below w/ their
differential weighting (e.g. .30 = 30%, .20 = 20%, etc.)
Attendance/Participation 80 x .30 = 24
Quiz Mean 90 x .20 = 18
Homework/Questions 90 x .20 = 18
Self Improvement Project 100 x .10 = 10
Final Improvement
Summary 85 x . 20 = 17
"Weighted
Average" = 87.0
(+ Extra Credit or
Class Presentation) + 3.0
90%
OR A-
The final course grade will be determined simply by
assigning your Weighted Average to the following point scale (+ any extra
credit points; see more below):
A = 93 -
100% B- = 80 - 82% D+ = 68 - 69%
A- = 90 - 92% C+ = 78 - 79% D = 63 - 67%
B+ = 88 - 89% C = 73 - 77% D- = 60 - 62%
B = 83 - 87% C- = 70 - 72% F = < 59%
Extra Credit: A total of 3%
extra credit points are possible for this semester. These points will be added to your final point
totals. You may participate in one or
more experiments to earn these points (Option
1), complete written assignments as described below (Option 2), or a combination of the two options. Note: extra credit will NOT be possible if
you present your final Improvement summary within the class; you will then get
the 3% automatically in this later case).
Option
1 - Participation in Psychological Studies. You may elect to participate in certain
psychological studies offered through the Department of Psychology, Social
Work, and Criminal Justice or similar agency.
There is no guarantee how many of these studies may be available for you
to participate in during any given semester.
However, if you do not wish to participate in any of these studies, or
opportunities are simply not available, you can complete Option 2 for up to 3% points (see below). Typically, each 1/2 hour of study
participation is worth 1% point, but check with each experimenter to determine
the average length of time participants spend in each study. Check with me if you wonder about your
ongoing summary of extra credit points throughout the semester.
Option
2 - Written Reviews of Psychological Research Articles. This option is designed to provide extra
credit by exposing you to the research that psychologists conduct and report in
professional journals.
Sources: Select a research article that is related to the
field of Animal Behavior that is referenced in the back of your textbook or
other appropriate source. Only
professional journal in psychology are acceptable. Note that Psychology Today, Science Magazine,
Omni, Redbook, Reader's Digest, etc., are NOT professional journals. The journals are available through the
library.
Form: Your reports should conform to
the following guidelines:
1. Include a complete photocopy of the journal article with your report
and keep a copy of your report should it not reach me or otherwise is not
credited to your final grade determination.
I will not be held responsible for unaccounted reports.
2. Make it brief. About 2-3
word-processed or typed pages (double-spaced) should be perfectly adequate
(total not including the copy of the reviewed article).
Coverage: Include the
information in response to each of
the following questions:
1.
Why did you choose this particular article?
2. How understandable or usable was the article to you? 3. What did you learn as a result of your
reading? 4. How did this article relate
to in-class material (if at all)?
Evaluation. The extra
credit reports must be turned in to me directly or to the department secretary
(in
Points
Credited. Each review is worth 1% point. Up to 3%
points can be obtained by completing additional written reviews. All written forms of extra credit (Option 2) are due on or before the final
exam; participation in research
projects must be completed prior to finals week.
VII. Supplemental
To do well
in the course.... Come to class regularly and try to keep up or
slightly ahead with reading your assigned chapters. Coming to class with a better sense of what
the topics is about provides a "framework" for you to integrate
material covered in class. You should
also feel less stress when the exam times come around. As a final suggestion, don’t forget to devote
sufficient time for writing the final paper and take advantage of extra credit
if necessary.
A final Note. I realize the
importance of maintaining a good Grade Point Average (GPA). If you have a problem with a given exam, I
encourage you to seek me out shortly
after each exam so that we can examine the reason(s) for poor performance. I would like you all to do well in the course
and feel it has been a worthwhile endeavor.