Syllabus

Course Calendar

Teaching Assistants

Click below to go to a section of the course:

Pt. 1: What is Psychology?

Pt. 2: The Person

Pt. 3: Biological Foundations

Pt. 4: The Interface w/ Our Environment

Pt. 5: Influence by & Interactions w/ Our Environment

Pt. 6: Bringing It All Together


WebVISTA

Go to textbook website:

How to contact Jeff Ratliff-Crain

 

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Outlines: 

Motivation & Emotion

Mental Health

Handouts and overheads

Sample Exams

Web links/study and topic helps

AG00050_.gif (1615 bytes)PRE-LAB #6: Diagnosing mental disordersAG00108_.gif (1629 bytes)

Available now - Dec. 13

 

AG00050_.gif (1615 bytes)POST-LAB #6: Treatment PerspectivesAG00108_.gif (1629 bytes)

Available Dec. 12 - Dec. 17

 

Part 6: Bringing it all together: Motivations, Emotions, Disorders, and Therapy

Nov. 26 – Dec. 14

NOTE: There are some changes to the readings listed below (i.e., pages removed from the required reading).

Pay attention to the readings listed below—I strongly advise keeping ahead in the reading.  The exam will be based only on the material covered in these chapters and lecture material between Nov. 26 and Dec. 14.

Being "human" involves the interaction of all the things discussed over the semester and more.  This last section covers the influence of internal and external factors on why we do what we do (motivation) and how these relate to how we feel (emotion).  Further, much of psychology is devoted to understanding and intervening when thoughts, emotions, or actions become problematic either for the person themselves or others.  Understanding psychology at all levels of analysis—biological, environmental, developmental, cognitive, sociocultural—is necessary for intervening in one's mental health.  

Chapter 10 (except pp. 361-370) & Chapter 13 (except pp. 507-513), Motivation and Emotions, stress, and health (Nov. 28 – Dec. 3)

o      Motivation (pp. 349-361; 371-375) will be covered on Nov. 26 and 28;

o      Emotion (pp. 375-393), Nov. 28 and Nov. 30; 

o      Stress and health (pp. 486-507; 514-526) will be covered Nov. 30 and Dec. 3.

 

Chapters 14 and 15, Psychological Disorders and Treatment of psychological disorders (Dec. 7 – Dec. 14)

o        Psychological disorders (Chapter 13), Dec. 7 and 9;

o        Treatment of psychological disorders (Chapt. 14), Dec. 12 and 14.

 

**Lab #6, Psychological disorders and treatment (Dates DEC. 12 & 13 *** NOTE CHANGE IN DATE!)

 

FINAL EXAM (Exam 6), covering Pt. 6: Motivation, Emotion, Disorders, and Therapy: Chapters 10 [except pp. 361-370], 13 [except pp. 507-513], 14, & 15  
(80 pts.; 80 multiple-choice questions)
:

Wed., Dec 19,

 

BRING TEXTBOOK TO CLASS AND TO LAB

 

Motivation & Emotion

 

  1. Motivation: Definitions and background

A.     Internal v. external sources of motivation

  1. Introduction to motivational perspectives:

A.     Cognitive (expectancies, values).

B.     Biological perspectives (instinct, drives, arousal)

C.     Behavioral (incentives)

D.     Humanistic (Hierarchies (Maslow)).

E.     Example using cigarette smoking

  1. Biological bases of motivation

  IV.   Emotions:

A.    What are emotions; describe; define; Why are they useful?

  1. Theories and components of emotion

A.   Physiological components and theories

Peripheral sources for emotion

Autonomic nervous system and the James-Lange theory

Facial feedback

Brain structures and the Cannon-Bard theory

Thalamus, hypothalamus, and limbic system (esp. amygdala)

B.    The addition of cognitions

Automatic v. active theories

Two-factor theory of Schachter & Singer

Further shift to cognitions by Richard Lazarus

C.    Current research related to the theories of emotion

 

  1. Stress and Coping

A.  Stress” as an emotion:

Definition of stress as a process

Adaptive nature of stress responses (cognitive, emotional, physiological)

B.   Theories of stress:

Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (Alarm, Resistance, Exhaustion) (see diagram)

Mason’s challenge of Selye’s model and the role of perceived control

Lazarus’s model of stress as an emotional process (see diagram)

C.   Coping strategies:

Problem- and emotion-focused coping

When different strategies are used

Matching strategies to demands of a situation

D.   Motivation and changing health-affecting behaviors

Challenges affecting health promotion and disease prevention: The problem of incentives

Stages of change and matching the message to the audience

Mental Disorders and Treatment

 

I.    Introduction to Mental Disorders (issues and definitions)

II.    Classification of Disorders

A.     Reasons and controversies surrounding classification

B.     The DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV)

C.     How the DSM-IV works (see DSM table):

Axis 1: The primary clinical disorder

Axis 2: Personality/Developmental disorders

Axis 3: Relevant physical disorders

Axis 4: Psychosocial & Environmental problems

Axis 5: Global Assessment of Functioning

D.     Examples of disorder classifications

 


II. Perspectives on Abnormal Behavior

A.    Biological

B.    Psychodynamic

C.    Behavioral or Learning

D.    Cognitive

E.    Humanist-Existential

F.    Sociocultural

III.    Application of Perspectives for Understanding Specific Disorders

A.    Anxiety Disorders

B.    Depression

IV. Application of Perspectives for Approaches to Therapy

A.    Biological

B.    Psychodynamic

C.    Cognitive-Behavioral

D.    Humanist-Existential

E.    Family


V. Summary and Evaluation of Approaches

 

CHAPTER 14 (PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS)

CHAPTER 15 (TREATMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS)

Know the material in both of these chapters.  I’d recommend turning back-and-forth between chapter 15’s discussion of treatment strategies and chapter 14’s descriptions of the different disorders and theories regarding cause.  Treatment strategies necessarily are based on theories regarding cause.  Be able to:

know how the DSM-IV works, its advantages and disadvantages

identify different disorders based on symptoms and descriptions

know how different perspectives would explain causes

know the physiological correlates with the disorders (e.g., which neurotransmitters are involved)

relate different therapeutic approaches to different perspectives

the key theorists behind the different strategies

the research related to effectiveness of different therapeutic strategies

know the advantages and disadvantages of different biologically-focused treatments