Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Nursing Section
University of Massachusetts – Fall 2010
Tuesdays/Thursdays 8:00am to 9:30am (Skinner 12)
Professor: Christopher E. Overtree, Ph.D.
Office: Psychological Services Center, Tobin Hall, Suite 123
Office Hours*: Thursdays at 10am or by appointment.
Email: umass.psych380+nursing@gmail.com (PLEASE NOTE THIS IS
A SPECIAL EMAIL FOR THIS SECTION).
Course Content:
Class Meetings: The course is lecture in format, though students are encouraged to
ask questions during class. In addition, videos, case vignettes and other methods will
be used to provide students with the opportunity to understand the material in
realistic contexts.
SPARK: This course will have a SPARK site, which will be used primarily as a location
to a) store course materials and information, b) provide updates to the syllabus and
c) host supplementary readings. All course announcements will be delivered to you
via the Abnormal Psychology Email List, which contains ONLY your official UMass
Email Address. Changes to the syllabus will be posted on SPARK so you must access
this site periodically in order to receive this information. You must have a valid
computer account assigned by the UMass Office of Information Technology (OIT) to
access the course web page. You may access Spark using your OIT login and
Abnormal Psychology, School of Nursing Section Fall 2010
(www.scribd.com/umasspsych380) Page 1
password from the following address:
https://spark.oit.umass.edu/webct/entryPageIns.dowebct.
Course Facebook Page: The SPARK site will primarily host the information about
this course. Professor Overtree’s Abnormal Psychology Facebook Page will be the
online home for the interactive components of this course
(www.facebook.com/abnormalpsych). Students are encouraged to become a
“fan” of this page and view the information contained there, which will include web
links, videos, readings from the popular press and other information. Students are
encouraged to post on the site, submit links of interest to students in Abnormal
Psychology, post videos of interest or add any interactive features you feel will make
this a vibrant and educational tool. For example, you might use the discussion board
to organize study groups or you might share resources that you have found to be
useful with other students. Similarly, your postings might bring attention to
emerging areas of research or videos that are particularly useful in understanding a
particular mental disorder. Because there are many ways of interacting, including
commenting or clicking like/dislike feature, it will be possible for course instructors to
assess the buzz your postings generate and benefit the course by guiding the
instructors to areas of significant interest. Students should thoroughly familiarize
themselves with Facebook’s privacy practices in order that that they are familiar with
how social networking can impact your online identity. It is also recommended that
you take time to understand the privacy features on Facebook, which can enable you
to prevent unauthorized individuals from seeing certain aspects of your pages. For
example, do you want your professor to see the photos from your 21st birthday party?
If not, then make sure you are using your privacy features properly. Students should
be advised that all postings should adhere to standards of common decency, and
University rules. Students who fail to follow these standards may be removed from
the site and subject to University discipline. Students who do not wish to create a
Facebook page are not required to do so.
Textbook Materials: Available from the University Textbook Annex, Jeffery Amherst
Bookshop, and/or online from various online merchants. Other
recommended readings will be listed and posted on SPARK. Two copies of
each book will be placed on reserve in the library.
• Halgin, R.P. & Whitbourne, S.K. (2009). Abnormal Psychology: Clinical
Perspectives on Psychological Disorders (6th Ed). ISBN: 9780073370699 (No
supplementary materials are required).
o (You may use the 5th Ed Media Update, but it is your
responsibility to understand how the 5th Ed. is different from
the 6th Ed. Copies of both will be on reserve in the library).
You may not use the International Edition of this text.
All students are expected to adhere scrupulously to the University policy concerning
academic honesty. More information on the University's academic honesty policy,
can be found at this web site:
Abnormal Psychology, School of Nursing Section Fall 2010
(www.scribd.com/umasspsych380) Page 2
http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/codeofconduct/acadhonesty/
Policy on Illness and Communicability: The course structure has been designed
to easily accommodate students who are ill via the optional make-up exam and the
posting of lecture materials and notes on the web. Because of the particular
concerns about the communicability illnesses on college campuses, UMass
recommends that those persons with symptoms of communicable illness practice
"social distancing" and self-isolation to minimize contagion.
Grading Scale: Your highest 4 exams will count for a total of 95% of your final
grade and Special Assignments will count for the remaining 5%. The
grading scale is listed below.
If you are not interested in participating in experiments for extra credit, you may
email umass.psych380+nursing@gmail.com to request an alternative assignment.
You must make this request prior to December 1st.