PSY 239 — Introduction to Abnormal Psychology

In this course, you will learn the history of mental disorders and treatment, the current research knowledge we have about them, and the ways we treat them. One important theme in my Abnormal Psychology course is that we are studying people, and not just behaviors. It’s important for us to understand the experience of people who suffer from mental illnesses and unwanted behaviors. To that end, we will be reading first person accounts of what it is like to have a psychological disorder, and discussing those experiences in light of theories and practice.

Catalog Description:
Abnormal Psychology is a one term course designed to survey the theories, classification, and treatment of abnormal behavior patterns. Topics will include historical models of abnormal behavior, research methods in abnormal psychology, theoretical perspectives underlying abnormal psychology, classification and assessment of abnormal behavior, and methods of therapy and treatment of abnormal behavior.

Required textbooks:
Oltmanns, T. F. & Emery, R. E. (2006). Abnormal psychology (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN-13: 9780131875210
Jamison, K. R. (1996). An unquiet mind. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-44374-6
Optional textbook:
Oltmanns, T. F. (2007). Abnormal psychology: Study guide with practice tests (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN-13: 9780131950566

Course Downloads: To download a syllabus, course calendars, handouts, or other documents, click here.
Textbook Companion Web Site: The textbook publisher has a web site for the textbook with learning objectives, web resources, practice tests, and other resources. Here's the link for that site: Companion Website for Abnormal Psychology, 5th edition
Weblog:
To see my weblog, which includes interesting information about psychology I gather in my daily Internet travels, point your browser to: http://danaleighton.edublogs.org

Podcast:
I podcast my lectures for this class. The podcast includes lecture audio, and the slides from my presentation. To see more details, click here.

If you have iTunes installed, use the following link to subscribe:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=265029591

For information on viewing the slides in the Artwork Viewer, see:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301462

To download iTunes, go to:
http://www.apple.com/itunes