Spring, 2007

Health Psychology (PSYC 3800)

TR 10:00-11:15 @ Science Center 2505

Instructor: Dr. Wendy L. Wolfe

Office: ScienceCenter 225

Phone: (912) 921-7351

Email:

Website:

Office Hours: MWF 12:30-2:00, TR 2:30-3:30, and by appointment

Required Text and Materials:

Sarafino, E. P. (2006). Health Psychology: Biopsychosocial Interactions. (5th Ed.). Hoboken,

NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Student companion website for text:

Additional readings may be placed on reserve in the library throughout the semester. The titles and due dates for these readings will be announced in class.

Course Description and Goals: Health Psychology refers to the ways in which behavior, mental states, and physical health interact. This includes ways in which mental states and behaviors affect physical health, but also ways in which physical health may affect mental states and behavior. Health Psychology is both a theory/research based science and an applied area of psychology. The goal of the course is to give you an introduction to both aspects of the field. Accordingly, you will be expected to:

  1. Learn and understand content from the textbook, lecture, and reserve readings on psychological and biological principles related to stress, health, disease, and associated behaviors.
  2. Evaluate and use psychological research in order to understand the course material.
  3. Effectively use principles learned in the course to develop and present intervention strategies.

Student Responsibilities:Students are expected to attend all classes and to read assigned chapters before the class period in which they will be discussed. Attendance will be taken at the outset of each class meeting. In addition to being physically present, I expect students to be thoughtfully engaged (mentally present) during lectures and to be active participants in class activities and assignments. Students will be strongly encouraged throughout the course to think critically about the information presented and to demonstrate critical thinking skills through class activities and discussions. Additionally, students are expected to make relevant contributions to the class when questions are asked while being respectful of fellow classmates’ ideas and comments. For examination purposes, students will be responsible for all material contained within the assigned readings and presented in the lectures.

Grading: In addition to regular attendance and classroom participation, grades in this course will be based on four non-cumulative exams, and a project that will consist of several graded components. Each of the requirements is described below:

  • Up to 2 attendance and participation points will be awarded per non-exam class meeting. For the 26 non-exam class meetings scheduled this semester, you can accrue up to 52 points. Since you only need 50 points for a perfect score in this area, you can miss one class meeting without being penalized. If you have perfect attendance and participation, you can earn 2 extra points. To earn the full 2 points for each class meeting, you will need to arrive on time to class, be an active participant in class (listening attentively, taking notes, asking/answering questions, contributing to class discussion), and remain for the whole class period.
  • Exams will consist of multiple choice, matching, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer/essay questions. Exam questions will vary in difficulty. Some questions will seem easy, while others may appear confusing or difficult to answer. Exams are designed so that most students will answer some of the questions correctly, and only students who have achieved the highest level of understanding of the material will answer others correctly. The purpose of including questions with a variety of difficulty levels is to determine the depth and breadth of your understanding of the material. “Trick” questions are not tricky to those who have achieved the highest level of understanding.
  • The project will consist of a Health Psychology intervention to be researched, designed, implemented, and evaluated by yourself – in collaboration with classmates who are assigned to your group. Interventions should be chosen bearing in mind that other class members will be serving as your “patients” or participants in the project (i.e., you do not want to choose an intervention for insulin management given there will likely be few, if any, diabetics in the class). Groups will be formed during the first week of class and group project topics are due to me by January 23rd. Some class time will be allowed for consultation among group members. However, you should plan on doing most of the work for your project outside of class. Graded elements of the project will include:

An individually completed 4-5 page literature review paper is to be written on the area your group has selected for your intervention (e.g., the use of self-monitoring and behavioral contracting to enhance compliance with an exercise regimen). Group members can research and write about the same topic or different aspects of the same intervention (e.g., one member write about self-monitoring and exercise compliance, another about behavioral contracting and compliance, and a third about measures used to assess exercise compliance). Group members can share resources, but the paper is to be individually written and will be individually graded. The literature review paper is due February 15th. See the section on writing requirements for more information.

Each group will write an intervention plan, due on March 8th. The plan should include a brief synopsis of the highlights from group members’ literature review papers. The focus here is to set the stage for your intervention plan. The rest of the plan should describe, in detail, your health psychology intervention. Information to provide includes: target participants, objectives, timeline, recording and assessment measures to be used (include copies), goals (be specific), methodology for implementing your intervention and recording progress, and criteria for determining the efficacy of the intervention. If you need to use a baseline assessment, baseline monitoring period, or control group to determine the efficacy of your intervention, be sure to include this in your intervention plan. You should include a participant sign-up sheet in your intervention plan that describes the intervention and any participant requirements you have (e.g., females only, age restrictions, non-exercisers only). See the section on writing requirements for more information regarding the intervention plan.

The week after groups turn in their intervention plans, class members will be asked to read the participant sign-up sheets and volunteer for any project they would be appropriate and willing to assist with. Participation in at least one other group’s project as an intervention or control participant is also a graded requirement. Groups will be asked to assign satisfactory and unsatisfactory ratings for their participants, based only on level of participation in the project (i.e., you will be penalized if you fail to turn in assessment measures, monitoring sheets, no-show for appointments, etc.). Efforts will be made to ensure that there are a variety of projects to participate in. However, if for some reason there are no projects you are appropriate for or willing to become involved in, I will work with you individually on an alternative.

Groups will turn in a final report at the conclusion of their intervention. This should include how the intervention was carried out, problems encountered and how they were handled, a summary of the data collected and any qualitative or quantitative analyses conducted, a conclusion section regarding the outcome of your intervention, and a discussion of anything you would have done differently in order to reach your intervention goals. The final report is due no later than April 26th.See section on writing requirements for more information regarding the final report.

Groups will present a 20-30 minute overview of their project to the class during the final exam period on May 8th. Group presentations will be graded according to both content and delivery. You will also be asked to turn in on or before May 8th an evaluation of yourself and each member of your group in accordance with level of contribution to the group project. These evaluations should include a description of what you contributed to various stages of the group project (be specific!), and your recollection of what other group members contributed. You also will be asked to assign yourself and other group members a letter grade. I will take into account this information in assigning grades for the group project final paper and the presentation.

Your final grade will be determined by the following:

400 / Points for 4 exams worth 100 points each
50 / Points for project literature review
50 / Points for project intervention plan
50 / Points for project participation
50 / Points for project final paper
50 / Points for project presentation
50 / Attendance & Participation
700 / TOTAL POINTS

Of the 700 possible points, the minimum numbers needed to earn a particular grade are listed below:

A- outstanding performance relative to requirements / 630 points
B – good performance relative to requirements / 560 points
C– average performance relative to requirements / 490 points
D– below average to poor performance relative to requirements / 420 points
F– performance fails to meet minimal standards for successful completion of the course and fulfillment of course requirements / < 420 points

General Writing Requirements: Papers should be double-spaced and typed using 12 point Times New Roman font. Margins are to be set on all sides at 1”. Paper length requirements do not include cover/title pages or reference pages. Please make sure your name is typed on a cover page or at the top of the first page (in this case, start the body of the paper right below your name) and that all pages are stapled together. I will not provide a stapler in class, so you must do this before turning your paper in. Check your paper closely for spelling and grammatical errors as you will be penalized for these. I reserve the right to return papers ungraded that I cannot easily comprehend due to poor writing. In this case, the paper should be re-written and will receive the late paper penalty (see next section). Students are strongly encouraged to have others proofread your papers or to utilize the writing center on campus for assistance. Any resources used for your paper should be cited using APA style referencing. A copy of the APA Publication Manual (5th edition) can be found in the library. Or, you can find a brief guide to APA style at this website: Papers will be collected at the start of class on the date they are due.

Late Papers/Projects: Do not turn in late work! Papers turned in late will be deducted 10% per day late.

Extra Credit:It is likely that there will be extra credit opportunities throughout the semester. However, this is not a guarantee so do not count on extra credit to significantly impact your final grade.

Absences: Since you can miss one non-exam class meeting without penalty and extra credit opportunities will likely be provided to compensate for points lost to absences, no distinction will be made between excused and unexcused absences. Because some unavoidable emergencies do arise, you should save your un-penalized missed class for such circumstances. You do not need to contact me if you will be absent from class. Check with a classmate to get class notes and announcements you may have missed. Exam absences will only be excused in emergency situations that are well-documented. Make-up exams will be essay form and will be administered at my convenience. Absences during the group project presentations will result in significant reduction of your group presentation grade.

Students with Special Needs: Any student with a disability who is in need of an accommodation should see me as early as possible.

Academic Integrity: Good academic work must be based on honesty. I do not expect to have problems with cheating orplagiarism; however, I take these issues very seriously. Please refer to the AASU Honor Code and Student Code ofConduct for information regarding the definitions plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, or facilitating academicdishonesty and possible consequences of these honor offenses. The procedures outlined in this document will befollowed if I suspect that any of these offenses has occurred.

Disruptions: Certain behaviors are disruptive to other students and to me as an instructor. To avoid hindering the learningprocess for us all please make every attempt to avoid the following during class time:

Spring, 2007

· sleeping

· eating

· arriving late

· packing up your stuff early

· leaving early

· reading or doing other work in class

· talking during lectures

· leaving cell phones or pagers on in class

Spring, 2007

Powerpoint Slides: You may access handouts (in Microsoft Word format) from the powerpoint lecture slides by going to my faculty website. However, the slides are generally no more than a list of terms and concepts that are defined and explained in class. They are meant as an aid to note-taking, and will be woefully inadequate as an alternative to attending class. I will upload the most recent slide handouts by the day before class, so you should check for them the evening before or morning of class. As the semester progresses, the file will become quite large and will take some time (and a good internet connection) to download.

Calendar: The following schedule of topics and assignments is tentative. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for any changes announced in class. Text book assigned readings (due that class) are in parentheses. As previously noted, additional reserve readings may be announced over the course of the semester.You will find it very difficult to do well in this class if you do not finish your assigned readings before class.

Week of (Monday): / Tuesday / Thursday
1/8 / Course Introduction / Health Psychology Overview (Ch. 1)
1/15 / Review of Physical Systems (Ch. 2) / Review of Physical Systems (Ch. 2)
1/22 / What is Stress? (Ch. 3) / Stress, Health, & Illness (Ch. 4)
1/29 / Coping with Stress (Ch. 5) / Coping with Stress (Ch. 5)
2/5 / Exam 1 / Health & Behavior (Ch. 6)
2/12 / Health Promotion (Ch. 6) / Substance Use & Abuse (Ch. 7)
2/19 / Substance Use & Abuse / Nutrition & Eating Disorders (Ch. 8)
2/26 / Weight Management & Exercise
(Ch. 8) / Accidents & Safety (Ch. 8)
3/5 / Exam 2 / Health Care Services (Ch. 9)
3/12 / No Class: Spring Break / No Class: Spring Break
3/19 / Non-adherence & Improving Patient Compliance (Ch. 9) / Health Psychologists in Medical Settings (Ch. 10)
3/26 / What is Pain? (Ch. 11) / Pain Management (Ch. 12)
4/2 / Guest Lecture or Assignment TBA / Exam 3
4/9 / Chronic Illnesses: Overview (Ch. 13) / Chronic Illnesses: Specific Conditions (Ch. 13 & 14)
4/16 / Chronic Illnesses: Specific Conditions (Ch. 14) / Chronic Illnesses: Specific Conditions (Ch. 14)
4/23 / Future of Health Psychology (Ch. 15) / Exam 4
4/30 / No Class: Study for Exam / No Class: Study for Exam
5/7 / Group Presentations @ 10:00am

Spring, 2007