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School of Arts & Humanities

PSYC 406
Psychopathology
Credit Hours: 3
Length of Course: 8 Weeks
Prerequisite(s): None

Table of Contents

Instructor Information Evaluation Procedures

Course Description Grading Scale
Course Scope Course Outline
Course Objectives Policies
Course Delivery Method Academic Services
Course Materials

Instructor Information

Instructor: Dr. Grace Riley

Email: GR440@online.apus.edu
Office Hours: As arranged via email appointment.
Most concerns can be dealt with effectively via e-mail. Should you need to
call, to ensure being able to have uninterrupted time with your instructor,
please e-mail in advance so that a mutually agreeable time can be arranged.

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Course Description (Catalog)

This course surveys syndromes of psychopathology, by reviewing etiology,
symptomatology, and treatment. Psychological, neurobiological, and genetic
approaches to understanding mental disorders are considered. Topics also
include depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, personality disorders, memory
disorders, and childhood disorders.

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Course Scope
This course provides a broad overview of the psychology subspecialty area of
psychopathology (also known as abnormal psychology) by exploring the
nature, causes, treatments, and experiences of psychiatric disorders.
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Course Objectives

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

1. Examine the similarities and differences among the mainstream
models and theories of psychopathology.
2. Identify critical characteristics of abnormal behavior and psychology.
3. Summarize distinctions between personality, belief systems, values,
and attitudes regarding mental illness.
4. Evaluate the effects of psychopathology on individuals, families, and
social systems.
5. Demonstrate knowledge of diagnostic processes and criteria
established to categorize psychopathology.
6. Discuss issues related to psychopathology in public health.

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Course Delivery Method

This course, delivered via distance learning, will enable students to complete
academic work in a flexible manner, completely online. Course materials and
access to an online learning management system will be made available to
each student. Online assignments include Discussion Boards, examinations
and individual writing assignments.

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Course Materials

Maddux, J.E. & Winstead, B.A. (2007). Psychopathology: Foundations for a

contemporary understanding (2nd ed.) Routledge.

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Evaluation Procedures

Submission of Assignments - Although distance learning provides you with

a flexible schedule to meet your professional, personal, and academic
responsibilities, it isn’t self-paced learning and students are expected to
submit assignments on time and in compliance with instructions. If you know
you are going to be unavoidably late due to work requirements such as
deployment or temporary duty assignments (keep in mind, though, that your
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prof has experienced many student soldiers completing high quality work
while on deployment so it isn’t an automatically accepted reason for late
work), or non-negotiable civilian work demands, you may avoid a penalty to
your grade by e-mailing your prof in advance of the circumstance and
requesting time-limited late submission (this isn’t a blanket or retroactive
permission for late work, of course). In the case of a situation with no
advance notice possible, such as a health emergency, you will need to e-mail
me as soon as possible after the assignment due date so that I can assess
the situation’s impact on timely assignment complteion. I am pleased to
work with you, but you must keep me informed of your situation. Late
assignment permission is not automatically granted, cannot be given blanket
fashion (i.e. permission to complete multiple assignments “as you can”) and
has to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Students sometimes need assistance with determining what is an

emergency/urgent/no-notice situation. Below are some situations that
wouldn’t qualify for this category:

A vacation conflicting with time or Internet access needed for course work,
even if planned long ago

Too much work at the office

“Biting off more than I could handle” concerning course load

Wanting to spend more time with family or having a relationship conflict that
competes for attention with course work focus

Wanting to spend more time on an assignment to get it in the best shape

possible (deadlines are set per prior university assessment of good course
pacing and it has to be “pencils down” when a deadline arrives with no
extended time for polishing), forgetting an assignment or leaving at home or
the office materials needed to complete course work

Computer problems (other than due to service provider or military shut-

downs or communications blackouts or due to lack of access during
residential or military relocations)

The above constitutes an abbreviated list of “life happens” concerns that

would probably would not stop one from going to work or other activities.
Chronic Internet access difficulties can’t be considered a reason for lack of
timely assignment submission. This can be equated to an employee not
being able to get to work on time or at all due to car problems or lack of a
car. Such can only be considered for a very limited time period and then one
would be at risk of losing one’s job. Internet access is considered the online
student’s mode of transport to the classroom and must be reliable.

Participation and Interaction - Successful completion of APUS courses

requires online access and may require usage of PowerPoint, MSWord and
Adobe Acrobat Reader programs. Online communication tools such as
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Student Folders, Discussion Boards, Instant Messaging and Chat Rooms are
available to students and instructors. Not everyone is comfortable with chat
applications and some geographical-time differences make them difficult to
schedule without causing inconvenience; therefore, I do not require students
to use Instant Messaging or Chat Rooms.

Readings and Written Assignments– Throughout the course, you will

have assignments that require reading and synthesis of and response to
course content. Collaboration on coursework, unless so assigned by your
instructor, is not allowed.

Absolutely NO COPYING of any published material is allowed and will result in

a zero score for the first assignment and a failing course grade for a second
instance regardless of amount of copying or intent. This is a matter of
academic integrity which every student should value. In the event that
copying is found in any assignment submission, it will be reported to the
Registrar’s Office. This is done without judgment of student character but
rather is an automatic process.

All written assignments must be your original work (in your own words and
giving proper source credit to any paraphrases or quotes of published
authors’ work, the latter of which should be used very sparingly) and should
submitted error free and in accordance with the APUS writing standards
found in the Student Handbook in the e-classroom. You should proofread
each assignment carefully before submitting it. Employee the grammar and
spell check features available. All assignments must be submitted as MS
Word (.doc, not .wps or .wpd) documents. Plagiarism check systems are
employed.

Discussion Board Assignments

Deadlines: The “initial post” in response to your professor’s weekly

instructions is due Friday at 11:59pm Eastern Time for each board. Two
responses to classmates are due the following Mondays at 11:59pm Eastern
Time (i.e. Initial post for Week 1 is due Friday of Week 1 and the replies for
Week 1 are due the following Monday which is actually Monday of Week 2;
initial post for Week 2 is due Friday of Week 2 and the replies for Week 2 are
due the following Monday which is actually Monday of Week 3, and so on).
You may post more than the minimum required two responses to peers
weekly but doing so won’t increase the score assigned. The Capstone DB
requires 3 substantive responses to peers.

All DB posts must be placed on the Discussion Board where they are graded
directly by your prof. Uploading copies of posts into student folders or
attaching them to assignment links or posting them into Student Comments
boxes isn’t necessary but you may do this if you wish to save copies of your
work.

Each discussion assignment may involve several activities including

accessing resources outside the classroom (e.g. visit a web-site and tell what
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you learned from the site related to the week’s topic). Consider these
readings and outside resource exploration activities “tickets in” for their
associated assignments that must be completed prior to assignment
completion.

Each discussion assignment requires one “initial post” (minimum of 350

words) and two substantive replies (minimum of 200 words) to the postings
of other classmates. The Capstone Discussion requires 3 responses to
classmates. These requirements mean more than one paragraph or
statements of agreement or disagreement. You must engage in academic
dialogue, not debate or letting each other know how much you agree or
disagree. Each reply must include the name of the fellow student to whom
you are replying, the specifics of his or her post that motivated you to reply
(these two will not count to the minimum length requirement), and your
related thoughts and insights supported by citations scholarly experts
writings in the body of the posts and in Reference lists at the end of each
one, so your posts are more than opinion.
These are academic discussions, and you should avoid informal instant
messaging style language (e.g. abbreviations, all caps or not using
capitalization or punctuation) and personal opinion unless otherwise
instructed by the course professor. You should approach the work as though
it were a paper assignment in terms of professionalism in content and tone
(i.e. think and write as a student scholar) but also make your posts
conversational (i.e. think of yourselves as academic colleagues talking about
course related topics rather than engaging in casual conversations or merely
writing papers). This is a challenge that you all are up to meeting and your
prof will support your effort by providing constructive feedback without much
penalty during Week 1 as long as there is evidence of the work truly being
attempted. After Week 2 it is expected that the basics of the work are
mastered and point deductions will be significant for failure to comply with all
aspects of the assignment instructions. All of the discussion assignments are
available for viewing at the beginning of the course, but early postings (prior
to a given discussion assignment week) are not allowed—doing so will void all
points for the assignment. These discussions are designed to facilitate a
learning community and a sense of space and place for weekly connections
between you and your classmates, and should not be viewed as something to
work ahead on and get out of the way, even if a particular week’s topic isn’t
of interest (everyone has something to learn and students learn from each
other, not just the course prof or textbook). However, if you wish to keep
your own notes ahead of time to help you develop responses and discussion
dialogue you are free to do so.

Of the first six discussion board assignments, grading is based on 30 possible

points for your initial response (the one in response to your prof’s weekly
instructions post) due Friday, and 10 points each for substantive responses to
peers due the following Monday. The Capstone Discussion Board initial post is
due by Friday, Midnight, Eastern Time in Week 8, and is valued at 10% of
your course grade. It requires a bit more work and is thus worth more points.
Week 8 replies are due by Sunday as the last day of all APUS courses with no
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course work submissions permitted per University policy past the course final
day at 11:59pm Eastern Time.
Quizzes – There are 5 Quizzes. Quizzes may be multiple choice, true-false,
fill-in-the-blank, and/or short-answer essay questions and may be derived
from the readings AND Discussion Board questions. Each quiz will be
accessible for the duration of the course and you may access it multiple
times but may only submit it once and only at the end of its assigned week
Eastern Time. The tests are open-book and NOT proctored. Retakes are not
allowed after the tests due dates. Make-ups are not allowed unless approved
by your prof.

Midterm Exam – A Midterm Exam will be accessible for the duration of the
course and you may access it multiple times but may only submit it once and
only at the end of its assigned week Eastern Time. The test is open-book and
NOT proctored. Retakes are not allowed after the tests due dates. Make-ups
are not allowed unless approved by your prof.

Final Exam - A Final Exam will be accessible for the duration of the course
and you may access it multiple times but may only submit it once and only at
the end of its assigned week Eastern Time. The test is open-book and NOT
proctored. Retakes are not allowed after the tests due dates. Make-ups are
not allowed unless approved by your prof.

Important: The Final Exam is a comprehensive exam covering all readings

and Discussion Board questions.

You will want to do your best on every assignment. As indicated in the chart
below, each contributes to a percentage of your total course grade but can
also reduce it if not completed correctly with resulting point deductions that
cannot be recouped later. There are no extra credit options for this course.

Assignment Weighting Summary

Course Requirements Points Percenta
Possible ge
Quizzes (5 at 40 Points Possible Each) 200 20%
Midterm Exam 200 20%
Final Exam 200 20%
Discussion Questions & Participation: 6 @ 50 400 40%
Points Possible
Capstone Discussion Question (Week 8: = 100
Points Possible)
Totals 1000 100%

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Grading Scale

See the Student Handbook for the APUS policy on grading.

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Table of Contents

Course Outline

Textbook Readings Assignments

Week 1 Chapter 1 – Complete the readings.
Conceptions of Discussion #1 per Discussion Board
Psychopathology instructions (click on “Discussion Boards”
then Discussion #1). Initial post due
Chapter 5 – Friday of this week and replies to
Classification & classmates due by the following Monday.
Diagnosis
Complete Quiz #1 by Monday, Midnight,
Chapter 9 – Mood Eastern Time.
Disorders
Week Complete the readings from the text.
2 Chapter 4 –
Biological Bases of Discussion #2 per Discussion Board
Psychopathology instructions (click on “Discussion Boards”
then Discussion #2). Initial post due
Chapter 10 -- Friday of this week and replies to
Schizophrenia classmates due by the following Monday.

Complete Quiz #2 by Monday, Midnight,

Eastern Time.
Chapter 2 – Cultural Complete the readings.
Week Dimensions of Discussion #3 per Discussion Board
3 Psychopathology instructions (click on “Discussion Boards”
then Discussion #3). Initial post due
Chapter 3 – The Role Friday of this week and replies to
of Gender, Race, and classmates due by the following Monday.
Class in
Psychopathology Complete Quiz #3 by Monday, Midnight,
Eastern Time.
Disorders Chapter 12
– Eating Disorders

Chapter 13 – Sexual
Dysfunctions &
Disorders
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Chapter 6 – No Discussion Board Assignment this

Week Psychological week.
4 Assessment
Complete Midterm Exam by Monday,
Chapter 15- Midnight, Eastern Time.
Substance Use
Disorders
Chapter 7 – Discussion #4 per Discussion Board
Week Psychotherapy instructions (click on “Discussion Boards”
5 Research then Discussion #4 Week 5). Note that
from Week 5 on the discussion board
numbers and the week numbers are one
Chapter 8 – Anxiety off due to the midterm exam Week 4 not
Disorders having a Discussion assignment. Initial
post due Friday of this week and replies to
classmates due by the following Monday.

Complete Quiz #4 by Monday, Midnight,

Eastern Time.
Week Chapter 16- Discussion #5. (click on “Discussion
6 Externalizing Boards” then Discussion #5 Week 6).
Disorders of Initial post due Friday of this week and
Childhood replies to classmates due by the following
Monday.
Chapter 17 –
Internalizing There is no quiz this week.
Disorders of
Childhood

Chapter 18 –
Cognitive Disorders
of Childhood
Week Chapter 11 – Discussion #6 per Discussion Board
7 Personality Disorders instructions (click on “Discussion Board”
then Discussion 6 Week 7). Initial post
Chapter 14 – due Friday of this week and replies to
Somatoform classmates due by the following Monday.
Disorders
Complete Quiz #5 by Monday, Midnight,
Eastern Time.

Week 8 Chapter – 19 Mental Capstone Discussion #7 per Discussion

Health and Aging Board instructions. (click on “Discussion
This week ends on Board” then Capstone Discussion 7).
Sunday. Initial post due Friday of this week and
replies to classmates due by Sunday, last
day of course.

Complete the Final Exam by Sunday, the

last day of the course.
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Policies

The following policies are detailed in the APUS Student Handbook.

Students are responsible for having knowledge of and complying with course
and University policies.

Academic Dishonesty & Plagiarism*

Withdrawal/Drop Policy

Course Extension Policy

Disability Accommodations

* Note: A prohibition against ANY copying, regardless of source citation

inclusion, is part of this course not listed in the APUS policy. See details in
the Evaluation Procedures section of this syllabus.

NETIQUETTE
Online universities promote the advance of knowledge through positive and
constructive debate--both inside and outside the classroom. Discussions on
the Internet, however, can occasionally degenerate into needless insults and
“flaming.” Such activity and the loss of good manners are not acceptable in a
university setting--basic academic rules of good behavior and proper
“Netiquette” must persist. Remember that you are in a place for the fun and
excitement of learning that does not include descent to personal attacks, or
student attempts to stifle the discussion of others.

Technology Limitations: The Educator classroom may not fully support

MIME or HTML encoded messages, which means that double-spacing, bold
face, italics, underlining, and a variety of color-coding or other visual effects
will not translate in your e-mail messages or discussion board posts.

Humor Note: Despite the best of intentions, jokes and--especially--satire can

easily get lost or taken seriously. You are learning scholarly writing, which is
a more formal way of communicating. It is how all of us in academics
communicate.

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Academic Services

ONLINE LIBRARY RESEARCH CENTER & LEARNING RESOURCES

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The Online Library Resource Center is available to enrolled students

and faculty from inside the electronic campus. This is your starting
point for access to online books, subscription periodicals, and Web
resources that are designed to support your classes and generally not
available through search engines on the open Web. In addition, the
Center provides access to special learning resources, which the
University has contracted to assist with your studies. Questions can be
directed to orc@apus.edu.

• Charles Town Library and Inter Library Loan: The University

maintains a special library with a limited number of supporting
volumes, collection of our professors’ publication, and services to
search and borrow research books and articles from other
libraries.
• Electronic Books: You can use the online library to uncover and
download over 50,000 titles, which have been scanned and
made available in electronic format.
• Electronic Journals: The University provides access to over
12,000 journals, which are available in electronic form and only
through limited subscription services.
• Turnitin.com is a tool for improving student research skills that
also detects plagiarism. Turnitin.com guides students in
producing papers that are intellectually honest, original in
thought, and clear in expression. This tool also helps ensure a
culture of adherence to the University's standards for intellectual
honesty. Turnitin.com reviews students' papers for matches with
Internet materials and tens of thousands of student papers in its
database, and returns Originality Reports with percentages and
highlighting to indicate the degree of copying contained in a
student’s writing. This is not a substitute for your prof’s hands-
on, individualized grading of your work, but if plagiarism is found,
the work will not be hand-graded with feedback provided other
than notification of the plagiarism and consequence assigned.
• Smarthinking: Students have access to 10 free hours of
tutoring service per year through Smarthinking. Tutoring is
available in the following subjects: math (basic math through
advanced calculus), science (biology, chemistry, and physics),
accounting, statistics, economics, Spanish, writing, grammar,
and more. Additional information is located in the Online
Research Center. From the ORC home page, click on either the
“Writing Center” or “Tutoring Center” and then click
“Smarthinking.” All login information is available.
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