Overview
The objectives of this unit are: (1) to introduce you to the foundations of abnormal psychology (2) to provide an overview of the major features of abnormal psychology (diagnosis, etiology, assessment, treatment, research, theory) (3) to assist you to begin to integrate theory, research and practice considerations within areas of abnormal psychology It is a requirement of enrolment in the unit that you have access to the CQU website as well as email access.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Minimum of 24 credit points of Psychology units for CA10, CQ01 and CQ91; Minimum of 24 credit points of Level 2 Psychology units for CF59; Minimum of 30 credit points of Level 2 Psychology units for CC43
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2018
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Student feedback.
Remove the requirement to 'submit' each answer for seperate quiz questions for the Online Quizzes.
This should be removed in order to allow students to complete the quiz in a timely fashion.
- Explain the foundations of abnormal psychology
- Provide both functional and critical knowledge of major facets of abnormal psychology
- Integrate theory, research and practice considerations within areas of abnormal psychology
- Reflect a commitment to a scientist-practitioner philosophy.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 15% | ||||
| 2 - Online Quiz(zes) - 15% | ||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 35% | ||||
| 4 - Examination - 35% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 15% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Online Quiz(zes) - 15% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 35% | ||||||||||
| 4 - Examination - 35% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
Abnormal Psychology: Leading Researcher Perspectives
Edition: 4th edn (2017 or latest version)
Authors: Edited by Elizabeth Reiger
McGraw-Hill Education
Sydney Sydney , NSW , Australia
ISBN: 9781743766620
Binding: Paperback
Additional Textbook Information
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Word processing software (e.g. Microsoft Word)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 6th Edition (APA 6th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
l.robillard@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Chapter 1: Conceptual Issues in Abnormal Psychology and Introduction to Course
Chapter
Chapter 1: Abnormal Psychology - Leading Researcher Perspectives, E Reiger, 4e 2017
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive and Trauma related Disorders
Chapter
Chapter 2;
Chapter 3 and Chapter 4: Abnormal Psychology - Leading Researcher Perspectives, E Reige, 4e 2017
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Mood Disorders (Unipolar disorders)
Chapter
Chapter 5: Abnormal Psychology - Leading Researcher Perspectives, E Reiger, 4e 2017
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Bipolar Disorders
Chapter
Chapter 6: Abnormal Psychology - Leading Researcher Perspectives, E Reiger,4e 2017
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Psychotic Disorders
Chapter
Chapter 7: Abnormal Psychology - Leading Researcher Perspectives, E Reiger, 4e 2017
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Eating Disorders
Chapter
Chapter 9: Abnormal Psychology - Leading Researcher Perspectives, E Reiger, 4e 2017
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Addictive Disorders
Chapter
Chapter 10: Abnormal Psychology - Leading Researcher Perspectives, E Reiger 4e 2017
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Sexual and Relationship Issues
Chapter
Chapter 11: Abnormal Psychology - Leading Researcher Perspectives, E Reiger, 4e 2017
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Personality Disorders
Chapter
Chapter 13: Abnormal Psychology - Leading Researcher Perspectives, E Reiger,4e 2017
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Disorders of Childhood
Chapter
Chapter 14: Abnormal Psychology - Leading Researcher Perspectives, E Reiger,4e 2017
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Ageing and psychological disorders
Chapter
Chapter 15: Abnormal Psychology - Leading Researcher Perspectives, E Reiger.4e 2017
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Review of Course
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Online Quiz(zes)
Online Quiz 1 will assess course content learned from Weeks 1 to 6 (Relevant chapters in the textbook).
There will be 60 multiple choice questions (10 from each chapter) with 5 response options for each question.
You will have 60 minutes to complete the quiz online.
Your grade for Quiz 1 is worth 15% of your overall grade.
Online Quiz 1 will be open from 0900am AEST Friday April 20th (Week 6) and close at 1230pm AEST Monday April 23rd (Week 7).
1
Other
Week 7 Monday (23 Apr 2018) 12:00 pm AEST
You will receive immediate feedback on your grade on completion of Quiz 1
No assessment criteria
- Explain the foundations of abnormal psychology
- Provide both functional and critical knowledge of major facets of abnormal psychology
- Integrate theory, research and practice considerations within areas of abnormal psychology
- Reflect a commitment to a scientist-practitioner philosophy.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
2 Online Quiz(zes)
Online Quiz 2 will assess course content learnt from Weeks 7 to 12 (Relevant chapters from the textbook)
There will be 60 multiple choice questions (10 from each chapter) with 5 response options for each question.
You will have 60 minutes to complete the quiz online.
Your grade for Quiz 2 is worth 15% of your overall grade.
Online Quiz 2 will be open from 0900AM AEST Friday June 1st (Week 12) until 1230PM AEST Monday June 4th (Review/Exam Week).
1
Other
Review/Exam Week Monday (4 June 2018) 12:00 pm AEST
You will receive immediate feedback on your grade on completion of Quiz 2
No assessment criteria
- Explain the foundations of abnormal psychology
- Provide both functional and critical knowledge of major facets of abnormal psychology
- Integrate theory, research and practice considerations within areas of abnormal psychology
- Reflect a commitment to a scientist-practitioner philosophy.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
3 Written Assessment
Objectives: The case report is where you are expected to demonstrate your functional and critical knowledge of major facets of abnormal psychology. This requires you to demonstrate a capacity to engage in research that develops your understanding of the aetiology, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of various major psychological disorders presented in the abnormal psychology literature.
Details: You will be given a list of potential films to review for your case report. It is not an exhaustive list of feature films in the area of psychology, yet it represents a number of films that deal with major themes in abnormal psychology. You are required to watch ONE film from this list, observing and assessing thoughts, feelings, and behaviour in the respective character. The story may be fiction or non-fiction. To potentially receive a high grade, the focus of your paper will be on the individual, not on the plot or theme of the movie. Your report must address questions relating to aspects of the individual and the environment. These questions and a template for the structure of the case report will be provided.
Also please note that a detailed marking sheet with specific criteria for each section of the case report will be provided to students on return of their assignment. The marking sheet will be available on Moodle.
Word limit: 2,000 (not including references) - There is an automatic 10% penalty for going 10% above or below the word limit.
Please note: An APA formatted title page is required. No abstract is required. Use of APA 6th Ed for referencing, formatting etc.
Week 10 Monday (14 May 2018) 9:00 am AEST
Week 12 Friday (1 June 2018)
You will be provided with the marking guide that will be used to mark your case report. It is recommended to write your report closely following the provided marking guide on Moodle.
Some key criteria include:
1. A demonstrated ability to apply abnormal psychology concepts.
2. The use of succinct, formal and non-judgmental language.
3. Critical use of empirical research (at least 10 references, not including the textbook or references used for definitions of concepts or terms).
4. Consistent and accurate use of APA 6th edition referencing style.
As mentioned above, a detailed marking sheet with specific criteria and marks for each section of the case report will be provided to students with the return of their assignment. This marking sheet will be available on Moodle.
Also note there is automatic 5% penalty per day for late submissions without a prior extension and an automatic 10% penalty for going 10% above or below the word count.
- Explain the foundations of abnormal psychology
- Provide both functional and critical knowledge of major facets of abnormal psychology
- Integrate theory, research and practice considerations within areas of abnormal psychology
- Reflect a commitment to a scientist-practitioner philosophy.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
Examination
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
