Fall 2004 3
Credits
Human
Development 335
Exceptional
Child
Catalog
Description: This course will
consider atypical social, emotional, and mental development during childhood
and adolescence. Topics include mental retardation, intellectual giftedness,
learning disorders, psychopathology of childhood and adolescence, and conduct
disorders.
Time/Place: M,W,F
Instructor: Christie Karpiak, Ph.D. Office:
AMH 129 Phone:
941-5886
E-mail: karpiakc2@scranton.edu
Office Hours:
Required Text:
Phares, V. (2003). Understanding abnormal child psychology.
Journal articles will be used to supplement the text.
Course Goals:
This course is an introduction to common
exceptionalities of childhood and adolescence, including their development,
presentation, course, and treatment. Discussion of developmental trajectories
of the various childhood exceptionalities into adulthood will also be included
where there is adequate research evidence. We will balance basic information
about the presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of exceptionalities in
individuals (the “what”), with knowledge about causal pathways,
risk/resiliency, prevalence, incidence, and continuity/discontinuity of the
disorders from research in the field of developmental psychopathology (the
“how” and “why”). The format of this course will fall somewhere between a
“class” and a seminar, and discussion will be a central component. By the end
of the semester you should:
a) be able to
describe/recognize common childhood exceptionalities
b) understand in detail one
childhood exceptionality, including etiology, course, and common approaches to
assessment & treatment
c) have current knowledge about
prevalence, incidence, risks/buffers, and developmental trajectories of common
childhood exceptionalities
d) be familiar with the
developmental psychopathology approach to understanding the causes and courses
of psychological and developmental problems, and more comfortable with the
complexity involved in development in general
Evaluation:
There are four components to your
grade:
1.
Presentation with partner and brief summary paper, worth 30% of your
grade.
2.
Research paper, worth 30% of your grade.
3.
Quizzes/case studies, worth 30% of your grade.
4.
Final exam, worth 10% of your grade.
Group presentations. Each group will prepare a
presentation for the class on one exceptionality of childhood/adolescence,
including etiology (causes), course (description and developmental sequence if
applicable, including prognosis), specific assessment instruments that appear
valid (if applicable), and treatment. In addition, each group will demonstrate
in a creative manner the way a child or adolescent with the exceptionality
might present. Possible ways to do this include role plays, interviewing a
parent, finding an expert, using video clips from a formal program or legitimate
internet resource, recording an example from a popular television show, etc. If
you choose to use either a parent interview or some other format that involves
interaction with a real person with an exceptionality,
you must first get instructor permission. Please feel free to consult with
me as you are preparing your presentation—I have books, articles, etc. that
might be helpful. Presentations will be graded using a combination of the
following: my ratings of the presentation (50% of the grade); class ratings of
the presentation (approximately 17% of the grade); group member ratings of each
other’s contribution (approximately 17% of the grade), and; the brief summary
paper (1 per group, approximately 17% of the grade).
The
research paper (5-10 pages, double spaced) should be a literature
review plus critique, written on the exceptionality addressed in your group
presentation. For this paper, you will expand on an area that is of particular
interest to you regarding that exceptionality. For example, if you believe you
might become a school psychologist, and your group project focused on mental
retardation or learning disabilities, you might want to go into more depth on
matters related to IEP’s, arguments about the
appropriateness of intelligence measures for placement of minority children,
etc. If you are interested in behavior genetics, you might want to expand on information
of that nature related specifically to the exceptionality from your group
presentation. If you’re headed in a clinical direction, you might want to focus
in more depth on differential diagnosis/comorbidity,
treatments for the exceptionality, or on lifespan-type research that includes
related aspects of adult psychopathology, etc. You need to read and reference
at least 5 recent journal articles (1998 to present), and at least 2 should be
reports of specific research projects (as opposed to review or theoretical
articles). Again, feel free to consult with me about this paper, use my books
to track down articles, etc.
Quizzes and Case Studies are designed to evaluate
your grasp of the text material and capacity to apply that material and other
learning from the course to the prospect of figuring out what is going on with individuals
with emotional, behavioral, and/or academic problems. Quizzes take place at the
start of the class for which they are scheduled. They are not comprehensive,
but include material from the reading assigned for that day, text/article
material we will not have covered in lecture at the time of the quiz. Quizzes cannot be made up. Keep up with
your reading! Case studies are brief vignettes, sometimes with fabricated test
results. Case studies require actively thinking about the information provided,
narrowing down possible reasons for the child’s presentation, and identifying
additional information you would like to have. They will be started during
class, and can be done in pairs or alone.
The final exam is worth 10% of your grade,
and consists of a combination of multiple choice and short essay questions. The
exam is heavy on material that is addressed in class discussions and
presentations, and will not include any material from the text or articles that
is not addressed in class.
Attendance:
Regular
class attendance is expected. Poor attendance usually corresponds with poor
performance due to gaps in understanding of the material, reflected on scores
on quizzes, case studies, and the final exam. You are responsible for knowing
all announcements made in class, including those related to any changes in the
attached schedule. You are also responsible for knowing the material covered in
lectures and videos.
Please refer to the
University’s Academic code of Honesty
(revised May 1998). Dishonest examination or quiz behavior on your part will
result in the assignment of a grade of F for the course. Dishonest behavior in
writing a paper (e.g., plagiarism) will result in the assignment of a grade of
F (zero points) for the paper in question. Plagiarism includes failing to put
quotation marks and appropriate citations with material copied from the work of
another, failing to use quotation marks when you’ve changed only a few words in
a sentence or paragraph written by another, “cut and paste” papers created with
information copied from various sources, or otherwise failing to differentiate
your own language and/or phrasing from that used by the author(s) of the
documents you use to pull the paper together. These forms of plagiarism are
common, so be careful. You will receive a grade of F for the paper for
plagiarism, regardless of whether it was intentional or due to carelessness.
Egregious plagiarism—e.g., copying a paper written by another person or buying
a paper online—will result in a grade of F for the entire course.
*1. Hetherington, E. M.,
Bridges, M., & Insabella, G. M. (1998). What
matters? What does not? Five perspectives on the association
between marital transitions and children’s adjustment. American psychologist, 53, 167-184.
2. Rutter, M. (1991). Nature,
nurture, and psychopathology: A new look at an old topic. Development and psychopathology, 3, 125-136.
3. Ridley, M. (2003, June 2). What makes you who
you are? Time, 161, 54-63
*4. Dodge, K. A., &
Pettit, G. S. (2003). A biopsychosocial
model of the development of chronic conduct problems in adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 39, 349-371.
5. O’Connor, E. M. (2001, December). Medicating
ADHD: Too much? Too soon? Monitor on Psychology,32 (11), 50-51
*6. Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Girgus, J. S.
(1994). The emergence of gender differences in
depression during adolescence. Psychological
Bulletin, 114, 424-443.
7. Lord, C. (1993). Early
social development in autism. In Schopler,
E., Van Bourgondien, M. E., &
Fall 2004
Course Schedule (Tentative)
I reserve the right to make changes to
this schedule. Changes will be announced in class and/or on Blackboard.
NOTE:
Aug
30 M Introduction/History,
practice case study
Sep 1 W Overview of
developmental psychopathology [Chapter 2]
Sep
3 F the
developmental perspective [Chapter 7]
Sep
6 M Labor day, no classes
Sep
8 W epidemiological
studies; causal processes; risk/resiliency [article 1]
Sep
10 F analysis
of nature/nurture articles, with Dr. Tim Cannon [articles 2 & 3]
Sep
13 M risk
factors Quiz # 1
Sep
15 W risk
factors: maltreatment [article 4]
Sep
17 F continued;
intro to classification, assessment, & diagnosis of children [Chapter 1]
Sep
20 M continued
[Chapter 3] Case Study # 1
Sep
22 W continued
[Chapter 5]
Sep
24 F overview
of treatment approaches [Chapter 6]
Sep
27 M Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD) group presentation Quiz
# 2
Sep
29
Oct
1 F continued
[Article 5]
NOTE: THE 2ND IS THE LAST DAY TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN MOST
STATES
Oct
4 M Anxiety
disorders group presentation
Oct
6 W anxiety
disorders lecture [Chapter 10] Quiz # 3
Oct
8 F continued,
PTSD
Oct
11 M continued,
school refusal Case Study # 2
Oct
13 W Conduct
disorders group presentation
Oct
15 F conduct
disorders film
FALL BREAK OCTOBER 16 - 19
Oct
20 W conduct
disorders lecture [Chapter 12]
Oct
22 F Mood
disorders group presentation
Oct
25 M Mood
disorders lecture [Chapter 9, Article 6], Case
Study # 3
Oct
27 W continued,
bipolar disorder
Oct
29 F Learning
and language disorders group presentation
Nov
1 M Learning
and language disorders lecture [Chapter 15],
NOV 2ND ELECTION DAY. VOTE.
Nov
3 W continued,
giftedness lecture
Nov
5 F Case Study # 4 in class
Nov
8 M group
presentation on autism and/or mental retardation
Nov
10 W lecture
[Chapter 14], Quiz # 4
Nov 12 F continued [Article
7]
Nov 15 M disorders of
infancy
Nov 17 W reactive
attachment disorder
Nov 19 F tic disorders
Nov
22 M tic
disorders, continued
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY NOVEMBER 24 - 28
Nov 29 M pediatric/health
psychology, eating disorders [Chapter 16]
Dec
1 W continued,
Quiz # 5
Dec
3 F prevention
[Chapter 8]
Dec
6 M continued,
Case Study # 5
Dec
8 W topics
of interest
Dec
10 F continued
[Chapter 17]
Dec
13 M wrap
up
Dec
14 FINALS BEGIN Final
Exam