This course is intended primarily for psychology majors and graduate students. It covers psychological approaches to problems of adult intimacy. The research and statistical methodology sequence (Psych. 302 and 303) is required. It is recommended that you do not take this course as your very first upper division core psychology class.
Please note: This is not a how-to course about marriage! Although much of the course content deals with applied clinical psychology research, the emphasis is on understanding research methodology. Given the emphasis on marital dysfunctions, some people may find the course content depressing. This course may trouble tenderhearted seeking to improve their own relationships! Your success in this course requires communication skills, written and oral.. If you have neglected your writing skills and they are not at college level, this course will be especially difficult. Your grade will reflect the quality of your writing. Beware...this course will probably require a full 10 or more hours per week.
Readings and lectures will cover current developments in theories and research on the psychological aspects of marital interaction and marital dysfunction; methods for assessing conflict in intimate interactions; examples of techniques used to intervene in marital discord; and research and methodology pertaining to the evaluation of therapy outcomes. This is a clinically focused psychology course that emphasizes the knowledge generated by empirical studies. Being able to integrate material from diverse and often quite technical sources is necessary for success in this course. We will focus on the nature of psychological constructs in the area of marital and family distress.
One of the objectives of this course is to improve your critical thinking by involving you as much as possible in how psychologists generate knowledge in this area. The course surveys a wide variety of topics and issues in a very short time. You will be asked to think like a marital and family researcher. You will be asked to approach the material critically, noting methodological strengths and weaknesses in what you read and hear. This course is designed to allow for a great deal of independent study, given the limits of a large class size. You will be doing much of your learning on your own which may be a blessing or a curse.
There are a number of required course activities and options, all of which will necessitate careful planning on your part throughout this term. Experience has shown that you will have major difficulty with this course by ignoring this advice. Your grade will be based on your progress throughout the course as measured by a number of activities. There are many different course activities and options; it is essential that you stay on target and that you keep informed about class procedures and due dates.Quick Overview of Course Requirements
- You MUST have an active e-mail account for this course! These are available to all students (e.g., Gladstone account);
- The course is on a Web page. Using a Web browser is essential: Lectures and other important information is available to you on the Marriage Web page; being comfortable with using the Web for gathering information is a goal of the course;
- The assigned readings for this course are contained in a readings packet of 16 articles available at the bookstore; see Book Contents
- Additional readings for the course will be self directed, based on journal articles you select from the library;
- Journal Clubs (JC) --(2 articles): you will be presenting an oral discussion of 2 different articles, on two different occasions, outside of class, to a small group of classmates. Articles should be empirical studies published after 1990;
- Section paper drafts -- four short drafts you will use to prepare a major term paper; these will due on specific dates;
- Major term paper, referencing at least 10 articles, may include your JC articles (but you cannot count the assigned readings as part of the 10);
- Homework assignment using the Web to locate an interesting study, debate, or information on the leading edge; briefly describe WEB site and what you got from it;
- Three course related substantive MOTET postings (not, "hello, how are you?")
Detailed Course Requirements
Journal Clubs:
You are required to participate in two Journal Clubs during eight of the 10 weeks in the term. JC's are limited to four persons per session. We will provide an advanced sign-up schedule of times for when the JC's will be held during the upcoming week. There will be a sufficient number of sessions so that everyone will be able to participate in the required two sessions. Each session will last for 1 hour, during which time each person will have an opportunity to discuss an article with the other student members in that session. JC's are not to be used as office hour consultations (see below), but rather as an opportunity to exchange ideas in order to foster better understanding of the course material. You do not have to meet with the same group each time.
The
main product for the course is a major term paper.
There are no exams. However, the
course requirements are
structured so
that you will gain the necessary knowledge
to write a successful paper. For
each section of the course
you will write a draft, on the
section, as it applies to your
paper topic. For example, if you
were doing your paper on
depression and
marriage, your first draft, following Section I
of the course, would deal with
the theories of how depression
and marriage
are related. Each section of the course will pertain
to your paper topic.
These draft papers (maximum 4 printed pages)
should reflect
your understanding of the material for the specific
section,
based on lectures, assigned readings, and your own
library
work (e.g., journal articles). The drafts will
be graded and
you can use the feedback to improve the quality of your
paper.
Each draft should clearly describe what information you
intend
to use in the paper. The drafts are your paper in progress,
and they reflect your learning up to the point of the
section
itself. Thus, writing about assessment issues in depression
and marriage (Section II) does not mean writing about
therapy!
Therapy would come later when we cover it.
The E-Mail Connection:
Policy on missed
assignments, and due dates:
See also Reading Schedule
April 13, 2000 | Due date for Section I Draft |
April 27, 2000 |
Last date to turn in Homework |
May 2, 2000 | Due date for Section II Draft |
May 16, 2000 |
Due date for Section III Draft |
|
Due date for Section IV Draft |
June 6, 2000 | Last day to turn in Term Paper |
E-MAIL LISTSERV SETUP INFORMATION Click Computing Center Information
1. To subscribe for the first time to the
MAJORDOMO@lists.uoregon.edu
You will get a return message confirming that
When you want to get off the list (i.e., no longer
MAJORDOMO@lists.uoregon.edu
UNSUBSCRIBE MARRIAGEENDTo send a message to the entire class, just send it to MARRIAGE@lists.uoregon.edu
Messages sent to the Marriage list will go to everyone on
2. To
send a message to the instructor only (not to the
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9:00 | #1 J-C | Office Hrs | |||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5:30 |
Note:Journal
Clubs meet for
1 hr each in 143
Straub;
you must have signed up in advance for each session.