Instructor: Mikhail Lyubansky
57 Snyder Hall; 432-3314
lyubansk@pilot.msu.edu
Office Hours: Tues./Thurs.: 4:30-5:30

Teaching Assistant: Julie Nicholson
43 Snyder Hall; 432-3684
nicho108@pilot.msu.edu
Office Hours: Wed.: 2:30-4:30; Thurs.: 1:00-2:45

I encourage you to take advantage of office hours, to ask questions about the course material
and/or discuss your progress in this course. If you are unable to make any of the office hours,
please feel free to contact me and make an appointment. I am also happy to answer questions
via email. In fact, I check my email several times a day, and this is often the best way to get a
quick response.

Required Texts:

Axline, V. M. (1964). Dibs in Search of Self. New York: Ballantine Books.

Gelfand, D.M., Jenson, W.R., & Drew, C.J. (1997). Understanding Child Behavior Disorders, (3^rd ed.).
Orlando: Harcourt Brace. (hereafter, GJD)

Optional Text:

Steiner, H. (1996). Treating Adolescents. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

This course is designed to introduce students to the study of child and family psychopathology. It is intended
to provide broad coverage of the field by presenting basic theories, research, and applied use of clinical and
developmental psychology.

Areas that will be covered include: history of child psychopathology, methods used to study classify child and
family disorders, assessment and treatment of disorders, and child/family interventions. These areas will be
approached from both theoretical and applied perspectives.

Class participation

Students are expected to attend and actively participate in class. Approximately 13% of the course grade (40 points)
will be based on class participation. Points will be assigned on the basis of class attendance, as well as class participation
that demonstrates a mastery of the assigned reading.
 

Quizzes

There will be a short quiz on the GJD readings approximately every three weeks. These quizzes are NOT cumulative.
Each quiz will have 10 questions (worth 1 point each) taken from general concepts described in the readings. There
will also be an additional 10-question quiz on Dibs in Search of Self. All of the quizzes will be as straightforward as
possible.  As long as you complete the readings, you should have little trouble doing well.

If you cannot be in class on the day of a quiz, it is your responsibility to arrange a make-up date with the instructor,
prior to the date on the syllabus. You will not be allowed to make-up any of the quizzes, once they have been
given in class.

There will not be a Final Exam for this course, nor any other additional examinations!
 

Written assignments

All students are required to submit four 5-6 page written assignments. Specific guidelines and requirements for both
writing assignments will be distributed separately in class. All papers must be typewritten and double-spaced with a
standard 12-pt. font and 1-inch margins. You should have a cover sheet with your name, the course, date, my name,
and the title of the paper. You should also have a reference page, properly citing the articles and any other sources
that you use (e.g., your textbook). The cover sheet and reference page are not part of the 4-5 page length requirement.

The four written assignments are worth 50 points each and will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

Technical Presentation (20% of the grade) -- You must precisely follow the assignment requirements outlined in the
preceding paragraph. Your ideas should be expressed clearly and specifically, and the paper must be free of grammatical
errors and typos. Overall neatness is important.

Content (80% of the grade) -- What you write should be accurate, based on the current psychological literature. Be sure
to give credit to others through citations and references. In addition, your work should reflect a great deal of thought and
organization. It should demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the topic, beyond that provided by the textbook.

Any assignment that is not handed in on the due date will be marked down 25% of the allotted points for each class period
that the assignment is outstanding. Late means anytime past the end of the class period that the assignment is due. Thus, a
paper handed in two class periods after it is due is marked down 50%. I will not accept papers after the second class period
following the due date. All papers not handed in by that time will receive zero points.

I encourage you to submit drafts of your papers to the T.A. or me, prior to the due date. We will review your draft and
return it to you with comments and suggestions. Students who take advantage of this option typically receive higher grades
on their assignments.

The final grade for this course will be based on the total number of points the student earns on class participation,
the five quizzes, and the four written assignments. There are 300 total possible points, which break down as follows:
 

Attendance and Participation     40 points
Writing assignment 1                 50 points
Writing assignment 2                 50 points
Writing assignment 3                 50 points
Writing assignment 4                 50 points
GJD quiz 1                               10 points
GJD quiz 2                               10 points
GJD quiz 3                               10 points
GJD quiz 4                               10 points
GJD quiz 5                               10 points
Dibs quiz                                  10 points
 

Grades will be assigned according to the following scale.
I reserve the right to make the grading scale easier, but I promise not to make it harder!
 

Grade Total Points Percentage

4.0         270-300         90-100%
3.5         255-269         85 - 89%
3.0         240-254         80 - 84%
2.5         225-239         75 - 79%
2.0         210-224         70 - 74%
1.5         195-209         65 - 69%
1.0         180-194         60 - 64%
0.0              <180             < 60%