Psychology 2036A-650 Summer Distance 2019
The Psychology of Physical Health and Illness
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
This course will cover the role of psychological factors in the prevention of illness and the
maintenance of good health, and treatment of already-existing illness. Topics include the
stress/illness relationship, psychological influences on physical symptom perception and
reporting, personality and health, behavioural factors in disease, coping, as well as adherence and
compliance.
Antirequisite: Psychology 3330F/G
• Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for
credit. Therefore, if this course has an antirequisite that you have previously taken, you will lose
credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in this one.
0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Eric Collins, BHSc, MSc, PhD (c)
Office: Social Science Centre 7440 (shared space)
Office Hours: TBA
Email: ecollin9@uwo.ca (48-hour response time or 72-hours during exam season and holidays)
Lectures: OWL
If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you. Please visit: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Poole, G., Matheson, D., & Cox, D. (2016). The psychology of health and health care. A
Canadian perspective. Fifth edition. Pearson: Toronto
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
In this course, we will explore health psychology and its influence on human health and thehealth care system. We will investigate health psychology from its inception to its current
application to human health and health care. This course will also examine stress and coping by
highlighting some of its most important theories and models. Our focus will then shift to the field
of psychoneuroimmunology, which is an area that inspects the relationship between human
biology and psychology. The next topic is health communication, which assesses the dynamics
of physician-patient relationships. Thereafter, our attention turns to human health and physical
activity, specifically the interconnection between physical activity, psychology, and health.
Health-compromising behaviours such as drug use and eating disorders will also be surveyed.
Subsequently, we will navigate the issues of chronic and life-threatening illnesses such as cancer
and explore its impact on health psychology. Next, we will study the topic of pain through
theoretical constructs and clinical application. The health care system will also be probed to help
illuminate issues such as medical care and patient autonomy. Near the end of the term, our focus
turns to the social-ecological model, which will assess the impact of the social determinants of
health and their impact on a macro level. Lastly, we will be introduced to the concept of health
promotion and delve into its application and theoretical underpinnings.
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Learning Outcome Learning
Activity
Learning
Assessment
Depth and Breadth of Knowledge:
Understand ways in which social psychological processes occur
in daily life, such as how people perceive themselves and others
and how they interact with the surrounding environment
•Lectures
•Readings
• Quizzes
• Exams
Application of Knowledge:
Interpret social psychological situations in order to make
predictions about behaviour
•Lectures
•Readings
• Quizzes
• Exams
Application of Methodologies:
Explain the scientific study of social psychology to a nonacademic/non- psychologist
•Lectures
•Readings
• Quizzes
• Exams
5.0 EVALUATION
Component Value %
Mid-Term Quiz #1 5
Mid-Term Quiz #2 5
Mid-Term Exam 40
Final Exam 50
Total 100
Mid-term quizzes (5%) and (5%): There are two online mid-term quizzes. The first online
mid-term quiz takes place at the end of week 4, covers content from chapters 1-3, and is worth
5%. The second online mid-term quiz takes place at the end of week 9, covers content from
chapters 7-9, and is worth 5%. Each quiz consists of 15 questions and includes multiple-choice,
true or false, matching, and fill-in-the-blanks. Both quizzes will be an open-book format but will
include a time-limit. Please make sure you have a strong internet connection before beginning
each quiz. Only students with approved academic accommodations for this course are
permitted to complete version B of each quiz; failure to follow these instructions will result
in a score of zero. Please note: any student suspected of cheating will face serious academic
penalties (see section 8.0 of the course outline). Western University has developed new anticheating technology that allows course instructors to better identify cheating when it occurs.
Exams (40%) and (50%): There are two exams in this course. The exams cover material from
the textbook and PowerPoints on OWL. The mid-term exam contains 60 questions, covers
chapters 1-5, and is worth 40%. The mid-term exam includes multiple-choice, true or false,
matching, and fill-in-the-blanks. The final exam contains 75 questions, covers chapters 1-11, and
is worth 50%. The final exam contains multiple-choice, true or false, matching, and fill-in-theblanks. Students will have a 2-hour limit to complete the mid-term exam, and a 3-hour limit to
complete the final exam. No electronic devices, including smartphones and smartwatches are
permitted during exams. Bring your Western student card and a No. 2/HB pencil to the exams.
According to university policy, the Academic Counsellor--not the course instructor--processes
all cases of missing an exam. If you need to miss an exam for any reason, you are required to
contact your Academic Counsellor in a timely fashion and be prepared to submit to them the
necessary supporting documentation (see Section 9.0 of this course outline). Have your
Academic Counsellor inform me in writing (e.g., e-mail) about the outcome of his or her
discussion with you.
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses
72% 2190-2990 level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows Western's grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf):
A+ 90-100 One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A 80-89 Superior work that is clearly above average
B 70-79 Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C 60-69 Competent work, meeting requirements
D 50-59 Fair work, minimally acceptable
F below 50 Fail
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
Midterm-Exam (40%): Saturday, June 8th. Time and location to be announcement on OWL.
This exam covers content from chapters 1-5.
Final Exam (50%): Date, time, and location to be announced on OWL. This a cumulative exam,
which covers content from all chapters. As a reminder, do not make plans for travel during the
final exam period until you know when your final exams will be.
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
An assigned textbook chapter means that all the pages in that chapter are assigned as reading.
The weekly PowerPoints on OWL expands on material found in the textbook. For the exams,
you are responsible for the material in the textbook, as well as the PowerPoints on OWL.
Week Day Topic Readings
1 May 7 Welcome to health psychology Chapter 1, p. 1-23
2 May 14 Stress and coping Chapter 2, p. 22-50
3 May 21 Psychoneuroimmunology Chapter 3, p. 51-75
4 May 28 Health communication Chapter 4, p. 76-105
May 31-June 2 Online Mid-Term Quiz #1 Chapter 1-3
5 June 4 Health and physical activity Chapter 5, p. 106-134
June 8 Mid-Term Exam Chapters 1-5
6 June 11 Health-compromising behaviours Chapter 6, p. 135-174
7 June 18 Chronic and life-threatening illness Chapter 7, p. 176-204
8 June 25 Pain Chapter 8, p. 206-240
9 July 2 The world of health care: Places, procedures, and people Chapter 9, p. 241-277
July 5-7 Online Mid-Term Quiz #2 Chapters 7-9
10 July 9 From one to many: Health on a large scale Chapter 10, p. 279-300
11 July 16 Health promotion Chapter 11, p. 302-321
TBA Final Exam Cumulative
8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com
Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
9.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?Command=showCategory&PolicyCategoryID=1&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html
10.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:
http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2019 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.
