Students must complete two oral examinations during the semester. The first exam covers basic concepts in drug addiction and tests mastery of the essential elements covered in PSY 451. The second exam specifically tests material from this seminar, with an emphasis on general concepts rather than detailed knowledge. Background material covered in PSY 451 is tested during the first few weeks of the course; for students who have not taken PSY 451, the relevant material has been deposited at the Jacobs Copy Center. The new material specific to this seminar is tested throughout the semester until the last week of the seminar. Students are permitted to retake the oral examinations within the time period allotted for each exam. Oral examinations may be given individually and/or in groups and may span more than one session.

Class attendance and participation in group discussions constitute an important component of the course. The mandatory attendance period begins 01 February and continues through 14 April. Students are permitted to miss two class periods during this time, after which each missed class period retroactive to the first two missed classes results in an attendance grade reduction of 5% (i.e., the third missed class period lowers the attendance grade to 85% -- the letter grade equivalent of a "B"). There are no excused absences for missed class periods -- you must be present to receive credit for participation. Students with commitments that conflict with the class meeting times and that might miss more than two of the mandatory attendance periods should withdraw from the course. Students are encouraged to attend all of the class periods, but only the 20 class meetings during the mandatory attendance period are used for calculating the attendance grade.

Annotated bibliographies are compiled from professional papers related to the subtopics covered by the course. Students conduct library research weekly, selecting and reading a paper for discussion during the Thursday class periods. Near the end of the semester, the annotated bibliographies are submitted for course credit. Samples of the annotated bibliographies can be submitted any time up to the last two weeks of the semester for feedback from the instructor. Students are permitted to revise their bibliographies to improve their grade for this component of the course. Click here for a sample annotated bibliography.
 
 

 

Seminar Topics

Theme1	Subtopics2	Date3
A Brief Synopsis of Addiction to Prototypic Addictive Drugs	Concept of Addiction Psychological processes Biological mechanisms	20 Jan.
Factors Modulating Addiction	Psychological stress Thrill-seeking personality Reward-deficiency syndrome	01 Feb.
A Psychobiological Model of Addiction	Influence of psychological & social factors on the development of addiction Biobehavioral reciprocity Integration of psychosocial factors with biological mechanisms	08 Feb.
Beyond the Prototypical Addictive Drugs (other illicit drugs)	LSD & other hallucinogens Marijuana MDMA (Ecstasy)	15 Feb.
Addiction to Commonly Used Substances? (licit drugs)	Caffeine Nicotine OTC drugs	22 Feb.
Non-Chemical Addictions?	Internet related including "day trading" and "cybersexual addiction" Pathological gambling Eating disorders	01 Mar.
Diagnosis & Treatment Considerations	DSM-IV ICD-10 Addiction Severity Index Cue extinction procedures Cognitive-behavioral therapy	08 Mar.
Pharmacological Approaches to Treating Addiction	Methadone maintenance Rapid detoxification Antidepressant medications Immunological approaches Orthomolecular psychiatry	22 Mar.
Harm-Reduction Strategies	Needle exchange programs The "British System" "Needle Parks" Drug information programs	29 Mar.
Addicted to Addictions	Politics of addiction Responsibility of government agencies Responsibility of public news media	05 Apr.
Addiction in the “Real World”	Differences between academic study and clinical treatment of addiction Staging in prevention and treatment effectiveness Recreational drug use	12 Apr.
1: Assigned readings are available at the Jacobs (Park) Hall Copy Center for each main topic. Additional readings may also be on reserve at the Undergraduate Library and/or available online.  2: Pick one or more subtopics from each theme for inclusion in your annotated bibliography. Be prepared to discuss these papers weekly during class. Submit samples of your work for feedback throughout the semester.  3: Tentative starting dates may change during the semester. Tuesdays are generally used for structured discussion of the assigned chapter material, and Thursdays are generally used for open discussion and inclusion of outside material.