57.315.01, Fall, 1995
Self-Management

Brian T. Yates, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
323 Asbury Building
The American University
Washington, DC 20016-8062

Voice: 202-885-1727 (& 24-hour voice mail), 301-942-8594 (home & fax: no papers!).

E-mail: BYates (Eaglenet), BrianYates@aol.com (Internet), BrianYates (America On Line)

Office Hours:
appointments: (arrange with me at lecture or call)
Asbury 323 (then first door on left).

Teaching Assistants:
Richard Leit, 2nd-Year Clinical Ph.D. student.
Office hours: 1:00 to 2:00 pm on Tuesdays in Asbury 136 and to-be-arranged.
Messages: 202-885-1710.
e-mail: RL0013a@American.edu. (On Eaglenet: RL0013a).

John Chamberlain, Clinical Ph.D. student.
Office hours: 10:00 am - 11:00 am on Mondays and 11:30 am to 12:30 pm days in Asbury 213, and to-be-arranged.
Messages: 202-885-1710
e-mail: JC7704a@American.edu.

Lecture/Discussions:
Wednesdays, 11:20 am - 2:00 pm, Beeghly Hall 1.

Required Materials:
Texts:
Yates, B. T. (1985). Self-management: The science and art of helping yourself. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. ISBN: 0-534-03663-5. (hard cover)
Yates, B. T. (1986). Applications of self-management. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. ISBN: 0-534-05754-3. (paperback) {I'll loan you this one!}
Hoff, B. (1982). The Tao of Pooh. New York: Dutton. ISBN 0-525-24458-1.
Recommended text:
Hoff, B. (1992). The te of Piglet. New York: Dutton. ISBN 0-525-93496-0.
Lecture Notes. I've found, as have students who've taken this course before, that the books will overlap sufficiently with the lectures to make my usual published lecture notes unnecessary.

Psychology Major Credit

If you are a Psychology major, this course can count as one of your Psychology electives.

Prerequisites

57.105 Psychology as a Social Science, and either 57.230 Theories of Personality or 57.215 Abnormal Psychology and Society.

Course Purpose

This course first teaches you behavioral, cognitive, dynamic, and holistic techniques of changing yourself -- what you do, what you think, and what you feel. Next the specific steps of self-management are detailed.

Exercises help you through each step in the three self-management projects that you do as part of the class. Included in these steps are defining self-management goals, self-monitoring, assessing determinants of problems, deciding how to engineer self-interventions, assessing the success of self-interventions, and preventing relapse from self-management. The projects, together, should integrate Western methods and certain Eastern concepts of self-change and self-management.

The areas covered in lectures and readings include self-management of weight loss and weight gain, bulimia, smoking, drinking, other drug abuse, studying, writing papers, getting things done on time, coping with depression, shyness and social skills, choosing and preparing for a career, getting a job, how to recognize when self-management is not enough, and getting professional help for personal problems.

Goal Schedule

You are responsible for all material presented in each lecture, including substantive material and revisions of this syllabus, e.g., changes in due dates and dates of examinations.
Reading Abbreviations
SM: Self-Management (ecru, hard cover),
ASM: Applications of Self-Management (blue, soft cover),
TAO: The tao of Pooh (red and white, bear flying kite...; chapters numbered as listed in CONTENTS, beginning with Foreword as 1).
ORIENTATION TO SELF-MANAGEMENT
Date Day Reading Self-Study Lecture, Discussion, Groups
6 Sep W (nothing special) Begin your Alpha Self- Study. Try making a few Technique Log entries. Theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of self-management. Course procedure, too. Formation of initial groups.
TECHNIQUES FOR SELF-MANAGEMENT
13 Sep W SM: Preface, Intro., Ch. 1 & Ch. 2. continue Technique Log (1 entry daily, 7 days per week) Management by antecedent.
Management by consequence.
20 Sep W SM: Ch. 3, Ch. 4. continue Technique Log Management by cognition.
Management by affect.
27 Sep W TAO: 1-5 draft Alpha Project Synopsis Eastern techniques for self-management, Part I.
4 Oct
Yom Kippur 		W ASM: Ch. 4 type up T-Log
Technique Log and Alpha Project Synopsis due at start of class. 		Time management, Domestic management: contexts for self-management.
STEPS FOR DOING SELF-MANAGEMENT
11 Oct W (review) (review) Examination on Techniques of Self-Management
18 Oct W SM: Ch. 5.
TAO: 6. 		Operationalize SM Goals, Develop Self-Monitoring System (write answers to Exercises I through VII, at the end of SM Ch. 5). Choosing, operationalizing goals for self-management.

Present answers to Exercises I through VII to your group.

25 Oct W SM: Ch. 6.
TAO: 7. 		Self-Monitor (for the entire week)
Conduct Self-Analysis (write answers to Exercises VIII through XI, at end of Ch. 6). 		Present your self-monitoring system to your group, along with data collected for the past 7 days.

Present answers to Exercises VIII through XI to your group.

1 Nov W SM: Ch. 7.
TAO: 8. 		Initiate Self-Change (write answers for Exercises XII - XIV; also start your intervention now).
Continue self-monitoring. 		Answers to your questions about Exercises XII through XIV.

Problem-solving in groups regarding interventions and assessment of change.

8 Nov W SM: Ch. 8.
TAO: 9. 		Plan Self-Maintenance (write answers for Exercises XV through XVII, end of Ch. 8) Relapse prevention. Present your answers to Exercises XV through XVII in group. Describe Self-Study progress to date to group.

Getting and giving professional help for self-management.

APPLYING TECHNIQUES AND STEPS FOR SELF-MANAGEMENT
15 Nov W ASM: Ch. 5 & Ch. 6.
TAO: 10. 		Self-Study Report (answers to Exercises I through XVII) due in class Project presentations to your groups.
Studying, eating problems.
22 Nov W n/a n/a (Friday classes meet at A.U.)
29 Nov W ASM: Ch. 7 & Ch. 8.
TAO: 11. 		Omega Report work. Exercise.
Sleep disorders.
6 Dec W ASM: Ch. 9 & Ch. 13.
TAO: 10. 		Sleep disorders.
Ethanol, nicotine, other drugs.
Success in a career, getting a job.
13 Dec W TAO: 11.
(none) 		Examination: Applications of self-management Techniques and Steps , particularly to your Omega Project. Plan to spend the full 2.5 hours in the exam.
20 Dec 11:20-12:35 W (none) (the usual) Closure: Exam, paper returned, course grade. (This is when our final exam is scheduled.)

Reports: General Issues

The grammar, spelling, neatness, and style, of all written work for this course are important--as is the content! All work must be typed by a typewriter or printed by a computer, with the sole exception of graphs. Graphs may be incorporated into your printed report, or may be attached and drawn by hand if clearly labeled and if clearly numbered and references in the text. Handwritten manuscripts will be scored zero. Papers also must be turned in on the day they are due at the start of class or they will be scored zero. There is absolutely no acceptable reason for turning in a paper late. I suggest that you try to turn in the paper early. If you turn it in to my box the day before class (by 4:00 pm sharp), I will add 3 points to your paper score.

As a safeguard, please retain a copy of each of your written submissions.

For each written assignment, use the outline provided. Type in the headings to make the structure of your paper explicit. Please double-space, and make sure that the typing or printing is not too light to read. Do not review theories or principles in the paper. Apply them as indicated. Use terminology appropriate to the theoretical approach.

Technique Utilization Log + Alpha Project Synopsis

The Technique Utilization Log is used in the first part of the course to record instances of when you used one of the self-management techniques discussed in the first part of the course, particularly for your first, alpha project. Develop a log with columns for the different categories of the techniques (i.e., Antecedent Control, Consequence Control, Cognitive, and Affective, and with subcolumns for the major techniques within each category (e.g., positive self-reinforcement, ...action self-instructions, ... compartmentalization).

Make at least one entry each day (yes, each day! 7 days a week! ...starting the first day we start talking about techniques). In each entry, note which technique(s) you found yourself using that day. Also record examples of the techniques used, with a brief indication (another thin column) of whether the technique was successful or not. Then type up your Log for submission.

Your Alpha project synopsis should (a) describe your goal, (b) what you attempted to do to accomplish that goal, and (c) how well you faired. You also should have a section on what (d) you'll do in the future in that area. Each of sections (a) through (d) should be between one and two pages in depth. A frank, critical discussion of your progress is important.

Beta Project Proposal and Report

Please follow the outline carefully when writing up your proposal and your report. Type all major headings (changing or abbreviating as you wish). The SM text tells you how to write each part of the report, and gives examples of what AU students have done in the past with most parts of the report. The exercises at the end of Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 detail what should be in each part of the report.

To have the most successful self-management project, follow these exercises closely and discuss a draft of your report with the Teaching Assistant or I.

Omega Project

This is a project that make be life-long, that you're probably already worked on for some time, and that I hope this course will assist for a long time to come. The format for your "report" on this project will be integrated into the examination. Plan for a full 2.5-hour exam period!

Examinations

Each exam has three parts: Multiple Choice, Short Essays, and a Long Essay. You should answer all of the 10 Multiple Choice questions. You'll be able to choose 3 out of 6 Short Essay questions, and 1 out of 2 Long Essay questions. Each of the Multiple Choice questions is 0 or 2 points, each of the Short Essays is 0 to 10 points, and the Long Essay is 0 to 50 points, for a total of 100 possible points on each exam. Exam questions are drawn from lectures and readings.

(Count the number of Short Essay questions you answer carefully: if you answer only 2, you can't get credit for the unanswered third question! Also, only the first three Short Answer questions will be graded.)

Plagiarism

What an unpleasant topic! Unfortunately, in the past a very few of my students have needed the following made explicit, so I must burden you with it as well.

Papers must be completely original: they must be your own writing, done for the first time for this course. All material drawn from other sources, whether a direct quote or a close paraphrasing (a "putting in your own words") must be placed within quotation marks and must be followed immediately by a reference citation (a footnote or APA-style citation with a References section at the end of your paper). To do otherwise is plagiarism, which is a violation of the Academic Integrity Code of The American University.

All suspected plagiarism, including paraphrasing without quotation marks and without reference citation, will be reported to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences with a recommendation for disciplinary action. This is a University regulation.

Academic Integrity

Standards of academic conduct are set forth in the University's Academic Integrity Code, which can be found in the University Catalog. By registering for classes at A.U., you are acknowledging your awareness of the Code and obligating yourself to become familiar with your rights and responsibilities as defined by the Code. Violations of the Code will not be treated lightly, and disciplinary actions will be taken should such violations occur. Please see me if you have any questions about the academic violations described in the Code in general, or as they relate to the requirements of this course in particular.

Grading

Your course grade score is the simple average of five numbers: the 2 examination scores, your 2 project reports (Log + Synopsis counts as one report, the Beta report counts as the other report) and your group work (participation + project presentation). Grades are A (92-100), A- (90 to 91.9), B+ (88 to 89.9), B (82 to 87.9), B- (80-81.9), C+ (78 to 79.9), C (72 to 77.9), C- (70 to 71.9), D (60 to 69.9), and F (below 60). I will consider improvement in performance during the course when your course average is close to the next grade range.

Make-Up Exams, Illness

Make-up examinations are permitted only if you are severely ill at the time of the examination (like, in the hospital). Colds don't count. Others' illnesses don't count. Oversleeping does not count. Nothing else counts.

All illnesses must be certified by a health professional (ideally, a physician) in writing within one week of the missed exam. I reserve the right to contact the health professional personally, and to reject any certification. The Student Health Center does not appear to issue such certifications; you should be sick enough to require the care of a physician off campus.

Missed exams not qualifying as "make-ups" will receive a zero score. Also, no "early" exams can be given. Students who have been acknowledged to have a valid reason to take the make-up examination will take a different exam covering the same material that the missed exam would have covered. Because of difficulties in proctoring "make-up" exams, this make-up exam will be given during the time scheduled for the course final exam, in the regular class meeting room. See me for details.

If you have a learning disability, please provide documentation of it from the Office of Student Life within the first two weeks of the semester. Please also discuss your disability with me during the first two weeks of the semester.

I look forward to teaching you Self-Management!

CAS|Psychology| Student Info.| Syllabi| Old Syllabi| 57.315.01

Created by: Dr. Brian Yates (byates@american.edu)
Psychology Web Page Information: cl1779a@american.edu
Psychology Department Information: psychology@american.edu
Last rev.: 1/25/96