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RYERSON UNIVERSITY
The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education
CPSY 707: MODELS OF STRESS AND ADAPTATION

WINTER 2015

PROFESSOR:
Skye Stephens, MA (PhD Candidate)
EMAIL:
skye.stephens@psych.ryerson.ca
ACADEMIC COORDINATOR: Brian Rabinowicz 416-979-5000 ext. 6195
OFFICE HOURS:
Monday last 20 minutes of class or by appointment
LENGTH:
Winter 2015 (January 12 2015- April 13 2015)
TIMES:
Monday 6:30PM 9:30pm
LOCATION:
EPH225
PREREQUISITE:
PSY 011 or CPSY 105 or CPSY 102 or equivalent
ANTIREQUISITE:
PSY 805
COURSE DESIGNATION:
Upper-level Liberal Studies
NOTE: Students registered in a Ryerson program or intending to register in a program should
examine their program's curriculum and the Ryerson calendar carefully. To graduate from a
program, students require a number of Liberal Studies credits as well as Professional and
Professionally-related credits. Ryerson courses are correspondingly designated Professional,
Professionally-related or Liberal Studies. Liberal Studies courses are further divided into
Lower-level (normally for first and second year credit) and upper-level (normally for third and
fourth year credit) courses. You may not use a Professionally-related Psychology course for a
Liberal Studies credit or vice versa, nor may you use a Lower-level Liberal Studies course for
Upper-level Liberal Studies credit.
__________________________
The Department of Psychology has a web page at http://www.ryerson.ca/~psychweb/. There the
students may find departmental policies regarding appeals, plagiarism, and other issues (see
especially http://www.ryerson.ca/academicintegrity/students.html for information on Academic
Integrity). It is the student's responsibility to know and adhere to all Departmental and
University policies; and also to make arrangements for maintaining a proper registration in this
course. Read the calendar carefully.
COURSE DESCRIPTION (from course calendar):
Every society produces stressors to which the members of that society must respond. In our society
stress is commonplace, but the origins, effects and handling of stress are often poorly understood.
Through the examination of psychological models of stress, this course seeks to make students
aware of the stressors present in our society and of their own personal resources for adjustment and
growth. CPSY707 is not available for credit to students who choose CPSY805. (Upper-level liberal
studies elective)

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COURSE OBJECTIVES:
The objectives of this course are to acquaint students with:
The psychological and physiological effects of stress
The role of stress in physical illness and psychopathology
General and specific sources of stress
Methods of coping with stress
REQUIRED TEXT:
Harrington, R. (2013). Stress, health & well-being: Thriving in the 21st century. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth.
METHOD OF PRESENTATION:
Lectures and discussions will be the method of presentation for this course. At various times
throughout the course the professor will use multimedia to convey course material. There will be
an emphasis on active learning and class participation.
Please note that the lectures will be related to the assigned readings, but will go beyond these
readings. Therefore, both text and lecture material will be required for evaluations.
COURSE POLICIES:
Student Handbook: Please consult the Chang School 2013/2014 Student Handbook. Students
are expected to be familiar with its contents
http://ce-online.ryerson.ca/ce/forms/student_handbook/student_handbook_2013-2014.pdf
Academic Conduct: The Ryerson Student Code of Academic Conduct defines academic
misconduct, the processes the University will follow when academic misconduct is suspected, and
the consequences that can be imposed if students are found to be guilty of misconduct. Further
information is also available at www.ryerson.ca/academicintegrity. The Senate policy on academic
misconduct can be found here: www.ryerson.ca/senate/policies/pol60.pdf
Academic misconduct includes:
plagiarism (claiming words, ideas, artistry, drawings or data of another person as your
own, including submitting your own work in whole or in part in more than one course)
cheating
misrepresentation of personal identity or performance
submission of false information
contributing to academic misconduct
damaging, tampering, or interfering with the scholarly environment
unauthorized copying or use of copyrighted materials
violations of departmental policies on professional behavior and/or course requirements

Please note there is a zero tolerance policy for academic misconduct. This means that in
cases of academic misconduct students can at a minimum expect a grade of 0 for the
evaluation.
Blackboard: Blackboard will be used to post PowerPoint lecture outlines, marks, and any
announcements. As such, all course material will be on Blackboard, so please be sure to check it

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regularly and consistently.
Email: The best way to contact me is by e-mail. E-mails will be answered as quickly as possible,
but you must use your Ryerson email account and include CPSY707 in the subject line. Emails
from other accounts will not be opened due to the number of incidents of viruses transmitted
from other accounts and some emails cannot be opened or received properly from other
accounts. Please note that I will respond to e-mails within 24 hours of receiving them only
on business days and within business hours (Monday through Friday 9-6pm). This means
that if you send me an e-mail at midnight on Saturday I will respond within 24 hours starting
from Monday morning at 9am. Furthermore, I will not answer questions about assignments
or test related questions on the day of the assignment/test. Please also see the student email
policy: www.ryerson.ca/senate/policies/pol157.pdf
Attendance: Overall your attendance in class is expected. PowerPoint slides will be available
on Blackboard and will provide an outline of the lecture. These are NOT a substitute for
lecture attendance as lectures will frequently go beyond what is included in the PowerPoint. You
are responsible for the material covered in class and in the textbook/required readings. It
will frequently be the case that material covered in class is not found in the text, so you must be
prepared to attend lectures and take adequate notes. If you miss a lecture it is your responsibility
to get caught up on the information you have missed.
Written Assignment: There will be a written assignment that will be submitted to me in class
and through Turnitin.com. The assignment will be due at the beginning of class. A late penalty
of 5% per day will be deducted for students who had in their assignments past the due
date. If the assignment is handed in 10 days late there will be an automatic mark of 0 assigned.
Turnitin.com: Please note that written assignments will be submitted on Turnitin.com in order to
assist the professor in the detection of plagiarism. If you do not want your work submitted to
this plagiarism detection service you must speak to the professor directly by the end of the
second class to make alternate arrangements.
Grade Reassessment: Requests to reconsider any grade must be made directly to the professor
within 10 business days of the return of the graded coursework. After this 10 day period there
will be no reassessment. If you are requesting a reassessment of your grade please include in
writing the following information: the reason why you believe your grade is inaccurate and
specific examples to support this. If you do not include this information the professor will
not reassess the work. Just because you put in a lot of effort into an assignment or studying for
a test does not mean you deserve a higher grade, as it is quality that is important. Please
remember that during grade reassessment the professor can lower, increase, or keep the grade the
same.
Your expectations of me are that I will teach you to the best of my ability, and will treat you fairly
and impartially. My expectations of you are that you will act as professionals, with all the
responsibility and integrity that implies. That means I expect you to be aware of the contents of
the syllabus, attend classes on time, and not leave early. I expect your cell phone to be off during
class time, and email and texting to be left for the breaks and/or outside of class time, with
attention paid during the class and no disruptive behaviours to any others in the class.

MISSED CLASSES AND/OR EVALUATIONS

Students are required to inform their instructors of any situation which arises during the semester
which may have an adverse effect upon their academic performance, and must request any
considerations and accommodations according to the relevant policies and well in advance. Failure to
do so will jeopardize any academic appeals. Please note that if you will be missing a test, exam, or
assignment due date you MUST contact the professor by e-mail as soon as possible. All missed
tests, exams, and assignments will be automatically given a mark of 0 unless there is a legitimate
reason. Documents will need to be handed in to support the legitimate reason:

Medical certificates If a student misses the deadline for submitting an assignment, or the
date of an exam or other evaluation component because of illness, he or she must submit a
Ryerson Student Medical Certificate AND an Academic Consideration form within 3
working days of the missed date. Both documents are available at
www.ryerson.ca/senate/forms/medical.pdf. If you are a full-time or part-time degree
student, then you submit your forms to your own program department or school. If you
are a certificate or non-certificate student, then you submit your forms to the staff at the
front desk of the Chang School. Make-up tests, exams, and assignments will be arranged
according to the Ryerson University Course Management Policy:
www.ryerson.ca/senate/policies/pol145.pdf

Religious/Spiritual/Aboriginal observance If a student needs accommodation because of

religious/spiritual/Aboriginal observance, they must submit a Request for Accommodation of
Student Religious, Aboriginal and Spiritual Observance AND an Academic Consideration
form within the first 2 weeks of the class or, for a final examination, within 2 weeks of the
posting of the examination schedule. If the required absence occurs within the first 2 weeks
of classes, or the dates are not known well in advance as they are linked to other conditions,
these forms should be submitted with as much lead time as possible in advance of the
required absence. Both documents are available at
http://www.ryerson.ca/senate/forms/relobservforminstr.pdf. If you are a full-time or parttime degree student, then you submit the forms to your own program department or
school. If you are a certificate or non-certificate student, then you submit the forms to
the staff at the front desk of the Chang School.

Students with disabilities In order to facilitate the academic success and access of students
with disabilities, they should register with the Access Centre
http://www.ryerson.ca/studentservices/accesscentre/index.html. Before the first graded work
is due, students should also inform their instructor through an Accommodation Form for
Professors that they are registered with the Access Centre and what accommodations are
required.

IMPORTANT RESOURCES AVAILABLE AT RYERSON

Use the services of the University when you are having problems writing, editing or researching
papers, or when you need help with course material:
The Library (LIB 2nd floor) provides research workshops and individual assistance. Enquire
at the Reference Desk or at www.ryerson.ca/library/info/workshops.html
The Writing Centre (LIB 272- B) offers one-on-one tutorial help with writing and
workshops www.ryerson.ca/writingcentre/workshops.htm

Learning Success (VIC B-15) offers individual sessions and workshops covering various
aspects of researching, writing, and studying. You must book these directly through their
website http://www.ryerson.ca/studentservices/learningsuccess/
English Language Support (VIC B-17) offers workshops to improve overall
communication skills www.ryerson.ca/studentservices/els/

There is one general site where you may see and register for all of the workshops offered by all
of these areas: http://www.ryerson.ca/academicintegrity/workshops.html
COURSE EVALUATION:

There will be 3 forms of evaluation in this course: 2 term tests, a written assignment, and
participation marks.
Tests: Term tests will cover both readings and lecture notes
Test 1 will be worth 30% of your final mark and will be comprised of 80 multiple choice
questions.
Test 2 will be worth 35% of your mark and will include 60 multiple choice questions plus shortanswer questions. It will cover both readings and lecture notes and isnt cumulative (i.e., material
prior to test 1 or that was on test 1 will not be included on test 2).
Please note that makeup tests will be comprised of short answer questions only.
Assignment: Details are below. See timetable below for the due date. This assignment will be
worth 30% of your final mark.
Participation: Throughout the term there will be in class activities or reflections that will be
completed in class, which will comprise 5% of your grade. These are simply exercises that will
require you to be in class, have read the assigned material, and have listened to lecture. If these
are handed in you will automatically receive a participation point that contributes to your
participation mark. These must be completed in class and if you miss a class you will not be
able to hand this in at a later date.

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LECTURE TOPICS AND READINGS:
DATE
January 12

TOPIC
Introduction and review of syllabus
Stress and Health: Models of Stress
Ted Talk: How to make Stress your friend
Positive Psychology
Film: Working like Crazy

READING
Syllabus
Ch. 1

Ch. 3

Feb 16

The Biology of Stress

Film: Worried Sick PBS (first half)
Stress & Physical Illness
Writing Workshop
Mental Illness: The Role of Stress
Test Review
NO CLASS READING WEEK

Feb 23

TEST 1

Mar 2

Interpersonal Stress
Occupational Stress
Class picks topic:
Stress and Crime
OR
Aging, Dying, and Bereavement
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT DUE
Cognitive Coping
Healthy Lifestyles: Exercise and nutrition

January 19
January 26
Feb 2
Feb 9

Mar 9

Mar 16
Mar 23
Mar 30
April 6
April 13

Relaxation and Leisure

Meditation and Mindfulness
Worried Sick (PBS) Part 2
Test Review
TEST 2

BROCHURE ASSIGNMENT

Ch. 2 pp. 35-46

Ch. 4 pp. 115-128

Ch. 5
Ch. 7
None

Ch. 8 pp. 256-267

Ch. 9
Readings assigned on
Blackboard depending
on topic
Ch. 10
Ch. 11
Ch 12 pp. 380-392
Ch. 13
Ch. 14

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DUE DATE: March 9th at the beginning of class
WORTH: 30%
LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL RECEIVE A 5% DEDUCTION PER DAY.
You will pick a topic related to stress and resilience (see list on BlackBoard). You are to create a
brochure on this topic. Be sure to include information about the source of stress, its impacts and
suggestions for handling the stress. Your suggestions for handling the stress MUST be based on
scientific evidence, meaning you must consult outside sources. Note that in the area of stress
management (and psychology in general), "common sense" often does not reflect how human
beings think, feel and behave.
Use at least 3 recent references. Textbook and reference material do not count towards the three
references (though they can be cited). The brochure should be 2 pages, 3 columns (see Microsoft
Word templates). You may use pictures, illustrations, and graphs to illustrate your points.
Creativity will be rewarded! A separate reference page may be submitted instead of having a
reference section in the brochure itself.
NOTE: There are many brochures relating to stress in the public domain of varying quality and
it is difficult to tell whether they contain accurate information as they rarely cite academic
material. The brochure you create must be more academic than a typical brochure and specific
than these, yet they should still be useful to people who have never studied psychology. That
means you will have to use critical thinking in your analysis of the stress and the references you
use, and discrimination in the advice you give.
The brochure will be worth 30% of your final mark. You will submit the brochure in class on
March 9th 2015 at the beginning of class along with your reference page. You must submit a text
copy to turnitin.com by March 9th 2015 by 6:30pm (beginning of class). If one or both of these
are not submitted prior to the beginning of class there will be a 5% deduction per day.
We will hold a mini writing workshop in class to discuss common issues students may run into
specific to the assignment and for writing in general. This workshop will cover the particulars of
the assignment, general writing tips, finding appropriate sources, and APA citation style. This
workshop is intended to assist you with the assignment.

The brochure requires a minimum of 3 academic references (i.e., journal articles) outside of
the assigned course readings. You may use the textbook, but please note that this does not
count towards one of the three sources. As such, you must go beyond text and lecture
material to create your brochure. "Pop" psychology references (usually found in the self-help
section of bookstores and libraries), introductory psychology texts, and magazine and
newspaper articles are not acceptable academic references for an upper level course.
Furthermore, it is important that you note that note that websites for stress or particular
disorders are not appropriate references for this assignment.
Correct referencing (APA) is expected. A maximum of 5% of the essay mark will be
deducted for incorrect referencing.
Do not use quotations. You must paraphrase your sources effectively and your ability to
paraphrase will contribute to your mark.

Literacy is a component of evaluation in all your written work. Your understanding of the
material may be excellent, but if you cannot express and communicate your ideas adequately,
your written work is poor. Brochures may be written with informal styles, but the spelling,
grammar and punctuation must be correct. A maximum of 10% of the mark for the written
work will be subtracted for spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors, so proofread your
brochure carefully. A general tip with editing is to have someone else review your work
before you hand it in.
Keep an electronic copy of your brochure! In the unlikely event that your brochure cannot be
found, you will be required to produce a copy within 24 hours.
Remember to hand in the text to turnitin.com by the due date
Late assignments will receive a 5% deduction per day.
Please note that due to the large numbers of students enrolled in Arts courses, we are unable
to accept assignments submitted by email or by fax.