Unit 13

Unit 13:
Clinical Psychology on the Internet
 Unit 13: Assignment #1 (due before 11:59 pm Central on MON JUL 27):

  1. First, watch Professor Gernsbacher’s lecture video “Internet Addiction” [a transcript is available here].
  2. Now, imagine the following situation: A friend of yours learns that you are taking a course titled “Psychological Effects of the Internet.” This friend asks, “Isn’t that course all about Internet addiction and other negative effects of the Internet?”
  3. Go to the Unit 13: Assignment #1 Discussion Board and create a new post of at least 200 words in which you answer this friend’s question, drawing on at least four points that were mentioned in Professor Gernsbacher’s lecture video.

Unit 13: Assignment #2 (due before 11:59 pm Central on MON JUL 27):

  1. First, learn what a Randomized Controlled Trial is from Wikipedia. Be sure you understand
    1. why Randomized Controlled Trials are considered the “gold standard” for intervention research; and
    2. what it means to randomly assign participants to conditions.
  2. Then, to get a feel for the types of Internet-based therapy that have been tested, read through the list of article titles below and choose ONE article to read:
    1. Abroms et al.’s (2013) study, “A Randomized Trial of Text2Quit: A Text Messaging Program for Smoking Cessation”
    2. Albertson et al.’s (2014) study, “Self-Compassion and Body Dissatisfaction in Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Brief Meditation Intervention”
    3. Beukes et al.’s (2017) study, “Audiologist-Guided Internet-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Adults with Tinnitus in the United Kingdom: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
    4. Blom et al.’s (2015) study, “Effectiveness of an Internet Intervention for Family Caregivers of People with Dementia: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial”
    5. Dahlin et al.’s (2016) study, “Internet-Delivered Acceptance-Based Behaviour Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
    6. Ebert et al.’s (2016) study, “The 6-Month Effectiveness of Internet-Based Guided Self-Help for Depression in Adults with Type 1 and 2 Diabetes Mellitus”
    7. Hagatun et al.’s (2018) study, “Internet-Delivered Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for [Adult] Insomnia and Comorbid Symptoms”
    8. Knaevelsrud et al.’s (2015) study, “Web-Based Psychotherapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in War-Traumatized Arab Patients: Randomized Controlled Trial”
    9. Kypri et al.’s (2014) study, “Web-Based Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for University Students: A Randomized Trial”
    10. Mindell et al.’s (2011) study, “Efficacy of an Internet-Based Intervention for Infant and Toddler Sleep Disturbances”
    11. Peters et al.’s (2017) study, “A Randomized Controlled Trial of an 8-Week Internet-delivered Positive Psychology Intervention for Enhancing Well-being in Patients with Chronic Pain”
    12. Sheeber et al.’s (2017) study, “Mom-Net: Evaluation of an Internet-Facilitated Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Low-Income Depressed Mothers”
    13. Sourander et al.’s (2016) study, “Internet-Assisted Parent Training Intervention for Disruptive Behavior in 4-Year-Old Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial”
    14. Thiart et al.’s (2015) study, “Log In and Breathe out: Internet-based Recovery Training for Sleepless Employees with Work-Related Strain – Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial”
    15. Wagner et al.’s (2016) study, “Randomized Controlled Trial of an Internet-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program for Binge-Eating Disorder”
  3. Go to the Unit 13: Assignment #2 and #4 Discussion Board and create a new post of at least 200 words in which, first, you identify which article you read (by title and author/s’ name) and then, second, you describe the article you read by answering all the following questions:
    1. What was the Internet-based intervention?
    2. How was the Internet-based intervention conducted?
    3. Who were the participants?
    4. What was the control (or comparison) condition?
    5. What did the study find?
    6. If the Internet-based intervention was successful, what factors do you think contributed to its success? Conversely, if the Internet-based intervention was not successful, what factors do you think contributed to its lack of success?
    7. Do you have any personal experience with the area that this intervention was designed to treat?

Unit 13: Assignment #3 (due before 11:59 pm Central on TUE JUL 28):

  1. First, it’s a good idea to learn (from Grammarist.com) the difference between behavior and behaviour (and, by extension, the difference between behavioral and behavioural).
  2. Read the definition of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) from the Mayo Clinic.
  3. Watch Mind: The Mental Health Charity’s (2015) video, “What is CBT? Making Sense of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.” (A transcript is available here.)
  4. Read the abstract of Adelman et al.’s (2014) article, “A Meta-analysis of Computerized Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for the Treatment of DSM-5 Anxiety Disorders.”
    1. Note that “computerized” now means Internet-based (or online).
    2. You might want to revisit Unit 3: Assignment #2, to remind yourself what a meta-analysis is (and the advantages of doing a meta-analysis)
  5. Read the abstract of Carlbring et al.’s (2018) article, “Internet-Based vs. Face-to-face Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for Psychiatric and Somatic Disorders: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.”
  6. Read about the SilverCloud app, which is an online CBT app that is free (for all UW-Madison students, faculty, and staff). SilverCloud might be helpful for you or for someone you know who’d like to
    1. better manage day-to-day stresses and anxiety;
    2. improve resilience;
    3. learn skills to understand thoughts, feelings, and behaviors;
    4. reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety; and
    5. hear stories of other college students.
  7. Tell at least one other person
    1. what Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is;
    2. that two meta-analyses show that Internet-based CBT is as effective as face-to-face CBT and is more effective than doing nothing; snf
    3. that SilverCloud (a CBT app) is available for free to all UW-Madison students, faculty, and staff.
  8. Go to the Unit 13: Assignment #3 Discussion Board and make a new post in which you simply state the following:
    1. I understand what Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is.
    2. I’ve read the abstracts of two meta-analyses that show that Internet-based CBT is as effective as face-to-face CBT and more effective than doing nothing.
    3. I know that SilverCloud is a CBT app that is free to UW-Madison students, faculty, and staff.
    4. I’ve told one other person 1, 2, and 3 above.

Unit 13: Assignment #4 (due before 11:59 pm Central on TUE JUL 28):

  1. Read the posts written by all the other members of your section in the Unit 13: Assignment #2 and #4 Discussion Board.
  2. Review from the Course Syllabus the “Best Way to Respond to Another Student’s Discussion Board Post.” Remember that your responses should always include at least two of the four recommended components.
  3. Then, write two response posts.
    1. one response post should be to a student who read about (and discussed) the same research article as you did, and
    2. the other response post should be to a student who read about (and discussed) a different research article than you did.
    3. If no other student read about (and discussed) the same article as you, then you may respond to two students, each of whom read about (and discussed) a different article than you.
    4. Each of your two response posts should be at least 200 words.
    5. If two other students in your section have not yet posted on the Unit 13: Assignment #2 Discussion Board, you will need to wait until they do OR until the due date for Unit 13: Assignment #2 has passed.
    6. You will not be held responsible for responding to two other students’ posts if the Unit 13: Assignment #2 due date has passed, and two other students have not yet posted on Unit 13: Assignment #2 Discussion Board.

Unit 13: Assignment #5 (due before 11:59 pm Central on WED JUL 29):

  1. Meet online with your NEW Chat Group (which you formed during Unit 8) for a one-hour text-based Group Chat at a time/date that your Chat Group previously arranged.
  2. Prior to your one-hour Group Chat, everyone needs to read the following (these are all CBT self-help articles):
    1. Boyes (2013) article, “Try These Cognitive Restructuring Exercises to Improve Your Mood and Reduce Stress”
    2. Anxiety BC’s (no date) article, “Self Help – Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT): Realistic Thinking”
    3. Hubbard’s (no date) article, “Procrastination: Getting Unstuck with CBT”
  3. During your one-hour Group Chat:
    1. Begin your one-hour Group Chat with each member describing what their Term Project is (including the media you’re using), your current progress on your Term Project, and how you’re feeling about your Term Project, keeping in mind that the Term Project is due in the next Unit.
      • Are you feeling overwhelmed and anxious (there’s so much to do, you don’t know where to start)?
      • Are you feeling stuck (you might have started strong, but now you’re stuck and it’s hard to know what to do next)?
      • Are you feeling defeated (even if you work hard, who knows how good the project will be)?
      • Are you feeling underwhelmed (sheesh, there’s still a whole Unit to go)?
    2. Then, for each Chat Group member, other members of the Chat Group need to serve as amateur Internet-based CBT therapists, using the CBT principles outlined in the three articles you read (before the Group Chat).
      • Help each member of the Chat Group arrive, through Internet-based CBT principles, at a productive emotional place for completing their Term Project.
      • If a Chat Group member isn’t feeling overwhelmed, underwhelmed, anxious, stuck, defeated, or the like about their Term Project for this course, ask if there is another course project or exam for which they are feeling some of those things — and apply CBT to the group member’s thinking and feeling about that other project or exam.
    3. End your one-hour Group Chat by saying goodbye to your Chat Group because this is your last Group Chat of the course!
  4. At the end of your one-hour Group Chat:
    1. Nominate one member of your Chat Group (who participated in the Chat) to make a post on the Unit 13: Assignment #5 Discussion Board that summarizes your Group Chat in at least 200 words.
    2. Nominate another member of your Chat Group (who participated in the Group Chat using the browser Chrome on their laptop, rather than on their mobile device) to save the Chat transcript, in PDF, as described in the Course How To (under the topic, “How To Save and Attach a Chat Transcript”), and attach the Chat transcript, in PDF, to a Unit 13: Assignment #5 Discussion Board post.
    3. Nominate a third member of your Chat Group (who also participated in the Chat) to make a post on the Unit 13: Assignment #5 Discussion Board that states the name of your Chat Group, the names of the Chat Group members who participated in the Chat, the date of your Chat, and the start and stop time of your Group Chat.
    4. If only two persons participated in the Chat, then one of those two persons needs to do two of the above three tasks.

Unit 13: Assignment #6 (due before 11:59 pm Central on WED JUL 29):

  1. Complete the Unit 13 Review Sheet (which is a fillable PDF; refer to previous Units’ instructions for how to download, save onto your own computer, rename, and then fill in a fillable PDF).
      1. Rename the filled-in PDF to be YourLastName_PSY-532_Unit13_CourseReview.pdf.
      2. Remember that each Review Sheet in this course will be cumulative, so be sure to fill in ALL pages.
  2. IMPORTANT NOTE about your Term Project: Professor Gernsbacher knows that students are under tremendous stress during the last Unit of the term. To alleviate that stress, Professor Gernsbacher would love to make your Term Project due during this second-to-last Unit rather than the last Unit. Unfortunately, instructors are not allowed to set Term Project deadlines during the second-to-last Unit of the term. But, that doesn’t need to stop you from taking advantage of this course’s built-in Flexibility Accommodation by turning in your Term Projects early, rather than waiting until the more stressful last Unit of the term. So, do yourself a favor, and turn in your Term Project now!
    1. If you choose to turn in your Term Project now, do the following:
      • Go to Unit 14 on the Course Website, scroll down to Unit 14: Assignment #4, and follow the directions there for turning in your Term Project.
      • ALSO, for Unit 13, make a PDF that has only the following content: “I’ve already turned in my Term Project!” Name that PDF, YourLastName_PSY-532_Unit13_TermProject.pdf.
    2.  If you choose not to turn in your Term Project now, do the following:
      • If your Term Project is the
        • Whole Course option, take a screenshot of your overview/journal of the current Unit.
        • Deep Dive option, continue assembling (or otherwise organizing) your completed research into your final product. Take a screenshot that demonstrates your progress on your final product.
      • Compose at least 200 words describing the work you’ve done so far on your Term Project. Remember that you should be allocating about two hours per Unit to your Term Project.
      • Save your at-least-200 words as a PDF that includes your screenshot and that is named YourLastName_PSY-532_Unit13_TermProject.pdf.
  3. Go to Unit 13: Assignment #6 (which is an Assignment link, not a Discussion Board) and
    1. use the “File Upload” tool to attach/upload your completed Unit 13 Review Sheet (click “Choose File” to attach/upload your filled-in PDF);
    2. click on “+ Add Another File” to attach/upload either your one-sentence “I’ve already turned in my Term Project!” PDF OR your 200-word composition about your Term Project (saved in PDF; remember to include your screenshot in your PDF); and
    3. immediately after submitting your assignment, check to make sure that your filled-in Course Review PDF is really filled-in (that it isn’t empty) and that your PDF about your Term Project is also attached and complete.

Congratulations, you have finished Unit 13! Onward to Unit 14!