Health Psychology course syllabus

1. HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
TEXTBOOKS
Required:
(1) Primary Textbook:
Brannon, Updegraff, & Feist (2018). HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY, 9th Ed. Cengage.
(2) Selected Chapters (5, 6, and 7) from:
Gurung, R. (2014). HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY: A CULTURAL APPROACH, 3rd Ed. Cengage.
(Available at the Library Outpost for 2 hours and overnight loans. Call Number: R726.7.G981 2014)
Other readings that you might be interested (not required):
Sapolsky, R. M. (2004). Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, 3rd Edition. Henry Holt and Company, LLC:
New York.
Sapolsky, R. M. (2017). Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst. Penguin.
Lovallo, W. R. (2015). Stress and Health, 3nd
Edition. Sage: Thousand Oaks, CA.
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This is a higher-level course in psychology designed to give a broad overview of the
field of health psychology. Health psychology is a relatively young, diverse, and
multidisciplinary field that examines the mind-body connection and many factors that
influence the individual’s well-being. In this course, students will explore how biological,
psychological and social factors are connected and how they may influence health
consequences. Following this biopsychosocial approach, potential biological,
psychophysiological, and behavioral pathways to health and disease will be explored. By the
end of the course, I hope that students would gain fundamental knowledge of the field of
health psychology, develop skills for critically evaluating health psychology research, and
understand how health psychology may be applied to promote their own well-being.
Learning Objectives:
Students are expected to develop an understanding of health psychology and gain skills in
the following:
 To critically examine the interactions between psychological, behavioral, social, and
biological factors on health.
 To articulate the basic premises and theories of health psychology.
 To describe and appraise intervention approaches for various physical illnesses in
relation to psychology.
 To discuss the role of psychologists involved in health settings.
ASSESSMENT
Your course grade will be determined by the following components.
Continual Evaluation (CE) (22%)

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The CE accounts for 22% of your course grade. If you miss the CE, you will receive a
score of zero unless you are approved for a make-up CE. A make-up CE will only be
considered for unforeseeable emergencies or events beyond your control (e.g., representing
the university for competition, medical leave, accident, etc.). If you know that you will miss
the CE, you should contact the instructor in advance. If you miss the CE due to reasons
beyond your control, you should contact the instructor within 24 hours after the CE or as
soon as possible and provide written proof of the event or emergency (e.g., a medical
certificate, official document, etc.) to be considered for a make-up CE. Please note that the
make-up CE may take a different format.
Final Examination (50%)
The final exam accounts for 50% of the course grade. You may NOT miss the final
exam. There will be no make-up for the final under any circumstances. Please verify the
date/time of the final exam. The final exam will cover all materials in the lecture and
assigned textbook readings. No book or notes will be allowed during the exam.
Assignments (18%)
Assignments are designed to introduce you to the research in health psychology.
You are expected to participate in these assignments. One of the assignments asks you to
track your health every day for 100 days by responding to short online surveys every day.
Another assignment asks you to track your exercise and eating behaviors for a few days and
estimate your physical activity and caloric intake. Other assignments demonstrate how
psychological constructs are measured in health psychology research. The details of these
assignments will be discussed in class.
Tutorial, Discussion, and Participation (10%)
We have 2 tutorial sections this semester. The tutorial meetings are for small-group
discussions. In each tutorial session, students working in small groups will identify potential
topics relevant to course materials for discussion. Other activities may include Q&As, group
exercises, brief demonstrations, and short presentations. You can raise questions that you
have during the lecture for clarification or further explanation.
Each tutorial section will be divided into 2 smaller groups, with approximately 10
students in each group. In total, we will have 4 groups in the 2 tutorial sections. The
tutorial meeting schedule group will be announced later. Each student is required to attend
at least 6 tutorial sessions as indicated on the schedule. You are welcome to attend
additional sessions.
COURSE WEBSITE
A course website is established on the NTULearn (the Blackboard) system. Please
familiarize yourself with the system. I will post important announcements, course materials,
and notes on the course website. Please note that notes and outlines are NOT a substitute
for class attendance. Grades will also be communicated via Blackboard.
CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE
Please be considerate and conscious of classroom etiquettes (e.g., no cell phones,
internet surfing, face-booking, twittering, sleeping, snoring, personal conversations, and
other distractions). Please be on time, silence your cell phone except for emergencies, and

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refrain from surfing the web, texting, checking email, and engaging in online chatting and
social networking.
 Per university rules, no eating and drinking is allowed in the lecture theatres. If you
have to engage in these activities, please make sure to clean up after yourself.
 If you have questions regarding the lecture material, feel free to raise your hand and
speak loudly so that others may also hear.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Please refer to the NTU Student Honor Code and Academic Integrity
(https://www.ntu.edu.sg/CampusLife/StudentLife/Pages/StudentConduct.aspx), which also
define our responsibilities and guide our behavior in this academic and learning
environment. As an additional reminder, please be careful not to copy other people’s work
verbatim. Doing so will result in plagiarism.

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COURSE SCHEDULE
This is the planned schedule. There may be adjustments to this schedule. Changes and
adjustments will be announced in class and on the course website. In addition to textbook
readings, the instructors will also present additional materials and information relevant to
this course.
Date (mm/dd)
Topics and Readings
(B = Brannon’s textbook; G = Gurung’s textbook)
1 8/14
PART I: Stress and Health
Introduction (B1)
Research Methods (B2)
Stress I: Defining Stress, Stress Physiology, Stress Measures (B5)
Stress II: Stress, Immunity, and Disease (B6)
Stress III: Moderators of Stress, Social Support, Coping, etc. (G5)
Part II: Health Behavior: Introduction
2 8/21
3 8/28
4 9/4
5 9/11
6 9/18
7 9/25 Continuing Evaluation (first hour of class)
7 9/25 PART II: Health Behavior
Healthy Living I: Health Behaviors & Health Behavior Change
(G6/G7)
Healthy Living II: Eating and Physical Activity (G7)
Healthy Living III: Eating, Weight, & Obesity (B14)
8 10/2 (Recess)
9 10/9
10 10/16
11 10/23 PART III: Health Psychology and Physical Diseases
Cardiovascular Disease (B9)
Diabetes & Chronic Illness (B11)
Cancer (B10)
Stress Management (B5)
12 10/30
13 11/6
14 11/13
Final Exam: 28 November, Thu, 9 to 11:30 AM (Please check)