Abstract This project seeks to assess the value of role playing as a means of helping students better understand the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of various mental health conditions. The assignment calls for students to participate in two role plays: (1) as a therapist conducting a brief clinical interview and (2) as a client discussing the concerns they have regarding their roommate who is exhibiting symptoms of a particular condition. Following the role play, students complete a worksheet where they were to diagnose the client, provide a rationale for that diagnosis, and outline a treatment plan. Students who complete the role plays will be compared to students in another section of the same course who complete the same worksheet based on a written case study. To assess student learning, the outcome measures will be quiz grades and a brief survey of students’ attitudes toward the value of the assignment.

Method Participants Participants are 90 students enrolled in two sections of Abnormal Psychology (45 students per section). Each section will participate in two role plays with the other section completing the same assignment but based on a written case study rather than the role play. Outcome Variables Content Learning. A ten point, timed (one minute per question), open-notes, on-line quiz on the same content as the role play (e.g., causes, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of anxiety disorders) is made available for the 24 hours immediately following the assignment. Student Attitudes. As part of the packet student turn in for the assignment, they are asked the following three questions: (1) To what degree was completing this assignment valuable in helping you learn the symptoms of this group of disorders?, (2) To what degree was completing this assignment valuable in helping you understand how the symptoms of this group of disorders are experienced by people?, and (3) Please use the space provided below to provide me with feedback about the assignment (e.g., what did you like, what didn’t you like, what might you have me do differently in the future). Questions 1 and 2 were answered using a four point Likert-Scale (1 = Not at all Valuable, 4 = Very Valuable).

Introduction The use of role plays to increase student learning in psychology courses is not new. In fact, the literature on teaching psychology shows that role plays have been used to help students learn more about the insanity defense (Fass, 1999), better understand certain historical figures in psychology (Brooks, 1985), learn about acculturation (Tomcho & Foels, 2002), and even learn to feel more comfortable responding to overt prejudice (Plous, 2000). However, to date only one published article has explored the use of role plays in a course on mental illness (Poorman, 2002) and no research has looked at the value of role plays with regard to increasing mastery of course content. The current project seeks to explore the value of participating in clinical interview role plays with regard to increasing student learning of material.

Anticipate/ Preliminary Results As the project has not yet been completed it is impossible to provide a detailed analysis of the results. However, it is anticipated that the students who complete the role play will demonstrate a higher average quiz score than those who complete the clinical case study assignment. Likewise, it is anticipated that students will report that the role play holds more learning value than the clinical case study. Although informal, preliminary results, including feedback from students, seem to support the use of role plays. Students report feeling more prepared for the quizzes and have indicated that the role plays hold greater value in helping them learn the material.

Assignment Students completing the role play were given the following handout one week in advance of the in-class role play to help them prepare. Role Play Instructions On the day of the assignment, they were paired up at random with another student from class. They completed two 6 minute role plays (one as the "client" and one as the "therapist"). They were to complete the following packet as part of the assignment. Role Play Packet

References Fass, M. E. (1999). A forensic psychology exercise: Role playing and the insanity defense. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 201-203. Plous, S. (2000). Responding to overt displays of prejudice: A role playing exercise. Teaching of Psychology, 27, 198-200. Poorman, P. B. (2002). Biography and role playing: Fostering empathy in abnormal psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 29, 32-36. Tomcho, T. J., & Foels, R. (2002). Teaching acculturation: Developing multiple cultures in the classroom and role playing the acculturation process. Teaching of Psychology, 29, 226-229.