SYLLABUS PSY530 Parent-Child Relations Autumn Semester, 2013 Time & Location: Wednesday 18:00 – 19:30am Room: STUDIO M117 Instructor: Tomo Umemura, Ph.D. Office: FSS MU 2.45 Office Hours: Monday 3pm – 5pm and by appointment E-mail: tomoumemura@mail.muni.cz This course is supported by Employment of Best Young Scientists for International Cooperation Empowerment: CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0037 Targeted Students: This course is intended for students who are pursuing a degree in the Master of Psychology. The course requires basic knowledge in the field of psychology, interests in developmental and social psychology, and knowledge of English. Course Objectives: The purpose of this course is to acquire the basic knowledge of development of children and young people in relation to parents. The course emphasizes the influence of parents including the following topics: parenting styles, parent-child attachment, mother-father coparenting, children’s preferences for the mother versus the father, parent-child boundary problems, cultural differences in parent-child relations, and roles of family poverty in children. Goals for Students: 1. Students are expected to learn about theories that are important to understand roles of parents in children’s social/emotional development. 2. Students are expected to be familiar with recent empirical findings on the area of parent-child relations. 3. Students will be able to think critically about roles of various factors (e.g., culture, socio-economic status, family structures, etc.) to understand parent-child relations. Course Format: Course will be conducted in the combined form of lectures (45-60 minutes) and seminars (30-45 minutes). Every week, students are required to read either two academic articles or one academic article and one book chapter (depending on the topic of the week), and then to submit their thought questions to the instructor (see below more details). During the first half of each class, the instructor will have a lecture. During the second half of the class, he will lead class discussions using students’ thought questions. Class web: be familiar with use of on-line Information System (IS). Check PSY530 and look for the course study materials and updates regularly. In addition, check your student e-mail account. Course Requirements: 1. Thought questions. Students need to write one question for each assigned reading. Questions must be your original based on the reading. a. For all the assigned readings, you need to write 1 question with 2-3 sentences to help you explain your own question. b. Throughout the semester, a total of 11 thought questions will be submitted. c. Students need to submit their questions via email to the instructor by midnight of the day before each class (i.e., 12am on Tuesday) and attend the class to get full credits. All thought questions submitted after this point will be considered late. Late thought questions will be accepted with a penalty of minus 1 point per hour. If you do not attend the class, you will earn 0 point. d. The lowest thought questions will be dropped in calculating the total points. 2. Paper. You are asked to write a paper to demonstrate your understanding of the subject. a. Your paper has to be logical and critical. You need to comprehend assigned readings well and critically think though the core ideas of each reading. (30%) b. To support your ideas, students need to use at least 2 assigned readings and at least 2 academic journal articles you find. The papers are cited both in your text and in your reference section using American Psychology Association (APA) format. Here is a useful website about APA format: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ (15%) c. Your paper has to follow the rules of English grammar. (5%) d. The main body of your paper must be more than 4 pages long (i.e., more than 1000 words) but no more than 7 pages. (10%) e. The body of your paper should include: i. One introduction paragraph ending with the purpose of your paper. (5%) ii. Review of at least 2 assigned readings and at least 2 journal articles you find. (20%) iii. Your conclusion(s) supported by logic and previous empirical studies, and limitations/future directions should also be included in your conclusion (5%) f. You need to submit the first draft of your paper on November 6^th. Your first draft should include introduction paragraph, at least two citations in bodies, conclusion paragraph, and reference section. (10%) 3. Peer review. Students are required to evaluate one of your classmates’ papers to help your classmate improve his/her paper. a. Your peer review should include introduction (1 paragraph), strengths of the paper (1 paragraph), and suggestions for improvement (2 to 3 paragraphs). b. Introduction should include 1 introductory sentence that summarizes what the paper is about, summary of the key strengths of paper, and summary of the key weakness of paper. c. Your suggestions for improvement have to be helpful. That is, you need to provide reasons and suggestions for improvement. Each paragraph should include only one topic of evaluation. Summary of requirements The requirements will be weighted according to the following table, based on a course total of 300 points: Requirements Points Total Points % Thought questions 10 questions @ 10 pts each 10 times x 10 pts 100 33% Paper 150 pts 150 50% Peer Review 50 pts 50 17% Total 300 100% The grading scale for this course will be: A: 276 – 300 points (92% and above) B: 255 – 275 points (84% to 91.99%) C: 225 – 254 points (76% to 83.99%) D: 204 – 224 points (68% to 75.99%) E: 180 – 203 points (60% to 67.99%) F: 0 – 179 points (59.99% and below) Timetable and topics: Week Date Topic Readings Important Dates announcement Week 1 18.9. Theories to understand parent-child relations No readings Introduction to the Course and Assignments Week 2 25.9. Theories to understand parent-child relations (cont.) Maccoby, E. E. (1992). The role of parents in the socialization of children: An historical overview. Developmental Psychology, 28, 1006-1017. Cox, M. J., & Paley, B. (2003). Understanding families as systems. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12, 193-196. Important guidelines for writing a psychological paper (focus on the introduction paragraph) Suggestions about topics of paper in the area of parent-child relations Week 3 2.10. Roles of parenting styles and discipline in children Aunola, K. & Nurmi, J. (2005). The role of parenting style in children’s problem behavior. Child Development, 76, 1144-1159. Lansford, J. E. et al. (2005). Physical discipline and children’s adjustment: Cultural normativeness as a moderator. Child Development, 76, 1234-1246. Writing a paper using the American Psychological Association (APA) format Week 4 9.10. Roles of parent-child attachment in child development Bretherton, I. (1992). The origins of attachment theory: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Developmental Psychology, 28, 759. Weinfield, N. S., Sroufe, L., Egeland, B., & Carlson, E. (2008). Individual differences in infant-caregiver attachment: Conceptual and empirical aspects of security. In J. Cassidy, P. R. Shaver, J. Cassidy, P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (2nd ed.) (pp. 78-101). New York, NY US: Guilford Press. Introduction Due N/A Week 5 16.10. Fathers’ roles in children and mother-father coparenting Doherty, W. J., Kouneski, E. F., & Erickson, M. F. (1998). Responsible fathering: An overview and conceptual framework. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 60, 277-292. Paquette, D. (2004). Theorizing the father-child relationship: Mechanisms and developmental outcomes. Human development, 47, 193-219. Introduction will be returned Discussions about introduction & body of paper Week 6 23.10. Children’s hierarchical preference for mother vs. father Kobak, R., Rosenthal, N. L., Zajac, K., & Madsen, S. (2007). Adolescent attachment hierarchies and the search for an adult pair bond. In M. Scharf & O. Mayseless (Eds.), New directions in child development: Adolescent attachment. New York, NY: Jossey-Bass. Umemura, T., Jacobvitz, D., Messina, S., & Hazen, N. (2013). Do toddlers prefer the primary caregiver or the parent with whom they feel more secure? The role of toddler emotion. Infant Behavior and Development, 36, 102-114. Techniques for finding a good academic journal article Week 7 30.10. Relationship with parents in adolescence and emerging adulthood: differences and similarities from childhood Smetana, J., et al. (2006). Disclosure and secrecy in adolescent-parent relationships. Child Development, 77, 201-217. Stattin, H., & Kerr, M. (2000). Parental monitoring: A reinterpretation. Child development, 71, 1072-1085. Understand ways of summarizing previous studies Week 8 6.11. Effects of parental divorce and marital conflict on children Amato, P. R., & Keith, B. (1991). Parental divorce and the well-being of children: a meta-analysis. Psychological bulletin, 110, 26. Davies, P. T., & Woitach, M. J. (2008). Children's emotional security in the interparental relationship. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(4), 269-274. First Draft Due Submit 2 copies Study how to write peer review Week 9 13.11. Influence of parents on the development of children’s psychopathology Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (1995). A developmental psychopathology perspective on child abuse and neglect. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 541-565. Shipman, K. L., & Seman, J. (2001). Socialization of children’s emotion regulation in mother-child dyads: A developmental psychopathological perspective. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 317-336. Peer Review Due N/A Week 10 20.11. Development of morality and social trust in the context of parent-child relationships Smetana, J. G. (1999) The Role of Parents in Moral Development: A Social Domain Analysis. Journal of Moral Education, 28, 311–321. Wray-Lake, L., & Flanagan, C. A. (2012). Parenting practices and the development of adolescents’ social trust. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 549-560. First draft will be returned Discussions about the first-draft of paper Week 11 27.11. Does culture really matter or something else for children? Coll, C. G., Crnic, K., Lamberty, G., & Wasik, B. H. (1996). An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. Child Development, 67, 1891-1914. Hill, N. E. (2006). Disentangling ethnicity, socioeconomic status and parenting: Interactions, influences and meaning. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, 1, 114-124. Tips for improving an academic paper Week 12 4.12. Roles of environment and poverty in children Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Ecology of the family as a context for human development: Research perspectives. Developmental Psychology, 22(6), 723-742. Linver, M. R., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Kohen, D. E. (2002). Family processes as pathways from income to young children's development. Developmental Psychology, 38, 719-734. Week 13 11.12. TBA Final Paper Due Summary of the course Please tell me your basic information! Name: ________________________________________________________________ Name you would like to be called: ______________________________ Email: ________________________________________________________________ Study Interests: __________________ Career goal: ____________________ What would you like to tell me about yourself?