Page 1/5
SYLLABUS
PSY221J162 THEORIES AND RESEARCH ON FAMILY SYSTEMS
Spring Semester, 2016
Time & Location: 18:45 – 20:15 on Thursday Room: U23
Instructor: Tomo Umemura, Ph.D.
Office: FSS MU 2.52
Office Hours: Monday 3pm – 5pm and by appointment
E-mail: tomoumemura@mail.muni.cz
Targeted Students:
This course is intended only for bachelor students who are pursuing a degree related to Psychology.
The course requires basic knowledge in the field of psychology, interests in developmental
psychology, and knowledge of English.
Course Objectives:
The purpose of this course is to acquire the basic knowledge of roles of family, focusing on mother
and father, in children and their development. The course emphasizes the following topics: motherchild
attachment, father-child attachment, mother-father coparenting, roles of fathers (compared to
mothers), maternal gatekeeping, children’s preferences for the mother versus the father, etc.
Goals for Students:
1. Students are expected to learn about attachment theory and family systems theories
which are important to understand roles of family in children’s social/emotional
development.
2. Students are expected to be familiar with recent empirical findings on the area of family
psychology and related topics.
3. Students will be able to think critically about various roles of families (e.g., direct vs.
indirect influences) to understand children in contexts of families.
Page 2/5
Course Format:
Course will be conducted in the combined form of lectures (30-45 minutes) and seminars (45-60 minutes).
Every week, students are required to read an academic article or a book chapter (depending on the topic of
the week), and then to submit their thought question 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 PSY221J162 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 each week. Your question must be your
original based on the reading.
a. You need to read the assigned reading every week. Then, you write a question with 2-3
sentences to help you explain your question.
b. Throughout the semester, a total of 7 thought questions will be submitted.
c. Students need to submit their question via email to the instructor by midnight of the day
before each class 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. Exam. Students are also required to take the final exam.
a. The final exam consists of 10 multiple-choice questions and 10 short-answer questions. The
total points are 80.
b. Your short answers should be about 2 or 3 sentences (maximum 5 sentences).
c. Questions will be developed by the instructor based on the assigned readings and our class
discussions.
d. The final exam will be on April 21 (a week after the last lecture).
3. 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 1 assigned reading and find and use
at least 1 more academic journal article. The papers are cited both in your text and in
your reference section using the American Psychology Association (APA) format. Here is a
useful website about the 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 text of your paper must be longer than 800 words. (10%)
e. The body of your paper should include:
i. One introduction paragraph ending with the purpose of your paper. (10%)
ii. Review of at least 1 assigned reading and at least 1 journal article 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 (10%)
f. The due will be on May 21. Late paper will be accepted with a penalty of minus 5 points
per day.
Page 3/5
Summary of requirements
The requirements will be weighted according to the following table, based on a course total of 200 points:
Requirements Points Total Points %
Thought questions 7 questions @ 10 pts each 7 times x 10 pts 70 35%
Exam 80 pts 80 40%
Paper 50 pts 50 25%
Total 200 100%
The grading scale for this course will be:
A: 92% and above
B: 84% to 91.99%
C: 76% to 83.99%
D: 68% to 75.99%
E: 60% to 67.99%
F: 59.99% and below
Timetable and topics:
Date
Topic
The following readings will be changed. Please follow what the instructor says in class.
Important Dates
announcement
Class 1
2.25
About family systems theory
No readings
Introduction to the Course and Assignments
Class 2
3.3
About family systems theory (cont.)
Cox, M. J., & Paley, B. (2003). Understanding families as systems. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 12, 193-196.
N/A
Class 3
3.10
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.
N/A
Class 4
3.17
Fathers’ roles in children and mother-father coparenting
Paquette, D. (2004). Theorizing the father-child relationship: Mechanisms and developmental
outcomes. Human development, 47, 193-219.
N/A
Class 5
3.24
Children’s hierarchical preference for mother vs. father
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.
Discussions about writing an introduction & body of paper
Page 4/5
Class 6
3.31
Maternal gatekeeping and paternal investment
Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Altenburger, L. E., Lee, M. A., Bower, D. J., & Kamp Dush, C. M.
(2015). Who Are the Gatekeepers? Predictors of Maternal Gatekeeping. Parenting:
Science and Practice, 15, 166-186.
Techniques for finding good academic journal articles
Class 7
4.7
paternal investment
Anderson, K. G. (2011). Stepparenting, divorce, and investment in children. In C. Salmon &
T. K. Shackelford (Eds.), The oxford handbook on evolutionary family psychology
(pp. 97–112). New York: Oxford University Press
Understand ways of summarizing previous studies
Class 8
4.14
TBA
Writing a paper using the American Psychological Association (APA) format
Final
Exam
4.21
Room: U23
Time: 18:45
Paper Due: May 21
Page 5/5
Please tell me your basic information!
Name: ________________________________________________________________
Name you would like to be called: ______________________________
Email: ________________________________________________________________
Study Interests: __________________
Career goal: ____________________
Please let me know if you want to tell me something more.