discuss questions 4

DISCUSSIOIN 1

• The Role of Play in Early Childhood

Play has many physical, cognitive, social, and emotional developmental benefits for people of all ages, from infancy through late life. For this discussion, first watch the short video clips linked in the Resources. Use the “Stages and Types of Play” table, in Resources, to help you develop your post.

Choose two of the video clips from the list and:

o Describe the stage and type of play demonstrated in the videos.

o Identify the cognitive development stage of the children in the videos.

o Describe the psychosocial development stage of the children in the videos.

o Respond to the following:

â–ª How do theories (cognitive, psychosocial, ecological, or other) explain how the type of play demonstrated in the video clips promotes successful development in the stages you identified?

DISCUSSION 2

• Parenting Styles and Culture

How parents respond to, interact with, and discipline their children has a tremendous impact on their child’s cognitive and social development. Most information on parenting styles relies on research conducted by Diana Baumrind in the early 1960s. Later researchers (Chao, 1994; Darling & Steinberg, 1993) have argued that Baumrind’s research is based on Western, middle-class families of European descent and does not consider cultural differences when associating parenting style with child outcomes.

Culture shapes values and beliefs. In turn, values and beliefs tend to shape parenting styles and how parents interact with their children. For example, collectivist cultures (individuals contribute to the well-being of the family and community) value behaviors such as helpfulness, conformity, and interdependence within the family structure (Darling & Steinberg, 1993).

For this discussion:

o Locate at least one research article that deals with parenting styles of a culture different from your own.

o Provide a summary of the article.

o Describe the type of parenting common to that culture and explore how culture has shaped the parent-child relationship.

DISUCSSION 3

From Homophily to Polarization in Social Media

This is your third and final discussion blog post in this course.

In the second discussion of Unit 3 we addressed some potential benefits of connecting and developing homophily through social media interaction. In this discussion, we will expand on the influences that contribute tohomophily and may lead to potential risks of social media.

In addition to sending us information that supports our likes, social media platform algorithms also track what we do not like, and they use this information to avoid sending unwanted information. If your tastes are more intense or extreme, algorithms will fuel your passions with similar posts and ads. If your politics are on the far left or right, expect to receive more information from your preferred perspective and none from alternative perspectives. This process contributes to siloing, or isolating people based on beliefs.

This process can be further fed by many cognitive biases, or flawed thinking. Among these are the confirmation bias (tendency to believe things that match our existing beliefs), illusory truth effect (tendency to believe statements are true if they are easier to understand, or if they have been repeated many times, regardless of their veracity), and sociocentric thinking (tendency to place one’s group or beliefs above all others: “It’s true because we believe it’s true.”).

When you combine the influences of homophily, algorithms that feed your likes and avoid dislikes, and the natural tendency we have all have towards cognitive and social biases, the result can be living in a social media “bubble.” Eventually this isolation can lead to polarization: the tendency to concentrate in polar opposites, with little room in the middle to relate to others. There is abundant evidence of polarization in the politics of many nations today, and the use of social media has the potential to significantly contribute to that polarization.

For this initial discussion blog post:

o Divide your initial discussion blog post into three sections using bold-type section headers:

â–ª In the first section of your blog post, briefly discuss factors that contribute to feeling connected in social media and the development of homophily. Include a hyperlink to your u03d2 discussion blog post so the reader can easily review what you stated on this topic in that blog post.

â–ª In the second section, discuss how algorithms and cognitive biases can intensify homophily and contribute to isolation. Discuss some of the potential risks of this phenomenon in social media, with examples (such as bullying, hate speech, political extremism, or radicalization of terrorists).

â–ª In the third section of your blog post, discuss some constructive steps people can take to prevent these potential risks in their use of social media. Include specific examples such as maintaining a sense of curiosity, considering alternative perspectives, fact-checking, and cultivating diversity consciousness and open-mindedness.

â–ª Finally, conclude your post with a references section. Your references should be in APA format and you should have references matching each of the in-text citations used in your post.