What is infant sleep training? Is it safe? How do new parents know if their baby needs them, or should they let the baby cry it out? Are there attachment issues new parents should be concerned about when a baby cries for too long?

Week 2 Discussion Forum
New parents often seek advice for tips and advice about raising a new infant. There are so many conflicting views and perspectives about parenting that new parents receive from family members, healthcare providers, and Internet searches. Using scholarly sources such as your textbook and or journal articles, answer the questions below as if a friend were asking you to provide advice:

What is infant sleep training? Is it safe? How do new parents know if their baby needs them, or should they let the baby cry it out? Are there attachment issues new parents should be concerned about when a baby cries for too long?
Should parents wake a baby who has been sleeping for more than four hours to feed them?
What books, toys, or videos should parents give a baby to give them an intellectual advantage? Are there ways parents can facilitate a higher level of intelligence in a child?
Siblings are often very different in temperament. What does that mean? Why does that happen?

Week 3 Discussion Forum Prompt 1

Prompt 1

There is debate among developmental theorists as to what influences thoughts and behavior related to gender. For example, what influences a child to play with a doll versus a truck, or what influences a child to engage in active play versus passive play? Is gender identity more heavily influenced by biological or social factors? Be sure to support your position with material from your text.
Week 3 Discussion Forum Prompt 2
Prompt 2

Some experts emphasize the importance of adult reinforcement of early speech (nurture) and others suggest that language learning is innate and biologically wired (nature). Reflect on this week’s video, “Out of the Mouth of Babes.” Which languague development theory does this video emphasize, and how can you tell? To support your answer, provide an example of one of the experiments and explain how it fits in to the learning theory process you identified.

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Week 4
According to the text, there are three important characteristics of thinking: executive function, critical thinking, and creative thinking. Choose one and describe how a parent or teacher could foster either executive function, critical thinking, or creative thinking in 1013-year-old children. Provide at least two unique activities to support this type of thinking.

week 5
Helping adolescents develop their identity can cause stress as teenagers want independence and begin to pressure their parents for more control.

What is identity development (e.g., social, gender)? Using Eriksons fifth stage of development, explain these different types of identity. Explain the factors adolescents consider when addressing the question, Who am I?

week 6
Finding a partner is one of the most important things an individual focuses on during early adulthood. How do you think today’s lack of social contact is affecting this aspect of life? Explain social exchange theory of mate selection in your own words and include information about Bowlbys attachment theory.

week 7
Watch:

https://youtu.be/_2OzLREwHtI (Links to an external site.)

As you can see from the video, women return to being comfortable in their bodies during midlife, making it one of the happiest life stages. This feeling is hard to imagine when you are a young adult.

Discuss why you think menopause has traditionally been viewed as negative (and may still be by some groups) even though the research suggests it is not a negative time for women. Think about who benefits from the negative stereotype of menopause (e.g., cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies that make products for women of this age).

Is there a menopause version in men? How is it similar to womens physiological changes? How are they different in terms of the socioemotional aspect?

week 8
According to the CDC, the current average life expectancy is 78.7 years old (Links to an external site.), although some people live much longer, even up to 120 years. Based on the CDC fact sheet above and other sources for evidence, what factors contribute to those who live well beyond the average age? Consider lifelong healthcare regiments, attitudes, cultural factors, and behaviors. Are these factors in agreement with what psychologists find to be common among those who live a long life? Support your reasoning with information from the text and other course materials.

week 9

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