Plasticity and the Pleasure of Human Interaction

Instructions

In this discussion I want you to discuss the article in relation to chapter 5 of your textbook and make connections between concepts contained in both. Your post should address at least one of the following concepts from the chapter that are particularly relevant to this article:

• Plasticity and brain development
• Attachment 
• The factors that affect a caregiver’s sensitivity to infant’s needs (e.g., Figure 5.4, p. 157) including Culture, Personal Life Story, Contemporary Factors, and Infant Characteristics.
• Erikson’s psychosocial stage of infancy (e.g.,  crisis of trust vs. mistrust, central process of mutuality, etc. etc. ).

Include a title line that briefly describes what your post is about at the top of your post. For example:

• TITLE: Plasticity and the Pleasure of Human Interaction

Grading

Your grade for this assignment will be based on your ability to use the article to further your understanding of the concepts in the text. You can contribute to the discussion as many times as you would like. However:

• I will only be grading your first post. You are welcome to post more than once but make sure your first post fulfills all the requirements of the assignment. That is the only post I will be using for grading purposes.
• Keep your posts to a reasonable length. (about 200 words) 250 words per post is an absolute maximum for this assignment. I will not read or grade submissions that are over this limit.

Most importantly, your post should be about making connections between the article and text. The idea here is that the article should enhance your understanding of concepts from the chapter. So, make sure that any posts you create meet the following 4 criteria:

• You should refer both to the article and the text in your post.
• Your contribution to the discussion should be substantive (i.e., your post should be focused on the details of specific key concepts and ideas from the article and text). More specifically:
  • When you use a concept from the text, be sure to describe what the concept means (i.e., don’t just use the term, define what it means as well).
  • If you make a claim about something in the article, you need to support this with details from the article. For instance, don’t just say something like “Mary did not feed her child as often as she should have.” If you make this statement, you should back it up with an example of Mary’s behavior from the article. 
• When referring to the text or the article make sure to include the page numbers from the article and page numbers from the text that include the concept(s) or other information you are referring to.
• Do not repeat a question or comment that was already made. You should be reading other students’ posts before you post your own comment. If something related to what you want to say has already been posted, you should not simply repeat what is said. You should be adding to that thread of the discussion rather than starting a new one.