hello there geographers and welcome back to the Mr sin Channel today we are going to be reviewing everything you need to know about diffusion as always if you find Value in this video consider subscribing and check out my other AP Human Geography resources in the description down below diffusion is the spread of a cultural element item group of people or phenomenon from one place to another to start we have to look at the origin of a cultural element group of people or item which is known as the heart over time as people interact with other people move to different areas or participate in the global economy we see diffusion occur diffusion can be broken down into two broad categories relocation diffusion and expansion diffusion relocation diffusion happens when a culture or group of people physically moves from one place to another this type of diffusion does not involve new individuals taking on the trait that is being spread the number of people participating in this culture or believing in a certain idea stays the same since diffusion is happening due to migration we will often see the Hearth start to shrink and possibly die off this is because the Hearth becomes weakened as more people leave the Hearth and relocate to the new place an example of relocation diffusion would be the Amish who originated in Europe but began to migrate to the United States around the 1700s to escape persecution originally settling around Pennsylvania the Amish eventually started to migrate West in order to find cheaper land and avoid urban sprawl and the influence of modern culture now expansion diffusion on the other hand does does see the addition of more people practicing or taking on the cultural trait here the Hearth often remains strong as the cultural trait group of people or items expand outwards from the heart when trying to remember the difference between relocation and expansion diffusion just think about the numbers if we are seeing the same number of people practicing the culture as diffusion happens it's most likely going to be relocation diffusion but if we are seeing more people practicing the culture as diffusion happens causing the amount of people to increase it's most likely expansion diffusion now expansion diffusion can be broken down into different types of diffusion the first type of expansion diffusion is hierarchical diffusion this type of diffusion often happens through systems typically from some sort of power oftentimes the trait will spread from a top- down approach for example fashion trends often start in global cities and diffuse to other major areas and eventually make its way down to the smaller settlements or we could also look at how news and ideas and products can fused through social media influencers for example games like fortnite Among Us Fall Guys Apex or war zone became popular after major social media influencers started playing them when a major content creator started playing a game Their audience would see how much fun the game was and start to play it as well eventually they would talk to their friends and get them to join in and the game would spread through Society now sometimes we can see hierarchical diffusion go from a smaller Community to a larger Community Instead This is known as reverse hierarchical diffusion an example of reverse hierarchical diffusion could be a small business starting off in a small town over time as it grew it expands throughout the region and eventually makes its way into a large urban city notice this is different than our fashion example which started off in the large urban area and worked its way down one other thing to remember too when talking about hierarchical diffusion is that the trait is only spreading to certain individuals in a society the diffusion happens through a system of structures and does not spread to everyone at once if the diffusion of the trait does not go through a system of structures and spreads quickly and everywhere it is much more likely that it's an example of contagious diffusion which is our next type of expansion diffusion this type of diffusion has little to no barriers which allow the trait to expand away from the Hearth in all directions when thinking about this diffusion think about a viral video or meme before you know it everyone has seen it or is talking about it if you need help remembering contagious diffusion just think about someone making a cup of coffee peeling an orange or lighting a strong smelling candle at first only the people near the Hearth of the smell can smell the coffee candle or orange but before you know it the smell will have diffused through the entire room and everyone will be able to smell it the last type of expansion diffusion is stimulus diffusion and this one is a little bit different here the trait is changing as it diffuses now it's important to note that the underlying concept of the trait is staying the same what happens is as diffusion occurs we see the trait take on different aspects of the environment or culture it is diffusing too for example if you look at McDonald's around the world you will notice that the menu changes for almost every country each store often also has its own unique store layout and exterior to better fit in with the surrounding place the concept of the McDonald's is the same but different elements of it have changed in order to account for the different people and cultures where the store is located so we can see that as diffusion occurs McDonald's adapts and changes some of its traits but it still is McDonald's at the end of the day as you can see diffusion can occur in a variety of different ways but what would stop something from diffusing well diffusion could be prevented due to cultural barriers for example if there's a language barrier between two places it will be more difficult to spread an idea between the two places or if the religion or culture rejects certain traits or does not approve of certain traits there may be more restrictions to those traits causing them to diffuse slower for example the access to contraceptives may be restricted in a community that is more religious and does not approve of that we can also see political barriers Geographic barriers or even economic barriers restrict diffusion such as migration which would reduce individuals from different places interacting with one another one thing to note that due to technological advancements physical barriers are becoming less and less of an obstacle for diffusion thanks to the internet cheaper cell phones and computers it's easier than ever to connect with people around the world in fact today the biggest obstacles to diffusion are often now political economic and cultural barriers so that's diffusion now comes the time to practice what we've learned answer the questions on the screen and when you're done you can check your answers in the description of this video or in the comment section down below as always don't forget to hit that subscribe button if you found value in the video and check out my ultimate review package for more help with your studies the packet covers everything you need to know for AP human geography and it's a great resource that can help you get an A in your class and a five on that National exam as always I'm Mr sin thank you so much for watching and I'll see you next time on line