Final answer:
Authoritative parents promote autonomy by encouraging discussion (a), which helps facilitate children's understanding and negotiation skills, unlike authoritarian or permissive parenting styles.
Step-by-step explanation:
Authoritative parents promote autonomy through encouraging discussion. This style of parenting involves setting reasonable demands and consistent limits, while also showing warmth and affection towards the child. It supports socioemotional growth by allowing children to understand and contribute to the rules that affect them.
By engaging in discussions, authoritative parents foster critical thinking and decision-making skills in their children. This approach is in contrast with authoritarian parenting, which values conformity and obedience without room for negotiation, and permissive parenting, which makes few demands and allows children to set their own boundaries.