Developmental

Psychology
 Developmental psychology
Development: systematic continuities and changes in the individual that occur between
conception and death
Branch of psychology devoted to identifying and Changes are cumulative: such that
explaining the continuities and changes that changes that
individuals display over time occur at each stage of life can have
Development is multidimensional significant
Physical development implications for the future.
Cognitive development Developmental is life long
Socioemotional development
Development is multidirectional:
Development is a holistic process: throughout life, some dimensions or
Development is identified as a holistic process components of a dimension expand
encompassing cognitive, physical and and other shrink
psychosocial Gains and losses in development
aspects and each aspect influences the other.
Development is contextual: the context
• E.g., Popularity with peers: age of puberty +
influences development.
social skills +
• Context includes cultural, social, geographical
intellectual abilities
and historical issues.

Development is plastic: capacity Development is Influenced by Multiple Contexts:

for change during Sociohistorical Context
different stages of life and in • Age-graded influences: Predictable due to being
response to positive or tied to age.
negative life experiences. • History-graded influences: Reflecting unique
historical circumstances.
• Non-formative influences: Unique and only happen
The study of development is multidisciplinary: to
to few individuals
understand development, information is integrated
from different disciplines such as biology, psychology,
sociology, anthropology, and medicine.
The concept age
Chronological age: number of years since birth Prenatal development: conception to birth. A point
• Biological age: describes biological health and where single cell develop into a complete organism
functional with complex brain and nervous system
capacity of vital organs, such as heart, lungs, • Infancy: birth to 18-24 months. extremely
kidneys, dependent on adult and other older individuals.
circulatory system Psychological activities begin
• Psychological age: measure of adaptive • Early childhood: 2 to 5/6 years/preschool years.
capacities, including Become more self-sufficient, learn school readiness
ability to learn, establish and maintain motivation, skills such as following instructions and recognizing
be letters and colours.
flexible and think clearly

Middle and late childhood: 6 to 11/12 Early adulthood: from late teens through 30 years.
years/Elementary school years. Master skills of Establish personal, social, emotional and economic
reading, writing and arithmetic, achievement is independence, beginning career development, select life
central theme and person shows increasing self- partner, start family and child rearing
control • Middle adulthood: from early 40s until around age 60.
• Adolescence: 10-12 to 18-22 years/transition Expands personal and social involvement and
from responsibility, assist next generation and reach and
childhood to early adulthood. Begins with rapid maintain career satisfaction
physical changes, characteristic of puberty, major • Late adulthood: from 60s and 70s until death. Time to
goals of becoming independence and developing review and reflect, retirement and adjusting to
an decreasing strength and health, longest span of any
individual identity. Think more logical and abstract. developmental period
 Nature ( biological forces) Individuals are active in development
Nurture (environmental forces) People are influenced by the physical and
social contexts in which they live

Active-viewers believe that children are born Passive - viewers believe that children are
with certain predispositions that influence how extremely malleable - literally at the mercy of
people treat them those who raise them

Continuity theorists: view human Discontinuity theorists: view development as

development as a continuous / series of sudden changes each of which
additive process that occurs gradually elevates the child to a new and presumably
and continuously, without sudden more advanced level of functioning
changes
 Quantitative changes are changes in degree or amount
• Eg, grow taller and run a little faster with each passing Goals of developmental psychology
year
• Qualitative changes are changes in form or kind— Description: observe behavior at different
changes that make the individual fundamentally different ages in order
in some way than he or she was earlier to specify how people change over time
• Eg, an infant who lacks language may be qualitatively • Typical patterns of change (normative)
different from a preschooler who speaks well and individual
• Continuity theorists view developmental changes as variations in patterns of change
basically quantitative in nature, whereas discontinuity (ideographic)
theorists view development as a sequence of qualitative • Explanation: determine why people
changes develop as they
typically do and why some people develop
differently
Theorists who emphasize stability argue that stability
than others
is the result of heredity and possibly early
• Optimization: applying what they have
experiences in life
learned in
• Theorists who emphasize change take the more
attempts to help people develop in positive
optimistic view that later experiences can produce
directions
change

Relevance of developmental psychology

• T o gain insight into human nature
• T o gain insight into the origins of adult behavior
• To gain insight into the origins of sex differences and
gender roles and the effects of culture on development
• T o gain insight into the origins, prevention, and
treatment of developmental problems
• T o optimize conditions of development
 Developmental psychology use the scientific method Methods for gathering data
Scientific method use objective and replicable methods to • Self-report methods: Interviews,
gather data for the purpose of testing a theory or questionnaires/surveys,
hypothesis clinical method
• Observation
The Scientific Method: A process of posing and • Case study
answering questions by making careful and systematic • Ethnography
observations and gathering information. • Psychophysiological methods
Basic steps of scientific method:
• Hypothesize.
Methods of Data Collection: Self-
• Gather information.
Report
• Analyze results.
• Questionnaires.
• Interpret results.
• Interviews
• Open-ended interview.
• Structured interview.
Clinical method
• Clinical method
Participants are presented with a task and then invite a
response.
Self-report issues have several issues,
• After the participant responds, the investigator typically
including concerns of
asks a second question or introduces a new task to clarify
literacy and providing socially desirable
the participant’s original answer.
answers.
• The follow-up question is determined by the participant’s
• Can’t be used with childrenwho don’t
response to the initial question
reador comprehend
• Emphasis is place on the uniqueness of each participant
speech very well
• Good for large data in relatively short time
• Social desirability
Limitations:
• Age-related interpretations might be
• Difficult for comparing participants
biased
• Potential influence of the examiner’s pre-existing
• Conflict among different informants
theoretical biases on follow-up questions asked and the
interpretation provided.
• Naturalistic observation—observing people in their Structured observation
common, • Participant is exposed to a setting
everyday (that is, natural) surroundings that might cue the
• Suitable for infants and toddlers: since they cant behavior in question and is then secretly
communicate observed (via a
verbally and also eliminated the bias of parents informants hidden camera or through a one-way
• Give the true nature of the participants without relying on. mirror)
their self-report accuracy. • Ensure that every participant in the
• Limitations: sample is exposed to
• Not applicable to every situation such as some behaviors the same eliciting stimuli and has an
occur so infrequently (eg, heroic rescues) or are so socially equal opportunity
undesirable (eg, criminal acts) to perform the target behavior—
• Simultaneous events that makes it difficult to pinpoint the circumstances that are
causes of a particular action not always true in the natural
• Observer influence environment
• Limitation: Participants may not
behave the same way as
Case study
they would in their natural environment
• Using self-report or observation to compile of
detailed
Ethnography
information about an entity, an individual or a group of
• For understanding the effects of culture on
people
developing children and adolescents
• In-depth examination of a single unit.
• Data collected is typically diverse and extensive
• Gathers information from many sources.
• Rich understanding of the cultures traditions and
• Can be a source of hypotheses for large scale
values
research.
• Limitations:
• Limitations:
• Highly subjective method bec ause r esearcher s’
• Difficult to directly compare participants who have
cultural
been
values and theoretical biases can cause them to
asked different questions, taken different tests, and
misinterpret what they have experienced
been
• Lacks generalizability
observed under different circumstances
 Physiological Measures
Psychophysiogical method
• Electroencephalography (EEG): Measures
• Measure the relationship between physiological
electrical activity patterns
responses and behavior— to explore the biological
produced by the brain via electrodes placed
underpinnings of children’s perceptual, cognitive, and
on the scalp.
emotional responses
• Computerized tomography (CT scan):
• Useful for interpreting the mental and emotional
Compiles multiple x-ray images to
experiences of infants and toddlers who are unable to
create a 3-D picture of a person’s brain,
report such events
providing images of brain
• Limitations
structures, bone, brain vasculature, and
• Though very useful, they are not perfect indicators of
tissue.
psychological states.
• Positron emission tomography (PET):
• Changes in physiological responses often reflect mood
Involves injecting a small dose of
swings, fatigue, hunger, or even negative reactions to
radioactive material into the participant’s
the physiological recording equipment, rather than a
blood stream to monitor the
change in the infant’s attention to a stimulus or
flow of blood.
emotional reactions to it
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI): Measures brain
activity with a powerful magnet that uses
radio waves and to
measure blood oxygen levels.
• Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI): Uses an
MRI machine to track how
water molecules move in and around the
fibers connecting different
parts of the brain.
Correlational design Experimental design
• The investigator gathers information to determine • Allows the assessment of the
whether cause-and-effect relationship that
two or more variables of interest are meaningfully may exist between two variables
related. • Done to test a hypothesis about
• Examines relations among measured characteristics. causal relationships.
• Does not determine causes. • Uses control in a procedure.
• No attempts are made to structure or to manipulate • Eg. Watching violent movies
the causes aggressive inclinations in
partic ipants’ envir oment in anyway children.
• The presence (or absence) of a relationship between • True experiment
variables • Lab experiment
can be determined by examining the data with a • Field experiment
statistical • Quasi-experiment
procedure that yields a correlation coefficient (direction,
strength) • Field experiment: experiment in the
• Limitation: cannot determine causal relationships due natural setting,
to the mostly without partic ipants’
influence of extraneous variables knowledge
• Quasi experiment: used for
Lab experiment situations where
• Dependent variable: The behavior under study. experimental design cant be applied
• Independent variable: The factor proposed to change the or for ethical
behavior under study. reason,
• Confounding variables: Unmeasured variables that influences
both the supposed cause and the supposed effect.
• Random assignment: Each participant has an equal chance of
being assigned to the experimental or control group, and is
essential for ensuring that gro
• Cross-cultural studies: participants from different
Cross-sectional design
cultural or sub-cultural backgrounds are observed,
tested, and compared on one or more aspects of
• Compares groups of people of different ages
development.
at a single point
• Helps to determine cultural differences or similarities
in time.
in development
• Participants differ in age and cohort.
• Cohort: A group of people of the same age
Studying development requires close attention to who are
age and change over time. exposed to similar historical events and
• Cross-sectional design cultural and
• Longitudinal design societal influences.
• Sequential design • Different age cohorts are studied at the
same point in time
• Age-related changes in development
Longitudinal design
• Data can be collected from children of
different ages over a
• Follows the same group of participants over
short time
many points in time.
• Limitations:
• Provides information about age-related change.
• Cohort effects: changes might not be due to
• The same participants are observed repeatedly
age or
over a period of
development but other cultural or historical
time
factors
• Identify normative developmental trends and
• Unable to inform about the development of
processes
individuals
by looking for commonalities
because each person is observed at only one
• Tracking of several participants over time will
point in time
help investigators
• Limitations:
to understand individual differences in
• Can be very costly and time-consuming;
development
• Practice effects (familiarity with test items) can also
threaten
the validity of longitudinal studies;
• Problem with selective attrition
Sequential design

• Combines the best features of cross-sectional and longitudinal

research by assessing multiple cohorts over time, enabling
scientists to make comparisons that disentangle the effects of
Research Ethics
cohort and age.
Principles of Research Ethics
• Participants in different ages are studied over time
• Do good and avoid harm.
• Draw the strength of both cross-sectional and
• Responsibility.
longitudinal designs
• Integrity.
• Allows researchers to make both longitudinal and cross-
• Justice.
sectional comparisons in the same study
• Respect for autonomy.
• Often more efficient than standard longitudinal designs
• While complex, it provides much information about age,
cohort, and age-related change.

Ethical issues in development research

• Rights of research participants

• Must meet standards of the research ethics committees
• Protection from mental and physical harm
• Informed consent from parents and legal guardians and informed
assent from children
• Informed consent: Participants’ informed, rational, and voluntary
agreement to participate.
• Informed assent: An agreement by an individual not competent to give
legally-valid informed consent
• Important to protect those unable to assert themselves.
• Studying minors often brings up many ethical issues.
• Passive consent: Involves notifying parents about the research and
requiring them to reply if they do not want their child to participate.
• Adults with poor cognitive capacities raise ethical concerns as well.
 Confidentiality: Responses will remain confidential and will not be disclosed to others.
• Some populations are expected to participate in potentially dangerous activities.
• Issues with confidentiality arise throughout the lifespan.
• Debriefing
• Researcher explains the purpose of the study, the use of
deception, encourages the participant to ask questions
about the study.
• After the study discuss purpose of research and method
used)
• Deception
• when a researcher gives false information to subjects or
intentionally misleads them about some key aspect of the
research.
• ensure deception with no harm
• Balancing conflicting obligations.
• Researchers must decide how to balance conflicting obligations to
participants

Applied Developmental Science: A field of study that

examines the lifelong developmental interactions among the
individuals and their contexts and applies these findings to
prevent and intervene in problems and promote positive
development

• Intersectionality: The dynamic interrelations of social categories—

gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status,
immigration status, and disabilities—and the interwoven systems of
power and privilege that accompany social category membership.
• Multiple converging identities.
• Dimensions of power or oppression.
• Sociocultural contextual influences.
Psychoanalytic Theories
Describe development and behavior as a result of the interplay of inner
drives, memories, and conflicts we are unaware of and cannot control.

Development is the progression through series of psychosexual stages, or

periods in which unconscious drives are focuses on different parts of the
body.
How parents direct and gratify their children’s basic drives influences their
personality development.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

• Erik Erikson was influenced by Freud, but placed less emphasis on Each stage presents a
instinctual drives as motivators of development and instead focused unique developmental
on the role of the social world, society, and culture in shaping task, which Erikson
development. referred to as a crisis or
A lifespan theory of development in which individuals progress conflict that must be
through eight stages of psychosocial development that include resolved.
changes in how they understand and interact with others, as well as • Individuals are driven by
changes in how they understand themselves and their roles as biological maturation.
members of society • Holds implications for
every period of life.
Classical Conditioning
Behaviorism: Examining only one behavior that can be • A form of learning in which a person or
observed and the belief animal comes to associate environmental
that all behavior is influenced by the physical and social stimuli with physiological responses.
environment. • Developed by Ivan Pavlov.
• Behaviorism was found by John Watson. • He tested by pairing the sound of a t/one
with the dogs’ food; the dogs heard the
Through classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus
tone, then received their food. Soon the tone
(the sound of the tone) comes
itself began to elicit the dogs’
to elicit a response originally produced by another
salivation.
stimulus (food).
 Operant Conditioning
• Holds that behavior becomes more or less probable depending on its
consequences.
• Developed by B. F. Skinner.
• We repeat behaviors that have pleasant outcomes and stop behaviors with
unpleasant outcomes.

Reinforcement: A behavior followed by a rewarding or pleasant outcome.

• Punishment: A behavior followed by an aversive or unpleasant outcome.
• Explains how we learn skills and habits.
• Confirms that individuals are actively contributing to their development.

Social Learning Theory

• People actively process information—they think and they feel Observational learning: People learn
emotion—and through observing and imitating
their thoughts and feelings influence their behavior. others.
• Developed by Albert Bandura. • Reciprocal determinism: Individuals
• Bandura agreed that the physical and social environments are and the environment interact and
important, but he influence
also advocated for the role of thought and emotion as contributors to each other.
development. • Our characteristics influence our
• Physical and social environments influence our behavior. behavior and the environments we
look for.
 Cognitive Theories
Cognition is essential to understanding functioning across the lifespan.

Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory

• Developed by Jean Piaget.
• Cognitive-developmental theory: Views children and adults as active explorers Critics

of their world, driven to learn by interacting with the world around them and • There is too much

organizing what they learn into cognitive schemas. focus on cognition and

• Cognitive schemas: Concepts, ideas, and ways of interacting with the world. ignores emotional and

• Believed that children’s drive to explore and understand the world around them social factors.

propels them through four stages of cognitive development.

Information Processing Theory

• A perspective that views thinking as information processing and posits that the
Critics
mind works in ways similar to a computer because information enters, is
• Findings from
manipulated, stored, recalled, and used to solve problems.
laboratory research
«We are born with the ability to process information.»
may not extend to
Psychoanalytic theories >>> inner influences on our personality and the everyday
behavior contexts in
• Behaviorist and social learning theories >>> the environment as an which people adapt
influence on development to changing
• Cognitive theorists>>> the role of thought on behavior. circumstances.

Contextual Theories
• Emphasize the role of sociocultural contexts in development.
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
• Developed by Lev Vygotsky.
• Sociocultural theory: Examines how culture is transmitted from one
generation to the next through social interaction.
• Cognitive development is a social process that relies on interaction.
• Children actively engage their social world, and the social world shapes
development by transmitting culturally relevant ways of thinking and
acting.
Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory
• Developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner. Ontogenetic development:
• Posts that development is a result of the ongoing interactions among Refers to the changes that
biological, cognitive, and socioemotional changes within individuals take place
and their changing contexts. within the individual.

The bioecological model is always shifting.

Microsystem, mezosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, chronosystem

The microsystem
• Variables that the child is directly exposed to
• Relationships: Family, school, religious institution, neighbors Most of the child’s
– Most direct interaction with social agents such as parents, teachers and behvior is learned in
peers the
• Family: Most influential and durable influence on child microsystem.
• For most young infants, the micro-system may be limited to the family. – Parents actively
• Becomes much more complex as children are exposed to day care, shape the
preschool classes, youth groups, teachers and neighborhood playmates. development of the
• Person helps to construct developmental setting. child
• Environment: Geographic, Material structures – Children actively
• Child’s body shape their
environment
The mesosystem
Refers to the interconnections or
interrelationships among such Microsystems as
Development is likely to be optimized
homes, schools, and peer groups.
by strong,
– Eg.
supportive links between
• Interactions between the family and teachers
Microsystems
• Relationship between the child’s peers and the
Non-supportive links between
family
Microsystems can
spell trouble.
 The exosystem The Macrosystem
Structures or Institutions of • Cultural, subcultural, or social class context in which
society in which the microsystems, mesosystems, and exosystems are embedded.
child does not have direct contact • Provides the values, beliefs, customs, and laws of the culture
with but in which a child grows up
indirectly affect a child’s • Influences how parents, teachers, and others raise a child
development • May be conscious or unconscious
– Eg., parents’ work environment, • Macrosystem is a broad, overarching ideology that dictates
Funding for how children should be treated, what they should be taught,
education and the goals for which they should strive.
• Impacts a child’s development by – Influences the societal values, legislation, and financial resources
influencing structures in the provided by a society to help families function
microsystem – Influences the interactions of all other layers
The Exosystem • These values differ across cultures

The chronosystem
Pattern of environmental events and transitions
over
life course and sociohistorical circumstances.
• Changes in the child or in any of the ecological
contexts of development can affect the direction
of
development.
– Eg., cognitive and biological changes that
occur at puberty,
contribute to increased conflict between young
adolescents and their parents
– Eg., the birth of a sibling
• And the effects of environmental changes also
depend upon the age of the child.
 Ethology: The scientific study of the evolutionary basis of
behavior.
• Humans display preprogrammed biological behaviors that
promote development.

Evolutionary developmental theory: Applies principles of

evolution and scientific knowledge about the interactive
influence of genetic and environmental mechanisms to
understand the changes people undergo throughout their lives.
• Genetic programs and biological predispositions interact with
the physical and social environment to influence development
and Darwinian natural selection determines what genes and
traits are passed on to the next generation
• Genetic factors interact with the physical/social environment to influence
development.

• Psychoanalytic theories emphasize personality change—how

unconscious forces shape people (Freud) and how sociocultural
forces influence ego development (Erikson).
• Behaviorist and social learning theories point to the physical and
social environment as a shaper of development and behavior, as well
as the role of observation and imitation in learning.
• Cognitive theories explains how individuals construct their own
knowledge structures through interaction with the world (Piaget) and
the ways in which attention, processing speed, and strategy lead to
advances in thinking and problem-solving ability (Information
processing theories).
• Sociocultural systems theory emphasizes the role of sociocultural
context in influencing thought (Vygotsky) and contextual systems in
which people live and how people and their contexts interact
(Bronfenbrenner)
 Prenatal development is often divided into
Stages of prenatal development
three major phases
Development begins in the fallopian tube when a sperm
• Period of the zygote/geminal period:
penetrates the wall of an ovum, forming a zygote
conception through
implantation (10 to 14 days)
Geminal period/Period of the Zygote • Period of the embryo/embryonic
period: beginning of the 3rd
2 weeks following conception
week through the end of the 8th week
Zygote is created plus 3 significant
• Period of the fetus/fetal period: 9th
developments
week of pregnancy until
Cell division (mitosis) begins, zygote divides
the baby is born.
into 2 cells and division continues
resulting in a ball-like structure (blastocyst) Cell differentiation/specialisation begins so the
By 4 days of conception, blastocyst is inner layer of blastocyst will
formed and contains 60 to 80 cell become embryo and outer layer will develop into
tissues that protect and

Implantation: nourish the embryo

• 6 to 10 days after conception, small,

burr-like tendrils emerge from blastocyst
outer surface Implantation:zigotun rahim duvarına tutunması

• When the blastocyst reaches the uterine

wall, the tendrils burrow inward,
tapping the pregnant w oman’s blood
supply.
• Implantation takes about 48 hours
• By 10-14 days after conception,
blastocyst position itself, attach, and
penetrated the uterine walls
Once implanted, the blastocyst’s outer layer rapidly The amnion, is a watertight sac that fills
forms four major support structures (membranes) with fluid
that protect and nourish the developing organism (amniotic fluid) from the pregnant woman’s
tissues
Yolk sac: ballooned -shaped
– Cushion the developing embryo against
– produces blood cells until the embryo is
blows,
capable of producing its
– Regulate temperature of embryo
own
– Provide a weightless environment that will
– all the nutrients the embryo needs until the
make it easier
placenta fully forms
for the embryo to move.
later in the pregnancy
– Shrinks by the end of the first trimester and
no longer be seen on
sonogram
– Surrounds the amnion and eventually
becomes the lining of the
placenta

The chorion: becomes attached to the

uterine tissues to
gather nourishment for the embryo.
Embriyoya besin toplamak için rahim
dokularına bağlanır

The allantois: forms the embryo’s

umbilical cord
Embriyonun göbek kordonunu
oluşturur
 Placenta
Placenta is fed by blood vessels from the pregnant
woman and the embryo
Act as a barrier that prevents mixture of bloodstreams
from mother and child
Placental barrier is semi-permeable, allows some
substances to pass through but not others.
Site of all metabolic transactions that sustain the embryo In 2nd month, embryo becomes much more
human in
appearance as it grows about 1/30th of an
Embryonic period
inch per day
3-8th week of pregnancy
• By middle of 5th week, eyes have corneas
Cell differentiation intensifies and development is rapid
and lenses.
By the 3rd week, 3 layers of cells develop from
• By 7th week, ears are well formed, and
blastocyst/embryonic disk.
embryo has a
Outer layer/ectoderm, becomes nervous system,
basic skeleton
skin, and hair.
• Limbs now developing from the body
The middle layer/mesoderm, becomes muscles,
outward; e.g.,
bones, and circulatory system.
upper arms appear first, then forearms, hands,
The inner layer/endoderm, becomes digestive
and then
system, lungs, urinary tract, and other vital organs
fingers.
such as the pancreas and liver.
• 7th-8th: sexual development begins with the
3rd week:, a portion of the ectoderm folds into a appearance
neural tube that becomes the brain and spinal
For males, Y chromosome triggers a biochemical
cord.
reaction to produce testes.
• 4th week, the heart has formed and begins to
For females, ovaries are produced.
beat.
Embyo’s circulatoy system now functions on its
• The eyes, ears, nose, and mouth are also
own,
beginning
for liver and spleen have assumed the task of
to form, and buds that will become arms and legs
producing blood cells.
suddenly appear.
 Fetal period Third month:
2-9 months after conception Organ systems that were formed earlier
Period of rapid growth and refinement of all organ continue
systems their rapid growth and become interconnected
All major organ systems begin to function and the Eg. Connection between nervous and
fetus begins to move and sense muscular systems
Individuality emerges as different fetuses develop Sexual differentiation progresses rapidly.
unique characteristics, such as different patterns of By end of 3rd month, fetus sex can be detected by
movement and different facial expressions. ultrasound,
Reproductive system already contains immature ova.
Fourth-Sixth Month
Seventh-Ninth Months
• Fetus begins to suck, swallow, munch, hiccup, cough,
All organ systems mature rapidly, preparing the
and snort, in preparation for extrauterine life
fetus
• Fetus begins kicking strongly enough to be felt by the
for birth
pregnant woman.
22 and 28 weeks fetuses reach age of viability,
• Fetal heartbeat can be heard with stethoscope
• By end of 16th week/4th month, fetus has assumed a ie.
distinctly human appearance but can’t survive when survival outside the uterus is possible
outside the womb 28-32 weeks: organized and more predictable
cycles
5th-6th months, nails harden, skin thickens, and of heart rate activity, gross motor activity, and
eyebrows, eyelashes, and scalp hair suddenly appear. sleepiness/waking activity
At 20 weeks, sweat glands are functioning, and fetal
By the middle of 9th month, fetal activity slows
heartbeat can be heard by placing an ear on the
and
pregnant woman’s abdomen.
sleep increases
Fetus is now covered by vernix (a white, cheesy
Fetus now lie in a head-down posture at the
substance) and lanugo (a fine layer of body hair).
base of
– Vernix protects fetal skin from chapping
the uterus.
– Lanugo helps vernix stick to skin.
Contractions help tones uterine muscles, dilates
By end of 6th month, visual and auditory senses are
cervix, and help position the head of fetus into gap
functional
between the pelvic bones in preparation for birth
process
 Infants who score 7 or higher on second
Apgar test: a test of infant ’s physical condition at 1 and
assessment are in
5 minutes after birth
good physical condition,
Heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, color, and reflex
Infants who score 4 or lower are in distress
irritability
and often require
Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale (NBAS) immediate medical attention to survive
A more subtle measure of a baby’s behavi oral
inventory and neurological well-being
• Typically administered a few days after birth
• Assesses the strength of 20 inborn reflexes, as well
as
changes in the infant’s state and reactions to
comforting and other social stimuli.
– Able to identify babies who are slow to react to a
variety of
everyday experiences early

Potential problems in prenatal

development
Environmental factors that can harm developing embryos
and
fetuses.
Teratogens: any disease, drug, or other environmental agent
that
can harm a developing embryo or fetus by causing physical
deformities, severely retarded growth, blindness, brain
damage,
or even death
Principles about the effects of teratogens:
Sensitive-period principle: effects of teratogen are worst
when
that structure is forming
 Individual-difference principle: not all embryos or Dosage principle: the longer the exposure to or
fetuses are equally affected by a teratogen higher the dose
͞ of a teratogen, the more likely
The same defect can be caused by different it is
teratogens. that serious harm will be done.

Embryos and fetuses can be affected by fathers’ as

well as by mothers’ exposure to some teratogens.
M> F

Susceptibility to harm is influenced by the embryo’s or

fetus’ and the pregnant woman’s genetic make-up
and the quality of the prenatal environment.
The long-term effects of a teratogen often depend on
the quality of the postnatal environment.
The sleeper-effect principle: some teratogens cause
sleeper effects that may not be apparent until later
in the child’s life.

Maternal diseases
Some disease agents can cross the placental barrier
and more damage to a developing embryo or fetus
than to the pregnant woman Toxoplasmosis: caused by a parasite found in many

• Because embryo or fetus have immature immune animals

system Caused by eating undercooked meat, handling cat

feces
Most dangerous during 1st trimester
Can cause severe eye and brain damage if
Syphilis: syphilitic spirochetes cannot cross the transmitted to the prenatal organism during the first
placental trimester
barrier until the 18th prenatal week Induce a miscarriage if it strikes later in pregnancy
– Can cause serious eye, ear, bone, heart, or Genital herpes:
brain damage – Can cross placenta
– Can result in miscarriage – Most infections occur during birth
 AIDS: Infected mothers may pass the virus 3 possible outcomes for babies:
– (1) prenatally, through the placenta – 1)infected and shows symptoms
– (2) while giving birth, when there may be an exchange of – 2)infected and shows no
blood between mother and child as the umbilical cord symptoms
separates from the placenta – 3)not infected
– (3)after birth, if the v i rus is passed through the mother ’s
milk during breastfeeding

Drugs: thalidomide Alcohol: affects development of the fetus

Thalidomide directly and
– Used to treat nausea and vomiting indirectly by compromising the function of
– Tested on animals and was safe the placenta
• Caused birth defects (for some) if taken during first 2
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS):
months of pregnancy
– microcephaly (small head) and malformations
– Eyes, ears, noses, hearts
of heart, limbs, joints,
– Phocomelia – parts of limbs missing, feet or hands
and face
connected to torso
How much alcohol is safe? Likely to display excessive irritability,
• More the dosage, the worse the symptoms hyperactivity, seizures,
• Moderate drinking can lead to fetal alcohol effects and tremor
(FAE)
– Retarded physical growth and minor physical Majority score below average in intelligence
abnormalities throughout
– Poor motor skills, difficulty paying attention, childhood and adolescence,
subnormal • More than 90% display major adjustment
intellectual performance, and verbal learning deficits problems as
– Structural anomalies in the brains of children with both adolescents and young adults
FAS and
FAE
• When is it safe to drink?
• Drinking late in pregnancy can be just as risky as
drinking
soon after conception
 Drugs: cigarette
Caffeine results in small risk for
Introduces nicotine and carbon monoxide into both the
spontaneous miscarriage
pregnant woman’s and fetus’ bloodstreams
and low birth weight
• Impairs functioning of placenta, especially the exchange of
• Methamphetamine can speed up the
oxygen and nutrients to the fetus
nervous system,
• A positive association between smoking during the first
resulting in higher infant mortality, low
trimester and cleft lip, with or without cleft palate.
birth weight,
• Abnormal lung function and hypertension
developmental and behavioral problems
• Marijuana use by mother can result in
Cocaine: constrict the blood vessels of both mother
memory and
and
information processing deficiencies,
fetus:
depressive
– elevates fetal blood pressure and hampers the flow of
symptoms and be associated with later
nutrients
drug use by the
and oxygen across the placenta
child
• Miscarriages or premature birth
• Heroine can result in withdrawal
• Tremors, sleep disturbances, a sluggish inattention to
symptoms such as
the
tremors, irritability, abnormal crying,
environment, and a tendency to become extremely
disturbed sleep,
irritable when aroused
and impaired motor control.
Incompatible blood types
Differences in surface structures of red blood cells associated Environmental hazards

with different blood groups (A,B, O and AB) and Radiation: still birth, serious disabilities in
• Rh factor: if present, individual is Rh+ and if absent, children
individual is • Chemicals and pollutants: organic dyes
Rh-. and coloring
If Rh- woman conceives with Rh+ man, agents, food additives, artificial
• Baby’s blood type may be Rh+. sweeteners,
• Mother ’s immune system w i ll produce antibodies that w i ll pesticides, and cosmetic products, lead,
attack the baby’ s Red Blood Cells. zinc, or
mercury
 The pregnant woman's diet The Pregnant Woman’s Diet:
– Developing baby depends on mom for • 1st trimester: malnutrition can disrupt the
nutrition from formation
mom’s blood of the spinal cord and induce miscarriages
– Pregnant women are advised to eat • 3rd trimester: low-birth-weight babies with
healthy, high-protein, small
high-calorie diet heads may fail to survive the 1st year of life
• Inadequate prenatal nutrition can be • If mom is overweight, higher risk of still birth
harmful and
Severe malnutrition is associated with stunts neonatal death
prenatal growth and small/underweight babies
Woman’s age
• Safest time for childbirth is 16 and 35
Woman’s Emotional Well-Being
years
• Emotional arousal cause secretion of adrenaline
• Risk of infant mortality increases
– Can cross placental barrier, enter fetus’s bloodstream,
substantially for mother if
and
15 years old and younger
increase the fetus’s motor activ it y
• Pregnant teenagers experience more birth
• Increased adrenaline in mother’s bodyrestricts blood
complications,
Prolonged and severe emotional stress is linked to
are more likely to deliver prematurely and have
– stunted prenatal growth
low-birth-
– Premature delivery
weight babies
– Low birth weight
Older mothers (after 35 years) have higher risk for
– Irregular feeding and sleeping
– babies with low birth weight,
– Weakens immune system
– premature birth and fetal death

Exposure to lead, radiation, pesticides and other

chemicals can result in sperm abnormalities
• Diet low in Vitamin C can lead to increased birth
defects and cancer
• Older fathers can have children with increased risk of
Down Syndrome, Dwarfism and Marfan syndrome.
 Permanent brain damage can
Potential problems at birth
result if breathing is delayed for

Three birth complications that can adversely influence a baby’s more than 3 to 4 minutes

development are anoxia (oxygen deprivation), a premature • Mild anoxia is linked to

delivery, and low birth weight irritability at birth and below

• Anoxia can result from: average score

– tangled or squeezed umbilical cord during childbirth on tests of motor and mental

– Breech position development throughout the first 3

– Placenta separates prematurely years

– If sedatives given to the mother cross the placental barrier and – Also associated with an

interfere increased risk of adult heart

with the baby’s breathing disease

Prematurity and Low Birth Weight

• Less than 2.5Kg or 5.5 pounds Short-term consequences of Low Birth Weight
• Two kinds of low-birth-weight babies – 40-50% weighing less than 0.99 kg die
– Preterm babies: born more than 3 weeks before – Brain development and neural pattern
due dates formation in
– Small-for-date babies: underweight due to slow preterm infants differs
growth – Breathing difficulty
• Greater risk for small-for-date babies than – Can be frustrating to care for
preterm • Long-term effects of low-birth weight depend
• Causes: on the
– Smoking and heavy drinking rearing environment
– Drug use or malnourishment – Eg. Parents’ education, economic status,
– High levels of stress emotional
– Multiple births support and educational stimulation
– Lack of prenatal care