Psychology
Prenatal Development
Prenatal development refers to the process of growth and maturation that occurs in an unborn baby from conception to birth. It encompasses the stages of germinal, embryonic, and fetal development, during which the major organs and body systems form and develop. Prenatal development is influenced by genetic factors, maternal health, and environmental influences, and it plays a crucial role in shaping an individual's future physical and psychological well-being.
Written by Perlego with AI-assistance
Related key terms
1 of 5
11 Key excerpts on "Prenatal Development"
eBook - PDF- Jaan Valsiner, Kevin J Connolly, Jaan Valsiner, Kevin J Connolly(Authors)
- 2002(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
At the other extreme the individual is considered to be a fully interactive, sentient miniature adult possessing adult abilities and only requiring a period of growth. The latter is the psychological equivalent of the pre-formationist views of embryological development. Neither of these views is correct and a middle ground between the two extremes is more appropriate. Genes may trigger some aspects of development but experiential factors are crucial for normal development to proceed (see also Gottlieb, Chapter 1 and Wahlsten, Chapter 2 in this volume). A picture is emerging that reveals both the environment and the activity of the foetus playing crucial roles in its development. Development may be activity dependent (Miller, 1994; Provine, 1986) requiring appropriate inter-action between behavioural activity, environmental cues and physical structures to ensure normal development. In this essay I shall review the evidence regarding the development of prenatal psychological function-ing, and how prenatal experiences and activity may influence the development of the individual with potential short-term and long-term impact. I shall concentrate on the prenatal period in the human; for a discussion of work with animals see Lecanuet et al. (1995) and Smotherman and Robinson (1988). 95 PREŃA TAL PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BEHA VIOURAL DEVELOPMENT Historical overview It would not be an exaggeration to say that for the greater part of the twentieth century psychological functioning during the prenatal period has been the subject of little consideration (see below). Certainly it has not figured highly on the agenda for experi-mental study. However that is not to say it has been ignored. Indeed the importance of this period has been warmly embraced by certain psychoanalytical traditions, which have argued that events during the prenatal and birth periods have an important impact on the psychological development of the individual.
eBook - PDF- Richard C. LaBarba(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
PRENATAL FACTORS IN DEVELOPMENT INTRODUCTION Prenatal Development Embryonic Growth Prenatal Periods of Development The Determination of Embryonic Age HUMAN BEHAVIORAL EMBRYOLOGY Historical Perspective Conceptions of Prenatal Development Methodological Considerations in The Study of Human Prenatal Behavior The Ontogeny of Human Fetal Behavior Theoretical Issues in Behavioral Embryology The Coghill-Windle Controversy INTRAUTERINE INFLUENCES ON Prenatal Development Principles of Teratology and the Concept of Critical Periods Ionizing Radiation Effects Drug Effects Smoking and Alcohol Maternal Diseases and Conditions Perinatal Factors in Development Low Birth Weight and Prematurity Maternal Emotional States OBSTETRIC MEDICATION Effects of Obstetric Medication on Infants The Brackbill and Broman Study REFERENCES INTRODUCTION I this chapter, we will discuss h u m a n prenatal develop- I ment, both normal and abnormal, in order to describe how prenatal factors and experiences can affect the develop- m e n t of postnatal behavior and ontogenesis. As we describe various patterns o f prenatal d e v e l o p m e n t , we will draw u p o n data from the science of embryology, which deals with the origin and d e v e l o p m e n t of the individual organism, and its subdisciplines such as developmental anatomy, developmental physiology, chemical embryology, and experimental embryol- ogy. Especially important to d e v e l o p m e n t a l psychology is the field o f behavioral embryology. Behavioral embryology is the study o f the origin and d e v e l o p m e n t of the nervous system and behavior; it explores the relationships between the embry- ogenesis o f neurobehavioral d e v e l o p m e n t a n d later psycholog- ical d e v e l o p m e n t . Behavioral embryology is steeped in the developmental m e t h o d a n d focuses o n etiology of structure and function. It is n o w well k n o w n that behavior does not begin at birth.
- Lorelle J. Burton, Drew Westen, Robin M. Kowalski(Authors)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
During the germinal period (approximately the first two weeks after conception), the fertilised egg becomes implanted in the uterus. The embryonic period (from the beginning of the third week to about the eighth week of gestation) is the most important period in the development of the central nervous system and of the organs. By the end of this stage, the features of the embryo become recognisably human, the rudiments of most organs have formed and the heart has begun to beat. During the fetal period (from about nine weeks to birth), muscular development is rapid. By about 28 weeks, the fetus is capable of sustaining life on its own. (The term fetus is often used more broadly to refer to the organism between conception and birth.) FIGURE 15.2 Prenatal Development. The photo in (a) shows a fertilised egg surrounded by sperm. Photo (b) shows a six-week-old embryo. Only six weeks later (c), the fetus is recognisably human. (a) (b) (c) Mothers often sense that their child is ‘wilful’ or has a ‘personality’ before birth. In part, this undoubtedly reflects vivid maternal imagination. Research suggests, however, that fetuses of many species can behave and even learn in utero (prenatally) (Robinson & Kleven, 2005). When the young of any species is born, it has to be ready to respond to features of its environment (e.g., that it can eat). The ways human children ‘behave’ in utero are also highly predictive of the ways they will behave once they are born (DiPietro et al., 1996; DiPietro et al., 2002). For example, fetuses that are more active in the womb tend to be more active and difficult babies at six months. Environmental infuences on Prenatal Development Understanding the stages of Prenatal Development is important to every expectant parent, because at different stages, the developing fetus is susceptible to different dangers at different points. Teratogens are environmental agents that harm the embryo or fetus.
eBook - PDF- John P. Houston, Helen Bee, David C. Rimm(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
Are the changes we sense in ourselves part of a sequence, part of getting better, or are we just changing constantly in response to changes in the environment around us? The prenatal period 287 A second central difference among the several theorists is whether they view early experience as more potent, more influential, than later experi-ence. In the language of the ethologists, whose studies of motivation we described in Chapter 7, are the early years a critical period for the develop-ment of intellectual skills or personality characteristics? Are our person-ality patterns firmly fixed by age 12, as Freud argued? Is our temperament inborn and unmodifiable, as some biological theorists suggest? Or do the experiences of adulthood weigh equally in shaping our skills, our attitudes and our relationships to others? Learning theorists, as a group, tend to be far more optimistic about the possibility of change in adulthood than psychoanalytic theorists such as Freud. If your skills and responses at 12 are the result of the patterns of observational learning and reinforcement you have experienced up to then, then your behaviors can change if the models and the reinforce-ments are altered. For example, people can learn to become less fearful and more assertive. With these theories and issues in mind, let us begin our journey through time, from conception to death. The prenatal period We described some of the fundamental genetic processes in Chapter 2. At the moment of conception the 23 chromosomes from the father combine with the 23 from the mother, forming the unique pattern of 46 chromo-somes that makes up the genetic map for that particular person. Concep-tion normally occurs as the ovum travels down the Fallopian tube toward the uterus (see Figure 1). From the moment of fertilization, the cell—now called a zygote—begins the division process called mitosis, which we saw in Chapter 2 (Figure 19).
eBook - PDFDevelopment Through Life
A Psychosocial Approach
- Barbara Newman, Philip Newman(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
During pregnancy, a woman’s immune system may be weaker, and the immune system of the fetus is not fully developed. As a result, both the woman Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-300 114 CHAPTER 4 The Period of Pregnancy and Prenatal Development neurological and behavioral development. As suggested by the model for the differential effect of the childrearing environment presented earlier in the chapter (Figure 4.6), psychosocial pro-cesses can contribute to growth and new resources for coping or to disruption and limitations on coping. Within the prenatal environment, a child’s genetic potential may encounter a sup-portive, healthy, optimizing environment or an environment in which one or more conditions place fetal development at risk. For infants who carry the genetic markers for anomalies, the expression of these conditions may be less severe when fetal depression in women emphasize that the period of pregnancy and childbirth should be a time for preventive intervention (Le, Munoz, Ippen, & Stoddard, 2003). Summary The many risk factors we have reviewed, including maternal age, exposure to drugs and environmental toxins, exposure to medi-cations, inadequate nutritional resources, and stress, can occur singly or in combination. The greater the number of risk factors the fetus encounters, the greater the chance for disruption in FIGURE 4.10 ▶ FOOD SAFETY FOR BABY AND ME Source: Foodsafety.gov. Retrieved from http:// www.foodsafety.gov/risk/pregnant/ Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-300 The Cultural Context of Pregnancy and Childbirth 115 development has taken place in a healthy, fully resourced uter-ine environment.
eBook - PDF- Nancy Ogden, Michael Boyes, Evelyn Field, Ronald Comer, Elizabeth Gould(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
There is evidence, for example, to suggest that schizophrenia (Purcell et al., 2014) and depression (Holmes et al., 2012) may be polygenic. However, it is important to remember that very few genetic influences occur without environ- mental modification. Our environment plays a very strong role in determining our developmental outcome. DNA provides a blueprint, but at critical points in development experience creates a genetic memory—via trace chemicals—that change how the instructions on the DNA are carried out. These epigenetic changes to the DNA can be temporary or reversible, but many times these changes are permanent and possibly heritable (Alberta Family Wellness Initiative [AFWI], 2017). Prenatal Development Prenatal Development begins with conception when a sperm fertilizes an egg, resulting in the creation of a single cell, called a zygote. The first two weeks after conception is known as the germinal stage. During the first 36 hours of this stage, the single cell zygote divides and becomes two cells. These two cells then divide to become four, those four divide and become eight, and so on. As its cells keep multiplying, the zygote moves through the mother’s Fallo- pian tube (where it was first fertilized) to her uterus. After the fourth day following conception, the zygote is now referred to as the blastocyst. About a week after fertilization, the blastocyst implants itself to the side of the uterus. The other major transition that occurs during the ger- minal stage is the formation of a nutrient-rich structure called the placenta, which attaches to the wall of the uterus. The placenta allows the circulatory system of the mother to inter- act with the circulatory system of the embryo to exchange oxygen and nutrients through the umbilical cord. Implantation signals the second stage of the prenatal period, called the embryonic stage (2 to 8 weeks).
eBook - PDFHuman Development
A Life-Span View
- Robert Kail, John Cavanaugh(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
Ben was involved in team sports and now enjoys teaching. Matt took art and photography classes and now is happy working at his computer. Ben and Matt have chosen very different niches, and their choices have been driven in part by the genes that regulate sociability. Real People Applying Human Development Ben and Matt Pick Their Niches Copyright 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. CHAPTER 2: BIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS: HEREDITY, Prenatal Development, AND BIRTH 51 Eun Jung has just learned that she is pregnant with her first child. Like many other parents-to-be, she and her husband are ecstatic. But they also realize how little they know about “what happens when” during pregnancy. Eun Jung is eager to visit her obstetrician to learn more about the timetable of events during pregnancy. The many changes that transform an egg fertilized by a sperm cell into a newborn human constitute Prenatal Development . Prenatal Development takes an aver-age of 38 weeks, which are divided into three periods: the period of the zygote, the period of the embryo, and the period of the fetus.* Each period gets its name from the scientific term used to describe the baby-to-be at that point in its pre-natal development. In this section, we’ll trace the major developments of each of these periods. As we do, you’ll learn the answers to the “what happens when” question that intrigues Eun Jung. Period of the Zygote (Weeks 1–2) The teaspoon or so of seminal fluid produced during a fertile male’s ejaculation contains from 200 to 500 million sperm.
eBook - PDFDiscovering Psychology
The Science of Mind
- John Cacioppo, Laura Freberg(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
Signifi-trubach/Shutterstock.com Learning Objectives 1. Evaluate the evidence for sensory capacities, preferences, and reflexes in newborn infants. 2. Identify major physical, cognitive, and social and emotional differences among the prenatal period, infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, and give examples of ways in which these three trajectories influence one another. 3. Differentiate Jean Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational), and critique Piaget’s theory, using research from alternate approaches. 4. Debate the adaptive function of infant attachment, and analyze the roles of temperament, culture, and parenting in driving individual attachment styles. 5. Identify epigenetic processes, critical or sensitive periods, and the impact of experience on biological development. 6. Debate the research evidence for continuity versus discontinuity in the trajectories of physical, cognitive, and social and emotional development. Chapter 11 | THE DEVELOPING MIND Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DEVELOP? 401 cant progress has been made in the understanding of how genes and the environment interact. As we discussed in Chapter 3, we now understand that the underlying deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that makes up our genes is turned on or off by the sur-rounding chemical tags (the epigenome) that accumulate through life. Among the external environmental factors that can chemically “tag” our DNA are diet, nurture, and stress.
- Stephen F. Davis, William Buskist, Stephen F. Davis, William F. Buskist(Authors)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
By the last trimester, hearing becomes sophisticated enough to promote preferences for familiarity at birth, such as for the sound of the mother’s voice. Researchers also observe the emergence of rest-activity cycles and sleep-wake states that 1 • DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY resemble those found in adults. Such rapid prenatal growth and development is not entirely canalized (i.e., genetic restriction to predetermined developmental paths; see Waddington, 1966, for a discussion of canalization). Thus, the fetus is vulnerable to physical, neurological, and ulti-mately cognitive and behavioral troubles stemming from environmental teratogens that pass through to him or her while in utero. For example, researchers have documented short-term and even long-term problems associated with prenatal exposure to tobacco, alcohol, and cocaine. The following two years after birth (ages 1 to ) also usher in a considerable amount of change, argu-ably more than any other 4-month period that follows. Neurologically, we behold the peak of synaptogenesis and plasticity, including the destruction of inactive neurons and synapses. Infancy also marks the emergence and per-vasive use of symbolism that serves as the basis of human thinking and language, and begins to overtly reveal itself through one- and two-word utterances and signs of pretend play. As a result of such developments in the cognitive realm, the two-year-old perhaps shares more in common with an adult, in terms of thinking, than he/she does with a newborn. It is also during infancy that early personality, in the form of temperamental behavioral consistencies, becomes evident. Although aspects of temperament may be altered by experiences, temperamental characteristics like-wise influence the transactions one has with other humans and one’s larger society. Finally, it is during infancy that a seemingly asocial being bonds with his or her caregivers and purportedly develops subconscious representations of human relationships.
eBook - PDFChild Psychology
A Canadian Perspective
- Alastair Younger, Scott A. Adler, Ross Vasta(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
Source: Public Health Agency of Canada, An inventory of education and training programs: FASD and the judicial/criminal justice system, Ottawa: Author, 2011. Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: FASD guidebook for police officers, Ottawa: Author, no date. Popova, S., Lange, S., Bekmuradov, D., Mihic, A., and Rehm, J., “Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder prevalence estimates in correctional systems: a systematic literature review,” Canadian Journal of Public Health, September-October 2011, pp. 336–40. Stages of Prenatal Development, p. 98 Learning Objective 4.1 Trace the changes that occur in the three stages of Prenatal Development. Teratology, p. 105 Learning Objective 4.2 Describe the impact of teratogens on Prenatal Development. Natural Challenges, p. 116 Learning Objective 4.3 Describe the natural challenges that can affect fetal development. Preventing, Detecting, and Treating Birth Defects, p. 121 Learning Objective 4.4 Discuss the various methods of preventing identifying, and treating birth defects prenatally. Prenatal Development C H A P T E R 4 98 Chapter 4 – Prenatal Development when we consider the course of a child’s life, the nine months between conception and birth may be the most unappreciated period of development. This is probably because the events that occur during this time are largely hidden from view. Yet during these nine months, what begins as a microscopic fertilized egg undergoes a series of dramatic changes and eventually emerges as a living, breathing baby. You can probably imagine how people from ancient cultures must have struggled to explain how a fully-formed creature could appear at birth. As late as the 18th century, some believed that people were completely formed even before conception. One theory, preformationism, proposed that each sperm cell contained a tiny individual (called a homun- culus), like the one shown in Figure 4.1, who would grow when deposited in a woman’s womb.
eBook - PDF- Phillip T. Slee, Marilyn Campbell, Barbara Spears(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
116 Part 2 Conception and Birth Selected websites Child and Adolescent Psychological and Educational Resources: www.caper.com.au The Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck College, University of London: www.psyc.bbk.ac.uk/cbcd Starting Smart – how early experiences affect brain development : http://main.zerotothree. org/site/DocServer/startingsmart.pdf 117 5 Birth and the newborn child Angels whispering Because I feel that, in the heavens above The angels, whispering to one another, Can find, among their burning terms of love, None so devoted as that of ‘mother’, Therefore by that dear name I long have called you. Edgar Allan Poe, ‘To My Mother’ Chapter outline Introduction 118 Conception 118 Development of the foetus 122 The intra-uterine environment 126 Giving birth 127 Fathers and the birth process 131 The early stages of life 135 Chapter summary 140 Key terms and concepts 140 Discussion questions 140 Activities 140 Selected websites 140 After reading this chapter you should be able to: explain what conception involves • identify the stages in the development of the foetus • appreciate the sensitivity of the inter-uterine environment for the developing • foetus understand the stages of giving birth • appreciate the father’s role in the birth process • understand how children view the family. • 118 Part 2 Conception and Birth Introduction From conception to birth a wondrous journey is undertaken. In the last weeks before birth the foetus is fully developed: the baby is about 48 centimetres in length and weighs about 2500 grams. Before birth they will grow up to another 3 centimetres and gain up to 800 grams. This extra weight will help protect the baby upon emerging from the cocooned environment of the womb to the outside world. In the womb the baby drinks up to 3 litres of amniotic fluid per day, thereby preparing to develop the stom-ach, kidneys and bladder.
Index pages curate the most relevant extracts from our library of academic textbooks. They’ve been created using an in-house natural language model (NLM), each adding context and meaning to key research topics.
