2 19 15 Week 6 Intro to Psychology Prenatal Development Continued Fetal Period 2 9 months after conception Most physical growth occurs Ends at child birth Teratogens any agent that can cause a birth defect Critical Periods Time most susceptible to birth defects Biggest critical period during Embryonic Also when women are less likely to know they are pregnant Most women with unplanned pregnancies don t know for up to 2 months Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders FASD problems occurring n children whose mothers drank during pregnancy Amount effects child is different from child to child Dependent on how much mother drank Physical abnormalities Mental abnormalities Child Development Physical Development Body Cognitive Development thinking and remembering Socioemotional Development relationships Chapter 8 part 2 Physical Development in Children human infants are mostly helpless at birth They survive for 2 reasons 1 we take care of them WHY Because they re so cute 2 they come equipped with survival skills known as reflexes Reflexes genetically wired involuntary responses that are crucial for infant survival 5 types of Reflexes 1 rooting turning head when touched 2 gripping grabbing when something is put in hand 3 toe curling response to tickling inner sole of foot stroke curls toes outer sole stroked toes spread 4 moro sudden noise or movement throws head or arms back and cries 5 gallant stroking lower back infant moves toward side stroked Motor Development the gradual development of muscle control balance and movement Six Motor Milestones infant develops motor skills from the head down ex raising the head rolling over propped up sitting up crawling walking head to feet Perceptual Development the gradual development of the senses and the interpretation of sensory information Perceptual Abilities Birth Best to Worst smell taste touch hearing vision see shades of grey hearing very poor sight fixed lenses undeveloped photoreceptors cones Q Why can t babies see very well when they are born A Fixed lens poorly developed photoreceptors called cones Q How do babies interpret what they see A They learn to interpret what they see as they gain experiences and their brains grow new connections babies are born with depth perception cannot understand an objects existence unless right in front of thme can t understand objects size tall glass vs smaller wider glass with more volume child will pick taller because it is bigger EXAMPLES Effects of enriched environment build it and they will come Visual Cliff Experiments I m going out on a limb here Q Are we born with the ability to perceive depth A Yes but it takes experience to fear falling Leaning about Size Constancy looks can be deceiving on the retina Learned with experience Size Consistency the ability to perceive an object as being the same size regardless of its size Cognitive Development in Children the development of thinking problem solving and memory as we age Jean Piaget s Theory of Cognitive Development Schemas skills and behaviors that allow children to interact with objects and others ex controls sense of child s sense of size consistency Assimilation incorporating new information into existing schemas Accommodation changing a schema to new information
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