Prenatal Development & The Newborn Baby

The Process…

A zygote is a fertilized egg (conception – 2 weeks).

Developing cells are known as an embryo (2 weeks – 8 weeks).

The cells develop, and start to look like an actual human. This is a fetus (9 weeks – birth).

Teratogens

Harmful agents that can reach the embryo or fetus– AIDS virus

– Cigarette smoke

– Alcohol

– Drugs (illegal & OTC)

– X-rays

– Diabetes

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

Physical impairment Cognitive impairment 1 in 750 infants Alcohol especially

damaging during the embryonic stage because it’s a critical period for development

Critical period – window of opportunity

The Baby Is Born!!!

Newborns spend about 70% of their time sleeping

To study infants, psychologists show them pictures and record their eye movement, changes in heart rate, sucking rate, brain waves, body movements, and perspiration rates

Infants Senses

Can see objects soon after birth from about 8-10 inches away

The baby can hear before it’s born

It turns its head at the sound of its mother’s voice

The most important sense to a newborn is smell

A week-old baby can smell the difference between its mother and another woman

Sense of Touch

Sense of touch so important

Helps develop brain connections

Baby massage

Contact Comfort/ Harry Harlow

Visual Sense

Prefer a new picture or pattern vs. an old one

Clear contrastsPictures that resemble

faces vs. ones that don’t look like faces

Depth perception: visual cliff

Reflexes

Grasping– Babies will wrap their fists

around anything put in their hands

Rooting– If you touch a baby’s

cheek, it will turn its head Sucking

– Putting anything in a baby’s mouth, it will automatically start sucking

Stepping– Babies make stepping

motions when they are held upright with their feet touching a surface

Swallowing– Allows liquids to go down

Moro– Startling reflex… when

startled, the baby throws it arms and legs into the air, opens its fingers wide searching for its mother’s hand

Temperament (Thomas & Chess)

Easy– Cheerful, relaxed,

predictable Slow-to-warm-up

– Cautious, but when comfortable, easy

Shy– Apprehensive of new

environments/people Difficult

– Irritable, intense, unpredictable

HOMEWORK!!!

Your temperament is your biological predisposition. It usually doesn’t change over time.

Take a few minutes now to write out what you think your temperament is right now

Go home tonight and ask your parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. what your temperament was like as an infant

Maturation

Natural growth or change that unfolds in a relatively fixed sequence independent of the environment

Brain develops neural networks

Don’t have memories of life earlier than 3-4

Motor Development

Hold head upRoll overSit unsupportedCreep on all foursCrawlWalkLast two can be out of

order