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PRELIM LESSON 2
THEMES IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Learning Objectives:
1. To be able to understand the different themes in child and development research.
2. To know the different measurement and research design in child development research.
Different tenets in the study child development:
1. Early Development is related to Later Development but not perfectly- According to this view, there is a
continuity-discontinuity process wherein when you say continuity, children more likely to continue their
behavior since they are a child until adult, whilst discontinuity states that children’s behavior changes over
time.
2. Development is always jointly influenced by Heredity and environment- This view states that a nature
and nurture have a great influence on child’s development.
3. Children influence their own development- This view states that there are two points of view in a child’s
development, either children learn on an active or passive way on their own.
4. Development in different domains is connected- This view states that the development in different domains
is always intertwined.
Situation:
Leah and Joan are both mothers of 10-year-old boys. Their sons have many friends, but the basis for the friendships is
not obvious to the mothers. Leah believes that opposites attract: children form friendships with peers who have
complementary interests and abilities. Joan doubts this; her son seems to seek out other boys who are near-clones of
himself in their interests and abilities.

MEASUREMENT IN CHILD-DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH

SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION
- As the name implies, systematic observation involves watching children and carefully recording what they do or
say. Two forms of systematic observation are common. In naturalistic observation, children are observed as they
behave spontaneously in some real-life situation. Of course, researchers can’t keep track of everything that a child
does. Beforehand they must decide which variables — factors that can take on different values— to record.
In structured observation, the researcher creates a setting likely to elicit the behavior of interest. Structured
observations are particularly useful for studying behaviors that are difficult to observe naturally. Some phenomena
occur rarely, such as emergencies. An investigator using naturalistic observation to study children’s responses to
emergencies wouldn’t make much progress, because emergencies don’t occur at predetermined times and locations.
However, using structured observation, an investigator might stage an emergency, perhaps by having a nearby adult
cry for help and then observing children’s responses.
SAMPLING BEHAVIOR WITH TASKS
- When investigators can’t observe a behavior directly, an alternative is to
create tasks that are thought to sample the behavior of interest.
SELF REPORTS
- The third approach to measurement, using self-reports, is actually a
special case of using tasks to measure children’s behavior. Self-reports are
simply children’s answers to questions about the topic of interest. When
questions are posed in written form, the report is a questionnaire; when
questions are posed orally, the report is an interview. In either format,
questions are created that probe different aspects of the topic of interest.
PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASURES.
- A final approach is less common but can be very powerful: measuring children’s physiological responses. Heart rate,
for example, often slows down when children are paying close attention to something interesting. Consequently,
researchers often measure heart rate to determine a child’s degree of attention. As another example, the hormone
cortisol is often secreted in response to stress. By measuring cortisol levels in children’s saliva, scientists can
determine when children are experiencing stress.
EVALUATING MEASURES
- After researchers choose a method of measurement, they must show that it is both reliable and valid. A measure is
reliable if the results are consistent over time. A measure of friendship, for example, would be reliable if it yields the
same results about friendship each time it is administered. A measure is valid if it really measures what researchers
think it measures.

REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLING.
- Valid measures depend not only on the method of measurement, but also on the children who are tested.
Researchers are usually interested in broad groups of children called populations. Virtually all studies include
only a sample of children, a subset of the population. Researchers must take care that their sample really represents
the population of interest. An unrepresentative sample can lead to invalid research.
GENERAL DESIGNS FOR RESEARCH
CORRELATIONAL STUDIES
- In a correlational study, investigators look at relations between variables as they exist naturally in the world.
In the simplest possible correlational study, a researcher measures two variables, then sees how they are related.
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Imagine a researcher who wants to test the idea that smarter children have more friends. To test this claim, the
researcher would measure two variables for each child: the number of friends the child has and the child’s
intelligence.
A positive correlation means that larger values on one variable are associated with larger values on the second
variable; a negative correlation means that larger values on one variable are associated with smaller values on a
second variable.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES
- In an experiment, an investigator systematically varies the factors thought to cause a particular behavior. The factor
that is varied is called the independent variable; the behavior that is measured is called the dependent variable.

In a field experiment, the researcher manipulates independent

variables in a natural setting so that the results are more likely to be representative of behavior in real-world settings.
Another important variation is the quasi-experiment, which typically involves examining the impact of an
independent variable by using groups that were not created with random assignment.
DESIGNS FOR STUDYING AGE-RELATED CHANGE
LONGITUDINAL DESIGN. In a longitudinal design, the same individuals are observed or tested repeatedly at
different points in their lives. As the name implies, the longitudinal approach takes a lengthwise view of development
and is the most direct way to watch growth occur.

In a microgenetic study, a special type of longitudinal design, children are tested repeatedly over a span of days or
weeks, typically with the aim of observing change directly as it occurs.

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The longitudinal approach, however, has disadvantages that frequently offset its strengths. An obvious one is cost:
The expense of keeping up with a large sample of people can be staggering. Other problems are not so obvious:

1. Practice effects: When children are given the same test many times, they may become “test-wise.” Improvement
over time that is attributed to development may actually stem from practice with a particular test. Changing the test
from one session to the next solves the practice problem but can make it difficult to compare responses to different
tests.

2. Selective attrition: Another problem is the constancy of the sample over the course of research. Some children may
drop out because they move away. Others may simply lose interest and choose not to continue. These dropouts often
differ significantly from their peers, which can distort the outcome. For example, a study might find that memory
improves between 8 and 11 years. What has actually happened, however, is that 8-year-olds who found the testing too
difficult quit the study, thereby raising the group average when children were tested as 11-year-olds.
3. Cohort effects: When children in a longitudinal study are observed over a period of several years, the
developmental change may be specific to a specific generation of people known as a cohort. For example, the
longitudinal study that I described earlier includes babies born in 1991 in the United States. The results of this study
may be general (i.e., apply to infants born in 1950 as well as infants born in 2000), but they may reflect experiences
that were unique to infants born in the early 1990s.
CROSS-SECTIONAL DESIGN
- In a cross-sectional design, developmental changes are identified by testing children of different ages at one point in
their development. Cross-sectional designs are convenient but only longitudinal designs can answer questions about
the continuity of development.

LONGITUDINAL- SEQUENTIAL
STUDIES
Neither longitudinal nor cross-sectional studies are foolproof; each has weaknesses. Consequently, sometimes
investigators use a design that is hybrid of the traditional designs. A longitudinal-sequential study includes
sequences of samples, each studied longitudinally.

PRELIMS ASSIGNMENT #2
GENETIC DISORDERS
a. List down at least 10 different types of Genetic Disorders, their causes, symptoms, characteristics and what
genes is affected and put a sample picture.
b. As a psychology student, how would you protect people with genetic disorders from different stigmatizing
labels from other people?
c. What are the different cultural beliefs about human conception?

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PRELIM LESSON 3
GENETIC BASES OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Learning Objectives:
1. To be able to understand the genetic basis in child development.
2. To know the Biology of Heredity.
3. To understand cultural influences in child development.
4. To know the different Genetic Disorders and their causes.

SICKLE CELL DISEASE

When a person has sickle-cell disease, the red blood cells look like those in
the photo, long and curved like a sickle. These stiff, misshapen cells can’t
pass through small capillaries, so oxygen can’t reach all parts of the body.
The trapped sickle cells also block the way of white blood cells that are the
body’s natural defense against bacteria. As a result, people with sickle-cell
disease—including Leslie’s grandfather and many other African Americans,
who are more prone to this painful disease than other groups—often die from
infections before the age of 20.
Sickle-cell disease is inherited. Because Leslie’s grandfather
had the disorder, it apparently runs in her family. Would Leslie’s baby inherit
the disease? To answer this question, we need to examine the mechanisms of
heredity.
THE BIOLOGY OF HEREDITY
The teaspoon of semen released into the vagina during an ejaculation contains
from 200 million to 500 million sperm. Only a few hundred of these actually
complete the 6- or 7-inch journey to the fallopian tubes. If an egg is present,
many sperm simultaneously begin to burrow their way through the cluster of
nurturing cells that surround the egg. When a sperm like the one in the middle
photo penetrates the cellular wall of the egg, chemical changes that occur
immediately block out all other sperm.
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WORLDS FIRST TUBE- BABY

For most of history, the merging of
sperm and egg took place only after
sexual intercourse. No longer. In 1978,
Louise Brown captured the world’s
attention as the first test- tube baby
conceived in a laboratory dish instead of
in her mother’s body.

NEW TECHNIQUES FOR

COUPLES WHO CAN’T HAVE CHILD THROUGH INTERCOURSE
1. IN VI-TRO
FERTILIZATION- Involves mixing sperm and egg together in a
laboratory dish and then placing several fertilized eggs in a woman’s
uterus. This laboratory version of conception, with the sperm in the
dropper being placed in the dish containing the eggs. If the eggs are
fertilized, in about 24 hours they are placed in a woman’s uterus,
with the hope that they will become implanted in the wall of her uterus.

SURROGATE MOTHERS
The sperm and egg usually come from
the prospective parents, but
sometimes they are provided by
donors. Occasionally the
fertilized egg is placed in the uterus of a surrogate mother who carries the
baby throughout pregnancy. Thus, a baby could have as many as five
“parents”: the man and woman who provide the sperm and egg, the
surrogate mother who carries the baby, and the couple who rears the child.
CHROMOSOMES
The first 22 pairs of chromosomes are called autosomes; and the
chromosomes in each pair are about the same size. In the 23rd pair,
however, the chromosome labelled X is much larger than the chromosome
labelled Y. The 23rd pair determines the sex of the child; hence, these two
are known as these chromosomes. An egg always contains an X 23rd
chromosome, but a sperm contains either an X or a Y. When an X-carrying sperm fertilizes the egg, the 23rd pair is
XX and the result is a girl. When a Y-carrying sperm fertilizes the egg, the 23rd pair is XY and the result is a boy.

Each chromosome
actually consists of
one molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid—DNA for short. The DNA molecule
resembles a spiral staircase. As you can see in the Figure, the rungs of the staircase
carry the genetic code, which consists of pairs of nucleotide bases: Adenine is
paired with thymine, and guanine is paired with cytosine.
The order of the nucleotide pairs is the code that causes the cell to create specify c
amino acids, proteins, and enzymes—important biological building blocks.
Each group of nucleotide bases that provides a specific set of biochemical
instructions is a gene.
A child’s 46 chromosomes include about 25,000 genes. Chromosome 1 has the
most genes (nearly 3,000) and the Y chromosome has the fewest (just over 200).
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Most of these genes are the same in all people—less than 1% of genes cause differences between people (Human
Genome Project, 2003). The complete set of genes makes up a person’s heredity and is known as the person’s
genotype.
Through biochemical instructions that are coded in DNA, genes regulate the development of all human characteristics
and abilities. Genetic instructions, in conjunction with environmental influences, produce a phenotype, an individual’s
physical, behavioural, and psychological features

SINGLE GENE INHERITANCE

How do genetic instructions produce the misshapen red blood cells of sickle-cell disease?
• Genes come in different forms that are known as alleles. In the case of red blood cells, for example, one of
two alleles can be present on chromosome 11. One allele has instructions for normal red blood cells; the other
allele has instructions.
• For sickle-shaped red blood cells. Sometimes the alleles in a pair of chromosomes are the same, which makes
them homozygous. Sometimes the alleles differ, which makes them heterozygous.
How does a genotype produce a phenotype?
• The answer is simple when a person is homozygous.
When both alleles are the same and therefore have
chemical instructions for the same phenotype, that
phenotype usually is the results.

When a person is heterozygous, the process is more

complex. Often one allele is dominant, which means that
its chemical instructions are followed whereas
instructions of the other, the recessive allele, are ignored.

• In the case of sickle-cell disease, the allele for normal

cells is dominant and the allele for sickle-shaped cells is
recessive.
• The picture summarizes what we’ve learned about sickle-
cell disease. The letter A denotes the allele for normal
blood cells, and a denotes the allele for sickle-shaped
cells. In the diagram, Glenn’s genotype is homozygous
dominant because he’s positive that no one in his family
has had sickle-cell disease.
• From Leslie’s family history, she could be homozygous dominant or heterozygous; in the diagram, we
assumed the latter. You can see that Leslie and Glenn cannot have a baby with sickle-cell disease. However,
their baby might be affected in another way.
• Sometimes one allele does not dominate another completely, a situation known as incomplete dominance.
• In incomplete dominance, the phenotype that results
of en falls between the phenotype associated with either allele. This is
the case for the genes that control red blood cells.
• Individuals with one dominant and
temporary, relatively mild form of the disease.
• Thus, sickle-cell trait is likely to appear when the person
exercises vigorously or is at high altitudes (Sullivan, 1987). Leslie and
Glenn’s baby would have sickle-cell trait if it inherited a recessive gene
from Leslie and a dominant gene from Glenn, as shown in the figure.
CULTURAL INFLUENCES
WHY DO AFRICAN AMERICANS INHERIT SICKLE CELL
DISEASE?
1. Sickle-cell disease affects about 1 in 400 African
American children. In contrast, virtually no
European American children have the disorder.
Surprisingly, the sickle-cell allele has a benefit:
Individuals with this allele are more resistant to
malaria, an infectious disease that is one of the
leading causes of childhood death worldwide.
Malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes, so it is most
common in warm climates, including many parts of
Africa.

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2. Compared to Africans who have alleles for normal blood cells, Africans with the sickle-cell allele are less
likely to die from malaria, which means that the sickle cell allele is passed along to the next generation. This
explanation of sickle-cell disease has two implications. First, sickle cell disease should be found in any group
of people living where malaria is common.
3. In fact, sickle cell disease affects Hispanic Americans who trace their roots to malaria-prone regions of the
Caribbean, Central America, and South America. Second, malaria is rare in the United States, which means
that the sickle-cell allele has no survival value to African Americans. Accordingly, the sickle-cell allele
should become less common in successive generations of African Americans, and research indicates that this
is happening.

4. The simple genetic mechanism responsible for sickle-cell disease, involving a single gene pair with one
dominant allele and one recessive allele, is also responsible for many other common traits, as shown in Table
2-1. In each case, individuals with the recessive phenotype have two recessive alleles, one from each parent.
Individuals with the dominant phenotype have at least one dominant allele.
Most of the traits listed in Table 2-1 are biological and medical phenotypes. These same patterns of inheritance that
can cause serious disorders.

GENETIC DISORDERS
Genetics can harm development in two ways. First, some disorders are inherited. Sickle-cell disease is an example of
an inherited disorder. Second, sometimes eggs or sperm have more or fewer than the usual 23 chromosomes. In the
next few pages, we’ll see how inherited disorders and abnormal numbers of chromosomes can alter a child’s
development.
Inherited Disorders
- Sickle-cell disease is one of many disorders that are homozygous recessive—triggered when a child inherits
recessive alleles from both parents. Table 2-2 lists four more disorders that are commonly inherited in this
manner.

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HUNTINGTONS DISEASE
• A fatal disease characterized by progressive degeneration of the nervous system.
• Huntington’s disease is caused by a dominant allele found on chromosome 4.
• Individuals who inherit this disorder develop normally through childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.
• However, during middle age, nerve cells begin to deteriorate, causing muscle spasms, depression, and
significant changes in personality.
• By the time symptoms of Huntington’s disease appear, adults who are affected may have already produced
children, many of whom go on to develop the disease themselves.
• Occurs once in every 10,000 births, and Huntington’s disease occurs even less frequently.
Nevertheless, adults who believe that these disorders run in their family often
want to know whether their children will inherit the disorder.
IMPROVING CHILDREN'S LIVES
GENETIC COUNSELING
Family planning is not easy for couples who fear that their children may inherit serious or even fatal diseases. The
best advice is to seek the help of a genetic counsellor before a woman becomes pregnant. With the couple’s help, a
genetic counsellor constructs a detailed family history that can be used to decide whether it’s likely that either the man
or the woman has the allele for the disorder that concerns them.

ABNORMAL NUMBER OF CHROMOSOMES

• Sometimes individuals do not receive the normal complement of 46 chromosomes. If they are born with extra,
missing, or damaged chromosomes.
• The best example is Down syndrome, a genetic disorder that is caused by an extra 21 st chromosome and that
results in intellectual disability.
DOWN SYNDROME
Persons with Down syndrome have almond-shaped eyes and a fold over the eyelid.
The head, neck, and nose of a child with this disorder are usually smaller than normal.
During the first several months, babies with Down syndrome seem to develop
normally. Thereafter, though, their mental and behavioral development begins to lag
behind the average child’s.
CHARACTERISTICS
• A child with Down syndrome might not sit up without
help until about 1 year, not walk until 2, or not talk until  3—months or even
years behind children without Down syndrome. By childhood, motor and
mental development is substantially delayed.
• The scientific name is Trisomy 21 because a
person with the disorder has three 21st
chromosomes instead of two. But the
common name is Down syndrome, reflecting
the name of the English physician, John
Langdon Down, who identified the disorder in
the 1860s.
WHAT TO EXPECT?
• Rearing a child
Down syndrome need special programs to prepare
them for school. Educational achievements of children
with Down syndrome are likely to be limited and their
life expectancy ranges from 25 to 60 years.

Abnormal sex chromosomes can also disrupt development.

Table 2-3 lists four of the more frequent disorders associated with atypical numbers of X and Y chromosomes. Keep in mind that
frequent is a relative term; although these disorders occur more frequently than PKU or Huntington’s disease, the table shows that
most are rare. Notice that no disorders consist solely of Y chromosomes. The presence of an X chromosome appears to be
necessary for life.

HEREDITY, ENVIRONMENT, AND DEVELOPMENT

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BEHAVIORAL GENETICS
• The Branch of genetics that deals with inheritance of behavioral and psychological traits.
• Behavioral Genetics is complex, in part because behavioral and psychological phenotypes are complex.
• The traits controlled by single genes usually represent “either-or” phenotypes.
• Genotypes are usually associated with two or sometimes 3 well defined phenotypes.
EXAMPLE:
• A person either has normal color vision or has red-green color blindness
• A person has blood clots normally
• Has sickle cell trait or has sickle-cell disease

ENVIRONMENT
Every Non-genetic influence, from pre-natal nutrition to the people and things around us.
ADOPTED CHILDREN
Adopted children are another important source of information about heredity. Adopted children
compared with their biological parents, who provide the child’s genes, and their adoptive parents,
who provide the child's environment. If a behavior has genetic roots, then the adopted child’s
behavior should resemble their biological parents even though they have never met them. But if
the adoptive child resemble their adoptive parents, we know that family environment affects
behavior.
PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AFFECTED BY HEREDITY
• Personality
• Mental Ability
• Psychological disorders
• Attitudes
• The number of letter sounds that children knew
• The ability to resist temptation
• Aggressive play with peers
PATHS FROM GENES TO BEHAVIOR
• The impact of heredity on a child’s development depends on the environment in which the genetic instructions are
carried out; these heredity–environment interactions occur throughout a child’s life.
• A child’s genotype can affect the kinds of experiences he or she has; children and adolescents often actively seek
environments related to their genetic makeup. Environments affect siblings differently (non-shared environmental
influence): Each child in a family experiences a unique environment.
HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT INTERACT DYNAMICALLY THROUGHOUT DEVELOPMENT
A traditional but simple-minded view of heredity and environment is that heredity provides the clay of life, and
experience does the sculpting. In fact, genes and environments constantly interact to produce phenotypes throughout a
child’s development.
GENES CAN INFLUENCE THE KIND OF ENVIRONMENT TO WHICH A CHILD IS EXPOSED.
In other words, “nature” can help determine the kind of “nurturing” that a child receives. A child’s genotype can lead
people to respond to the child in a specific way.
ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES TYPICALLY MAKE CHILDREN WITHIN A FAMILY DIFFERENT.
This view has been especially strong with regard to family environments. Some parenting practices are thought to be
more effective than others, and parents who use these effective practices are believed to have children who are, on
average, better off than children of parents who don’t use these practices.

PRELIMS ASSIGNMENT #3 FORMING A NEW LIFE

1. How conception does occurs and what causes multiple births?

2. Describe the mechanisms of heredity in normal and abnormal human development.
3. Explain how heredity and environment interact in human development.
4. Who is Gregor Mendel and what is his contribution in Genetics?

PRELIMS LESSON 4
FORMING A NEW LIFE

Learning Objectives
 Explain how conception occurs and what causes multiple births.
 Describe the mechanisms of heredity in normal and abnormal human development.
 Explain how heredity and environment interact in human development.
CONCEIVING NEW LIFE
Most people think of development as beginning on the day of birth, when the new child—squalling and thrashing—is
introduced to the world. But development begins earlier than that, when sperm and egg unite and form a new
individual. Genes mix and guide development, and both influence and are influenced by an ever-changing
environment. Risks exist: A child might inherit a dangerous gene variant, a young woman might have difficulty
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securing prenatal care, and a global pandemic might isolate and unnerve a family. But great resilience, too, exists.
Here, we examine the very beginnings of life and its influences.
CULTURAL BELIEFS ABOUT CONCEPTION
Folk beliefs about the origin of life have been common throughout history and express values and orientations
important in a culture.
- Traditional religious beliefs in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity alluded to the implanting of a seed by a man
in the fertile soil of the mother. The belief that children came from wells, springs, or rocks was common in
northern and central Europe as recently as the early 1900s.
- In the matrilineal society of the Trobrianders of New Guinea, conception is believed to occur when the spirit
of a dead person enters a woman’s body and mixes with her menstrual blood.
- The Hua of New Guinea believe conception to be the product of the mixing of menstrual blood and semen.
- The understanding of the fertile window varies as well. Cross-cultural research indicates the Arancanians of
Chile, the Gusii of Kenya, and the Tarahumarians of Mexico believed conception to be most likely during
menstruation.
- Maria Gonds of India, the Marquesas of French Polynesia, the Lepcha of India and Nepal, the Masai of
Kenya and Tanzania, the Pukapuka of the Cook Islands, and the Baiga of India believed the ideal conception
period to be the days immediately following menstruation.
- Cosmic forces were also believed to influence conception. In early modern Europe, a baby conceived under a
new moon would be a boy; one conceived during the moon’s last quarter, a girl.
- Among the Warlpiri people of Australia, a baby conceived in a place associated with a particular spirit is
believed to have been given life by that spirit. Some Chinese families plan children around the zodiac
calendar, and pregnancy rates rise in auspicious dragon years.
- In Western countries such as the United States, beliefs about how personality might be shaped by the time of
year in which children are born persist—as the astrology sections in many newspapers and magazines attest.
- Although our modern understanding may differ from these beliefs, most parents world-wide view conception
as a momentous event. The particular paths taken by new parents, however, varies in concert with factors
such as race, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, and other individual differences.
FERTILIZATION
Fertilization, or conception, is the process by which sperm and ovum—the male and female gametes, or sex cells—
combine to create a single cell called a zygote, which then duplicates itself again and again by cell division to produce
all the cells that make up a baby. The “fertile window”— the time during which conception is possible—is highly
unpredictable. Although conception is far more likely at certain times, a woman may or may not conceive at any time
during the month.
At birth, a girl is believed to have about 2 million immature ova in her two ovaries, each ovum in its own follicle, or
small sac. In a sexually mature woman, ovulation—rupture of a mature follicle in either ovary or expulsion of its
ovum—occurs about once every 28 days until menopause. The ovum is swept along through one of the fallopian
tubes by the cilia, tiny hair cells, toward the uterus, or womb.

Sperm are produced in the

testicles (testes), or reproductive glands, of a mature male at a rate of several hundred million a day and are ejaculated
in the semen at sexual climax. Deposited in the vagina, they try to swim through the cervix, the opening of the uterus,
and into the fallopian tubes, but only a tiny fraction make it that far.
Fertilization normally occurs while the ovum is passing through the fallopian tube. If fertilization does not occur, the
ovum and any sperm cells in the woman’s body die. The sperm are absorbed by the woman’s white blood cells, and
the ovum passes through the uterus and exits through the vagina.
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MULTIPLE BIRTHS
DIZYGOTIC TWINS
Twins conceived by the union of two different ova (or a single ovum that has split) with two different sperm cells;
also called fraternal twins; they are no more alike genetically than any other siblings. This are the result of two
separate eggs being fertilized by two different sperm to form two unique individuals. Genetically, they are like
siblings who inhabit the same womb at the same time, and they can be the same or different sex. Dizygotic twins tend
to run in families and are the result of multiple eggs being released at one time. This tendency has a genetic basis.
MONOZYGOTIC TWINS
Twins resulting from the division of a single zygote after fertilization; also called identical twins; they are genetically
similar. This are the result of a far different process. They result from the cleaving of one fertilized egg and are
generally genetically identical. They can still differ outwardly, however, because people are the result of the
interaction between genes and environmental influences.
MECHANISMS OF HEREDITY
The science of genetics is the study of heredity, the genetic
transmission of heritable characteristics from biological
parents to offspring.

THE GENETIC CODE

The “stuff” of heredity is a chemical called
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The double-helix structure
of a DNA molecule resembles a long, spiraling ladder
whose steps are made of pairs of chemical units called
bases (Figure 1). The bases—adenine (A), thymine (T),
cytosine (C), and guanine (G)—are the “letters” of the
genetic code, which cellular machinery “reads.”

Chromosomes are coils of DNA that consist of smaller segments called

genes, the functional units of heredity. Each gene is located in a specific
position on its chromosome and contains thousands of bases. The sequence
of bases in a gene tells the cell how to make the proteins that enable it to
carry out specific functions. The complete sequence of genes in the human
body constitutes the human genome. Of course, every human has a unique
genome. The human genome is not meant to be a recipe for making a
particular human. Rather, the human genome is a reference point, or
representative genome, that shows the location of all human genes.
Every cell in the normal human body except the sex cells (sperm and ova)
has 23 pairs of chromosomes—46 in all. Through a type of cell division
called meiosis, which the sex cells undergo when they are developing, each
sex cell ends up with only 23 chromosomes—one from each pair. When
sperm and ovum fuse at conception, they produce a zygote with 46
chromosomes, 23 from the father and 23 from the mother.

SEX DETERMINATION
Twenty-two pairs of our 23 pairs of
chromosomes are autosomes,
chromosomes that are not related to sexual expression. The twenty-
third pair are sex chromosomes —one from the father and one from
the mother—that govern the baby’s sex. Sex chromosomes are
either X chromosomes or Y chromosomes. The sex
chromosome of every ovum is an X chromosome, but the sperm
may contain either an X or a Y chromosome. The Y chromosome
contains the gene for maleness, called the SRY gene. When an
ovum (X) is fertilized by an X- carrying sperm, the zygote formed
is XX, a genetic female. When an ovum (X) is fertilized by a Y-
carrying sperm, the resulting zygote is XY, a genetic male.

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PATTERNS OF GENETIC TRANSMISSION

Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, laid the foundation for our understanding of patterns
of inheritance. By crossbreeding strains of peas, he discovered two fundamental
principles of genetics.
 First, traits could be either dominant or recessive. Dominant traits are always
expressed, whereas recessive traits are expressed only if both copies of the gene
are recessive.
 Second, traits are passed down independently of each other.
For example, the color of your hair and your height are both hereditable traits that
are not linked. Although some human traits are inherited via simple dominant
transmission, most human traits fall along a continuous spectrum and result from
the actions of many genes in concert. Nonetheless, Mendel’s groundbreaking
work laid the foundations for our modern understanding of genetics.

DOMINANT AND RECESSIVE INHERITANCE

Genes that can produce alternative expressions of a characteristic (such as the presence or absence of dimples) are
called alleles. Alleles are two or more alternative forms of a gene that occupy the same position on paired
chromosomes and affect the same trait.
When both alleles are the same, the person is homozygous for the characteristic; when they are different, the person is
heterozygous.
In dominant inheritance, the dominant allele is always expressed, or shows up as a trait in that person. The person will
look the same whether or not he or she is heterozygous or homozygous because the recessive allele doesn’t show. For
the trait to be expressed in recessive inheritance, the person must have two recessive alleles, one from each parent. If a
recessive trait is expressed, that person cannot have a dominant allele.

Let’s take red

hair as an example. Because red hair is a recessive trait, you must receive two recessive copies (r) of the
gene—one from each parent—in order to express red hair. Having hair that is not red (R; brown in this example) is a
dominant trait, so you will have brown hair if you receive at least one copy (R) from either parent (Rr or RR) (Figure
4).

If you receive one copy of the red hair allele (r) and one copy of an allele for brown hair (R), you are heterozygous
(Rr or rR); if you have two copies of the allele for brown hair, you are homozygous dominant (RR). In both cases, you
will have brown hair. If you inherited one allele for red hair from each parent, you are homozygous recessive for this
trait (rr) and will have red hair. Thus, the only situation in which you would have red hair is if you received two
recessive copies (r), one from each parent.
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MULTIFACTORIAL TRANSMISSION
If you have brown hair, that is part of your phenotype, the observable characteristics through which your genotype, or
underlying genetic makeup, is expressed. In a broad sense, the term genotype refers to the genetic makeup of an
organism; in other words, it describes an organism's complete set of genes. In a more narrow sense, the term can be
used to refer to the alleles, or variant forms of a gene, that are carried by an organism. The phenotype is the product
of the genotype and any relevant environmental influences. The difference between genotype and phenotype helps
explain why a clone (a genetic copy of an individual) or even an identical twin can never be an exact duplicate of
another person.
Environmental experience modifies the expression of the genotype for most traits—a phenomenon called
multifactorial transmission. Multifactorial transmission illustrates the interaction of nature and nurture and how they
affect outcomes.
Example:
Imagine that Rio has inherited athletic talent and comes from a family of avid athletes. If his family nurtures his talent
and he practices regularly, he may become a skilled athlete. However, if he is not encouraged or not motivated to
engage in athletics, his genotype for athletic ability may not be expressed (or may be expressed to a lesser extent) in
his phenotype.
Some physical characteristics (including height and weight) and most psychological characteristics (such as
intelligence and musical ability) are products of multifactorial transmission. Many disorders (such as attention-
deficit/hyperactivity disorder) arise when an inherited predisposition (an abnormal variant of a normal gene) interacts
with an environmental factor, either before or after birth.
EPIGENESIS
Epigenesis is a mechanism that turns genes on or off and determines functions of body cells. Epigenetics explains
how early experiences can have lifelong impacts. The genes children inherit from their biological parents provide
information that guides their development. For example, how tall they could eventually become or the kind of
temperament they could have. Environmental factors, such as nutrition, smoking, sleep habits, stress, and physical
activity, can cause epigenetic changes. In turn these epigenetic changes can contribute to such common ailments as
cancer, diabetes, and heart. It may explain why one monozygotic twin is susceptible to a disease such as
schizophrenia whereas the other twin is not and why some twins get the same disease but at different ages.

GENETIC
AND CHROMOSOMAL ABNORMALITIES

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PRELIMS ASSIGNMENT #4 PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

A. What are the early signs and symptoms of Pregnancy?
B. What are the stages of Prenatal Development?
C. What are the different milestone in Prenatal Development?
D. What are the environmental influences that affects pregnancy?

PRELIMS LESSON 5
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
Learning Objectives
 Describe prenatal development, including environmental influences.
 Discuss the importance of high- quality prenatal care.
For many women, the first clear (though not necessarily reliable) sign of pregnancy is a missed menstrual period. But
even before that first missed period, a pregnant woman’s body undergoes subtle but noticeable changes. Table 3 lists
early signs and symptoms of pregnancy.
During gestation, the period between conception and birth, an unborn child undergoes dramatic processes of
development. The normal range of gestation is between 37 and 41 weeks. Gestational age is usually dated from the
first day of an expectant mother’s last menstrual cycle.

CULTURAL
BELIEFS ABOUT PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
Although our modern understanding of pregnancy differs from traditional beliefs found in much of the world, people
from all cultures share the understanding that the prenatal environment can profoundly shape the developing human.
- Much of the research on cultural beliefs about prenatal development has been conducted in Asian countries,
where common practices during pregnancy include massage, the use of traditional healers, medicines and
herbs, taboos against the consumption of hot or cold foods, behavioral taboos, and superstitions.
- In Chiang Mai, Thailand, women are sometimes cautioned against eating papaya, pickled foods, or more than
half a banana during pregnancy. Spicy food, too, is advised against as it is thought to be associated with being
born hairless, and coffee or tea is believed to negatively affect a child’s intelligence.

- In some areas of India, “cold” foods such as milk, yogurt, coconut, wheat, vegetables, and rice are
recommended for pregnant women and believed to guard against miscarriage.
- Alternatively, Guatemalan mothers are warned to avoid “hot” foods such as meat and beans.
- The Warlpiri aboriginal people of Australia warn pregnant mothers to avoid eating food made from spiked
animals such as anteaters, monitor lizards, or possums and are told to be careful not to harm any animal
associated with their developing baby’s spirit, which is shaped by the geographical area in which the child is
conceived.
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- Traditional beliefs for the Konya of Turkey specify mothers should eat quince if a dimpled baby is desired or
apples if they want their child to have ruddy cheeks.

- Canadian First Nations people believe it is important to eat foods such as wild meat, fish, white carrots,
potatoes, rice, and berries for the baby’s health, and also stress the importance of moderate exercise lest the
baby stick to the womb and experience a difficult labor.

STAGES OF PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

Prenatal development takes place in three stages: germinal, embryonic, and fetal. (Table 4 gives a month-by-month
description.)
Both before and after birth, development proceeds according to two fundamental principles: Growth and motor
development occur from the top down and from the center of the body outward. The cephalocaudal principle, from
Latin, meaning “head to tail,” dictates that development proceeds from the head to the lower part of the trunk. An
embryo’s head, brain, and eyes develop earliest and are disproportionately large until the other parts catch up.
According to the proximodistal principle, from Latin, meaning “near to far,” development proceeds from parts near
the center of the body to outer ones. The embryo’s head and trunk develop before the limbs, and the arms and legs
before the fingers and toes.

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3 STAGES OF PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

Germinal Stage (Fertilization to 2 weeks) - During the germinal stage, from fertilization to about 2 weeks of
gestational age, the zygote divides, becomes more complex, and is implanted in the wall of the uterus - Within 36
hours after fertilization, the zygote enters a period of rapid cell division and duplication (mitosis). Seventy-two hours
after fertilization, it has divided first into 16 and then into 32 cells; a day later it has 64 cells.
Embryonic Stage (2 to 8 weeks) - During the embryonic stage, from about 2 to 8 weeks, the organs and major body
systems—respiratory, digestive, and nervous—develop rapidly. This process is known as organogenesis. This is a
critical period, when the embryo is most vulnerable to destructive influences in the prenatal environment.
Fetal Stage (8 weeks to birth) - The appearance of the first bone cells at about 8 weeks signals the beginning of the
fetal stage, the final stage of gestation. During this period, the fetus grows rapidly to about 20 times its previous
length, and organs and body systems become more complex. Right up to birth, “finishing touches” such as fingernails,
toenails, and eyelids continue to develop.

ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES: MATERNAL FACTORS

A teratogen is an environmental agent, such as a virus, a drug, or radiation that can interfere with normal prenatal
development. However, not all environmental hazards are equally risky for all fetuses. An event, substance, or process
may be teratogenic for some fetuses but have little or no effect on others. Teratogens also have their most damaging
effects on systems that are developing during the time that the exposure occurs. Sometimes vulnerability may depend
on a gene either in the fetus or in the mother. The timing of exposure, dose, duration, and interaction with other
teratogenic factors also may make a difference.
Nutrition and Maternal Weight
Pregnant women typically need 300 to 500 additional calories a day, including extra protein. Weight gain
recommendations vary for pregnant mothers. Current recommendations are that women who are underweight should
gain 28 to 40 pounds, normal-weight women should gain 25 to 35 pounds, overweight women should gain 15 to 25
pounds, and obese women should gain only 11 to 20 pounds. Women carrying twins or other multiples are advised to
gain an additional 14 to 22 pounds, depending on their weight status before becoming pregnant.
Malnutrition
When expectant mothers suffer from a calorie deficit, the results can be fetal growth restriction and low birth weight.
Additionally, babies born to mothers who do not consume sufficient calories have a higher risk of death, and
surviving children may be stunted. Expectant mothers can also suffer from micronutrient deficiencies in vitamins or
minerals. For example, vitamin A and zinc deficiencies result in a higher risk of death for both child and mother
(Black et al., 2013), and babies born to mothers with a vitamin D deficiency may suffer from weak or soft bones.

Physical Activity and Work

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that women in low-risk pregnancies get at
least 150 minutes of moderate to intense aerobic exercise a week, making sure to drink plenty of water and to avoid

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becoming overheated. Contact sports or activities that might result in a fall should be avoided. Employment during
pregnancy generally entails no special hazards. However, strenuous working conditions, occupational fatigue, and
long working hours may be associated with a greater risk of premature birth.

Drug Intake
Medical Drugs
- Among the medical drugs that may be harmful during pregnancy are the antibiotic tetracycline; certain barbiturates,
opiates, and other central nervous system depressants; several hormones, including diethylstilbestrol (DES) and
androgens; certain anticancer drugs, such as methotrexate; Accutane, a drug often prescribed for severe acne; drugs used
to treat epilepsy; and several antipsychotic drugs. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and nonsteroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as naproxen and ibuprofen, have been linked to birth defects when taken
anytime from the first trimester on. The use of antidepressants, such as Prozac, during pregnancy may also cause harm.
Mothers treated for depression during pregnancy were more likely to have low-birth-weight infants or to have their
newborns admitted to the neonatal intensive care than untreated mothers with depression. In addition, certain
antipsychotic drugs used to manage severe psychiatric disorders may have potential effects on the fetus, including
withdrawal symptoms at birth.
Opioids
- In recent years, the number of pregnant women abusing legal and illegal opioids has risen. While opioid use
has not been implicated in birth defects, it is associated with small babies, fetal death, preterm labor, and
aspiration of meconium (the earliest stool produced by babies). Moreover, babies born to drug-addicted
mothers are often addicted themselves and go through withdrawal once they are born and no longer receiving
the drug. This results in neonate abstinence syndrome, a condition in which newborns may show sleep
disturbances, tremors, difficulty regulating their bodies, irritability and crying, diarrhea, fever, and feeding
difficulties.
Alcohol
Prenatal alcohol exposure is the most common cause of intellectual disability and the leading preventable cause of
birth defects in the United States. Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is characterized by a combination of retarded
growth, face and body malformations, and disorders of the central nervous system. FAS-related problems can include
reduced responsiveness to stimuli and slow reaction time in infancy and, throughout childhood, short attention span,
distractibility, restlessness, hyperactivity, learning disabilities, memory deficits, mood disorders, aggressiveness, and
problem behavior. Prenatal alcohol exposure is also a risk factor for development of alcohol and psychiatric disorders
in adulthood.
Nicotine
Maternal smoking during pregnancy has been identified as the single most important factor in adverse pregnancy
outcomes in both developed and developing countries. Women who smoke during pregnancy are more than 1½ times
as likely as nonsmokers to bear low-birth-weight babies (weighing less than 5½ pounds at birth). Women who smoke
during pregnancy are also more like to miscarry or have birth complications, preterm babies, or babies that die from
sudden infant death syndrome.
Caffeine
Several large-scale reviews have indicated that caffeine intake under 300 milligrams a day is not associated with an
increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, or birth defects. However, other reviews have found a slightly increased risk
of miscarriage, stillbirth, low birth weight, and other conditions for mothers who consume caffeine while pregnant,
and there are suggestions that risk may increase with dosage.
Marijuana
Marijuana is the most commonly used recreational drug during pregnancy, and rates of women who report using
marijuana while pregnant have risen in concert with more liberal usage laws in many states. Slightly over 4 percent of
pregnant women report using marijuana while pregnant. Some women cite medical concerns, including nausea,
anxiety, and pain management, as the impetus to use marijuana during pregnancy.

Cocaine
Cocaine use during pregnancy has been associated with delayed growth, placental displacement, preterm delivery,
low birth weight, small head size, and impaired neurological development. In some studies, cocaine-exposed
newborns show hypertonia (increased muscle tone and decreased flexibility) and are more excitable and irritable. In
childhood, exposure is associated with subtle language delays and problems with attention and self-regulation.
Prenatal cocaine exposure does not appear to affect global cognitive development; however, it may preferentially
affect areas of the brain involved in language and memory tasks and has been associated with declines in academic
performance in adolescence. It has also been linked to other problems in adolescence and adulthood, including
aggression, conduct disorders, greater likelihood of arrest, substance abuse, and risky sexual behaviors.
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is the second most commonly used illegal drug globally. Physically, prenatal methamphetamine
exposure is associated with preterm delivery, low birth weight, and reduced head circumference. Additionally,
exposure is also implicated in neonatal neurobehavioral abnormalities, such as quality of movement, lethargy, stress,
and arousal. Fortunately, many of these abnormalities appear to resolve themselves by 1 month of age. However,

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prenatal exposure to methamphetamines has been associated with fetal brain damage to areas of the brain involved in
learning, memory, and control, which are likely to have longer-term consequences. For instance, methamphetamine
exposed children are more likely to have behavioral problems, high levels of aggression, poor academic performance,
and deficits in executive functioning, particularly if also exposed to early adversity.
Maternal Illnesses
Both prospective parents should try to prevent all infections—common colds, flu, urinary tract and vaginal infections,
as well as sexually transmitted diseases. If the mother does contract an infection, she should have it treated promptly.

AIDS- Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV), which undermines functioning of the immune system. If an expectant mother has the virus in her blood,
perinatal transmission may occur: The virus may cross over to the fetus’s bloodstream through the placenta during
pregnancy, labor, or delivery or, after birth, through breast milk. The biggest risk factor for perinatal HIV
transmission is a mother who is unaware she has HIV.
Rubella (German measles)- is a disease that can cause miscarriage or stillbirth and is associated with a wide variety
of birth defects in any baby that survives, including cleft palate, deafness, and heart defects. It is not the same virus as
measles and is less contagious and typically milder in nature. However, its effects on pregnancy are catastrophic, and
the earlier in the pregnancy a woman contracts rubella, the more dangerous it is for the developing child.
Toxoplasmosis- An infection called toxoplasmosis, caused by a parasite harbored in the bodies of cattle, sheep, and
pigs and in the intestinal tracts of cats, typically produces either no symptoms or symptoms like those of the common
cold. In an expectant woman, however, especially in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, it can cause fetal
brain damage, severely impaired eyesight or blindness, seizures, miscarriage, stillbirth, or death of the baby. If the
baby survives, there may be later problems, including eye infections, hearing loss, and learning disabilities. To avoid
infection, expectant mothers should not eat raw or very rare meat, should wash hands and all work surfaces after
touching raw meat, should peel or thoroughly wash raw fruits and vegetables, and should not dig in a garden where
cat feces may be buried. Women who have a cat should have it checked for the disease and, if possible, should have
someone else empty the litter box.
COVID-19- In late 2019, a novel, highly infectious airborne respiratory coronavirus, COVID-19, became a
pandemic, a disease that spreads across multiple countries or continents. Many coronaviruses, such as those that cause
the common cold, are relatively innocuous. However, some have been responsible for large disease outbreaks. In
previous coronavirus outbreaks, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory
syndrome (MERS), pregnant women and their fetuses were at higher risk of death than non-pregnant women.

The same is true for COVID-19. Pregnant women are at higher risk of complications, including preeclampsia
(dangerously high maternal blood pressure), preterm birth, stillbirth, neonatal intensive care unit admission, severe
maternal illness, and maternal death. Fortunately, evidence suggests vertical transmission of the virus, in which the
virus is passed from mother to baby prior to or during to the birthing process, rarely occurs.

MATERNAL EMOTIONAL STATE

- A mother’s self-reported stress and anxiety during pregnancy, when chronically high, has been associated
with a more active and irritable temperament in newborns, negative emotionality and impulsivity, and
behavioral disorders in early childhood. Depression may also have negative effects on development. Some
studies report depressed women are more likely to give birth to a preterm child; however, other studies have
not found this effect, and it remains controversial. Children born to depressed mothers are at elevated risk for
developmental delays as toddlers, increased incidence of both internalizing (e.g., depression) and
externalizing (e.g., impulsive behavior and aggression) symptoms as children, and elevated levels of violent
and antisocial behaviors in adolescence
MATERNAL AGE
- The chance of miscarriage or stillbirth rises with maternal age. Women age 30 to 35 are more likely to suffer
complications due to diabetes, high blood pressure, or severe bleeding. There is also higher risk of premature
delivery, retarded fetal growth, birth defects, and chromosomal abnormalities, such as Down syndrome.
However, due to widespread screening and elective termination of affected pregnancies among older
expectant mothers, the number of affected children in many countries has remained relatively stable over
time, although this varies by region.
Outside Environmental Hazards
- Prenatal development can also be affected by air pollution, chemicals, radiation, extremes of heat and
humidity, and other environmental factors.
- Pregnant women who regularly breathe air that contains high levels of fine combustion-related particles such
as gas fumes and smoke are more likely to bear infants who are premature or undersized, have chromosomal
or developmental abnormalities, or are at risk for cognitive and psychomotor delays.
- Similarly, exposure to high concentrations of disinfection by-products is associated with low birth weight and
congenital abnormalities, and prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides is associated with an increased
risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders.
- Fetal exposure to low levels of environmental toxins, such as lead, mercury, and dioxin, as well as nicotine
and ethanol, may help explain the sharp rise in asthma, ear infections, and allergies.

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- Childhood cancers, including leukemia, have been linked to pregnant mothers’ drinking chemically
contaminated groundwater and use of home pesticides.
- Infants exposed prenatally even to low levels of lead are born smaller and shorter than unexposed babies and
tend to show IQ deficits during childhood.
- In utero exposure to radiation has been linked to miscarriage, intellectual disability, small head size, increased
cancer risk, and lowered IQ. The risk of problems from the single use of medical diagnostic procedures is
low. However, in nuclear disasters such as the Chernobyl or Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accidents in
1996 and 2011, respectively, where radiation exposure is high, pregnant women are likely to be at extremely
elevated risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Monitoring and Promoting Prenatal Development

PRELIMS ASSIGNMENT #5 FIRST 3 YEARS

1. What are the stages of childbirth?
2. Discuss the difference between Vaginal Delivery, Caesarean Delivery and VBAC.
3. What is the difference between the Apgar Scale and Brazelton Scale?
4. What are the different complications in childbirth?
5. What is the early reflexes of a newborn infant?

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PRELIMS LESSON 6
BIRTH AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT DURING THE FIRST THREE YEARS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Describe the birth process.
 Describe the adjustment of a healthy newborn and the techniques for assessing its health.
 Explain potential complications of childbirth and the prospects for infants with complicated births.
 Identify factors affecting infants’ chances for survival and health.
 Discuss the patterns of physical growth and development in infancy.
 Describe infants’ motor development.

THE BIRTH PROCESS

Labor is an apt term for the process of giving birth. Birth is hard work for both mother and baby. What brings on
labor is a series of uterine, cervical, and other changes called parturition. Parturition is the act or process of giving
birth, and it typically begins about 2 weeks before delivery.
The uterine contractions that expel the fetus begin—typically about 266 days after conception—as a tightening of the
uterus. A woman may have felt false contractions (known as Braxton-Hicks contractions) at times during the final
months of pregnancy or even as early as the second trimester, when the muscles of the uterus tighten for up to 2
minutes. In comparison with the relatively mild and irregular Braxton-Hicks contractions, real labor contractions are
more frequent, rhythmic, and painful, and they increase in frequency and intensity.

STAGES OF
CHILDBIRTH

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VAGINAL VERSUS CESAREAN DELIVERY

The usual method of childbirth is vaginal delivery. Alternatively, a cesarean delivery may be performed when labor
progresses too slowly, when the fetus is in the breech (feet or buttocks first) or transverse (lying crosswise in the
uterus) position, or when the mother is bleeding vaginally.

VBAC- Vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC) is the term applied to women who undergo vaginal delivery
following cesarean delivery in a prior pregnancy. Patients desiring VBAC delivery undergo a trial of labor (TOL) or
trial of labor after cesarean section.

Natural Childbirth
Method of childbirth that seeks to prevent pain by eliminating the mother’s fear through education about the
physiology of reproduction and training in breathing and relaxation during delivery.
Prepared Childbirth
Method of childbirth that uses instruction, breathing exercises, and social support to induce controlled physical
responses to uterine contractions and reduce fear and pain.

THE NEWBORN BABY

The neonatal period, the first 4 weeks of life, is a time of transition from the uterus, where a fetus is supported
entirely by the mother, to an independent existence.
SIZE AND APPEARANCE
An average neonate, or newborn, in the United States is about 20 inches long and weighs about 7½ pounds. Boys tend
to be slightly longer and heavier than girls, and a firstborn child is likely to weigh less at birth than later-borns.
In their first few days, neonates lose as much as 10 percent of their body weight, primarily because of a loss of fluids.
They begin to gain weight again at about the 5th day and are generally back to birth weight by the 10th to the 14th
day. New babies have distinctive features, including a large head and a receding chin. Newborn infants also have
areas on their heads known as fontanels where the bones of the skull do not meet. Fontanels are covered by a tough
membrane that allows for flexibility in shape, which eases the passage of the neonate through the vaginal canal. In the
first 18 months of life, the plates of the skull gradually fuse together. Many newborns have a pinkish cast; their skin is
so thin that it barely covers the capillaries through which blood flows.
During the first few days, some neonates are very hairy because some of the lanugo, a fuzzy prenatal hair, has not yet
fallen off. Almost all new babies are covered with vernix caseosa (“cheesy varnish”), an oily protection against
infection that dries within the first few days.

“Witch’s milk,” a secretion that sometimes leaks from the swollen breasts of newborn boys and girls around the 3rd
day of life, was believed during the Middle Ages to have special healing powers. Like the whitish or blood-tinged
vaginal discharge of some newborn girls, this fluid emission results from high levels of the hormone estrogen, which
is secreted by the placenta just before birth and goes away within a few days or weeks. A newborn, especially if
premature, also may have swollen genitals.
BODY SYSTEMS
- Before birth, blood circulation, respiration, nourishment, elimination of waste, and temperature regulation are
accomplished through the mother’s body. All these systems, with the exception of the lungs, are functioning
to some degree by the time a full-term birth occurs, but the mother’s own body systems are still involved and
the fetus is not yet an independent entity. After birth, all of the baby’s systems and functions must operate on
their own.
- During pregnancy, the fetus and mother have separate circulatory systems and heartbeats. The fetus gets
oxygen through the umbilical cord, which carries used blood to the placenta and returns a fresh supply.
- Once birth occurs, a newborn must start breathing for itself. Most babies start to breathe as soon as they are
exposed to air. If a neonate does not begin breathing within about 5 minutes, the baby may suffer permanent
brain injury caused by anoxia, lack of oxygen, or hypoxia, a reduced oxygen supply. Anoxia or hypoxia may
occur during delivery (though rarely so) as a result of repeated compression of the placenta and umbilical
cord with each contraction. This form of birth trauma can leave permanent brain damage, causing intellectual
disability, behavior problems, or even death.
- Many babies are born alert and ready to begin feeding. Full-term babies have a strong sucking reflex to take
in milk, as well as having their own gastrointestinal secretions to digest it.
- During the first few days, infants secrete meconium, a stringy, greenish-black waste matter formed in the
fetal intestinal tract. When the bowels and bladder are full, the sphincter muscles open automatically; a baby
will not be able to control these muscles for many months. The layers of fat that develop during the last 2
months of fetal life help healthy full-term infants to keep their body temperature constant after birth despite
changes in air temperature. Newborn babies also maintain body temperature by increasing their activity when
air temperature drops.

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- Three or four days after birth, about half of all babies (and a larger proportion of babies born prematurely)
develop neonatal jaundice: their skin and eyeballs look yellow. The immaturity of the liver and failure to
filter out bilirubin, a by-product resulting from the breakdown of red blood cells, cause this kind of jaundice.
Usually it is not serious, does not need treatment, and has no long-term effects. However, severe jaundice that
is not monitored and treated promptly may result in brain damage.

MEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT

THE APGAR SCALE
Is used to assess babies one minute after delivery or 5 minutes after birth. It is named after it’s develop Dr.
Virginia Apgar and helps us remember it’s five subsets: Appearance (color) Pulse (heart rate) Grimace (reflex
irritability) Activity (muscle tone) Respiration (breathing).

THE
BRAZELTON SCALE
The Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale is used to assess neonates’ responsiveness to their
environment, to identify strengths and vulnerabilities in neurological functioning, and to predict future
development. The test is suitable for infants up to 2 months old.
It assesses (1) motor organization, as shown by such behaviors as activity level and the ability to bring a hand to
the mouth; (2) reflexes; (3) changes in state, such as irritability, excitability, and ability to quiet down after being
upset; (4) attention and interactive capacities, as shown by general alertness and response to visual and auditory
stimuli; and (5) indications of central nervous system instability, such as tremors and changes in skin color.

COMPLICATIONS OF CHILDBIRTH
Low-Birth-Weight babies (LBW) weight of less than 5½ pounds (2500 grams) at birth because of prematurity or
being small- for-date.

Preterm (Premature) Infants

Infants born before completing the 37th week of gestation.

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Small-For-Date (Small-For-Gestational Age) Infants

Infants whose birth weight is less than that of 90 percent of babies of the same gestational age, as a result of slow
fetal growth.

POSTMATURITY
Post mature babies tend to be long and thin because they have kept growing in the womb but have had an
insufficient blood supply toward the end of gestation. Possibly because the placenta has aged and become less
efficient, it may provide less oxygen. The baby’s greater size also complicates labor; the mother has to deliver a
baby the size of a normal 1-month-old.
This puts the mother at higher risk of a cesarean delivery, perineal tears, and postpartum hemorrhage, and the
neonate at greater risk of shoulder dystocia (a condition in which the baby’s shoulders become stuck behind the
mother’s pelvic bone during delivery), meconium aspiration, low Apgar scores, brain damage, and death.
STILLBIRTH
Stillbirth, the sudden death of a fetus at or after the 20th week of gestation, is a tragic union of opposites—birth
and death. Sometimes fetal death is diagnosed prenatally; in other cases, the baby’s death is discovered during
labor or delivery.

SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDORME (SIDS)

Is sometimes called crib death - The sudden death of an infant under age 1 in which the cause of death remains
unexplained after a thorough investigation that includes an autopsy. The search for what causes SIDS has been
framed by the “triple risk” model. Within this framework, SIDS is the result of three overlapping factors.
- First, there is an infant who is vulnerable in some way.
- Second, there is a critical period during which an infant is at risk.
- Third, there is an exogenous stressor.
SIDS will occur only if a vulnerable infant is exposed to a stressor during the critical period: All three factors
must co-occur.
Accidental Deaths
Although accidental deaths have declined 11 percent in the past decade, unintentional injuries are still the fifth
leading cause of death in infancy. Boys of all ages are more likely to be injured and to die from their injuries than
girls, and children from rural areas are at higher risk than those from urban areas.
PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT
As before birth, physical growth and development follow the cephalocaudal principle and the proximodistal
principle.
Cephalocaudal Principle
Principle that development proceeds in a head-to-tail direction; that is, upper parts of the body develop before
lower parts of the trunk.
Proximodistal Principle
Principle that development proceeds from within to without; that is, parts of the body near the center develop
before the extremities.

PHYSICAL GROWTH
Children grow faster during the first 3 years, especially during the first few months, than they ever will again.
This rapid growth tapers off during the 2nd and 3rd years. Boys are typically slightly taller and heavier than girls
at most ages. As a baby grows into a toddler, body shape and proportions change too; a 3-year-old typically is
slender compared with a chubby, potbellied 1-year-old. The genes an infant inherits have a strong influence on
whether the child will be tall or short, thin or stocky, or somewhere in between. This genetic influence interacts
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with such environmental influences as nutrition and living conditions. Today children in many high-income
countries are growing taller and maturing at an earlier age than children did a century ago, primarily because of
better nutrition, improved sanitation and medical care, and the decrease in child labor. However, many children in
low-income countries still suffer from malnutrition, wasting, or stunting.

NUTRITION

SOLID FOODS
Healthy babies should consume nothing but breast milk or iron-fortified formula for the first 6 months. Pediatric
experts recommend that iron-enriched solid foods be introduced gradually during the second half of the 1st year.
Water may be introduced at this time as well. Children should be offered 2 to 3 healthy snacks a day and can be
encouraged to feed themselves and drink from a cup.
MALNUTRITION
Although infants and toddlers in the United States may eat too much, those in many low-income communities
around the world may not eat enough. Chronic malnutrition is caused by factors such as poverty, low-quality
foods, poor dietary patterns, contaminated water, unsanitary conditions, insufficient hygiene, inadequate health
care, and diarrheal diseases and other infections.

EARLY REFLEXES
When your pupils contract as you turn toward a bright light, they are acting involuntarily. Such an automatic,
innate response to stimulation is called a reflex behavior. Reflex behaviors are controlled by the lower brain
centers that govern other involuntary processes, such as breathing and heart rate.

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EARLY SENSORY CAPACITIES

The regions of the developing brain that control sensory information grow rapidly during the first few months of life,
enabling newborn infants to make fairly good sense of what they touch, see, smell, taste, and hear.
Touch and Pain
Anytime you have comforted a crying baby by cuddling them or tickled a drowsy child to wake them up, you have
made use of perhaps the most important sense in infancy: touch. Embryos will respond to touch as early as 8 to 9
weeks of pregnancy; however, these responses do not involve any conscious awareness (Humphrey, 1970). In the
second trimester of the pregnancy, fetuses begin to respond to touch, as when a pregnant mother rubs her belly, by
moving their arms, head, or mouth.
In the third trimester, response to touch becomes more robust, and fetuses also reach out to touch the uterine wall,
yawn, cross their arms, or touch themselves. By 32 weeks of gestation, all body parts are sensitive to touch, and this
sensitivity increases during the first 5 days of life.
Smell and Taste
The senses of smell and taste begin to develop in the womb. Flavors from food the mother has consumed are found in
amniotic fluid. Thus, a preference for certain tastes and smells can be developed in utero. Moreover, flavors from the
foods that the mother eats are also transmitted via breast milk. Therefore, exposure to the flavors of healthy foods
through breastfeeding may improve acceptance of healthy foods after weaning and later in life. The taste preferences
developed in infancy may last into early childhood; children offered different flavors in early infancy later have less
restricted food preferences.

Hearing
Even in the womb, fetuses respond to sound, as indexed by changes in brain activity, heart rate, or physical
movements. They respond differentially to familiar versus unfamiliar voices, live versus recorded maternal voice, and
native versus nonnative language. Auditory discrimination develops rapidly after birth. Infants as young as 2 days old
are able to recognize a word they heard up to a day earlier. At 1 month, babies can distinguish sounds as close as “ba
and pa”. By 11 to 17 weeks, infants are able to both recognize and remember entire sentences after a brief delay. By 4
months, infants’ brains are showing lateralization for language, as occurs in adults. By this age, the left side of
infants’ brains responds preferentially to speech, especially that of their native language, over other sounds. There are
even indications that infants can recognize music that is typical of their culture from a young age and by 4 months of
age prefer music typical of their cultural experiences. Because hearing is a key to language development, hearing
impairments should be identified as early as possible.
Sight Vision
It is the least developed sense at birth, perhaps because there is so little to see in the womb. Visual perception and the
ability to use visual information—identifying caregivers, finding food, and avoiding dangers—become more
important as infants become more alert and active. The eyes of newborns are smaller than those of adults, the retinal
structures are incomplete, and the optic nerve is underdeveloped. A neonate’s eyes focus best from about 1 foot away
—just about the typical distance from the face of a person holding a newborn. Newborns blink at bright lights. Their
field of peripheral vision is very narrow; it more than doubles between 2 and 10 weeks and is well developed by 3
months. The ability to follow a moving target also develops rapidly in the first months, as does color perception.

MILESTONES OF MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

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SYSTEMS OF ACTION
Increasingly complex combinations of motor skills, which permit a wider or more precise range of movement and
more control of the environment.
DENVER DEVELOPMENTAL SCREENING TEST
Screening test given to children 1 month to 6 years old to determine whether they are developing normally.
GROSS MOTOR SKILLS
Physical skills that involve the large muscles.
FINE MOTOR SKILLS
Physical skills that involve the small muscles and eye–hand coordination.

MOTOR
DEVELOPMENT AND PERCEPTION
DEPTH PERCEPTION
The ability to perceive objects and surfaces in three dimensions, depends on several kinds of cues that affect the
image of an object on the retina of the eye. These cues involve not only binocular coordination but also motor control.
Kinetic cues are produced by movement of the object or the observer, or both. To find out whether an object is
moving, a baby might hold their head still for a moment, an ability that is well established by about 3 months.

HAPTIC PERCEPTION
Involves the ability to acquire information by handling objects rather than just looking at them. This includes putting
objects in the mouth—a common means of exploration in infancy. The tongue’s multiple receptors are capable of fine
grained discrimination and can provide a wealth of information.
THEORIES OF MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
Here, we focus on two theoretical approaches of motor development: the ecological theory of perception and the
dynamic systems theory.
ECOLOGICAL THEORY OF PERCEPTION
Theory developed by Eleanor and James Gibson, which describes developing motor and perceptual abilities as
interdependent parts of a functional system that guides behavior in varying contexts. In this approach, locomotor
development depends on infants’ increasing sensitivity to the interaction between their changing physical
characteristics and new and varied characteristics of their environment. Babies’ bodies continually change with age—
their weight, center of gravity, muscular strength, and abilities. And each new environment provides a new challenge
for babies to master.
For example, sometimes a baby might have to make their way down a slight incline and other times might have to
navigate stairs. Instead of relying on solutions that previously worked, with experience, babies learn to continually
gauge their abilities and adjust their movements to meet the demands of their current environment.
VISUAL CLIFF
Apparatus designed to give an illusion of depth and used to assess depth perception in infants.

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DYNAMIC SYSTEMS THEORY (DST)

Esther Thelen’s theory, which holds that motor development is a dynamic process of active coordination of multiple
systems within the infant in relation to the environment.

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