Module 14 Review

REVIEW Developmental Issues, Prenatal Development, and the Newborn

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

RETRIEVAL PRACTICE Take a moment to answer each of these Learning Objective Questions (repeated here from within this section). Then click the 'show answer' button to check your answers. Research suggests that trying to answer these questions on your own will improve your long-term retention (McDaniel et al., 2009).

14-1 What three issues have engaged developmental psychologists?

Developmental psychologists study physical, mental, and social changes throughout the life span. They focus on three issues: nature and nurture (the interaction between our genetic inheritance and our experiences); continuity and stages (whether development is gradual and continuous or a series of relatively abrupt changes); and stability and change (whether our traits endure or change as we age).

14-2 What is the course of prenatal development, and how do teratogens affect that development?

The life cycle begins at conception, when one sperm cell unites with an egg to form a zygote. The zygote’s inner cells become the embryo, and the outer cells become the placenta. In the next 6 weeks, body organs begin to form and function, and by 9 weeks, the fetus is recognizably human.
     Teratogens are potentially harmful agents that can pass through the placental screen and harm the developing embryo or fetus, as happens with fetal alcohol syndrome.

14-3 What are some newborn abilities, and how do researchers explore infants’ mental abilities?

Babies are born with sensory equipment and reflexes that facilitate their survival and their social interactions with adults. For example, they quickly learn to discriminate their mother’s smell and sound. Researchers use techniques that test habituation, such as the novelty-preference procedure, to explore infants’ abilities.

TERMS AND CONCEPTS TO REMEMBER

RETRIEVAL PRACTICE Match each of the terms on the left with its definition on the right. Click on the term first and then click on the matching definition. As you match them correctly they will move to the bottom of the activity.

Question

developmental psychology
zygote
embryo
fetus
teratogens
fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
habituation
physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, signs include a small, out-of-proportion head and abnormal facial features.
(literally, “monster maker”) agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.
decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.
the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.
the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month.
a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.
the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.

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