Psychology 361 -- Chapter 3: What to study

p. 85: Know definitions of placenta, umbilical cord, cephalocaudal development, proximo-distal development; read discussion of placenta as a semi-permeable membrane and as storage area for nutrients.

p. 84-88: Know the broad divisions of fetal development: zygote (conception to two weeks), embryo (2 weeks to 2 months), and fetus (beginning of 3rd month to birth).

p. 88: define Lanugo, surfactant, age of viability; read section on respiratory distress syndrome;

pp. 88-92: define teratogens; pay close attention to principles 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7. Check out Figure 3-2 on p. 89; note the various critical periods (or periods of susceptibility) and note that during the period of the zygote there is no susceptibility to common teratogens.

p. 92-93: Legal and illegal drugs: Note 90% of women take some drug during pregnancy (probably a meaningless statistic), but note that heavy use of aspirin and diet pills may have adverse effects. What effects are associated with heavy use of aspirin?

Note 80% drink alcohol and >30% smoke and both drugs affect placental functioning. What is SIDS? What are some of the effects of mothers' and fathers' smoking on babies? Note that the babies are more likely to be premature and underweight.
p. 95: What is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and what are some of the physical and psychological symptoms? What is the likely cause of mental retardation in FAS babies? What happens to the baby when a pregnant woman has 1 ounce of vodka during the last trimester? What are the consequences of 'moderate social drinking'? What period of pregnancy is most dangerous for the effects of alcohol on brain development?

p. 95-96: Heroin, etc. What are the symptoms of babies born to heroin and cocaine? What affects the severity of the symptoms? (This is related to point #7 in the section on teratogens, p. 90.) p. 96: How do does mother's cocaine abuse affect social behavior?
Specific effects of cocaine: Note the physical effects as well as effects on excitability, irritability, impulsivity. Note the two patterns of responsiveness: direct and indirect. Note effects of cocaine on bonding.
p. 96: The jury is out on marijuana, but some evidence of short-term effects.

p. 97: What is DES and what are its effects on the grown children (both girls and boys) of mothers who used it during pregnancy?

p. 98: Notice effects of general anesthesia on newborn behavior, but no long term effects. Note that genetic factors influence susceptibility; this is an illustration of point #3 on p. 90.

p. 100: define parity; what ages of the mother are the riskiest for having the first child? What are the risks of teenage mothers? (Teenage mothering is associated with a variety of bad things--the 'bad things go together' syndrome: poverty, poor nutrition, poor prenatal care, poor 'cognitive readiness.'

Box 3.1: Note racial/ethnic differences in prenatal care. The book says minorities are less likely to receive medical care but is careful to list which minorities (African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans). (For example, Asian Americans are more likely to get prenatal care than European Americans.) Note African American women have problems scheduling and keeping appointments whereas European American women think they don't need it. Note that the infant mortality rate of African American babies has remained at twice the European-American rate despite the fact that both have declined.

p. 102: 1st para of Choice of Diet: Bad things go together: Poverty, poor education, inadequate medical care, etc. This applies to African-Americans, Latinos, rather than Japanese- or Chinese-Americans

p. 102-103: Note effects of malnutrition on intelligence are 'most marked' if the malnutrition was severe and long-lasting and if poor social, economic, and nutritional factors continue after child is born. Note suggestion that motor development is more impaired than cognitive: The cognitive centers of the brain are relatively buffered from the effects of malnutrition but eventually they will be affected too. Note malnutrition associated with lowered energy, inattention, and lack of motivation and responsiveness. p. 103: Besides improving the nutrition, what else to intervention programs include?

p. 103: Emotionality of the child is influenced genetically but may also be influenced by maternal environment.

What are the babies of anxious, stressed mothers like?

p. 106: In what two ways are most children infected with HIV? Note ethnic differences in rate of infection. What are physical problems do children with AIDS have?



p. 110: What is anoxia? What is the Apgar scoring system and what is it used for?

p. 111: Know the distinction between Preterm and small for date babies. See Table 3-4 on p. 111 and note the two cutoff weights: 5.5 lb. (2500g) and 3.3 lbs (1500g). (7.7 lb. is normal.)
 

p. 111-112: Note ethnic differences in frequency of low birthweight babies, with AA most likely and Mexicans midway between EA and AA.


p. 112: what are the effects of extremely low birthweight; note 3.3 lbs seems to be a threshold for greater difficulties, and that the effects are worse in babies weighing less than 2 lbs than among those weighing less than 3.3 lbs. 5th para.: Note difficulty of establishing the exact cause of premies problems. What are some alternatives to simply supposing that the problem is with low birthweight itself?
 

p. 113: Is early contact between mother and baby critical for a healthy mother-infant bond? What are the effects of early contact?

p. 114: Thoman's study of effects of breathing bear on premies: the critical info is in the 1st and 2nd para of the right hand column in Box 3.2.
p. 114-115: Note the feelings of the mothers of premies; Are mothers of premies as emotionally involved as mothers of normal babies? Notice that some premies are abused. What two general factors does the text suggest explain this tendency?


p. 116: Note the complexity of the factors suggested as causing long term problems and that medical problems arising directly from prematurity are far from the whole story. Note also that there may be long term effects on the parent-child relationship and on the parents' marriage.
 

p. 116: what is resilience as the text uses the term? What are the continuum of reproductive casualty and the continuum of caretaking casualty? Which of these two sources of casualty are considered to be more important in lessening the effects of prematurity with age?
 What is role of a close and continuing relationship in child resilience?


Box 4.3: This is an important longitudinal study, lasting over 40 years. Birth: Note high level of birth complications and 'at risk' status.

Age 2: severity of complications correlated with test results; note that 'bad things go together': infants with severe complications who are living in low SES, in unstable families, with low IQ mothers have worse results.
Age 10: No relation between IQ and birth complications but IQ was correlated with the usual environmental variables: Low SES, family instability. (The text treats these environmental variables as causes, but they may merely index genetic tendencies for low IQ. Still, the point is that birth complications by themselves don't explain much, if anything. The big story is a gradual improvement with age: Children become more normal. What were the characteristics of resilient children?
What were the basic results at age 30 follow-up?