PRENATAL PERIOD

Prenatal influences on development.

-Membrane of pregnancy are thin sacs, containing fluid which protect the developing
baby. Located inside the uterus, known as the womb.
-The inner bag is called the amniotic sac containing amniotic fluid and outer membrane
around it is called the chorion.
Following factors that may influence the unborn child.

German measles (Rubella)- May result in deafness, cataracts mental deficiency or heart
disease in the baby

Syphilis, malaria, smallpox, chicken pox and mumps Are caused by agents small
enough to pass thru placenta.

Maternal malnutrition as well as anoxia(lack of oxygen)

Alcohol and smoking increases the fetal heartbeat.

X-rays and other forms of radiation may affect the mentality of the child.

Endocine irregularities.

Blood incompatibility(RH factor).

Use of drugs.

Pills or medicines taken by the mother.

POST-NATAL PERIOD

Sensory Development- Much of the neonates behavior is essentially reflexive. Example of this
kind of behavior are breathing, swallowing, digesting and eliminating.
Motor Development- Motor behavior involves muscular reactions like walking, grasping,
jumping, steering, etc., often requiring an interaction between sensory and motor functions.
Factors influencing motor development.

Illness and physical injury

Intelligence(low grade)

Size of the body

Lack of opportunity to learn

Fear

Hampering clothes

Nutrition

Language Development- At two to three months, as an infant babbles spontaneously and coos at
others. Turns his head toward anothers voice at four months, laughs and makes differentiated
sounds. This is evident at eight months when the child responds to simple commands like
close, open and other simple directions.
Intellectual Development- Intelligence connotes adaptive behavior to the environment and the
organization and reorganization of thought and actions. John Piaget, a Swiss psychologist
outline some theoretical stages of cognitive development in children. (the ages indicated are only
averages from which one may deviate.)
Stages of cognitive development in children.

Sensorimotor stage: from birth to two years; this is characterized by innate responses to
stimulus which is essentially reflexive.

Pre-operational thought period

A.) Preconceptual stage: 2-4 years. The child start to use different kinds of symbols in play
behavior and in language. Ex, a girl washes dishes as she sees her mother do.
B.) Intuitive phase: 4-7 years. The child is now available to respond to groups of object. He can
now classify according to increasing size(as blocks) or in alphabet information. The capacity for
logic and reasoning are well developed in the later stages with respect to concrete and specific
objects.
2 characteristics of intuitive stage of thought.
Egocentricism- inability of the child to take the point of view of another; and (2) Emphasis on
successive states of a situation rather than transformation by which one state grades into another.
It means that the child doesnt have a grasp of the facts the situation can change gradually and
grade into a new one; he emphasizes the beginning and states.

Period of Concrete Operations: the child is less egocentric. The child is able to think of
various concrete situation relating to problems they are trying to solve.

Period of Formal Operations: the child uses formal verbal rules of thought and logic; to
formulate and test hypothesis; to think abstractly and generalize using abstract concepts
from one to another.