PSYCH 115 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Syphilis, Fetus, Chromosome
Document Summary
A generalized delay or impairment in the development of intellectual and adaptive abilities. The course of intellectual disability is variable. Many children with intellectual disability improve over time, especially if they receive support, guidance, and enriched educational opportunities. Those who are reared in impoverished environments may fail to improve or may deteriorate further. Biological factors, psychosocial factors, or a combination of these factors. Biological causes include chromosomal and genetic disorders, infectious. Psychosocial causes include exposure to an impoverished home environment marked by the lack of intellectually stimulating activities during childhood diseases and maternal alcohol use during pregnancy. A condition caused by the presence of an extra chromosome on the 21st pair and characterized by intellectual disability and various physical anomalies. Down syndrome occurs in about 1 in 800 births. It usually occurs when the 21st pair of chromosomes in either the egg or the sperm fails to divide normally, resulting in an extra chromosome.
