PSY 2012 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Synaptic Pruning, Animism, Prenatal Development
Document Summary
Know how long each one lasts and what happens during each phase: germinal stage: The mother passes oxygen and nutrients through her blood into the embryo. Removes waste materials from embryo/fetus: embryonic stage. Lasts 8 weeks: from end of germinal stage up to 2 months after conception. Teratogens are the biggest dangers for the embryo (viruses, drugs, radiation) At the end of the stage, the embryo is about an inch long: fetal stage. Spontaneous movements and basic reflexes start to show. By 16 weeks, the brain is fully formed: the fetus can feel pain. By the 27th week, the baby can hear sounds from outside the uterus. The close coordination between the gazing, vocalizing, touching, and smiling of infants and caregivers: define the terms sensitive period, synaptic pruning, and maturation. Sensitive period: span of time during which the organism is especially responsive to stimuli of a particular sort.
