PSYC 100 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Moral Realism, Lev Vygotsky, Comfort Object

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Ingrid Johnsrude

Document Summary

Prenatal period extend over the 9 months between conception and birth, split into 3 developmental stages: zygotic, embryonic, and fetal. Zygote stage: first stage of prenatal development, during which the zygote divides many times, and internal organs begin to form. Teratogens: substances, agents and events that can cause birth defects. Normal pregnancy is about 266 days/38 weeks. In mammals, theres 200 different types of cells, all that develop from sperm and egg. X chromosome inactiviation is an example of a factor that directs the mechanisms of replication during the prenatal period so that cells that are genetically identical will develop along different paths. Inactivation of one of the x chromosomes is important because it limits the total amount of proteins produced by genes located on the x chromosome. Without this limit, the metabolism of a developing female would be different from that of a developing male (who only has one x chromosome)