Week 3 - Fitzpatrick - Human Development in Pregnancy, Birth, and Infancy

For the third week of class, we had to read chapters 3-5 or the Lifesmart text, with Chapter 3 covering pregnancy and prenatal development, chapter 4 covering birth and the newborn child (birth-1 month), and chapter 5 covering infancy (1 month – 24 months). Chapter 3 gives a brief overview of the biology of human development during pregnancy. Such topics included in the chapter are standard biology, including the significance of chromosomes, DNA, and genes, specific hereditary disorders, prenatal development, and the effects of the environment on the developing fetus, including teratogens, such as infectious diseases and various chemical substances located in the body throughout prenatal development (69,70). Chapter 4 begins to touch base on the beginning of the cognitive development aspect of human development in neonates, or infant from the moment of birth until 1 month (90). Topics included in this chapter include labor stages, childbirth methods, complication during childbirth, specifically anoxia and prematurity, and neonate characteristics. Chapter 5 touches on the continuing physical and cognitive development of a child, along with the beginning of establishing emotional development in infancy. Such topics include perceptual development (visual, depth, and auditory), language development, the importance of relationships, reciprocal interactions and emotion expression in the creation of emotional development in an infant.

            One topic that really stood out to me was the subject of bonding in chapter 4 on page 96. I have mentioned before that I am a proud father of two boys, 8 and 12. One thing that I do not often include in that statement is that my older son is legally my son through adoption, and the younger one is technically my step-son. I was not around during these stages for my older son but was around for the infancy years of my stepson. During my stepson’s infant years, his father was not in the picture. His mother had to go back to work due to her recent separation, so I was there to fill the void when she could not be around. For this reason, we began to build a bond. Much like the book details, we connected on a physical level, then we began to learn about each other and understand each other cognitively. I knew his like and dislikes, I learned how to take care of him and connect with him on an independent level, which in return created a sense of love and trust between us, not as an adult to child, but as father and son. Like the book states that these connections are crucial for a child’s well-being (96), and that it is not about the amount of time spent but the quality of time spent that influences the connection (96), I am one that can attest to this as our bond is just as strong, to be honest probably stronger, than that of him and his biological father, who re-entered his life two years later.

            One thing that shocked me while reading was, in the evaluation of Piaget, the challenge that children can accomplish tasks at earlier ages than Piaget believed (113). Stage 5 of Piaget’s theory suggests that in this stage repetition of the action occurs, but with variation, indicating experimentation and an interest for their own sake/amusement (113). When I read this stage, my initial thought was “this sounds more like the ‘terrible twos’.” I then thought of my niece who just recently turned 2 this past month. She is well past the 18-month cutoff age of stage 5, but still seems to embark on these same repetitive actions, but in different manners, to recognize the results.  Although Piaget was simplistic in his overall human development theory as noted in chapter 2, it is my opinion that his timeline of cognitive development in infancy is correct.