Questions
Ch-2

Instructions: Click the link below to read the article. Then, review the synopsis and answer the related questions:

Women make many health and dietary changes when they learn they are pregnant. They may quit smoking, stop eating fish, forgo alcoholic beverages, and reduce caffeine intake. Yet, how many pregnant women think to change their antidepressant medication? Up to 14 % of pregnant women take antidepressants, and a growing list of studies links prenatal exposure to SSRIs to birth defects, complications after birth, and even developmental delays and autism. SSRIs, when taken by a pregnant woman, cross the placental barrier affecting the fetus. SSRIs are designed to block the reuptake of serotonin, altering levels of this neurotransmitter in the pregnant mother’s brain; however, in the developing infant, serotonin signals the neurons where to go and what to do and how to develop. What serotonin does during development is basically everything. Depressed women may also be at higher risk for giving birth prematurely, which puts babies at risk of both short- and long-term health problems. SSRIs can be used to treat serious illnesses, and some women with severe depression or anxiety would not be able to function without them. They would place their own lives, or the lives of their children, at risk without treatment. It is important that women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant talk about SSRI risk with their physicians. If a woman chooses to stop taking an SSRI, she should taper off the medication under a doctor’s supervision. There are also nondrug treatment options available that women may wish to investigate during pregnancy.

1) This article summarizes a great deal of research regarding the possible effects of SSRIs on the developing neonate. How do you feel about the conclusions that these studies have drawn? Explain your answer fully.

2) A friend of yours recently found out she is pregnant. She tells you that she just read an article claiming that SSRIs are linked to birth defects. She is taking an SSRI, and she is considering quitting it “cold turkey.” What would you tell your friend about the potential problems she might encounter with her approach?

3) Diane did not know that she was pregnant, and she drank alcohol during the first three months of her pregnancy. What are some of the likely consequences to her child after having been exposed to alcohol prenatally?

Ch-3

1) People often react to newborns in ways that assume the infant can see like an adult (e.g., playing peek-a-boo with a newborn from across the room). How might you educate new parents on their newborn’s visual abilities? What would you tell them about their newborn’s vision? Their one-month-old? What about their six-month-old’s vision? What tips would you give them regarding playing with their infant at each of these ages that would be visually appropriate for the child?

Instructions: Click the link below to read the article. Then, review the synopsis and answer the related questions:

https://www.science20.com/news_articles/surprise_them_and_babies_learn_better-154432

In a study in Science, four experiments with pre-verbal, 11-month-old babies were designed to determine whether babies learned more effectively about objects that defied their expectations. The researchers began by showing the babies both surprising and predictable situations regarding an object. For instance, one group of infants saw a ball roll down a ramp and appear to be stopped by a wall in its path. Another group saw the ball roll down the ramp and appear to pass right through the wall. When the researchers surprised the babies by having the ball do unpredictable things, the babies learned significantly better. Furthermore, the researchers found that the babies chose to explore the ball that had defied their expectations, even more than toys that were brand new but had not done anything surprising. The infants who were shown a predictable ball showed no evidence of learning about the predictable ball at all. These results suggest that babies were testing specific hypotheses about the objects’ surprising behavior.

2)) Explain assimilation versus accommodation. Which of these processes best describes the results of the Science studies?