 PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT AND BIRTH

 Chapter 4

 WHAT WE WILL DISCUSS

 Prenatal Development

 Conception

 Prenatal Stages

 WHAT WE WILL DISCUSS

 Prenatal Development and Fetal Programming

 Teratogens

 Mother’s State

 Father State

 WHAT WE WILL DISCUSS

 Perinatal Environment

 Possible Hazards

 The Mother’s Experience

 The Father Experience

 WHAT WE WILL DISCUSS

 Neonatal Environment

 Breast or Bottle

 Identifying At-Risk Newborns

 Risk and Resilience

 MAIN EVENTS OF PRENATAL CONCEPTION

 DEVELOPMENT OF THE EMBRYO

 PRENATAL STAGES

 BRAIN AT FOUR STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

 PROCESSES OF PRENATAL BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

 STAGES OF PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT: GERMINAL STAGE

 Germinal Stage (Fertilization to 2 weeks): zygote division, zygote becomes more complex and
implanted on the uterus wall
 STAGES OF PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT: EMBRYONIC STAGE

 2 to 8 weeks

 Organs and major body systems (respiratory, digestive, and nervous) develop rapidly:
Organogenesis

 Spontaneous abortion: miscarriage, expulsion of embryo or fetus (stillbirth after 20 weeks)

 STAGES OF PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT: FETAL STAGE

 8 weeks to birth

 Beginning of fetal stage: appearance of first bone cells

 Fetus grows rapidly to about 20 times its previous lengths

 ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES: MATERNAL FACTOR

 Exposure to teratogen (environmental agent, virus, drug, or radiation that can interfere with
normal prenatal development)

 NUTRITION AND MATERNAL WEIGHT

 Birth complications

 Dangerously low birth weight of baby

 Dangerously high birth weight of baby

 Malnutrition: dietary supplements

 PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND STRENUOUS WORK

 Strenuous working conditions, occupational fatigue, and long working hours may be associated
with greater risk of premature birth

 DRUG INTAKE

 Drugs may cross the placenta

 Medical drugs: may be harmful during pregnancy (Antibiotic tetracycline; some

barbiturates, opiates)

 Alcohol: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) characterized by a combination of retarded

growth, face, and body malformations

 NICOTINE

 Single most important factor in low birth weight in developed countries

 Increased risk of miscarriage, growth retardation, stillbirth, small head circumference, sudden
infant death, colic, long term respiratory, neurological, cognitive, attentional, and behavioral
problems
 CAFFEINE

 Not clear that caffeine is NOT a teratogen for human babies

 Four or more cups of coffee a day during pregnancy may increase the risk of sudden death in
infancy

 MARIJUANA, COCAINE, AND METHAMPHETAMINE

 Sparse studies on pregnant women smoking marijuana: birth defects, low birth weight,
withdrawal-like symptoms at birth

 Cocaine: associated with spontaneous abortion, delayed growth, premature labor, low birth
weight, small head size, birth defects, and impaired neurological development

 METHAMPHETAMINE

 Methamphetamine-exposed infants were more likely to have low birth weight and small for
their gestational age

 Implicated in fetal brain damage to areas of the brain involved in learning, memory, and control

 Less white matter in brains, developmental delays

 MATERNAL ILLNESSES

 Aids: disease caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); may cross over to the fetus’s
bloodstream through placenta during pregnancy, labor, or delivery, or, after birth, through
breast milk

 MATERNAL ILLNESS

 Rubella: if contracted by 11th week, almost certain to cause deafness and heart defects in her
baby

 Toxoplasmosis: caused by parasite harbored in the bodies of cattle, sheep, and pigs and in
intestinal tracts of cats; symptoms similar to the common cold

 Fetal brain damage

 Severely impaired eyesight or blindness

 Seizures, Miscarriage, Stillbirth

 Death of the baby

 MATERNAL ANXIETY, STRESS & DEPRESSION

 May spur organization of the developing brain

 Levels of positive and negative stress showed signs of accelerated neurological development

 MATERNAL AGE

 Change of miscarriage or stillbirth rises with maternal age

 Women 45 or older: risk of miscarriage reaches 90%

 Women 30 to 35: more likely to suffer complications from diabetes, high blood pressure, or
severe bleeding

 MATERNAL AGE

 Higher risk of premature delivery

 Retarded fetal growth

 Birth defects

 Chromosomal abnormalities (Down Syndrome)

 Adolescent mothers: premature or underweight babies

 OUTSIDE ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS

 Air pollution

 Chemicals

 Radiation

 Extremes of heat and humidity

 Other environmental hazards

 PATERNAL FACTORS

 Exposure to lead, marijuana or tobacco smoke, large amounts of alcohol or radiation, DES,
pesticides, or high ozone levels may result in abnormal, poor-quality sperm

 Smoking: increased likelihood of transmitting genetic abnormalities

 Older father: damaged or deteriorated sperm; birth defects

 MONITORING AND PROMOTING PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

 Amniocentesis: sample of amniotic fluid is withdrawn under guidance of ultrasound and

analyzed

 PRECONCEPTION CARE

 Physical examination: taking of medical history

 Vaccinations: Rubella and hepatitis b

 Risk screening: genetic disorders and infectious diseases (STDs)

 Counseling: women to avoid smoking and alcohol, maintain body weight, and take folic acid
supplements

 CHILDBIRTH AND CULTURE

 A social ritual in Europe and the US prior to the 20 th Century

 Family and friends were around.

 Midwives had no formal training

 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY FRANCE

 Woman had 1 in 10 chance of dying while or shortly after giving birth

 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA & SOUTH ASIA

 60 million women deliver at home each year without benefit of skilled care

 More than 500,000 women and 4 Million newborns died in or shortly after birth

 47% decline in maternal mortality from 1990

 BIRTH PROCESS

 Labor: process of giving birth

 Parturition: act of process of giving birth

 Uterine contractions that expel the fetus: begin 266 days after conception as a tightening of the
uterus

 STAGES OF CHILDBIRTH

 Dilation of cervix

 Descent and Emergence of the baby

 Expulsion of the placenta

 ELECTRONIC FETAL MONITORING

 Mechanical monitoring of fetal heartbeat during labor and delivery

 How is the baby responding to the stress of uterine contractions?

 VAGINAL VS CESAREAN DELIVERY

 Vaginal Delivery: delivery through the vagina. Also known as natural birth

 Cesarean Delivery: can be used to surgically remove the baby rom the uterus through an incision
in the mother’s abdomen

 NATURAL CHILDBIRTH

 Natural Childbirth: method of childbirth that seeks to preven pain by eliminating the mother’s
fear through education about the physiology of reproduction and training in breathing and
relaxation during delivery

 PREPARED CHILDBIRTH
 Method of childbirth that uses instruction, breathing exercises, and social support to induce
controlled physical responses to induce controlled physical responses to uterine contractions
and reduce fear and pain

 LAMAZE METHOD

 Introduced by French obstetrician, Fernand Lamaze in the late 1950s

 Teaches expectant mothers to work actively with their bodies through controlled breathing

 ANESTHESIA

 Pudendal Block: vaginal anesthesia given usually during the 2 nd stage of labor or if forceps are
used

 Analgesic: reduces perception of pain by depressing activity of the central nervous system

 Epidural/Spinal Injection: regional anesthesia is injected into a space in the spinal cord between
the vertebrae in the lumbar (lower region), blocks the nerve pathways that carry the sensation
of pain to the brain

 DOULA

 Experienced mentor, coach, and helper

 Can furnish emotional support and information and can stay at a woman’s bedside throughout
labor

 THE NEWBORN BABY; SIZE AND APPEARANCE

 Average neonate (newborn)

 20 inches long, 7.5 pounds

 At birth 95% full-term babies 5.5 to 10 bs

 Between 18 and 22 inches long

 Boys slightly heavier than girls

 First few days: lose as much as 10% body weight from loss of fluids

 THE NEWBORN BABY; SIZE AND APPEARANCE

 Begin to gain weight on 5th day and generally back to birth weight by 10 th to 14th day

 DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF NEWBORN BABIES

 Large head: ¼ of the body length

 Receding chin: which makes it easy to nurse

 Fontanels: where bones of skull do not meet; soft spots; covered by tough membrane that
allows for flexibility in shape (easier to go through vaginal canal)
 First 18 months, plates of skull gradually fuse together

 THE NEWBORN BABY; SIZE AND APPEARANCE

 Pinkish cast: skin is thin it barely covers capillaries through which blood flows

 Lanugo: fuzzy prenatal hair

 Vernix caseosa: cheesy varnish; oily protection against infection that dries quickly within days

 THE NEWBORN BABY: BODY SYSTEMS

 All of baby’s systems must function on their own

 Most of the work for transition from mother to baby occurs during first 4 to 6 hours of birth

 THE NEWBORN BABY: BODY SYSTEMS

 During pregnancy:

 Fetus gets oxygen through umbilical cord: carries used blood and returns a fresh supply

 Heartbeat fast and irregular

 Blood pressure does not stabilize until about 10 days after birth

 BREATHING

 Happens as soon as they are exposed to air

 If neonate does not breathe within 5 minutes, baby may suffer permanent brain injury

 Anoxia: lack of oxygen

 Hypoxia: reduced oxygen supply

 THE NEWBORN BABY: BODY SYSTEMS

 Lungs: only 1/10 of as many air sacs as adults’

 Infants (especially those born prematurely) are susceptible to respiratory problems

 THE NEWBORN BABY: BODY SYSTEMS

 Anoxia/Hypoxia

 May happen as a result of repeated compression of the placenta and umbilical cord with
each contraction

 Form of birth trauma can leave permanent brain damage, causing mental retardation, behavior
problems, or even death

 THE NEWBORN BABY: BODY SYSTEMS

 First few days:

  Infants secrete MECONIUM: stringy, greenish-black waste matter formed in the fetal
intestinal tract

 When bowels and bladder are full, sphincter muscles open automatically; baby will not
be able to control these muscles for many months

 NEONATAL JAUNDICE

 Skin and eyeballs look yellow

 Caused by immaturity of the liver

 Not serious, does not need treatment, and has no long-term effects

 MEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT

 APGAR SCALE

 1 minute after delivery

 5 minutes after birth

 Developed by Dr. Virginia Apgar

 Appearance (Color)

 Pulse (heart rate)

 Grimace (reflex irritability)

 Activity (Muscle Tone)

 Respiration (breathing)

 APGAR SCORE

 THE BRAZELTON NEONATAL BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT SCALE

 Neurological and behavioral test to measure a neonate’s responses to the environment

 Used to help parents, health care providers, and researchers assess behavior

 Takes 30 minutes

 Scores based on baby’s best performance

 Dr. T. Berry Brazelton

 BRAZELTON NEONATAL BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT SCALE (NBAS)

 BRAZELTON NEONATAL BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT SCALE

 Motor organization: activity level and ability to bring hand to the mouth

 Reflexes
 State Changes: irritability, excitability, ability to quiet down after being upset

 Attention and interactive capacities: general alertness and response to visual and auditory
stimuli

 Central nervous system instability: tremors and changes in skin color

 NEONATAL SCREENING FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS

 Phenylketonuria PKU: will become mentally retarded unless they are fed a special diet in the
first 3 to 6 weeks of life

 COMPLICATIONS OF CHILDBIRTH: LOW BIRTH WEIGHT

 Neonates born weighing less than 2,500 grams (5 pounds) at birth

 Preterm Infants (Premature): babies born before the 37 th week

 COMPLICATIONS OF CHILDBIRTH: LOW BIRTH WEIGHT

 Small-for-date (small-for-gestational age) infants: born at or around their due dates but are
smaller than would be expected

 REASONS FOR LOW-BIRTH WEIGHT AND PRETERM BIRTHS

 Mother’s poor health and nutrition

 Smoking during pregnancy

 Delayed childbearing

 Multiple births

 Use of fertility drugs

 Induced and Cesarean deliveries

 PREDICTORS OF AN INFANT’S SURVIVAL AND HEALTH

 Birth weight

 Length of gestation

 WHO IS LIKELY TO HAVE A LOW BIRTH WEIGHT BABY?

 Demographic and socioeconomic factors

 Medical factors predating the pregnancy

 Prenatal behavior and environment

 IMMEDIATE TREATMENT AND OUTCOMES

 Vulnerability to infection linked to slowed growth and developmental delay

 Nervous systems may be too immature for them to perform functions basic for survival (sucking)
 ISOLETTE

 Antiseptic, temperature controlled crib

 KANGAROO CARE

 Method of skin-to-skin contact in which a newborn is laid face down between the mother’s
breasts for an hour or so at a time after birth

 Help preemies and full-term infants make adjustment from fetal life to the jumble of sensory
stimuli in the outside world

 Reduce stress on the central nervous system and help with self-regulation of sleep and activity

 LONG-TERM OUTCOMES

 Increased risk of adult-onset diabetes (preterm and small-for-gestational age infants)

 Greater likelihood for cerebral palsy, mental retardation, autistic disorders, and low educational
and job related income levels

 DOCOSAHEXAENOIC ACID

 Also known as DHA

 Not adequately developed in infants born before 33 weeks gestation

 If fed high doses of fatty acids through milk (breast or formula) showed better mental
development at 18 months

 SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT?

 Physical and psychological development of children who had suffered low birth weight or other
birth complications were seriously impaired ONLY when children grew up in persistently poor
environmental circumstances

 Little intellectual stimulation

 Little emotional support

 POSSIBLE SOURCES OF STRESS

 Chronic Poverty

 Family Discord

 Divorce

 Mentally Ill Parents

 PROTECTIVE FACTORS

 Individual attributes

 Energy
  Sociability

 Intelligence

 Affectionate ties

 At least one supportive family member

 Rewards at school, work, or place of worship that provide a sense of meaning and control over
one’s life

 POSTMATURE BABIES

 Born beyond 42 weeks or more

 Tend to be long and thin because they have kept growing in the womb but have had an
insufficient blood supply toward the end of gestation

 STILLBIRTH

 Sudden death of a fetus at or after the 20 th week of gestation

 Cause of ambiguous loss

 Affects family (both parents and siblings)

 REDUCING INFANT MORTALITY

 Infant mortality rate: proportion of babies who die within the first year

 Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Crib Death; sudden death of an infant under age 1, cause of
death, unexplained

 DEATHS FROM INJURIES

 Unintentional injuries

 Third leading cause of death in infancy in the US

 Traffic accidents

 Drowning

 Burns

 IMMUNIZATION FOR BETTER HEALTH

 Measles

 Pertussis (Whooping cough)

 Polio

 Dengue?

 PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT
 Cephalocaudal Principle: Development proceeds in a head-to-tail direction; upper parts of the
body develop before lower parts of the trunk

 PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT

 Proximodistal Principle: development proceeds from within to without; parts of the body near
the center develop before the extremes

 GROWTH PATTERNS

 Children grow faster during the first 3 years especially during the first 3 months

 As a baby grows into a toddler, a 3-year-old is more slender, not as chubby and pot-bellied as a
1 year old

 NUTRITION: BREAST OR BOTTLE?

 Breastfeeding: an emotional and physical act

 Fosters emotional linkage between mother and baby

 Quality of relationship between parent and child: provision of affection and cuddling

 BREAST-FEEDING

 Almost always best for infants, nutritionally speaking

 Babies be exclusively breast-fed for 6 months (American Academy of Pediatrics Section of

Breastfeeding)

 Can prevent 911 infant deaths and save billions annually

 ACCEPTABLE ALTERNATIVES

 Iron-fortified formula based on cow’s milk or soy protein and contains supplemental vitamins
and minerals

 During 1st year, iron-fortified formula

 1 year: babies can switch to cow’s milk

 BREASTFED BABIES

 Less likely to contract infectious illnesses

 Have lower risk of SIDS or postneonatal death

 Have less risk of inflammatory bowel disease

 Better visual acuity, neurological development, and long-term cardiovascular health, including
cholesterol levels

 Less likely to show language and motor delays

 Score higher on cognitive tests

 Fewer cavities and less likely to need braces

 BREASTFED MOTHERS

 Enjoy quicker recovery from childbirth with less risk of postpartum bleeding

 More likely to return to their prepregnancy weight and less likely to develop

 OTHER NURTITIONAL CONCERNS

 Healthy babies should consume nothing but breast milk or iron-fortified formula for the first 6
months

 Iron-enriched solid foods beginning with cereals introduced gradually during 2 nd half of the 1st
year

 BUILDING THE BRAIN

 Brain growth is a lifelong process fundamental to physical, cognitive, and emotional

development

 Brain at birth ¼ to 1/3 of its eventual adult volume

 Age 6, almost adult size

 Brain growth occurs in fits and starts (brain growth spurts)

 Different parts grow more rapidly at different times

 MAJOR PARTS OF THE BRAIN

 Beginning about 3 weeks after conception, gradually develop from a long hollow tube to a
spherical mass of cells

 Growth spurt of spinal cord and brain stem (responsible for breathing, heart rate, body
temperature, and sleep-wake cycle)

 BABY CEREBELLUM

 Part of the brain that maintains balance and motor coordination grows fastest during the 1 st
year of life

 CEREBRUM

 Largest part of the brain, divided into right and left halves, or hemispheres, each with
specialized functions (lateralization)

 HEMISPHERES

 Left: Mainly concerned with language and logical thinking

 Right: visual and spatial functions, map reading and drawing

 Corpus callosum: joins the two hemispheres which allows them to share information and
coordinate commands
 LOBES/SECTIONS OF EACH CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE

 Occipital: smallest and concerned with visual processing

 Parietal lobe: involved with integrating sensory information from the body, helps move our
bodies through space an manipulate objects in our world

 LOBES/SECTIONS OF EACH CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE

 Temporal lobe: helps us interpret smells and sounds and is involved in memory

 Frontal lobe: newest region of the brain, involved with a variety of higher order processes: goal
setting, inhibition, reasoning, planning, and problem solving

 REGIONS OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

 That govern vision, hearing, and other sensory information grow rapidly within the first few
months after birth

 Mature after 6 months

 AREAS OF FRONTAL CORTEX

 Those responsible for abstract thought, mental associations, remembering, and deliberate
motor responses grow very little during this period and remain immature for several years

 BRAIN GROWTH SPURT

 That begins at about the 3rd trimester or gestation and continues until at least the 4 th year of life,
important to the development of neurological functioning

 BRAIN CELLS

 Neurons: nerve cells which send and receive information

 Glia/Glial cells: nourish and protect the neurons; support system for our neurons

 BRAIN CELLS

 Beginning 2nd month of gestation, estimated 250,000 immature neurons produced every minute
through cell division (mitosis)

 At birth: most of the more than 100 billion neurons in a mature brain are already forms but not
yet fully developed

 Number of neurons increases most rapidly between 25 th week of gestation and first few months
after birth

 Cell proliferation accompanied by a dramatic growth in cell size

 NEURONS IN CORTEX

 In place by 20 weeks of gestation

 Structure becomes fairly well-defined during the next 12 weeks.

 NEURONS, ONCE IN PLACE

 Sprout axons and dendrites

 Multiplication of dendrites and synaptic connections, especially during the last 2 ½ months of
gestation and first 6 months to 2 years of life, accounts for much of brain’s growth that permits
the emergence of new perceptual, cognitive, and motor abilities

 PROCESSES AS NEURONS MULTIPLY, MIGRATE, AND DEVELOP

 Integration: neurons that control various groups of muscles coordinate their activities

 Differentiation: each neuron takes on a specific, specialized structure and function

 CELL DEATH

 A way to calibrate the developing brain to the local environment and help it work more
efficiently

 Process begins during the prenatal period and continues after birth

 MYELINATION

 Enables signals to travel faster and more smoothly

 Process of coating neural pathways with a fatty substance called myelin, which enables faster
communication between cells

 MYELINATION

 Begins about halfway through gestation in some parts of the brain and continues into adulthood
in others

 Pathways related to a sense of touch are first to develop

 Visual pathways begins at birth an continues during the first 5 months of life

 EARLY REFLEXES

 Reflex behavior: an automatic, innate response to stimulation

 Most reflexes disappear during the first six months

 Reflexes that continue to serve protective functions remain (blinking, yawning, coughing,
gagging)

 PRIMITIVE REFLEX

 Sucking

 Rooting for nipple

 Moro reflex: response to being startled or beginning to fall

 Related to instinctive needs for survival and protection, may support early connection to the
caregiver

 POSTURAL REFLEX

 Reactions to changes in position or balance

 Tilted downward, extend arms in the parachute reflex

 LOCOMOTOR REFLEXES

 Walking and swimming reflexes

 Resemble voluntary movements that do not appear until months after the reflexes have
disappeared

 MOLDING THE BRAIN

 Brain’s early development: genetically directed, continually modified by environmental

experience

 Physical architecture of the brain reflection of experiences throughout life

 PLASTICITY

 Brain is not static

 Living changeable organs that respond to environmental influences

 Malleability of the brain

 PLASTICITY

 Enables learning

 Individual differences in intelligence reflect in the brain’s ability to develop neural connections in
response to experience

 Early experience can have lasting effects on the capacity of the central nervous system to learn
and store information

 ROMANIAN ORPHANS

 Abandoned children appeared to be starving, passive, and emotionless

 Spent much of their time quietly laying in their cribs or beds with nothing to look at

 Most of the 2- to 3-year olds could not walk or talk

 Older children played aimlessly

 Extreme inactivity in temporal lobes, which regulate emotions (PET Scans)

 EARLY SENSORY CAPACITIES

 Touch and pain: first sense to develop, 1 st several months, most mature; can feel pain during the
last trimester

 EARLY SENSORY CAPACITIES

 Smell and taste: begin to develop in the womb

 Preference for pleasant odors learned in utero and during first few days of birth

 Transmitted through mother’s breast milk

 EARLY SENSORY CAPACITIES

 Hearing: functional before birth

 Fetus responds to sound and seem to learn to recognize them

 Lays foundation for relationship with mother

 Auditory discrimination develops rapidly after birth

 Hearing impairments should be detected as early as possible

 EARLY SENSORY CAPACITIES

 Sight: vision is least developed sense at birth

 There is little to see in the womb

 Visual acuity at birth approximately 20/400

 BINOCULAR VISION

 Use of both eyes to focus, enabling perception of depth and distance

 Doesn’t usually develop until 4 or 5 months

 MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

 Marked by a series of milestones

 Milestones: achievements that develop systematically, each newly mastered ability preparing a
baby to tackle the next

 MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

 DENVER DEVELOPMENTAL SCREENING TEST

 Used to chart progress between ages 1 month and 6 years to identify children who are not
developing normally

 Gross motor skills: those using large muscles

 Fine motor skills: using small muscles

 PROGRESS OF MOTOR DEVELOPMENT: HEAD CONTROL

 Head control: most infants can turn their heads from side to side, when lying chest down, many
can lift their heads enough to turn them

 Within first 2 to 3 months, can lift their heads higher and higher

 4 months: can keep their head erect

 PROGRESS OF MOTOR DEVELOPMENT: HAND CONTROL

 Born with grasping reflex

 3 ½ months, can grasp an object of moderate size

 Grasp object in one hand and transfer to another

 7 to 11 months, hands become coordinated enough to pick up a tiny object

 PROGRESS OF MOTOR DEVELOPMENT: LOCOMOTION

 After 3 months, can roll over deliberately

 Front to back and back to front

 Between 6 to 10 months can sit without support

 6 months, can assume a sitting position

 SOCIAL REFERENCING

 Crawling can help babies learn this

 They learn to look to caregivers for clues as to whether a situation is secure or frightening

 MOTOR DEVELOPMENT AND PERCEPTION

 Sensory perception: enables infants to learn about themselves and their environments

 Visual guidance: use of eyes to guide the movement of hands or other parts of the body

 DEPTH PERCEPTION

 Ability to perceive objects and surfaces in three dimensions

 Depends on several kinds of cues that affect image of object on the retina of the eye

 HAPTIC PERCEPTION

 Ability to acquire information through touch

 Enables babies to respond to such cues as relative size and differences in lecture and shading

 ECOLOGICAL THEORY OF PERCEPTION

 Theory developed by Eleanor and James Gibson

 Describes developing motor and perceptual abilities as interdependent parts of a functional
system that guides behavior in varying contexts

 THELEN’S DYNAMIC SYSTEMS THEORY

 Ester Thelen

 Motor development is a dynamic process of active coordination of multiple systems within the
infant in relation to the environment