Prenatal Development and Flavor Preferences

Prenatal Development

• Neurogenesis: Rapid brain cell development is influenced by the prenatal environment, affecting behavior and cognition (e.g., auditory preferences, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome).
• Stages of Prenatal Development:
  • Zygote: Fertilized egg.
  • Germinal Stage (0-2 weeks): Zygote moves to the uterus and divides.
  • Embryo (2-8 weeks): Sexual characteristics and nervous system develop.
  • Fetus (>9 weeks): Musculoskeletal, digestive, and respiratory systems develop.

Mennella et al. (2001) Study

• Study Goal: Investigate prenatal flavor exposure's impact on postnatal flavor preferences.
• Study Design:
  • Groups:
    • CW: Prenatal carrot exposure, postnatal water exposure.
    • WC: Prenatal water exposure, postnatal carrot exposure.
    • CC: No prenatal carrot exposure, postnatal water exposure.
• Results: Infants with prenatal carrot exposure (CW and WC) preferred carrot-flavored cereal postnatally, compared to the control group.

Life of a Newborn

• Sensory Acuity: Newborns have limited sensory acuity, but hearing is relatively well-developed.
• Gaze and Habituation: Habituation strategies, where babies become bored with repeated stimuli, helps assess infant understanding.

Woodward (1998) Study

• Methodology: Violation-of-expectation paradigm.
• Methodology (continued): Infants observe expected and unexpected events to infer understanding of object permanence.
  • Habituation Event: A person grabs a ball.
  • Test Events:
    • Expected: Same action, same object (person grabs the same ball again).
    • Unexpected: Different action, same object (person grabs the ball differently).
    • Unexpected: Same action, different object (person grabs a teddy bear).
• Findings: Infants looked longer at unexpected events, implying an understanding of object permanence.

Interpreting Infant Data

• Occam's Razor: Simpler explanations are generally best when interpreting data.

Research Designs in Developmental Psychology

• Cross-Sectional Designs:
  • Pros: Easier and quicker to execute by collecting data on different groups at the same time.
  • Cons: Potential for cohort effects (external factors affecting one group differently).
• Longitudinal Designs:
  • Pros: Detailed information about individual development over time.
  • Cons: Expensive, time-consuming, and complex.

Developmental Timelines

• Quantitative Change: Gradual, continuous changes in the level or amount of a skill or characteristic.
• Qualitative Change: Change in the nature or type of ability or skill.

Experimental Designs

• Limitations:
  • Difficulty with random assignment in some contexts.
  • Correlational issues; variation of factors may not always allow for unambiguous cause-and-effect conclusions.

Explore the critical phases of prenatal development from zygote to fetus, including the impact of neurogenesis and environmental factors. Delve into the Mennella et al. (2001) study that investigates how prenatal flavor exposure influences postnatal flavor preferences in infants.