The following assignment is designed to allow the student to connect, reflect, review and apply information from Chapter 3 & 4. This assignment has 7 questions that should be answered using synthesis, analysis and understanding of textbook readings and concepts.

This assignment directly correlates with the following Student Learning Outcomes: Recognize and demonstrate respect for major cultural and sociological differences in child rearing and views of the child as a functioning individual within the environment. Understand the interaction between biological and environmental factors that directly influence, or place the child at risk for, developmental delay or disability. Know the potential impacts of general and specific disabilities, delays or risk factors including biomedical factors specific to infants and toddlers (e.g., prematurely, prenatal exposure to drugs) on the different domains of development. Why are poverty and limited education linked to large family size? What are the consequences of a high birthrate for children’s development and a nation’s future? Amy who is 2 months pregnant, wonders how the developing organism is being fed and what parts of the body have formed. “I don’t look pregnant yet. Does that mean not much development has taken place?” she asks. How would you respond to Amy? How is brain development related to fetal behavior? What implications do individual differences in fetal behavior have for the baby’s temperament after birth? A survey reported that only 7 percent of women of childbearing age are aware that taking a daily folic acid supplement around the time of conception reduces the incidence of neural tube defects (March of Dimes, 2002). Were you aware of this finding? If you could publicize five environmental influences in a campaign aimed at safeguarding prenatal development, which ones would you choose and why? How do findings on the timing of birth illustrate bidirectional influences between mother and fetus? How do they illustrate the roles of both nature and nurture? Sensitive care can help preterm infants recover, but unfortunately they are less likely than full-term newborns to receive such care. Explain why. List factors discussed in this chapter 4 and in Chapter 3 that increase the chances than an infant will be born underweight. How many of these factors could be prevented by better health care for mothers and babies?