Research Project 2 Genetic Counseling Available to You

 

The Life-Span Health and Well-Being focus at the end of Chapter 3 tells about how genetic counseling can help expectant couples learn about the possibility that their infants will inherit defects or suffer other genetically-based problems. While the focus sketches the process of counseling, it does not say much about how this service is delivered from community to community.

For this project you will find out and report whether and how genetic counseling services are made available in your community. Form groups of up to four individuals, and divide the following, tasks between individuals or pairs. Contact hospitals to learn whether they disseminate information about genetic counseling, and if they do, obtain the pamphlets or handouts that they provide. If there are other services or organizations for expectant couples (e.g., Planned Parenthood, or divisions of social service agencies), find out what they offer. If you can identify individuals in the community who provide such information, contact them to see if they will allow you to interview them about their services. Go to the public library and look up books or other reference materials about genetic counseling.

Once you have determined what information is publically available, write a report that summarizes (a) how up-to-date the information appears to be; (b) what source of information is most easily and cheaply available; (c) what attitude the materials seem to take toward genetic counseling. For example, Santrock indicates that what couples do about what they find out concerning their infants' chances of suffering a genetic defect is largely their own decision. Does this seem to be true in your community? What range of decisions is available? Are any alternatives discouraged? Finally, can you determine whether these services are uniformly available to all community members? Would anyone be able to use them? Are there significant controversies about their use? What political/ethical/legal issues did you discover? Relate what you find to the claims Santrock makes in Life-Span Development about the quality of prenatal and postnatal care in the United States.

 

Chapter 4

 

Research Project 1 Why Do Some Pregnant Women Drink, Smoke, or Use Drugs?

 

Despite the fact that the dangers of drinking alcohol smoking, and other drug use to fetal development are now well known and widely publicized, women continue to use these substances while they are pregnant. This research activity (suggested in Salkind, S. S. [1990]. Child development. Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston) attempts to find out why.

Have students invite a group of female friends who smoke or drink to talk to you about whether they will do these things when they are pregnant. Then have them ask their friends whether they know that smoking and drinking endanger prenatal development and about what they know in detail. Have them talk about the dangers (they may need to do some teaching!), and then ask again whether their friends will drink and smoke. You may want to suggest to students that they tape record the answers, but make sure they prepare an interview schedule no matter how they choose to record answers.

 

Research Project 2 Fatherhood

 

How actively are fathers participating in the births of their children these days? Find out by carrying out an interview project suggested in a child development text by Neil Salkind (Salkind, N. [1990]. Child Development. Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart. & Winston).

Invite two first-time, expectant fathers and two fathers of children under the age of two. Interview these men using the following sets of questions:

 

Expectant fathers:

 

1. What are your feelings about becoming a father?

2. How have you been involved in your wife's pregnancy?

3. What part will you play in your child's birth? What part would you like to play?

4. What do you think being a "good father" means?

5. How will having a child change your life?

 

Fathers:

 

1. What part did you play in the birth(s) of your child (children)? What were your feelings about this experience?

2. What are the three biggest challenges you face as a father?

3. What do you think a "good father" is?

4. How has having a child changed your life?

5. What advice would you give a new father?

 

Write a brief report indicating what you were trying to find out, describe your sample and how you interviewed the fathers and soon-to-be fathers, and then summarize similarities and differences between the two pairs of men. Relate what you learn to material on fathers' participation in childbirth that is in the text.

 

Chapter 5

 

Research Project 1 Cross Motor Activity

 

This project provides an observational exercise for examining the gross motor activity of children. Pair up with another student in the class and go to a local playground. Observe two children, one about four years old and the other about eight years old. For each child, describe five gross motor behaviors the child performs while you are observing. These can include running, climbing, skipping, jumping, hopping, walking, throwing, catching, etc. Describe the same five behaviors for each child, noting differences in the way they perform the behaviors. Use the data sheet below for recording your observations. Then answer the questions that follow.

 

   Child 1                                                             Child 2

 

Sex____Age____              Sex____Age____     

 

Behavior 1 (                       Behavior 1 (

Behavior 2 (                       Behavior 2 (

Behavior 3 (                       Behavior 3 (

Behavior 4 (                       Behavior 4 (

Behavior 5 (                       Behavior 5 (

 

 

Questions

 

1. What were the five behaviors you observed?

2. In general how can these behaviors be characterized or described for the four-year-old? For the eight-year-old?

3. How did the children differ in the way they performed the behaviors?

4. From your observations of the two children and five behaviors, what do you see as the course of development of gross motor behavior between four and eight years? How do your specific findings compare with the general descriptions reported in the text?

 

Research Project 2 Reflexes

For this research project, you will need the permission of parents of a young infant (one to four months old) and an older infant (six to twelve months old) to examine their infant's reflex repertoire. In order to test the two infants, you will need to clear this project through the human subjects review board at your school and get a signed informed consent form from the baby's parents. You may work in groups of 2 to 4 to make it easier to locate and gain access to the appropriately aged infants. Be certain to indicate age by months because your results will vary if you use a 2-month vs. a 4-month baby or a 6-month vs. an 11-month baby.

For each infant, perform the stimulation necessary to elicit the reflexive behavior. Note which of the reflexes are present (P) or absent (A) for each infant. You may mark these responses in the chart below. After performing the demonstration with each infant, answer the questions.

 

                                                         Infant 1            Infant 2

 

Reflex   Simulation and reflex        Sex__Age_     Sex_ Age_ 

 

Placing Backs of infant’s feet are    P/A                        P/A

             drawn against a flat

             surface’s edge:

             Baby withdraws foot

 

             Hold baby under arms         P/A                      P/A

Walking with bare feet touching

             flat surface: Baby makes

             steplike motions that

             appear like coordinated

             walking

 

              Stroke palm of infant’s

              hand: Baby makes strong   P/A                     P/A

Darwinian fist; if both fists are

(grasping) closed around a stick, the

              Infant could be raised to

              standing position. 

 

              Baby is laid down on

              back: Infant turns head to

              one side and extends arms

Tonic         and legs on preferred side    P/A                     P/A

neck      and flexes opposite limbs

 

             Make a sudden, loud

Moro    noise near infant:

(startle) Infant extends legs, arms,       P/A                       P/A

             and fingers, arches back,

             and draws back head.

 

             Stroke sole of baby’s foot:

Babinski Infant’s toes fan out and     P/A                       P/A

            foot twists in.   

 

            Stroke baby’s cheek with

Rooting one’s finger:

            Baby’s head turns, mouth   P/A                       P/A

            opens, and sucking

            movements begin.      

 

Questions

 

1. How many of the reflexive behaviors were exhibited by the younger infants? By the older infants?

2. Which reflexes dropped out early?

3. What responses seem to replace each of the reflexive behaviors in the older infants?

4. What might be the adaptive value of each reflex in the newborn's repertoire?

 

Chapter 6

 

Research Project 1 Object Permanence

 

For this project, in which you may work in groups of two to four, you will need an infant from two of the following four age groups: 4 to 8 months, 8 to 12 months, 12 to 18 months, and 18 to 24 months. In order to do the object permanence task with these two infants, you need to clear your project through the human subjects review board at your school and get a signed informed consent form from the infants’ parents. With each infant, perform each of the following three tasks and record the infants' responses:                                                     

                                                         

                                                   Infant Responses:

 

Task Description                                     Infant 1                          Infant 2

                                                       Sex     Age               Sex     Age

Show each infant

an interesting object

(e.g., ball

or rattle).

Then cover it with

a piece of cloth.

Note the response.

 

Now move the cloth

so that part of the rattle

Is exposed. Note the response.

 

Show the child

the rattle again.

Now move it so that it

disappears behind a screen.

Note the response.

 

Now do the task again,

but this time have the toy

go behind one screen and

then another one located

close by..

Note the response.

 

Show the infant the rattle,

then cover it with

a small box. Move the box

behind the screen.

Let the rattle remain

behind the screen, but

Bring the box back into view.

Note the response.

 

Questions

 

1. How do the younger and older infants respond in task one? Do both seem to understand that the rattle is under the cloth? When part of the rattle is exposed, does the baby exhibit surprise? Reach out for the rattle?

2. In the second task, which infants realized the rattle is behind the screen? Can either baby follow the action when the rattle is moved to a second screen?

3. How does each of the infants respond when the rattle is in the box?

When the box no longer contains a rattle, does either of the infants look behind the screen?

4. How does object permanence change as infants get older?

Do your observations agree with Piaget's findings about object permanence?

 

Research Project 2 Mother-Infant Language

 

In this project, you will examine recasting, echoing, and expanding using naturalistic observation. Go to a local shopping mall and observe a mother with an infant 18 to 24 months old. Observe them for 15 minutes. Record three instances of speech by the mother to the infant, and classify each instance as recasting, echoing, or expanding. Note on the data sheet the mother's statements and then the infant's response to each statement. Then answer the questions that follow.

 

DATA SHEET

 

Speech                                          Response of Infant                            Age          Sex

 

Statement 1

 

Statement 2

 

Statement 3

 

Questions

 

1. What types of techniques did the mother use with the infant you observed?

2.         How did the infant respond to the statement made by the mother?

3.         From your observations, do you think recasting, echoing, and expanding are effective techniques in aiding infants to learn language? Why or why not? What variables might have affected the quality of data you collected? Might your conclusions have been different if you had observed a different mother-infant pair? How?

 

Chapter 7

Research Project 1 Attachment Behaviors

In this exercise you will examine attachment behavior using naturalistic observation. Go to a local shopping mall and observe a mother with an infant 12 to 18 months old. Observe for a period of 15 minutes. Describe the behaviors you see occurring using the following data sheet. Then answer the questions that follow.

 

Behaviors                             Child          Age____     Sex____

 

Talking

Laughing

Tickling

Clinging                                                                                                                   

Crying                                                                                                                      

Escaping

Retrieving

Mutual gaze

Hitting

Smiling

Yelling

Generally positive

interaction                                                                         .

Generally negative

interaction

 

Questions 

 

1. What kinds of behaviors did your mother-infant engage in? Did the infant use the mother as the base for exploration? Was the infant allowed to explore?

2. According to the categories secure and insecure, how did this pair seem? Were interactions generally positive or generally negative? Did the relationship seem warm and affectionate or hostile?

3. What kind of parenting style seemed to characterize this pair: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive indulgent, or permissive indifferent? Do you think the style is partially determined by the age of the infant? How?

 

 

Research Project 2 Development of Self in Infants

 

This project examines the development of the self in infants. You will test an 8-month-old infant and an 18-month-old infant with a mirror recognition task. Two tasks will test for mirror recognition of the self and of an object near the infant. Then answer the questions about your observations. The task descriptions, worksheet, and questions follow.

 

Task 1: Have the mother stand behind the infant and hold an attractive toy above and slightly behind the infant's head, so that the infant can see the toy in the mirror but cannot see the toy itself. Record whether the infant reaches for the reflection of the toy in the mirror or turns around and reaches for the toy itself.

Task 2: For one minute, count the number of times the infant touches his or her nose while looking in the mirror. Then have the mother put a dab of rouge on the infant’s nose, and turn the infant back toward the mirror. For the next minute count the number of tines the infant touches its nose and the number of times it touches the reflection of its nose. Use the following worksheet for your data.

 

 

DATA SHEET                                                  

                                      Child 1                                                                              Child 2

                                  Sex __ Age__           Sex __ Age___

Task 1

Reaches to mirror     

Reaches to toy

 

Task 2

Touches mirror                             

Touches nose

 

Questions                                                                                                                      

 

1. Does the 8-monffi-old infant reach for the object? Does the 18-month-old reach for the object? Does either infant reach for the reflection of the toy in the mirror? If so, which infant?

2. How does the'8-month-old infant react to his or her image in the mirror with the rouge en his or her nose? How does the l8~mdhth-old infant react to the image in the mirror with the rouge on the nose? Do the infants of different ages react differently? Explain this difference.

3. Is there a difference in the development of the ability to recognize the self and the ability tо recognize an object in a mirror? If so, why would this be?

 

Chapter 8

 

Project 1 Memory Span

 

The function of this project is to provide a demonstration of memory span. Pair up with a classmate and test four individuals: a 3-year~oid, a 6-year-old, a 9-year-old, and a classmate. The task is a digit span task. Present a list of digits to each subject at the rate of one per second, and have each subject repeat as many digits as he or she remembers. One of you will present the digits and the other will record the subject's response. Use the following work sheets for data collection and then answer the questions that follow.

 

 

Task Child 1            Child 2         Child 3              Adult

 

        Age____             Age____          Age____          Age____

        Sex____           Sex ____          Sex___          Sex____

 

Digits    Response: Response: Response: Response:

 

2

74

196

2389

64157

326890

7509621

92503184

849276304

 

 

Number of correct

digits out of:

 

one

two

three

four

five

six

seven

eight

nine

 

Questions

 

1. How many digits would a 3-year-old remember? Was it the same number regardless of the number of digits presented? How many could the 6-year-old, the 9-year~old, and the classmate remember? Was the number different depending on the number presented? In what way was the number different?

2. Did you find age differences for memory span? What is the nature of the differences observed? Could anything besides memory span account for the differences? (Consider possible sex differences , if applicable or differences in the child's understanding of his or her role in the task.)

3.  From, your data, what statement could you make about the development of memory span from 3 years to adulthood? What qualifications, if any, would you need to make about your statement, based on the limitations of your data?

 

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