science

Prenatal and perinatal psychology

Prenatal and perinatal psychology is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Prenatal and perinatal psychology rather than just read about it. In short: Prenatal and perinatal psychology explores the psychological and psychophysiological effects and implications of the earliest experiences of the individual, before birth, prenatal, as well as during and immediately after childbirth, perinatal. Prenatal and perinatal psychology can be seen as a part of developmental psychology, although historically it was developed in the heterogenous field of psychoanalysis.

Key takeaways

Prenatal and perinatal psychology belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Prenatal and perinatal psychology to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Prenatal and perinatal psychology from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Prenatal and perinatal psychology explores the psychological and psychophysiological effects and implications of the earliest experiences of the individual, before birth, prenatal, as well as during and immediately after childbirth, perinatal. Prenatal and perinatal psychology can be seen as a part of developmental psychology, although historically it was developed in the heterogenous field of psychoanalysis. Prenatal and perinatal psychology are often discussed together to group the period during pregnancy, childbirth, and through the early stages of infancy. The role of prenatal and perinatal psychology is to explain the experience and behavior of the individual before birth, postnatal consequences, and the lasting effects on development that occur during this time period. Although there are various perspectives on the topic, a common thread is the importance of prenatal and perinatal experiences in the shaping the future psychological development. There is a debate among scientists regarding the extent to which newborn infants are capable of forming memories, the effects of any such memories on their personality, and the possibility of recovering them from an unconscious mind, which itself is the subject of argument in the field. A widespread assumption concerning the prenatal phase was that the fetus is almost completely shielded from outside stimuli. Thus, perception and consciousness would develop after birth. Meanwhile, there is a great number of scientific studies which show clearly that behaviour, perception and learning is already developed before birth. This also holds for nonhuman species, as for rat fetuses acoustic conditioning can be demonstrated.

Psycho-physiological aspects of the prenatal and perinatal phases

The physiological development while in the prenatal phase – especially that of the brain – is of particular importance for prenatal psychology. In the first eight weeks after insemination, the developing child is called an embryo. After the inner organs have developed (from the ninth week on) it is called a fetus. There are three stages of fetal development. The first stage is the germinal stage begins at conception and is the shortest stage. The second stage is the embryonic stage which begins around the third week of pregnancy and ends at the eighth week. The final stage is the fetal stage which begins at the ninth week of pregnancy and lasts until birth. Another way to measure pregnancy is by trimesters. The first trimester is from conception to 12 weeks of pregnancy, the second trimester is from 13 to 28 weeks of pregnancy, and the third trimester is from 29 weeks until birth. During the prenatal phase, the fetus is developing the structures to carry out cognitive functions, such as brain cells, brain waves, and forming the lobes and other structures of the brain.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Fetus at 14 weeks (profile)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Prenatal and perinatal psychology

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Prenatal and perinatal psychology claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Prenatal and perinatal psychology before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Prenatal and perinatal psychology ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Prenatal and perinatal psychology

In research: Prenatal and perinatal psychology appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Prenatal and perinatal psychology in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Prenatal and perinatal psychology is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Child development, Developmental psychology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Prenatal and perinatal psychology outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Prenatal and perinatal psychology in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Prenatal and perinatal psychology means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Prenatal and perinatal psychology out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Prenatal and perinatal psychology in simple terms?

Why does Prenatal and perinatal psychology matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Prenatal and perinatal psychology?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Prenatal and perinatal psychology.