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I. Fertilization
• Development starts at conception.
• Fertilization, also called conception, is when the sperm and ovum (egg) unite. This
creates a zygote, which is a one-celled organism.
• Dizygotic Twins are fraternal twins. They are more common. They happen when
two separate eggs are fertilized by two different sperms, forming two unique
individuals who have different DNA. They can be the same sex or different sexes. This
type of twinning tends to run in families. It seems to be passed down from a woman's
mother and results from multiple eggs being released at one time. As they get older,
their differences may become more noticeable.
• Monozygotic Twins are identical twins. They result from the splitting of one
fertilized egg. They are genetically identical. Even so, they can still differ on the outside
because of how genes and environmental influences interact.
• Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome is a condition that only affects monozygotic
twins. In this syndrome, the blood vessels of the placenta form abnormally, and the
placenta is shared unequally between the twins. If the twins survive, one will usually
be much larger than the other at birth.
• Factors that influence the chance of multiple births include: the trend of having children
later in life, the increased use of fertility drugs, and the increased use of assisted
reproductive techniques like IVF.
• Multiple births are linked with pregnancy complications, premature delivery, low birth
weight infants, and the possibility of disability or death of the infant.

II. Mechanisms of Heredity

• Heredity is the genetic passing of heritable characteristics from parents to their
children.
• The Genetic Code is the sequence of bases in the DNA molecule. This code controls
the formation of proteins that decide the structure and functions of living cells.
• DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) is the chemical that carries inherited instructions for
how all cellular forms of life develop. It has a double helix structure and is made of
pairs of bases. DNA contains genes.
• Bases are the "letters" of the genetic code: adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine.
(Genes → DNA → Chromosomes).
• Chromosomes are coils of DNA that hold the genes. Every cell (except sex cells)
has 23 pairs of chromosomes, totaling 46.
• Meiosis is the type of cell division that sex cells go through. It involves a random
exchange of genes and alleles.
• Mitosis is the type of cell division that non-sex cells (autosomes) go through.

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• Mutations are permanent changes in genetic material. They happen when a mistake
is made while copying the chromosome. Mutations can be good, bad, or have no
effect.
• What Determines Sex?
o It's the father's sperm that genetically decides a child's sex because it carries
either an X or a Y chromosome.
o Autosomes are the 22 pairs of chromosomes that are not related to sexual
expression.
o Sex Chromosomes are the 23rd pair (XX for females or XY for males) that
control the baby's sex.
o Every ovum (egg) has an X chromosome. A sperm can have an X or a Y
chromosome. The Y chromosome contains the SRY gene, which is the gene
for maleness.
o Sexual differentiation is a complex process, more than just gene determination.
Early in development, the embryo's basic reproductive system looks almost the
same in males and females. It's not an automatic process. In mice, research
shows that after hormones signal the SRY gene on the Y chromosome to turn
on, cell differentiation and the formation of testes are triggered. About 6 to 8
weeks after conception, the testes begin to produce the male hormone
testosterone. If a genetically male embryo is exposed to steady, high levels of
testosterone, it usually results in the development of a male body with male
sexual organs. Without this hormone, a genetically male mouse will develop
genitals that look female. A similar process likely happens in human males. The
development of the female reproductive system is also complex and relies on
several genetic variants. These variants encourage ovarian development and
stop testicular development. This includes HOX genes and a signaling
molecule called Wnt-4. So, sexual differentiation isn't just about receiving
certain sex chromosomes.
o In an XX chromosome pair, harmful changes in a gene on one X might be
balanced out by a backup copy on the other X chromosome. This can help
explain gender differences in normal traits, disorders linked to the X
chromosome, and health differences between men and women.

III. Patterns of Genetic Transmission

• These patterns were conceptualized by Gregor Mendel.
• Alleles are different versions of the same gene that can produce alternative
expressions of a characteristic. We get one allele from our mother and one from our
father for any given trait. If the alleles are the same (e.g., RR or rr), it's called
homozygous. If they are different (e.g., Rr or rR), it's called heterozygous.

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• Dominant Inheritance means that when a child gets different alleles for a trait, only
the dominant one shows up. This happens whether the allele combination is
homozygous (RR) or heterozygous (Rr) for the dominant gene.
• Recessive Inheritance means that a child expresses a nondominant trait only if
they receive two identical recessive alleles (rr only).
• Most traits, like intelligence and personality, come from Polygenic Inheritance. This
means many genes at different spots on chromosomes work together to affect a
complex trait. These genes each have a small but noticeable effect.
• Phenotype refers to the observable characteristics of a person, which show the
expression of their genotype. It is the result of the genotype and environmental
influences.
• Genotype is the genetic makeup of a person, including both characteristics that are
expressed (visible) and those that are not.
• Hidden alleles can be passed down for generations without being noticed and can be
expressed if both parents carry a hidden copy of that allele.
• Multifactorial Transmission happens when environmental experiences change
how a genotype is expressed. This shows how nature (genes) and nurture
(environment) interact to affect outcomes. For example, if someone inherits an athletic
gene (genotype), and their parents nurture this talent (environment), they may become
a skilled athlete (phenotype). If their talent isn't nurtured, their genotype for athletic
ability might not show up, or show up less. Many disorders, like ADHD, happen when
an inherited tendency interacts with an environmental factor, either before or after
birth.
• Epigenesis is a mechanism that turns genes on or off as they are needed or when
triggered by the environment. This process determines the functions of body cells by
turning on genes for needed cells and leaving genes for unneeded cells off. It helps
explain why identical twins are not exactly the same. The term refers to chemical
molecules attached to a gene that change how a cell "reads" the gene's DNA ("on, or
above, a genome").
o Environmental factors can cause epigenetic changes that might contribute to
common diseases like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
o Cells are especially prone to epigenetic changes during critical times like
puberty and pregnancy. Epigenetic changes, particularly those that happen
early in life, might be heritable (passed on).
o Genome Imprinting, or genetic imprinting, is an example of epigenesis.
Imprinting means that certain genetic traits are expressed differently depending
on whether they came from the mother or the father. In imprinted gene pairs,
genetic information from one parent is turned on, but genetic information from
the other parent is turned off. Imprinted genes are very important in controlling

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fetal growth and development. If the normal pattern of imprinting is messed up,
it can lead to abnormal fetal growth or congenital growth disorders.
o Prader-Willi Syndrome is a genetic disease that causes feeding problems,
behavioral issues, and intellectual disability. It most often happens when a
segment of a gene on paternal chromosome 15 is deleted, while the genes on
the maternal chromosome 15 are turned off.

IV. Genetic & Chromosomal Abnormalities

• Dominance or Recessive Inheritance of Defects:
o Defects like Achondroplasia (a type of dwarfism) and Huntington's Disease are
passed on by dominant inheritance (Rr or RR).
o Defects passed on by dominant inheritance are less likely to be deadly at an
early age than those passed on by recessive inheritance. This is because if a
child with a dominant lethal defect were to die before reproducing, the gene
wouldn't be passed on and would soon disappear from the population.
o Recessive defects only show up if the child is homozygous for that gene,
meaning the child must get a copy of the recessive gene from each parent.
o Defects passed by recessive genes are more likely to be lethal at an earlier
age compared to dominant ones because heterozygous carriers (who don't
have the disorder themselves) can still pass the gene down to the next
generation.
o Incomplete dominance is when the dominant allele doesn't fully express
itself. Sickle-cell anemia is an example.
• Sex-Linked Inheritance of Defects:
o Certain traits carried on the X chromosome (inherited from the mother) are
passed differently to her male (XY) and female (XX) children. The Y
chromosome is smaller and has fewer genes than the X chromosome.
o Males get only one copy of any gene on the sex chromosomes, while females
get two copies. So, if a woman has a "bad" gene copy on one X, she has a
backup on the other X. If a male has a "bad" gene copy, it will be expressed.
o Heterozygous females who carry one bad recessive gene copy and one good
one are called carriers.
o In the most common form, if an unaffected mother is a carrier (Xx) and the
father is unaffected (XY):
▪ Each male child has a 50% chance of getting the abnormal X and the
disorder, and a 50% chance of getting good X and Y chromosomes.
▪ Each female child has a 50% chance of getting one abnormal X
(becoming a carrier like her mother) and a 50% chance of getting no
abnormal genes.

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oThese disorders are more common in males. Examples include red-green color
blindness, hemophilia, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (all on the X
chromosome).
• Chromosomal Abnormalities:
o These usually happen due to errors during cell division, leading to an extra or
missing chromosome. (Examples include XYY, XXX (triple X), XXY
(Klinefelter), XO (Turner), Fragile X ).
o The chance of these errors increases in babies born to women age 38 or older.
o Down Syndrome (trisomy 21, an extra chromosome 21) is the most common
chromosomal abnormality and causes about 40% of all cases of moderate to
severe mental retardation.
▪ The brains of children with Down syndrome look almost normal at birth
but shrink by young adulthood, especially in areas affecting thinking,
motor skills, and balance.
▪ With early help, their outlook is better than once thought. They often do
better in regular classrooms and with consistent therapies. As adults,
many live in small group homes and can support themselves, doing well
in structured jobs. (See image for common physical signs of Down
syndrome at birth ).
o Fragile X Syndrome: Signs include a long narrow face, prominent jaw, big
ears, large hands and feet, and enlarged testes (macroorchidism). It's an X-
linked dominant inheritance (over 200 CGG repeats in the FMR1 gene). The
most common heart issue is mitral valve prolapse. It's the most common
inherited cause of intellectual disability and the second most common genetic
cause (after trisomy 21). Diagnosis is confirmed with a molecular genetic test
for the CGG allele repeat size. Females can have Fragile X but usually with
milder symptoms; they might experience premature ovarian failure.

V. Genetic Counseling & Testing

• This is a clinical service that advises potential parents about their risk of having
children with hereditary defects.
• It's for those with a family history of inherited illness or from ethnic groups at higher
risk for certain diseases. A karyotype (a chart of chromosomes) can be used to look
for genetic issues.

VI. Nature & Nurture: Studying Heredity & Environment

• Behavioral Genetics is the study that looks at how much heredity and environment
influence behavior, using quantitative methods.
• Heritability is a statistical guess of how much heredity contributes to individual
differences in a specific trait within a certain population. It can't be measured directly.

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o To estimate heritability, if heredity strongly influences a trait, identical twins

should be more alike for that trait than fraternal twins. Adopted children should
be more like their biological parents than their adoptive parents for that trait.
This can also be applied to more distant relatives; for traits with strong genetic
influences, siblings should be more similar than cousins.
o Environment can also be used to estimate influences. If the environment
strongly influences a trait, people living together should be more similar for that
trait than those living apart, and shared genes should matter less. For example,
if adopted children are more like their adoptive parents than their biological
parents on a trait, then that trait is likely strongly influenced by the environment.
o Heritability is given as a percentage from 0.0 to 1.0; the higher the number, the
greater the heritability of the trait.

VII. How Heredity & Environment Work Together

• Nowadays, developmental scientists see heredity and environment as part of a
complex developmental system. A mix of constitutional factors (genes) and social,
economic, and cultural factors helps shape development.
• Reaction Range: This refers to the range of possible ways a hereditary trait can be
expressed. For instance, body size largely depends on biological processes that are
genetically controlled. Even so, different sizes are possible depending on
environmental opportunities (like nutrition) and a person's actions. In societies where
nutrition has greatly improved, a whole generation has grown taller than the one before
it. The better-fed children share their parents' genes but have responded to a healthier
world. Once a society's average diet is good for more than one generation, children
tend to grow to heights similar to their parents. Ultimately, height has genetic limits;
we don't see people who are only 1 foot tall or 10 feet tall. Heredity can influence
whether a reaction range is wide or narrow.
• Canalization: Highly canalized traits, such as eye color, are strongly programmed by
genes, and there's little room for their expression to vary. Traits important for survival,
like talking and walking, tend to be highly canalized. Our motor development and
language follow a predictable sequence, which is said to be canalized because
children will follow this same blueprint regardless of many environmental variations.
Thinking and personality are not highly canalized as they are more open to changes
based on experience. For example, we are not born knowing how to read; the
environment plays a big part. If children are not taught to read, they won't know how.
• Genotype-Environment Interaction: This refers to how similar environmental
conditions affect genetically different individuals in different ways. For example, many
children are exposed to pollen and dust, but those with a genetic tendency are more
likely to develop allergic reactions. It can also work the other way: Genetically similar
children often develop differently depending on their home environments. A child born

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with a difficult temperament might struggle in one family but do well in another, largely
depending on how parents handle them. So, it's the interaction of heredity and
environmental factors, not just one or the other, that leads to certain outcomes.
• Genotype-Environment Correlation: This is the tendency for certain genetic and
environmental influences to reinforce each other. It works in three ways to strengthen
how a genetic tendency shows up as an observable trait (phenotype):
1. Passive Correlations: Parents, who provide the genes that make a child
likely to have a certain trait, also tend to create an environment that encourages
the development of that trait. For example, a musical parent is likely to create
a home where music is heard often, give the child music lessons, and take
them to musical events. If the child inherited the parent's musical talent, the
child's musical ability will be due to both genes and environment. These are
most applicable to young children, whose parents have a lot of control over
their early experiences. This type only functions when the child is living with a
biologically related parent.
2. Reactive/Evocative Correlations: Children with different genetic makeups
cause different reactions from others. Other people react to the child's genetic
makeup. For example, parents who aren't musically inclined might make a
special effort to provide musical experiences for a child who shows interest and
ability in music.
3. Active Correlations: As children get older and have more freedom to choose
their own activities and environments, they actively1 pick or create experiences
that match their genetic tendencies. For instance, they might seek out musical
friends, take music classes, or study something related to music. This is also
called Niche-Picking: the tendency to look for environments that fit one's
genotype.
• Nonshared Environment: Siblings can be very different in intelligence and
personality. This could be because of genetic differences, which lead children to need
different kinds of stimulation or to react differently to a similar home environment.
Children may live in the same family, but that doesn't mean their experiences are
exactly the same (e.g., the eldest, middle, and youngest child have different
experiences ). So, even in the same family, influences are not identical. Some
behavioral geneticists believe that while heredity explains most of the similarity
between siblings, the nonshared environment explains most of the differences. This
includes subjective perceptions, as Adler noted (different ways of interpreting
experiences). Children's genetic differences can cause parents to react to them and
treat them differently. One child might be shy and get gentler treatment from parents,
while another might be bold and be given more freedom. Children also shape their
environments by the choices they make, and their genetic makeup influences these
choices. A child who loves to read might spend hours alone, while an athletic child

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might prefer playing outside with others. This means not only will their talents develop
differently, but their social lives will be different too. These differences often become
more noticeable as children get older and have more experiences outside the family.

VIII. Characteristics Influenced by Heredity & Environment

• 1. Obesity: Defined as a BMI above the 95th percentile, it's a multifactorial condition.
About 40% to 70% of the risk is genetic. Environmental experiences, like the kind and
amount of food eaten at home, also contribute. The wider social context is involved
too; obesity rates go up in countries with fast socioeconomic growth.
• 2. Intelligence: This is multifactorial. Heredity has a strong influence on general
intelligence (it's polygenic) and also depends partly on brain size and structure.
Experience matters too. An enriched or poor environment can significantly affect how
innate ability develops and shows up. The environment has a greater influence on
poor families. The influence of genes increases a lot with age, probably because of
niche-picking.
• 3. Temperament & Personality: Temperament is largely inborn and stays relatively
consistent over the years, though it can change with special experiences or how
parents handle it. The heritability of personality traits seems to be around 40%, and
there's little proof of shared environmental influence. Genetic influences on personality
appear to become more important with age and are shaped partly by active niche-
picking.
• 4. Schizophrenia: Heritability is about 60% to 80%. But identical twins don't always
both get schizophrenia, perhaps due to epigenetic processes. Environmental factors
include exposure to influenza/rubella, problems during birth (obstetric complications),
poor or severely deprived conditions (like war or famine), older fathers, very young
fathers, and being born in winter months.

IX. Prenatal Development

• (See Table 3 for Early Signs and Symptoms of Pregnancy ).
• Gestation is the period between conception and birth.
• Gestational Age is the age of an unborn baby, usually counted from the first day of
the expectant mother's last menstrual cycle, lasting 38 to 40 weeks (266-280 days).
• Pregnancy tests (PIs) identify the presence of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin
(HCG); there are no false positives.
• Stages: Zygote → embryo → fetus.
• Two Principles of Development:
o a. Cephalocaudal Principle: Means "head to tail"; development happens
from the head down to the lower part of the trunk. An embryo's head, brain, and
eyes develop earliest and are very large until other parts catch up.

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o b. Proximodistal Principle: Means "near to far"; development happens from

parts near the center of the body to the outer parts. The head and trunk develop
before the limbs, and the arms and legs before the fingers and toes.
• 1. Germinal Stage (fertilization to 2 weeks):
o The zygote divides, gets more complex, and implants in the wall of the uterus.
This is a time of rapid cell division (mitosis).
o About 36 hours after fertilization, there's rapid mitosis; by 72 hours, there are
16-32 cells, then 64 cells.
o While dividing and traveling to the uterus, it changes form into a blastocyst,
which is a fluid-filled sphere. Implantation of the blastocyst happens around day
6 (can be 11-15 days). The blastocyst has an inner mass of cells that will
eventually develop into the embryo, and an outer layer of cells called the
trophoblast that provides nutrition and support for the embryo.
o The Embryonic Disk is a thickened cell mass from which the embryo starts to
develop. It has three layers:
▪ Ectoderm (upper layer): Will become the outer layer of skin, nails,
hair, teeth, sensory organs, and the nervous system.
▪ Endoderm (inner layer): Will become the digestive system, liver,
pancreas, salivary glands, and respiratory system.
▪ Mesoderm (middle layer): Will develop and differentiate into the inner
layer of skin, muscles, skeleton, and excretory and circulatory
systems[cite:2 157].
o Other parts of the blastocyst start to develop into organs that will nurture and
protect the developing baby in the womb:
▪ Amniotic Sac: A fluid-filled membrane that surrounds the developing
embryo, protecting it and giving it room to move and grow. Its outer
layers are the amnion and chorion. It helps fight internal infection and
gives the unborn baby immunity to various diseases.
▪ Placenta: Allows oxygen, nourishment, and wastes to pass between
the mother and embryo. It also produces hormones that support
pregnancy, prepare the breasts for milk production, and eventually
stimulate uterine contractions.
▪ Umbilical Cord: Connects the placenta to the embryo, linking the
mother and the baby.
• 2. Embryonic Stage (2 to 8 weeks):
o The organs and major body systems (respiratory, digestive, and nervous)
develop quickly through organogenesis.
o This is a critical period, when the embryo is most vulnerable to teratogens.
Brain growth and development begin.

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Spontaneous Abortion (miscarriage) is the natural expulsion from the uterus

o
of an embryo that cannot survive outside the womb. Severely defective
embryos usually don't survive beyond the 1st trimester. If it happens after 20
weeks of gestation, it's called a stillbirth. Most miscarriages happen in the first
trimester, and 60% to 70% involve chromosomal abnormalities. Males are more
likely to be spontaneously aborted or stillborn.
• 3. Fetal Stage (8 weeks to birth):
o The appearance of the first bone cells signals this stage. The fetus grows
rapidly (about 20 times its previous length), and organs and body systems
become more complex.
o Fetuses don't feel pain before the 3rd trimester because the cortex (outer layer)
of the brain is still immature.
o Most fetuses seem to have inborn taste preferences for sweet foods;
preferences for bitter or specific tastes vary more.
o Fetuses respond to the mother's voice, heartbeat, and the vibrations of her
body. Fetuses recognize their mother's voice and prefer it over other women's
voices, and also their father's voice. Once born, newborns prefer female voices
to male voices and their mother's native language to other languages. Fetuses
learn and remember as they get close to the end of pregnancy.
o (See Table 4 for month-by-month descriptions of prenatal development ).

X. Environmental Influences: Maternal Factors

• A Teratogen (from the Greek word "tera," meaning "monster") is an environmental
agent, like a virus, drug, or radiation, that can interfere with normal prenatal
development and cause developmental abnormalities. Not all environmental hazards
are equally risky for all fetuses. The 1st trimester is the riskiest time for teratogen
exposure.
• 1. Nutrition & Maternal Weight:
o Too much or too little weight gain can be risky. If a woman doesn't gain enough,
her baby might suffer growth retardation in the womb, be born prematurely,
have distress during labor, or die at or near birth. Some research shows that if
a mother restricts calories during pregnancy, her children might be at risk for
later obesity, perhaps by setting their metabolism to be "thrifty". A woman who
gains too much weight risks having a large baby that needs to be delivered by
induced labor or cesarean section. The desirable weight gain depends on BMI
before pregnancy. Current recommendations for weight gain are: underweight
women: +28 to 40 pounds; normal weight: +25 to 35 pounds; overweight: +15
to 25 pounds; obese: +11 to 20 pounds.
o What an expectant mother eats is also important (e.g., DHA). Folic acid, or
folate (a B vitamin found in leafy vegetables and fortified cereals), is critical.

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Not enough folic acid can put babies at risk of developing neurological defects
like anencephaly (brain formed incompletely) or spina bifida (spinal cord not
fully enclosed). Adding folic acid to enriched grain products helps. Low folate
levels are associated with ADHD.
• 2. Malnutrition:
o Can result in fetal growth restriction and low birth weight. Malnourished babies
sometimes have vitamin D deficiency leading to weak/soft bones. It affects the
mother, the baby, and even the next generation. Fetal undernutrition has been
linked with schizophrenia, and an increased risk of diabetes and
overweight/obesity in adulthood. Zinc deficiencies result in a higher risk of
death for both child and mother.
• 3. Physical Activity & Work:
o Moderate exercise does not endanger the fetuses of healthy women. Working
during pregnancy generally involves no special hazards.
o Contact sports, strenuous working conditions, occupational fatigue, and long
working hours might be linked to a greater risk of premature birth. Activities that
could result in a fall should be avoided.
• 4. Drug Intake:
o Medical Drugs: No medication should be taken by a pregnant or
breastfeeding woman unless it's essential for her health or her child's, and care
must be taken in choosing the safest drug available. (Harmful drugs include
thalidomide, DES, antipsychotics, the antibiotic tetracycline, barbiturates,
androgens, anti-cancer methotrexate, naproxen, ibuprofen, opiates, Accutane,
antidepressants, and antiepileptics ).
o Opioids: Not linked to birth defects but are associated with small babies, fetal
death, preterm labor, and meconium aspiration. The babies are also often
addicted themselves and go through withdrawal (abstinence syndrome) once
born. Newborns may show sleep disturbances, tremors, difficulty regulating
their bodies, irritability, crying, diarrhea, fever, and feeding difficulties.
o Alcohol: Prenatal alcohol exposure is the most common cause of intellectual
disability and the leading cause of birth defects.
▪ Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a combination of retarded growth,
face and body malformations, and disorders of the central nervous
system. FAS-related problems can include, in infancy, reduced
responsiveness to stimuli, slow reaction time, and reduced visual
sharpness. Throughout childhood, problems can include short attention
span, distractibility, restlessness, hyperactivity, learning disabilities,
memory deficits, and mood disorders, as well as aggressiveness and
problem behavior. Prenatal alcohol exposure is also a risk factor for
developing drinking problems and alcohol disorders in young adulthood.

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Nicotine: Maternal smoking leads to low birth weight. Tobacco use during
o
pregnancy also increases risks of miscarriage, growth retardation, stillbirth,
small head circumference, sudden infant death, colic in early infancy, long-term
respiratory, neurological, and behavioral problems, and later obesity and
cardiovascular disease.
o Caffeine: Consuming under 300 milligrams a day is not associated with an
increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, or birth defects. However, other reviews
have found a slightly increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, and low birth
weight in mothers who consume caffeine while pregnant. There are
suggestions that risk may increase with dosage. Thus, current
recommendations to limit caffeine to 200 milligrams or less (about one cup of
coffee) are still in place.
o Marijuana: Prenatal use is implicated in subtle deficits in problem-solving
skills and it may alter patterns of cerebral blood flow.
o Cocaine: Associated with miscarriage, delayed growth, premature labor, low
birth weight, small head size, birth defects, and impaired neurological
development. Newborns also show acute withdrawal symptoms and sleep
disturbances.
o Methamphetamine: Associated with preterm delivery and low birth weight.
It's implicated in fetal brain damage to areas of the brain involved in learning,
memory, and control. Newborns have less white matter in their brain.
• 5. Maternal Illness:
o AIDS: Caused by HIV; if the mother has AIDS, perinatal transmission (mother
to child) may occur.
o Rubella (German measles): If contracted by the mother before her 11th
week of pregnancy, it is almost certain to cause deafness and heart defects in
her baby.
o Toxoplasmosis: From a parasite; can cause fetal brain damage, severely
impaired eyesight or blindness, seizures, miscarriage, stillbirth, hearing loss,
and learning disabilities.
o Diabetes: Common; can cause heart and neural tube defects in the baby.
(The baby does not become diabetic from the mother having diabetes during
pregnancy ).
• 6. Maternal Anxiety, Stress, & Depression:
o Associated with a more active and irritable temperament in newborns, issues
with attentiveness (at 8 months), and negative emotionality or behavioral
disorders in early childhood.
o Children of mothers who were depressed during pregnancy were more likely to
be born premature, be developmentally delayed as toddlers, and show higher
levels of violent and antisocial behaviors in adolescence.

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Chronic stress can trigger preterm delivery.

o
• 7. Maternal Age:
o The chance of miscarriage or stillbirth rises with maternal age. There is a higher
risk of premature delivery, retarded fetal growth, birth defects, and
chromosomal abnormalities such as Down Syndrome[cite:3 208].
o Adolescent mothers in the USA tend to have premature or underweight babies.
• 8. Outside Environmental Hazards:
o Such as air pollution, chemicals, radiation (X-rays), extremes of heat and
humidity, high concentrations of disinfection by-products, insecticides, toxins
(e.g., lead, mercury, dioxin), etc..
XI. Environmental Influences: Paternal Factors
• A man's exposure to lead, marijuana or tobacco smoke, large amounts of alcohol or
radiation, DES, pesticides, or high ozone levels may result in abnormal or poor-quality
sperm.
• Offspring of men at a nuclear processing plant had an elevated risk of stillbirth. Babies
whose fathers had diagnostic X-rays within the year before conception or had high
lead exposure at work tended to have low birth weight and slowed fetal growth.
• Men who smoke have an increased likelihood of passing on genetic abnormalities and
heart defects. A pregnant woman's exposure to the father's secondhand smoke has
been linked with asthma, attentional problems, low birth weight, and cancer in
childhood and adulthood for the child.
• Older fathers may be a significant source of birth defects due to damaged or
deteriorated sperm. Birthrates for fathers ages 30 to 49 have risen substantially since
1980. Advanced paternal age is associated with increases in the risk of several rare
conditions, including dwarfism. Having an older father is a risk factor for schizophrenia,
bipolar disorder, and autism and related disorders. Having a young father is also a risk
factor for schizophrenia, at least for male children.
XII. Monitoring & Promoting Prenatal Development
• Noninvasive procedures: Ultrasound and blood tests (including prenatal cell-free
DNA scans for detection of genetic problems and chromosomal abnormalities).
• Invasive procedures:
o Amniocentesis: A sample of amniotic fluid is withdrawn.
o Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS): Tissue from the membrane surrounding
the fetus (chorionic villi) is removed.
o Embryoscopy: Insertion of a tiny viewing scope into the uterus.
o Umbilical cord sampling (cordocentesis or fetal blood sampling): Allows
direct access to fetal DNA through the blood vessels of the umbilical cord.
• (See table for details on techniques like Ultrasound, Embryoscopy, Amniocentesis,
CVS, Preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Umbilical cord sampling, and Maternal blood
tests including cell-free DNA scans ).

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BLEPP REVIEWER 2025 – KID ASUNCION

XIII. Additional Notes: Evolution and Developmental Psychology

• Evolutionary Psychology emphasizes the importance of adaptation, reproduction,
and "survival of the fittest" in shaping behavior.
• An extended childhood period evolved because humans require time to develop a
large brain and learn the complexity of human societies.
• Many evolved psychological mechanisms are domain-specific. This means that as
our ancestors dealt with certain recurring problems (like hunting and finding shelter),
specialized modules evolved that process information related to those problems,
rather than the mind being a general-purpose device.
• Evolved mechanisms are not always adaptive in contemporary society. For example,
the food-scarce environment of our ancestors likely led to humans' tendency to gorge
when food is available and to crave high-calorie foods, a trait that might lead to an
epidemic of obesity when food is plentiful.
• Evolution and Life Span Development:
o In evolutionary theory, what matters is that individuals live long enough to
reproduce and pass on their characteristics.
o Humans may live so long after reproduction because perhaps evolution favored
longevity due to older people improving the survival rates of babies (e.g.,
grandparents caring for the young).
o According to life-span developmentalist Paul Baltes, the benefits given by
evolutionary selection decrease with age. For instance, Alzheimer's disease
usually develops not earlier than the 70s; if it affected 20-year-olds, it would
likely have been weeded out by natural selection. Evolution protects us from
death before reproduction; many illnesses show up after the reproductive age.
For example, cancer is still here because it usually shows up after reproduction,
so the genes for it are still passed on.
o As older adults weaken biologically, they need culture-based resources such
as cognitive skills, literacy, medical technology, and social support. The
influence of evolution decreases as we grow old, whereas our need for culture
increases as we do.
• Evaluating Evolutionary Psychology:
o Albert Bandura acknowledges the important influence of evolution on human
adaptation. However, he rejects what he calls "one-sided evolutionism," which
sees social behavior as only the product of evolved biology.
o An alternative is a bidirectional view, in which environmental and biological
conditions influence each other.
o Evolution gave us bodily structures and biological potentialities; it does not
dictate behavior. We still get to choose how to behave.

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