What the exam asks
- Multiple Choice (Section I): Expect scenarios requiring you to distinguish between gross and fine motor skills, primary and secondary sex characteristics, or critical and sensitive periods. Set-based items frequently present correlational data on prenatal teratogen exposure or graphs showing reaction time across age groups.
- Free Response (Section II): In an AAQ, you might analyze a study using the visual cliff apparatus, identifying the operational definition of depth perception or evaluating ethical protections for infant participants. In an EBQ, you may use terms like maturation, sensitive period, or teratogens as your outside psychological concept in B(ii) or C(ii).
Core ideas
Prenatal influences
Before birth, both genetic and environmental factors shape physical development:
- Genetic mutations and hormonal factors inside the womb guide early physical and neurological organization.
- Teratogens are environmental agents—such as alcohol, psychoactive drugs, tobacco, environmental toxins, or viruses—that cross the placenta and cause harm during prenatal development. For example, prenatal alcohol exposure can cause fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), marked by physical abnormalities and cognitive impairments.
- Maternal illness (such as rubella or Zika) and broader environmental factors (such as malnutrition or severe chronic stress) can disrupt typical prenatal growth.
Infancy and childhood: reflexes, motor skills, and perception
Infant reflexes are automatic, unlearned responses present at birth that aid survival and serve as indicators of neurological health. For example, the rooting reflex causes a newborn to turn their head and open their mouth when their cheek is stroked, helping them locate food. Doctors test whether reflexes appear and fade on schedule to assess nervous system maturation.
Motor development is driven by maturation—biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience. Because of maturation, motor milestones follow a universal sequence (babies roll over before they sit, sit before they crawl, and crawl before they walk), though the exact timing varies due to individual genetics and cultural caregiving practices.
- Gross motor skills involve large muscle groups and whole-body movement (sitting, crawling, walking, running).
- Fine motor skills involve small muscle coordination and precision (the pincer grasp, using utensils, drawing).