Teratogen Research Paper

Teratogens

Teratogens was a term that I learned in lesson 2.02. A teratogen “is a name given to any chemical, disease, or other environmental factor that can harm a developing embryo or fetus”. It can have major negative effects on the baby because it is constantly developing and can affect its organs and external appearance. For example, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or FAS is considered to be teratogen. The way this applies to my life is because I have always and still do find interest in a child's development. I want to work with children with special needs like autism and down syndrome. Although I know that most disabilities come from gene mutations, I want to work with disabilities beyond just genetic mutations. More examples of teratogens

are Phenytoin and Warfarin. Warfarin is a blood thinning drug that can cause the child to have central nervous system defects as well as retardation.Phenytoin,or Dilantin,is used to treat epilepsy but when taken in the first trimester of development can cause the baby to be born with heart defects ,developmental delays,and cleft palate. Some women may not be aware that certain medications can have a negative impact on their child. Most drugs can harm the baby more often in the first trimester of pregnancy. I would like to study Sociology eventually and hopefully get more details about human development and interaction.

Preoperational Stage
The Preoperational stage caught my attention very easily because I have four younger siblings and have volunteered at a daycare in the summer for two years.

The preoperational stage is a stage that was proposed by Jean Piaget. It occurs around the age of two and six years old. It when a child is still developing language,lack logical reasoning,and are egocentric. Egocentric is when a person can only see the world through their own eyes and can not see the world from a different perspective. At the daycare,the children wanted teachers and volunteers undivided attention at all times. For example, one day I was working in the three to five year old's room and it was time to play in the gym. The children would disperse in a matter of seconds to retrieve balls and then see whatever helper they could drag to play with them. One girl name Vanessa took a basketball and walked around with it glued to her chest. When she came to me she explained that the basketball was her newborn baby girl named Yoyo who never gets hungry. This supports Piaget’s statement about how in this stage children engage in pretend play. In addition, while I was playing tag with about eight children, a little boy named Edwin wanted me to play with him only. After he refused to play with the whole group he decided that if he could not have me,no one could. The rest of the time spent at the gym Edwin was clenched on my thigh with a sinister smile. This is an example that children are really egocentric around the age of two through six. However, this stage allows children to have a never ending imagination,so it is fun to be around children around this

age.

Conformity
In lesson 2.05 I learned about conformity. Conformity is “acting according to the norms of society or of a group. The way this applies to my life is because I see it all the time. When people are little they watch movies of high school and how it's going to look like. There are the images of various groups such as the jocks,goths,and nerds. Those people have become conformed to a way of being and acting around certains people. Also, when people go to work, if you work at an Apple company to use a Dell computer would be insulting and not normal. In class,my teacher explained to students how conformity works and that it can come in various ways . She told us a story of a social experiment, where some people stood with their backs toward the elevator door and after time all the users started to face the other way. It was very interesting to see how people have an influence on others. In my opinion, the most interesting form of conformity is with religion and cults.