Behavior During the Prenatal Period: Adaptive for Development and Survival

Hepper, Peter

doi:10.1111/cdep.12104

Cited by 44 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 36 publications

(52 reference statements)

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“…For instance, they could recall the Care for Child Development training message that the unborn baby can be stimulated through touching and massaging the mother's tummy and through speaking or singing to the foetus. This reinforces Hepper's assertions that the foetus first begins to experience the world through touch, and later in pregnancy begins to hear, taste, smell and see (Hepper 2015).…”

Section: Knowledgesupporting

confidence: 77%

“…Research has shown that the period from conception up to three years after birth lays the foundation for a child's health, well-being and productivity that lasts throughout childhood, adolescence and adulthood (for example, Hepper 2015, Lagercrantz 2016, WHO et al 2018. This early period in development is characterised by rapid brain development with neuronal connections being made in response to a child's interactions with physical and social environments, both in utero and postnatally (Hepper 2015, Lagercrantz 2016WHO et al 2018). Development in this earliest period of life influences the child's health, learning and productivity as well as social and emotional well-being (for example, Campbell et al 2014, WHO et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experiences of incorporating support for early childhood development into the Baby Friendly Community Initiative in rural Kenya

Mwoma¹,

Kitsao-Wekulo²,

Haycraft³

et al. 2020

JBA

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Over 66 per cent of children in sub-Saharan Africa remain affected by poor developmental outcomes, exacerbating early inequalities. UNICEF and WHO evolved the Care for Child Development package (CCD) as a community-based initiative to support caregivers to develop stronger relationships with young children and support nurturing care. The Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) is a global WHO strategy to promote optimal maternal, infant and young child nutrition at the community level. This paper provides insights into the feasibility and lessons learned from rural Kenya in providing CCD training and supporting its implementation alongside the BFCI. Findings from qualitative interviews with caregivers and implementers of the BFCI revealed that training community health volunteers on CCD, enabled them to deliver CCD messages alongside those of the BFCI during counselling sessions. However, a more integrated approach to training as well as practical training opportunities, refresher training and provision of materials that facilitate the programme will enable further support for nurturing care in Kenya.

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Section: Knowledgesupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiences of incorporating support for early childhood development into the Baby Friendly Community Initiative in rural Kenya

Mwoma¹,

Kitsao-Wekulo²,

Haycraft³

et al. 2020

JBA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Newborn infants have learnt to recognise their mothers (Hepper 2015). They recognise her vocal characteristics (timbre, prosody, pitch); the timing of her reactions to others; her movement patterns, breathing, and heartbeat (see Ullal-Gupta et al 2013;Webb et al 2015).…”

Section: Open Peer Commentarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Neonatal imitation in context: Sensorimotor development in the perinatal period

Keven

Akins

2016

Behav Brain Sci

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Some individuals have a neurogenetic vulnerability to developing strong facilitation of ingestive movements by learned configurations of biosocial stimuli. Condemning food as addictive is mere polemic, ignoring the contextualised sensory control of the mastication of each mouthful. To beat obesity, the least fattening of widely recognised eating patterns need to be measured and supported. Main TextKeven and Akins use recent evidence on the development of respiratory and ingestive movements to criticise claims that mimicry of tongue protrusion plays a role in attachment to carers. This comment applies their criticisms to the notion that addiction to ingestion makes people unhealthily fat. Both sets of ideas are symptomatic of a syndrome of 'multisensory neglect' in research. Ignorance of the configured biological and societal stimuli to each mouthful of food or drink largely accounts for the continued failure to reduce the contribution of excess energy intake to obesity and the resulting disease, disability and distress.

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“…In developmental studies, the habituation procedure relies precisely on the relation of similarity between present and past (harmless) stimuli ( Van Heteren et al, 2000 ; Sommerville and Woodward, 2005 ). Neonates show preference for familiar stimuli, i.e., stimuli similar to experiences had before birth, in the domains of audition, taste, and smell ( Hepper, 2015 ). Importantly, similarity is context-dependent and, in each case, it must be specified what features of the stimulus are relevant to the (action-oriented) experience of the subject ( Decock and Douven, 2011 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neonatal Imitation: Theory, Experimental Design, and Significance for the Field of Social Cognition

et al. 2017

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Neonatal imitation has rich implications for neuroscience, developmental psychology, and social cognition, but there is little consensus about this phenomenon. The primary empirical question, whether or not neonatal imitation exists, is not settled. Is it possible to give a balanced evaluation of the theories and methodologies at stake so as to facilitate real progress with respect to the primary empirical question? In this paper, we address this question. We present the operational definition of differential imitation and discuss why it is important to keep it in mind. The operational definition indicates that neonatal imitation may not look like prototypical imitation and sets non-obvious requirements on what can count as evidence for imitation. We also examine the principal explanations for the extant findings and argue that two theories, the arousal hypothesis and the Association by Similarity Theory, which interprets neonatal imitation as differential induction of spontaneous behavior through similarity, offer better explanations than the others. With respect to methodology, we investigate what experimental design can best provide evidence for imitation, focusing on how differential induction may be maximized and detected. Finally, we discuss the significance of neonatal imitation for the field of social cognition. Specifically, we propose links with theories of social interaction and direct social perception. Overall, our goals are to help clarify the complex theoretical issues at stake and suggest fruitful guidelines for empirical research.

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Behavior During the Prenatal Period: Adaptive for Development and Survival

Cited by 44 publications

References 36 publications

Experiences of incorporating support for early childhood development into the Baby Friendly Community Initiative in rural Kenya

Experiences of incorporating support for early childhood development into the Baby Friendly Community Initiative in rural Kenya

Neonatal imitation in context: Sensorimotor development in the perinatal period

Neonatal Imitation: Theory, Experimental Design, and Significance for the Field of Social Cognition

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