Discussion Questions

  1. What is meant by brain plasticity? Give an example of how the brain is plastic.
     
  2. Think about your own life.  Give a personal example of experience-expectant brain development.
     
  3. Think about your own life.  Give a personal example of experience-dependent brain development.
     
  4. Why do you think vision is the last sense to develop?
     
  5. In what ways do you think parents should stimulate babies’ senses?
     
  6. Do you remember anyone who went through puberty earlier than the others in your class? What was life like for that person?
     
  7. What factors do you think contributed to U.S. teens waiting longer to have sex and to a lower percent of teenage pregnancies?
     
  8. Why do you think infants are born with the reflexes described in your textbook? What purpose do they serve?
     
  9. Why do you think infants do not develop depth perception before they begin to crawl? Do you think there is a way to influence the development of depth perception before infants begin to crawl? How would you begin to test whether they could?
     
  10. Do you think schools should make children learn to write in cursive? Why or why not?
     
  11. The textbook discusses body awareness.  How has this concept been beneficial in your life?
     
  12. Although research supports breastfeeding is better than bottle feeding, many continue to bottle feed their babies.  If you had a baby, would you strongly agree that your baby should be breastfed, disagree that your baby should be breastfed, or take a neutral stance? Why?
     
  13. Have you ever struggled with your weight? What were the challenges you faced when trying to change your eating habits?