Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Using an Animal Model to Explore the Prenatal Origins of Social Development

  • Chapter
Fetal Development

Abstract

Prenatal experience is both a formative and regulatory force in the process of development. As a result, birth is not an adequate starting point for explanations of behavioral development. However, little is currently known regarding the role of prenatal experience in the emergence and development of neonatal social orienting, social motivation, or social learning. Our lack of knowledge in this area is due in part to the very restricted experimental manipulations possible with human fetuses. A comparative approach utilizing animal models provides an essential step in addressing this gap in our knowledge of the development of social responsiveness and providing testable predictions for studies with human fetuses and infants. In this chapter we review animal-based research exploring how aspects of prenatal experience can facilitate the development of postnatal social motivation, social recognition, and social learning. We conclude that infant social responsiveness has its roots in prenatal development and that intersensory redundancy present in the prenatal environment promotes the salience of social stimuli during early postnatal development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alberts, J. (1984). Sensory-perceptual development in the Norway rat: A view toward comparative studies. In R. Kail & N. Spear (Eds.), Comparative perspectives on memory development (pp. 65–101). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Als, H., Gilkerson, L., Duffy, F., McAnulty, G., Buehler, D, Vandenberg, K., … Jones, K. J. (2003). A three-center, randomized, controlled trial of individualized developmental care for very low birth weight preterm infants: Medical, neurodevelopmental, parenting, and caregiving effects. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 24, 399–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold, H. M., & Spear, N. E. (1997). Infantile amnesia: Using animal models to understand forgetting. Advances in the Study of Behavior, 26, 251–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aylward, G. P. (2005). Neurodevelopmental outcomes of infants born prematurely. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 26, 427–435.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bahrick, L. E. (2010). Intermodal perception and selective attention to intersensory redundancy: Implications for typical social development and autism. In G. Bremner & T. D. Wachs (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of infant development (pp. 120–166). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bahrick, L. E., & Lickliter, R. (2002). Intersensory redundancy guides early perceptual and cognitive development. In R. Kail (Ed.), Advances in child development and behavior (Vol. 30, pp. 154–187). New York, NY: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahrick, L. E., & Lickliter, R. (2012). The role of intersensory redundancy in early perceptual, cognitive, and social development. In A. Bremner, D. Lewkowicz, & C. Spence (Eds.), Multisensory development (pp. 183–206). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bahrick, L. E., & Pickens, J. (1994). Amodal relations: The basis for intermodal perception and learning in infancy. In D. Lewkowicz & R. Lickliter (Eds.), The development of intersensory perception: Comparative perspectives (pp. 205–233). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahrick, L. E., & Watson, J. S. (1985). Detection of intermodal proprioceptive-visual contingency as a potential basis of self-perception in infancy. Developmental Psychology, 21, 963–973.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, E. D., & Ralph, K. M. (1975). The effects of embryonic exposure to pheasant vocalizations on later call identification by chicks. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 53, 1028–1034.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balas, B. (2010). Using innate visual biases to guide face learning in natural scenes: A computational investigation. Developmental Science, 13, 469–478.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, R. M., & Mistretta, C. M. (1975). Fetal sensory receptors. Physiological Review, 55, 352–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bremner, A., Lewkowicz, D. J., & Spence, C. (2012). Multisensory development. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Calvert, G., Spence, C., & Stein, B. E. (2004). The handbook of multisensory processes. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castellanos, I., Vaillant-Molina, M., Lickliter, R., & Bahrick, L. E. (2006). Intersensory redundancy educates infants’ attention to amodal information in unimodal stimulation. Poster presented at the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, Atlanta, GA.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeCasper, A., & Fifer, W. (1980). Of human bonding: Newborns prefer their mothers’ voices. Science, 208, 1174–1176.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gekoski, M. J., Fagen, J., & Pearlman, M. A. (1984). Early learning and memory in the preterm infant. Infant Behavior and Development, 7, 267–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gergely, G., & Watson, J. (1999). Early socio-emotional development: Contingency perception and the social-biofeedback model. In G. Gergely, J. Watson, & P. Rochat (Eds.), Early social cognition: Understanding others in the first months of life. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goren, C. C., Sarty, M., & Wu, P. Y. (1975). Visual following and pattern discrimination of face-like stimuli by newborn infants. Pediatrics, 56, 544–549.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gottlieb, G. (1971). Ontogenesis of sensory function in birds and mammals. In E. Tobach, L. R. Aronson, & E. Shaw (Eds.), The biopsychology of development (pp. 67–128). New York, NY: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottlieb, G. (1997). Synthesizing nature-nurture: Prenatal roots of instinctive behavior. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottlieb, G., & Lickliter, R. (2004). The various roles of animal models in understanding human development. Social Development, 13, 311–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gressens, P., Rogido, M., Paindaveine, B., & Sola, A. (2002). The impact of the neonatal intensive care practices on the developing brain. Journal of Pediatrics, 140, 646–653.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Haley, D. W., Grunau, R. E., Oberlander, T., & Weinberg, J. (2008). Contingency learning and reactivity in preterm and full-term infants at 3 months. Infancy, 13, 570–595.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Haley, D. W., Weinberg, J., & Grunau, R. E. (2006). Cortisol, contingency learning, and memory in preterm and full-term infants. Psychoendocrinology, 31, 108–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harshaw, C., & Lickliter, R. (2007). Interactive and vicarious acquisition of auditory preferences in Northern bobwhite chicks. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 121, 320–331.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Harshaw, C., & Lickliter, R. (2011). Biased embryos: Prenatal experience alters the postnatal malleability of auditory preferences in bobwhite quail. Developmental Psychobiology, 53, 291–302.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harshaw, C., Tourgeman, I., & Lickliter, R. (2008). Stimulus contingency and the malleability of species-typical auditory preferences in Northern bobwhite hatchlings. Developmental Psychobiology, 50, 460–472.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Heaton, M., Goodwin, D., & Miller, D. B. (1978). Species-specific auditory discrimination in bobwhite quail neonates. Developmental Psychobiology, 11, 13–21.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hepper, P. G., Scott, D., & Shahidulla, S. (1993). Newborn and fetal response to maternal voice. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 11, 147–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Honeycutt, H., & Lickliter, R. (2003). The influence of prenatal tactile and vestibular stimulation on auditory and visual responsiveness in bobwhite quail: A matter of timing. Developmental Psychobiology, 43, 71–81.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, B., & Johnson, S. (2005). Prenatal development of postnatal functions. London: Greenwood.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaime, M., Bahrick, L. E., & Lickliter, R. (2010). The critical role of temporal synchrony in the salience of intersensory redundancy during prenatal development. Infancy, 15, 61–82.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kisilevsky, B. S., Hains, S. A., Lee, K., Xie, X., Huang, H., Ye, H. H., … Wang, Z. (2003). Effects of experience on fetal voice recognition. Psychological Science, 14, 220–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kisilevsky, B. S., & Low, J. A. (1998). Human fetal behavior: 100 years of study. Developmental Review, 18, 1–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Legerstee, M., Pomerleau, A., Malcuit, G., & Feider, H. (1987). The development of infants’ responses to people and a doll: Implications for research in communication. Infant Behavior and Development, 10, 81–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewkowicz, D. J. (2000). The development of intersensory temporal perception: An epigenetic systems/limitations view. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 281–308.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lewkowicz, D. J., & Lickliter, R. (1994). The development of intersensory perception: Comparative perspectives. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lickliter, R. (1990). Premature visual experience accelerates intersensory functioning in bobwhite quail neonates. Developmental Psychobiology, 23, 15–27.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lickliter, R. (2000). The role of sensory stimulation in perinatal development: Insights from comparative research for the care of the high-risk infant. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 21, 437–447.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lickliter, R. (2005). Prenatal sensory ecology and experience: Implications for perceptual and behavioral development in precocial birds. Advances in the Study of Behavior, 35, 235–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lickliter, R. (2011). The integrated development of sensory organization. Clinics in Perinatology, 38, 591–603.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lickliter, R., & Bahrick, L. E. (2000). The development of infant intersensory perception: Advantages of a comparative convergent operations approach. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 260–280.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lickliter, R., & Bahrick, L. E. (2004). Perceptual development and the origins of multisensory responsiveness. In G. Calvert, C. Spence, & B. E. Stein (Eds.), Handbook of multisensory processes (pp. 643–654). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lickliter, R., & Bahrick, L. E. (2007). Thinking about development: The value of animal-based research for the study of human development. European Journal of Developmental Science, 1, 172–183.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lickliter, R., Bahrick, L. E., & Honeycutt, H. (2002). Intersensory redundancy facilitates prenatal perceptual learning in bobwhite quail embryos. Developmental Psychology, 38, 15–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lickliter, R., Bahrick, L. E., & Honeycutt, H. (2004). Intersensory redundancy enhances memory in bobwhite quail embryos. Infancy, 5, 253–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lickliter, R., Bahrick, L. E., & Markham, R. (2006). Intersensory redundancy educates selective attention in bobwhite quail embryos. Developmental Science, 9, 605–616.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lickliter, R., & Hellewell, T. (1992). Contextual determinants of auditory learning in bobwhite quail embryos and hatchlings. Developmental Psychobiology, 25, 17–24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Markham, R., Shimizu, T., & Lickliter, R. (2008). Extrinsic embryonic sensory stimulation alters multimodal behavior and cellular activation. Developmental Neurobiology, 68, 1463–1473.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mastropieri, D., & Turkewitz, G. (1999). Prenatal exposure and neonatal responsiveness to vocal expression of emotion. Developmental Psychobiology, 35, 204–214.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maurer, D., & Young, R. E. (1983). Newborns’ following of natural and distorted arrangements of facial features. Infant Behavior and Development, 6, 127–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meltzoff, A. N., & Decety, J. (2003). What imitation tells us about social cognition: A rapprochement between developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 358, 491–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Millar, W. S., & Weir, C. G. (1992). Relations between habituation and contingency learning in 5 to 12 month old infants. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 12, 209–222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moon, C., Panneton-Cooper, R., & Fifer, W. P. (1993). Two-day olds prefer their native language. Infant Behavior and Development, 16, 495–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, D. S. (2009). Probing predispositions: The pragmatism of a process perspective. Child Development Perspectives, 3, 91–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muir, D., & Nadel, J. (1998). Infant social perception. In A. Slater (Ed.), Perceptual development: Visual, auditory and speech perception in infancy. New York, NY: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton-Griffiths, M. (1969). The organization, control, and development of parental feeding in the oysterchater. Behaviour, 34, 55–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radell, P., & Gottlieb, G. (1992). Developmental intersensory interference: Augmented prenatal sensory experience interferes with auditory learning in duck embryos. Developmental Psychology, 28, 795–803.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raju, N., Bahrick, L. E., & Lickliter, R. (2013a). Prenatal visual stimulation interferes with contingency learning in bobwhite quail neonates. Poster presented at the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, San Diego, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raju, N., Bahrick, L. E., & Lickliter, R. (2013b). The effects of atypical perinatal sensory stimulation on contingency learning in bobwhite quail neonates. Poster presented at the Society for Child Development, Seattle, WA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rand, K., & Lahav, A. (2014). Impact of the NICU environment on language deprivation in preterm infants. Acta Paediatrica, 103, 243–248.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, G., & Lickliter, R. (2002). Effects of prenatal sensory stimulation on heart rate and behavioral measures of arousal in bobwhite quail embryos. Developmental Psychobiology, 41, 112–122.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, G., & Lickliter, R. (2003). Effects of redundant and non-redundant bimodal sensory stimulation on heart rate in bobwhite quail embryos. Developmental Psychobiology, 43, 304–310.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, S. S., & Bacher, L. (1995). Oscillation and chaos in fetal motor activity. In J. P. Lecanuet, W. P. Fifer, N. Krasnegor, & W. Smotherman (Eds.), Fetal development: A psychobiological perspective (pp. 169–189). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rochat, P. (2001). Social contingency detection and infant development. Bulletin of the Meinninger Clinic, 65, 347–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rovee-Collier, C. (1987). Learning and memory in infancy. In J. Osofsky (Ed.), Handbook of infant development (pp. 98–148). New York, NY: J. Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaal, B., Marlier, L., & Soussignan, R. (1998). Neonatal responsiveness to the odor of amniotic and lacteal fluids: A test of perinatal chemosensory continuity. Child Development, 69, 611–623.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sleigh, M. J., & Lickliter, R. (1998). Timing of presentation of prenatal auditory stimulation alters auditory and visual responsiveness in bobwhite quail chicks. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 112, 153–160.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smotherman, W., & Robinson, S. R. (1986). Environmental determinants of behavior in the rat fetus. Animal Behaviour, 34, 1859–1873.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tarabulsy, G. M., Tessier, R., & Kappas, A. (1996). Contingency detection and the contingent organization of behavior in interactions: Implications for socioemotional development in infancy. Psychological Bulletin, 120, 25–41.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Turkewitz, G., & Kenny, P. A. (1985). Limitations on input as a basis for neural organization and perceptual development: A preliminary theoretical statement. Developmental Psychobiology, 15, 357–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tusculescu, R., & Griswald, J. (1983). Prehatching interactions in domestic chicks. Animal Behaviour, 31, 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaillant, J., Harshaw, C., Jaime, M., Bahrick, L. E., & Lickliter, R. (2010). Selective attention during prenatal development: Redundancy across auditory and vibro-tactile stimulation facilitates learning in quail embryos. San Diego, CA: International Society for Developmental Psychobiology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valenza, E., Simion, F., Cassia, V., & Umilta, C. (1996). Face preference at birth. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 22, 892–903.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, J. S. (1979). Perception of contingency as a determinant of social responsiveness. In E. Thoman (Ed.), The origins of social responsiveness (pp. 33–64). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The writing of this chapter was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant BCS 1057898 to R. Lickliter and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grants K02 HD064943 and RO1 HD053776 to L. E. Bahrick.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Robert Lickliter PhD & Lorraine E. Bahrick PhD

Authors
  1. Robert Lickliter PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lorraine E. Bahrick PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert Lickliter PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Psychology Science Laboratories, University of Durham, Durham, United Kingdom

    Nadja Reissland

  2. Queen’s University, School of Nursing Queen’s University, KINGSTON, Ontario, Canada

    Barbara S. Kisilevsky

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Lickliter, R., Bahrick, L.E. (2016). Using an Animal Model to Explore the Prenatal Origins of Social Development. In: Reissland, N., Kisilevsky, B. (eds) Fetal Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22023-9_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation