Question

Six-year-old Austin is hyperactive and has been tested for ADHD. A school psychologist suggests that Austin's hyperactivity might reflect the influence of some prenatal substance that did not affect his physical development, but instead influenced the development of his brain. Austin might be showing the effects of behavioral _____ that his mother ingested while he was in the womb.

Answer 1

teratogens

Step-by-step explanation:

• The factors or any of the agent that can cause malformations in the development of the embryo are termed as teratogens.
• Behavioural teratogens are the ones that can cause harm to the development of the brain at the prenatal stage due to which the intellectual ability and the emotional functioning of the child can be affected in the future.
• The time the effect shows up in the future depends on the stage of the embryo/foetus development at which the child got exposed to the teratogen.
• In the given situation Austin is suffering from ADHD and hyperactivity that reflects a faulty brain development due to the exposure of teratogens that his mother consumed while he was conceived.