ABSTRACT
Since the 1980s, researchers have been systematically examining the influence of stimulus and subject variables on elicited fetal responses. In addition, questions related to methodologies employed in fetal and fetal-newborn studies have been addressed. This chapter begins by outlining several methodological issues that influence the conduct of human fetal research describing how these issues are dealt with in particular studies. The issues include identifying the proximal stimulus, measuring fetal movement, and determining fetal well-being. Next, several studies characterizing the effect of selected stimulus variables (i.e., intensity, modality, repeated presentations) are reviewed. Finally, several studies exploring the influence of subject variables (i.e., gestational age, risk status) are considered. Coverage of the topic is limited to those areas that have been studied in the author’s laboratory.
