| The first pattern of growth | Cephalocaudal Pattern. Earliest growth occurs at the top and works way to bottom |
| The second pattern of growth | Proximodistal Pattern. Growth starts at the center of the body and moves towards extremities. Ex: baby can control trunk and arms before hands, and can use hands before fingers |
| Facts about the brain | Extensive brain development continues, at birth the brain weighs 25% of its adult weight, Shaken baby syndrome can occur (Brain swelling and hemorrhaging), by 2 years the brain is 75% its adult weight, and brain areas do not mature uniformly |
| Mapping the Brain- Forebrain | Includes cerebral cortex and several structures beneath it |
| Mapping the Brain- Cerebral Cortex | Covers forebrain like a wrinkled cap |
| Mapping the Brain- 4 Lobes | Frontal lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe |
| Mapping the Brain- Lateralization | Specialization in one hemisphere or the other of the brain, begins at birth |
| What is a neuron? | Nerve cell that handles information processing. Includes the two components, axon and dendrite fibers |
| What is the myelin sheath? | Layer of fat that encases many axons. Provides insulation, helps electrical signals travel faster down axon, and facilitates communication |
| What are neurotransmitters? | Chemicals in the brain |
| What is a synapses? | Tiny gaps between neurons |
| What is myelination? | The process of forming a myelin sheath around a nerve to allow nerve impulses to move more quickly. Unused connections are replaced or disappear (Pruning). Brain produces more dendrites and synaptic connections |
| What are the early experiences and the brain? | Genes direct brain basic wiring patterns before birth. Variety of stimuli facilitate full potential. Brian is flexible and resilient. The, environmental experiences guide. Implications of children in deprived environments |
| What is REM (Rapid eye movement) sleep? | Infants spend half their sleep time in REM sleep. Adults spend about 1/5th of their night in REM sleep. Infants begin their sleep cycle in REM sleep. REM can promote infant brain development |
| What is SIDS (Sudden infant death syndrome)? | Occurs when an infant stops breathing, suddenly dies without an apparent cause, highest cause of death in infants in the US. Occurs most likely when babies are on stomach or side while sleeping and due to maternal smoking/infants exposed to cigarette smoke |
| Breast vs. Bottle-feeding | Human milk/formula is used for 4-6 months of life. Breastfeeding is healthier for the baby and the mother. |
| Perks of breastfeeding for baby | Correct weight gain, lower risk of obesity, fewer gastrointestinal infections, and fewer lower respiratory tract infections |
| Perks of breastfeeding for mother | Lower risk of breast and ovarian cancer as well as a small increase intelligence |
| When should a mother not breastfeed? | She has HIV/infections that can pass through breast milk, she has tuberculosis, or if she is taking any drugs unsafe from the infant |
| What is the dynamic systems theory? | When infants assemble motor skills for perceiving and acting which are coupled together |
| What are reflexes? | Automatic survival mechanisms that govern the newborn's movements, built in reactions to stimuli |
| What is the rooting reflex? | When an infant's cheek is stroked/side of mouth is touched; infant turns head in effort to find something to suck |
| What is the sucking reflex? | When newborns automatically suck an object placed in mouth |
| What is the moro reflex? | Startles in response to a sudden, intense noise/movement |
| What is the grasping reflex? | When something touches the infants' palms, responds by grasping tightly |
| What is habitation? | Decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations |
| What is dishabituation? | Recover response after a change in stimulation |
| What is the intermodal perception? | Involves integrating information from two or more sensory modalities such as vision and hearing.Becomes sharper in first year |
| What is Piaget's Theory? | Build mental structures to help us adapt |
| What is the first process of development ? | Schemes. Actions or mental representations that organize knowledge. Behavioral scheme (Physical activities) and mental scheme (Cognitive activities) |
| What is the second process of development? | Assimilation. Using existing schemes to deal with new information or experiences |
| What is the third process of development? | Accommodation. Adjusting schemes to fit new information and experiences |
| What is the fourth process of development? | Organization. Grouping of isolated behaviors and thoughts into a higher-order system |
| What is the fifth process of development? | Equilibrium. Shift from one stage of thought to the next |
| What is the sensorimotor stage? | From birth to 2 years. Infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical, motor actions |
| What is object performance? | Understanding that objects continue to exists even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched |
| Evaluating Piaget's sensorimotor stage- A-Not-B-Error | Tendency of infants to reach where an object was located earlier rather than where the object was last hidden |
| Evaluating Piaget's sensorimotor stage- Core knowledge approach | States that infants are born with domain-specific innate knowledge systems |
| What is Skinner's operant conditioning? | When an infant's behavior is followed by a rewarding stimulus, the beahvior is likely to recur |
| What is attention? | Focusing on mental resources on select information. Habituation and dis-habituation closely linked. |
| What is joint attention? | Individuals focus on the same object or event (Ability to track anothers' behavior and one persons' directing anothers' attention) When not paying attention at 6 months, maybe autism. |
| What is imitation? | Imitative abilities as biologically based. Deferred imitation- At 6 months, occurs after a delay of hours or days. True imitation is at 3 months and imitation/reflexive is at 1 month |
| What is infinite generativity? | The ability to produce an endless number of meaningful sentences using a set of finite words/rules |
| What are phonemes? | Basic sounds unit of language. Infants can distinguish sound changes no matter what language. |
| Types of Vocabulary | Receptive Vocab- Words the child understands. Spoken vocab- Words the child uses. Vocab spurt- rapid increase in vocab |
| What are two-word utterances? | To convey meaning, child relies on gesture, tone, and context |
| What is telegraphic speech? | Use of short and precise words without grammatical markers |
| What is Chomsky's language acquisition device? | A term that describes a biological endowment enabling. Detection of the features and rules of language like syntax and semantics |
| What is child-directed speech? | Language spoken in a higher pitch than normal, using simple words and sentences. Children learn syntax of their native language without reinforcement |
| Enviornmental influences on langauge | Behaviorist view of language= several problems. Speech depends on socioeconomic status and the way parents talk |
