chap 4 Flashcards
what takes place when neurons haven’t been stimulated?
synaptic pruning
what is synaptic pruning?
neurons lose their synapses and return to an uncommitted state because they haven’t been stimulated
what happens to neurons in synaptic pruning?
they are either used for future development later, or they will die off if unused
what is lateralization?
specialization of the right and left hemispheres of the cerebral cortex. they learn to do different jobs
what is experience expectant growth?
development through types of experiences that everyone typically encounters
what is experience dependent growth?
results from specific experiences that vary from person to person
is star gazing experience expectant or experience dependant?
experience expectant
is playing basketball experience expectant or experience dependent?
experience dependent
what is the purpose of baby fat?
helps infants maintain body temperature
should a parent be concerned if their baby is chubby?
for the most part no. most babies lean out as toddlers but there is a correlation between rapid weight gain as an infant and obesity later on.
when is there a correlation between rapid weight gain in infancy and obesity?
when parents primarily feed kids unhealthy food
what is classical conditioning?
neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that leads to an automatic response. the brain connects the two stimuli and the neutral stimulus brings about the response by itself
how is classical conditioning different from operant conditioning?
classical is the stimuli in the environment causing the person to behave a certain way
operant conditioning is the person acting on the environment, and then stimuli follows that either reinforces to punishes behavior in the future
when do mirror neurons fire according to studies on primates?
at precisely the same when the primate saw or heard an action and when it performed that same action
what neurons account for the ability to imitate others?
mirror
what social abilities do mirror neurons help infants and toddlers develop?
imitation, sharing emotions empathically, and understanding the intentions of others
what kind of motor skills are crawling, standing, walking, rolling?
gross
what kind of motor skills are reaching and grasping?
fine
what is the ability to judge the distance of objects from each other and ourselves?
depth perception
what is the first depth cue to develop?
motion
what are the 3 visual depth cues that develop in babies?
motion, binocular, pictorial
what depth cue is developed when babies can see something coming towards them and blink to protect their eyes?
motion
what depth cue develops at 3-4 weeks?
motion
what depth cue allows the brain to blend two different images from each eye to create one picture?
binocular
