Chapter 4 Flashcards
(24 cards)
How does sensation and perception develop in infancy?
It develops before motor; it mostly relates to vision, as it happens in the visual cortex. It’s so we can find our parents.
What’s cephalocaudal dev.? Proximodistal dev.?
Cephalocaudal: growth starts with head (head to feet)
Proximodistal: trunk, then arms, legs, fingers; motor last (trunk then outward)
What’s the average stats on a baby?
Avg. weight: 7 lbs @ birth
Length: 20 inches
Growth rate: approx. 1 inch per month for first year
What happens during the first week? First year?
First week: lose 5-10% of body weight (excess fluid)
First year: gain weight quickly (5 mos= 2x birth weight, 1 yr = 3x)
How do newborns sleep?
Newborn: 18 hrs a day
By 8 weeks old, start to show signs of day/night sleep patterns
What is SIDS?
Sudden infant death syndrome: infants stops breathing, usually @ night (no apparent cause); occurs mostly in infants with abnormal brain stem functioning involving serotonin
What are some factors associated with higher SIDS rates?
Low birth weight, ethnic differences, second-hand smoke, co-sleeping, no pacifier, no fan
What are the different types of feeding?
Breast-feeding is almost always the best nutrition. Recommended to breast feed for 6 mos; 40% after 6 mos, 27% @ 12 mos.
Bottle-feeding: iron-fortified (mom has infectious illness or takes drugs/meds); doesn’t reduce emotional bonding
How is breast-feeding beneficial?
Antibodies are in breast milk only and it’s easier to digest. Also, cancer rates are lower, as well as depression, post-partum (breast, ovarian, uterine)
What are an infant’s nutritional needs?
Most common veg. in infancy is carrots, peas; solid food is introduced between 4-6 mos; many US parents feed 4 mo- 2 y/o babies too much junk food (less fruits/veggies)
What are some forms of bad nutrition?
Malnutrition: Marasmus-> a wasting disease in which the body’s fat and muscle are depleted
Kwashiorkor-> found in children who experience sudden deprivation of food and calories
What are some consequences of these illnesses?
Physical/ cognitive development interrupted and stunted.
What are some processes of neural development?
Neurons: basic brain cells (baby born w/ 100 billion)
Neurogenesis: production of neurons (fetal period)
Synaptogenesis: production of synapses (space between neurons)
Neural development continued…
Myelination: fatty cells cover electrons to allow transfer of electrical message to take place
Transient exuberance: enormous amount of neurons; connectivity increases between neurons (dendritic spreading)
What is experience-expectant brain development?
The brain depends on experiencing certain events/stimuli @ key points to develop normally (ex. Covering a rat’s eye @ birth, even though it expects to see)
What is pruning? What is experience-dependent brain dev.?
Neurons that remain are organized/strengthened; “use it or lose it” principle
It’s growth that occurs in response to learning experiences (lifelong); early experiences are extremely important- depressed brain activity due to a deprived environment
What is Shaken Baby Syndrome?
SBS/Abusive Head Trauma: shaking baby for 5-10 mins?, causes whiplash-like concussion, 4mos= when crying is @ peak [incidence: 1,300 nearly all= fatal/severe]
What’s the result of SBS? How can it be prevented
If not fatal, intellectual disability, retinal damage, learning disorders, seizures; Babies are vulnerable b/c of their big head, weak neck, and soft head plates
Education; take a break; talk to baby or try to understand why it’s crying
What is sensation? Perception?
Sensation: occurs when our senses detect a stimulus
Perception: the sense our brain makes of a stimulus, or our awareness of it
How do some senses develop in infants?
Hearing is developed at birth for most babies (vision, less so); infants can distinguish between sweet/sour/bitter rapidly; By 1 y/o VisiCalc cortex & connections (vision) is much more developed
What is their perception of pattern/depth? Where is the visual cliff?
They have a preference for faces/bulls eye target/ black and white stripes
3-4 mos: infants develop ability to use binocular cues, or both eyes, to perceive depth
What are some skills they develop?
Gross motor- primitive; fine motor- more complex (much later)
Reflexes: biologically-based; no conscious effort
Survival reflexes: ensure survival, fight-or-flight; breathing, sucking, blinking, and pupillary dilation
Primitive reflexes: no immediate social value: evolutionary use? [Moro: startle reflex; Palmer, Planter; stepping/swimming
What is the Dynamic Systems Theory?
Perception/action tied together; motor skills develop- changing nervous system (dev.), infant’s movements, infant’s goal to reach; environmental support
What’s the difference between gross motor and fine motor skills?
Gross (course) motor: involve large-muscle activities (sitting w/ support @ 2 mos, sitting alone 6-8 mos, pull themselves up 8 mos, stand alone 10-12)
Fine motor skills: finger dexterity; perceptual: motor coupling to coordinated grasping, role of experience, stimulated environment; ability to control small movements of fingers (reaching/grasping) [Voluntary reaching= cog. Dev. b/c interacting w/ world
