Physical & Cognitive Development Flashcards
(41 cards)
What is maturation?
Biologically based changes that follow an orderly sequence, each step setting the stage for the next step according to an age related timetable.
What is a critical period?
Periods of special sensitivity to specific types of learning and sensory stimulation that shape the capacity for future development.
What is a sensitive period?
Times that are more important to subsequent development than others.
What is the ongoing debate regarding development?
Whether or not it occurs in critical periods or sensitive periods and whether or not it occurs in stages.
What is a stage?
Relatively discrete steps through which everyone progresses in the same sequence as opposed ti a steady and gradual change.
What occurs in brain development withing the first two years?
The formation of major synapses in auditory, visual and language areas.
What needs to occur for neural connections to survive?
They require stimulation: Those that are not stimulated are pruned.
What is Myleanation?
The coating of neural fibers with insulating fatty sheath that improves efficiency of message transfer.
What can change refer to?
The acquisition or the loss of a behavior or function.
What are the ways change can occur?
- Continuous: The gradual alteration of behavior
- Discontinuous: Refers to stages of growth that are qualitatively different and that are usually ordered in a fixed sequence.
What are the three types of design used in research of development?
- Cross-sectional: Compares groups of different ages at a time.
- Longitudinal: compares same group at multiple time points.
- Sequential: Combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal.
What are the three periods of prenatal development?
- Germinal period: The fertilized egg (zygote) enters a 2 week period of rapid cell division
- Embryonic period: The developing human organism (embryo) from 2 weeks through 2nd month.
- Foetal period: The developing human organism (foetus) from 9 weeks after conception to birth.
What is a teratogen?
An environmental agent that harm the embryo.
What are four types of teratogen?
- AOD
- Chemicals
- Radiation
- Virus
In development, what is a reflex?
Innate motor responses elicited by critical stimuli and are adaptive.
Name two reflexes,
- Rooting reflex: a touch on the cheek induces the infant to move its mouth toward the source of the touch.
- Sucking reflex: Tactile stimulation of the mouth produces rhythmic sucking.
what is puberty?
The stage when individuals become physically capable of reproduction.
What is associated with early maturing males?
- Positive body image
2. Satisfaction with physical self.
What is associated with early maturing females?
- Negative body image
2. more dissatisfied than on time or late maturers with physical self.
Whats is menopause?.
Cessation of the menstrual cycle.
What is ageism?
Predjudice against old people: Can lead to employment discrimination.
What two methods do researchers use to study infant perception and cognition?
- Orienting reflex: The tendency to pay greater attention to novel stimuli than familiar.
- Sucking reflex: Sucking rate increases with novel stimuli and decreases with familiar stimuli.
Describe the visual and auditory capabilities of infants.
- Auditory capabilities are well developed even from birth.
2. Visual perception is poor at birth though improves to 20/100 by 6 months.
What is intermodal processing?
The ability to associate sensations of an object from different senses or to match their own actions to behaviors they observed visually.
