Wk. 2 - Infancy and Early Childhood - Ch. 3 - Physical and Cognitive Development in Infancy

Question 1

cephalocaudal pattern

Answer 1

sequence in which the earliest growth always occurs at the top — the head — with physical growth in size, weight, and feature differentiation gradually working from top to bottom.

Question 2

proximodistal pattern

Answer 2

sequence in which growth starts at the center of the body and moves toward the extremities.

Question 3

lateralization

Answer 3

specialization of function in one hemisphere of the cerebral cortex or the other.

Question 4

neurons

Answer 4

Nerve cells that handle information processing specialized cells that transmit nerve impulses.

Question 5

myelinization

Answer 5

process of encasing axons with fat cells, begins prenatally and continues throughout childhood, even into adolescence.

Question 6

neuroconstructionist view

Answer 6

Developmental perspective in which biological processes and environmental conditions influence the brain’s development; the brain has plasticity and is context dependent; and cognitive development is closely linked with brain development.

Question 7

REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement)

Answer 7

Rapid eye movement sleep is a unique phase of sleep in mammals and birds; characterized by random rapid movement of the body, and the propensity of the sleeper to dream vividly.

Question 8

sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

Answer 8

A condition that occurs when an infant stops breathing.

Question 9

gross motor skills

Answer 9

Motor skills that involve a large-muscle activity such as walking.

Question 10

fine motor skills

Answer 10

Motor skills that involve more finely tuned movements, such as finger dexterity.

Question 11

sensation

Answer 11

The product of the interaction between information and the sensory receptors — the eyes, ears, tongue, nostrils, and skin.

Question 12

perception

Answer 12

The interperception of what is sensed.

Question 13

ecological view

Answer 13

The view that perception functions to bring organisms in contact with the environment and to increase adaptation.

Question 14

visual preference method

Answer 14

A method developed by Fantz, to determine whether infants can distinguish one stimulus from another by measuring the length of time they attend to different stimuli.

Question 15

habituation

Answer 15

Decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations of the stimulus.

Question 16

dishabituation

Answer 16

Recovery of a habituated response after a change in stimulation.

Question 17

eye-tracking

Answer 17

The process of measuring either point of gaze (where one is looking) or the motion of an eye relative to the head.

Question 18

visual acuity

Answer 18

Sharpness of vision, measured by the ability to discern letters or numbers at a given distance according to a fixed standard.

Question 19

pitch

Answer 19

The frequency of a sound.

Question 20

depth perception

Answer 20

The ability to perceive the relative distance of objects in one’s visual field.

Question 21

stimulus

Answer 21

An object or event that elicits a sensory of behavioral response in an organism. (In perceptual psychology, a stimulus is an energy change (e.g., light or sound).

Question 22

intermodal perception

Answer 22

The ability to relate and integrate information from two or more sensory modalities, such as vision and learning.

Question 23

perceptual development

Answer 23

Refers to the development of the five senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. Sensation refers to the act of taking in information through our five senses, while perception refers to the interpretations that our brains make from this sensory information.

Question 24

schemes

Answer 24

In Piaget’s theory, actions or mental representations that organize knowledge.

Question 25

assimilation

Answer 25

Piagetian concept of using existing schemes to deal with new information or experiences.

Question 26

accommodation

Answer 26

Piagetian concept of adjusting schemes to fit new information and experiences.

Question 27

organization

Answer 27

Piaget's concept of grouping isolated behaviors and thoughts into a higher order, more smoothly functioning cognitive system.

Question 28

equilibration

Answer 28

A mechanism that Piaget proposed to explain how children shift from one stage of thought to the next.

Question 29

disequilibrium

Answer 29

A situation where internal and/or external forces prevent market equilibrium from being reached or cause the market to fall out of balance. This can be a short-term byproduct of a change in variable factors or a result of long-term structural imbalances.

Question 30

sensorimotor stage

Answer 30

The first of Piaget's stages, which lasts from birth to about 2 years of age; during this stage, infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with motoric actions.

Question 31

attention

Answer 31

The focusing of mental resources on select information.

Question 32

imitation

Answer 32

The action of using someone or something as a model.

Question 33

deferred imtation

Answer 33

Imitation that occurs after a delay of hours and days.

Question 34

memory

Answer 34

A central feature of cognitive development pertaining to all situations in which an individual retains information over time.

Question 35

implicit memory

Answer 35

Memory without conscious recollection; involves skills and routine procedures that are automatically performed.

Question 36

explicit memory

Answer 36

Memory of facts and experiences that individuals consciously know and can state.

Question 37

concepts

Answer 37

Cognitive groupings of similar objects, events, people, or ideas.

Question 38

language

Answer 38

A form of communication, whether spoken, written, or signed, that is based on a system of symbols. Language consists of the words by a community and the rules for varying and combining them.

Question 39

infinite generativity

Answer 39

The ability to produce an endless number of meaningful sentences using a finite set of words and rules.

Question 40

phonemes

Answer 40

The basic sound of a language.

Question 41

Broca's Area

Answer 41

An area in the left frontal lobe of the brain that is involved in producing words.

Question 42

Wernicke's Area

Answer 42

A region of the brain's left hemisphere that is involved in producing words.

Question 43

language acquisition device (LAD)

Answer 43

Chomsky's term that describes a biological endowment enabling the child to detect features and rules of language, including phonology, syntax, and semantics.

Question 44

child-directed speech

Answer 44

Also called parentese, language or various speech patterns used by parents, or caregivers when communicating with young children, particularly infants, usually involving simplified vocabulary, melodic pitch, repetitive questioning, and a slow or deliberate tempo.