INFANCY

CEPHALOCAUDAL PATTERN

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

PROXIMODISTAL PATTERN

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

SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME

includes brain
swelling and hemorrhaging, affects hundreds of
babies in the United States each year

at birth, the newborn's brain is about how many percent during its adult weight?

25%

on second birthday, the newborn's brain is about how many percent during its adult weight?

75%

FRONTAL LOBES

involved involuntary movement, thinking, personality, and intentionality or purpose

OCCIPITAL LOBES

function in vision

TEMPORAL LOBES

active role in hearing, language processing and memory

PARIETAL LOBES

play important roles in registering, spatial location, attention, and motor control

LATERALIZATION

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

AXON

carries signal away from the cell body

DENDRITES

carry signal towards it

MYELIN SHEATH

a layer of fat cells, encases many axons and insulates axons and help electrical signals travel faster down the axon; may be involved in providing energy to neurons and in communication

MYELINATION

the process of encasing axons
with fat cells, begins prenatally and continues
after birth, even into adolescence

PREFRONTAL CORTEX

(higher-level thinking and self-regulation occur) the peak of overproduction takes place at about 1 year of age

FOURTH POSTNATAL MONTH

peak of synaptic overproduction in the visual cortex occurs at about

MYELINATION FOR VISUAL PATHWAYS

occurs rapidly after birth and is completed in the first six months

AUDITORY MYELINATION

not completed until 4 or 5 years of age

PREFRONTAL REGION OF THE FRONTAL LOBE

has the most prolonged development of any brain region, with changes detectable at least into emerging adulthood

18 HRS A DAY

newborn sleeps approximately

1 MONTH OF AGE

begun to sleep longer at night

6 MONTHS OF AGE

moved closer to adult-like sleep patterns, spending the most time sleeping at night and the most time awake during the day

REM SLEEP

the eyes flutter beneath closed lids

NON-REM SLEEP

eye movement does not occur and sleep is more quiet

SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME (SIDS)

condition that occurs when an infant stops breathing, usually during the night, and suddenly dies without an apparent cause

MARASMUS

wasting away of body tissues in the infant's first year, caused by severe protein-calorie deficiency. The infant becomes grossly underweight and his or her muscles atrophy

KWASHIORKOR

A condition caused by severe protein deficiency in which the child's abdomen and feet become swollen with water; usually appears between 1 to 3 years of age.

DYNAMIC SYSTEMS THEORY

infants assemble motor skills for perceiving and acting

REFLEXES

Built-in reactions to stimuli that govern the newborn's movements, which are automatic and beyond the newborn's control

ROOTING REFLEX

newborn's built-in reaction that occurs when
the infant's cheek is stroked or the side of the
mouth is touched

SUCKING REFLEX

Newborn’s built-in reaction to automatically suck
an object places in its mouth

MORO REFLEX

A neonatal startle response that occurs in
reaction to a sudden, intense noise or
movement

GRASPING REFLEX

Occurs when something touches the infant's
palms, the infant responds by grasping tightly

GROSS MOTOR SKILLS

Skills that involve large muscle activities, such
as moving one arm’s and walking

POSTURE

a dynamic process that is linked with
sensory information in the skin, joints, and
muscles, which tell us where we are in space

FINE MOTOR SKILLS

motor skills that involve more finely turned movements, such as finger dexterity

PALMER GRASP

infants grip with the whole hand

PINCER GRIP

infants also grasp small objects with their thumb and forefinger toward the end of the first year

ECOLOGICAL VIEW

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

AFFORDANCES

Opportunities for interaction offered by objects that fit within our capabilities to perform functional activities

VISUAL PREFERENCE METHOD

method used to determine whether infants can distinguish one stimulus from another by measuring the length of time they attend to different stimuli

HABITUATION

decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations of the stimulus

DISHABITUATION

recovery of a habituated response after a change in stimulation

ORIENTING RESPONSE

a technique that can be used to determine if an infant can see or hear, which involves turning one’s head toward a sight or sound.

TRACKING

consists of eye movements that follow (track)
a moving object and can be used to evaluate an infant’s
early visual ability, or a startle response can be used to
determine an infant’s reaction to a noise

PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCY

in which sensory stimulation is changing but perception of the physical world remains
constant

SIZE CONSTANCY

the recognition that an object remains the samę even though the retinal image of the object changes as you move toward or away from the object

SHAPE CONSTANCY

the recognition that an object's
shape remains the same even though its orientation to
us changes

PITCH

the perception of the frequency of a
sound

EMPIRICISTS

those who emphasize learning
and experience

SCHEMES

actions that or mental
representations knowledge.

ASSIMILATION

using existing schemes to
deal organize with new information or
experiences

ACCOMODATION

adjusting schemes to fit new information and experiences

ORGANIZATION

concept of grouping isolated
behaviors and thoughts into a higher-order,
more smoothly functioning cognitive system

EQUILIBRIUM A

mechanism that Piaget
proposed to explain how children shift from
one stage of though to the next
Sensorimotor stage (1st stage)

SIMPLE REFLEXES (PIAGET''S 1 ST SENSORIMOTOR SUBSTAGE)

Corresponds to the first month after
birth. In this substage, sensation and action are
coordinated primarily through reflexive behaviors.

First habits and primary circular reactions
(Piaget's 2nd sensorimotor substage)

develops between 1 and 4 months of age. In this substage,
the infact coordinates sensation and two types of
schemes: habits and primary circular reactions.

Secondary circular reactions (Piaget's
3rd sensorimotor substage)

develops between 4 and 8 months of age. In this substage, the infant becomes more object-oriented, moving beyond
preoccupation with the self.

Coordination of secondary circular reactions
(Piaget's 4th sensorimotor substage)

develops between 8 and 12 months of age. Actions become
more outwardly directed, and infants coordinate
schemes and act with intentionality.

Tertiary circular reactions, novelty, and
curiosity (Piaget's 5th sensorimotor substage)

develops between 12 and 18 months of age. In this
substage, infants become intrigued by the many
properties of objects and by the many things that
they can make happen to objects.

PRIMARY CIRCULAR REACTION A

scheme based on
the attempt to reproduce an event that initially
occurred by chance.

Internalization of Schemes (Piaget’s 6th and
final sensorimotor substage)

develops between
18 and 24 months of age. In this substage, the
infant develops the ability to use primitive symbols

OBJECT PERMANENCE

the Piagetian term for
understanding that objects and events continue to
exist, even when they cannot directly be seen,
heard, or touched.

A-NOT-B ERROR / AB ERROR

Error that occurs when infants
make the mistake of selecting the familiar hiding
place(A) rather than the new hiding place (B) as
they progress into substage 4 in Piaget's
sensorimotor stage

CORE KNOWLEDGE APPROACH

States that infants
are born with domain-specific innate knowledge
systems

SUSTAINED ATTENTION (FOCUSED ATTENTION)

allows infants to learn about and remember
characteristics of a stimulus as it becomes
familiar.

JOINT ATTENTION

individuals focus on the same
object or event.

IMPLICIT MEMORY

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

EXPLICIT MEMORY

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

CATEGORIES

They group objects, events and
characteristícs on the basis of common properties

DEFERRED IMITATION

occurs after a time delay of
hours or days.

PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION

the categorizations are based on similar perceptual features of objects, such as size, color and movement, as well as parts of objects, such as legs for animals

DEVELOPMENT QUOTIENT(DQ)

an overall score that combines subscores in motor,
language, adaptive, and personal-social
domains in the Gesell Assessment of
infants.

LANGUAGE

a form of communication, whether
spoken, written, or signed that is based on a
system of symbols

INFINITE GERATIVITY

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

PHONOLOGY

The sound system of the
language, including the sounds that are
used and how they may be combined

MORPHOLOGY

units of meaning involved in word formation

SYNTAX

the ways words are combined to
for acceptable phrases and sentences

MEANING

the meaning of words and
sentences.

PRAGMATICS

the appropriate use of
language in different contexts.

EARLY VOCALIZATIONS

- to practice making
sounds, to communicate, and to attract
attention

CRYING

can signal distress.

COOING

These are gurgling sounds that are made in
the back of the throat and usually express
pleasure during interaction with the
caregiver;babies first coo at about 2 to 4 months

BABBLING

they produce strings of consonant-vowel combinations, such as “ba ba ba ba”.

TELEGRAPHIC SPEECH

Use of short and precise words without
grammatical markers such as articles,
auxiliary verbs, and other connectives

BROCA'S AREA

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

WERNICKE'S AREA

A region of the brain’s left
hemisphere involved in language
comprehension

APHASIA

A loss of impairment of language
processing

LABELING

Identifying the names of objects.

EMOTION

feeling , or effect, that occurs when a
person is in a state or interaction that is
important to him or her

PRIMARY EMOTIONS

Emotions that are present in humans
and other animals and emerge early
in life

SELF-CONSCIOUS EMOTIONS

Emotions that require
self-awareness, especially
consciousness and a sense of “me”

BASIC CRY

A rhythmic pattern that
usually consists of a cry,
followed by a briefer silence,
then a shorter whistle that is
somewhat higher in pitch
than the main cry, then
another brief rest before the
next cry

ANGRY CRY

A variation of the basic cry in
which more excess air is
forced through the vocal
cords

PAIN CRY

A sudden long, initial loud cry
followed by breath holding

REFLEXIVE SMILE

A smile that does not occur
in response to external
stimuli and appears during
the first month after birth,
usually during sleep

SOCIAL SMILE

A smile that occurs in
response to an external
stimulus, typically a face in
the case of a young infant

FEAR

One of a baby’s earliest emotions
which typically first appears at about
6 months of age and peaks at about
18 months

SEPARATION PROTEST

Crying when the caregiver leaves

SCAFFOLDING

form of reciprocal
socialization in which parents time
interactions in such a way that the infant
experiences turn-taking with the parents.