Neonatal Phase & Infancy

These flashcards contain essential vocabulary and definitions related to the neonatal phase and infancy, helping to reinforce key concepts for understanding early human development.

Neonatal Phase

The period between birth and 4 weeks.

Apgar Scale

A quantitative assessment of a newborn's physical characteristics applied at 1 and 5 minutes after birth.

Cephalocaudal Principle

Physical growth proceeds from head to toe.

Proximal Distal Development

Skills progress from near to far, typically moving from the trunk to the extremities.

SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)

Unexpected deaths in infants under 12 months of age, occurring suddenly without obvious cause.

Visual Acuity

The ability to distinguish fine details; in newborns, it’s about 20 times less than adults.

Classical Conditioning

Learning where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a significant stimulus, causing a response.

Operant Conditioning

Learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior.

Depth Perception

The ability to perceive the world in three dimensions; develops within the first year.

Self-Concept

An individual’s perception of themselves, including their qualities and traits.

Secure Attachment

A strong bond where infants feel safe to explore the environment when caregiver is present.

Avoidant Attachment

A style where infants appear indifferent when caregivers leave and return.

Ambivalent Attachment

An insecure bond characterized by anxiety before separation and ambivalent behaviors upon return.

Disorganized Attachment

Characterized by confusion and contradictory behaviors towards caregivers.

Social Referencing

The process by which infants look to caregivers for emotional cues in uncertain situations.

Cognitive Development

Infants progress from reflexive responses to active exploration and manipulation of their environment.

Imitation

The ability to copy or replicate someone else's behavior.

Temperament

A biologically based individual differences in emotions and behavior.

Neonatal Reflex

Primitive reflexes present at birth crucial for survival.

Pincer Grasp

A fine motor skill allowing infants to pick up small objects between their thumb and index finger.

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

Chomsky's theory that humans are born with an innate ability to acquire language.

Neurons

Nerve cells that transmit information through electrical and chemical signals.

Visual Cliff

An experimental setup used to assess depth perception in infants.

Emotional Regulation

The ability to manage and respond to emotional experiences in a socially acceptable way.

Peer Interaction

Social interactions between children of similar ages that help in developing social skills.

Self-Agency

Recognizing that one's actions can have predictable outcomes on the environment.

Parental Reinforcement

A method of socializing children by rewarding desired behaviors.

Goodness-of-Fit

The compatibility between a child's temperament and their environment.

Object Permanence

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen.

Cognitive Socialization

The idea that cognitive processes mediate emotional responses.

Induction

A parenting technique involving reasoning and explaining rules of behavior to a child.

Withdrawal of Love

Disciplinary action involving ignoring a child's needs, potentially leading to emotional issues.

Visual Recognition

The ability to recognize familiar objects among new ones.

Emotion Regulation

Strategies to adjust emotional responses to achieve desired outcomes.

Functional Techniques in Parenting

Methods like positive reinforcement and induction used by parents to guide behavior.

Attachment Theory

A psychological model describing emotional bonds between individuals, especially between children and caregivers.

Reflective Smiles

Initially motor-based smiles happening mainly during REM sleep in newborns.

Social Smilies

Differently selective smiles wherein infants react to familiar individuals or stimuli.

Womb Experience

The shared experience before birth influencing neonatal behavior.

Physiological Indicators of Pain

Responses like changes in heart rate or crying in reaction to painful stimuli.

Two-Way Communication

The reciprocal exchange of emotional signals and reactions between parent and child.

Sleep Patterns in Newborns

Newborns typically sleep 16-18 hours daily, divided between active and quiet states.

Vocalization Phases

Stages of language development including crying, cooing, and babbling.

Differentiated Crying

The ability of infants to use distinct cry patterns to communicate different needs.

Holophrastic Speech

Using single words to express complex ideas in early language development.

Schema

A mental structure that organizes knowledge and guides cognitive processing.

Visual Preference

The tendency of infants to spend more time looking at one object over another.

Size Constancy

The perception that an object's size remains constant despite changes in distance.

Auditory Localization

The ability of infants to locate the source of sound.

Exploratory Play

Play that enables infants to investigate their environment actively.

Social Learning

The process of learning behaviors through observing and imitating others.

Frontal Lobe

Brain region associated with voluntary movement and decision making.

Temporal Lobe

Brain area involved in processing auditory information and memory.

Sensory Integration

The ability to combine sensory information from different modalities.

Developmental Milestones

Key skills or behaviors that most children can accomplish by certain ages.

Continuity Theory of Development

The belief that personality and behavior evolve gradually over time.

Insecure Attachment

An attachment style characterized by anxiety or avoidance of caregivers.

Crying Sounds

Different types of infant cries used to communicate various emotional states.

Functionalism in Parenting

Strategies that emphasize the functions of parental behavior in emotional development.

Physical Growth Patterns

Changes in height and weight that follow predictable trajectories during infancy.

Echolalia

Repetition of sounds or words as part of language development.

Self-Direction

The ability of a person to manage their own behavior and choices.

Attachment Seeking Behaviors

Actions infants take to elicit responses from their caregivers.

Imitation Skill Development

The rapid improvement in infants' ability to mimic adult behaviors.

Parenting Styles

Distinct approaches to raising children, influencing attachment and behavior.

Long-Term Effects of Attachment

Influences of early attachment styles on later social, emotional, and cognitive outcomes.

Nonverbal Communication

Expressions and gestures used by infants to convey messages before verbal language development.

Caregiving Environments

Settings in which attachment relationships are formed and developed.

Problem Solving Skills

The ability of infants to devise strategies to overcome challenges.

Dynamic Systems Theory

The view that development is governed by an interaction of multiple systems.

Cognitive Processing

The mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension.

Stranger Anxiety

An infant's fear or wariness towards unfamiliar people.

Language Development Phases

Stages through which infants learn to communicate from cries to sentences.

Emotional Responsiveness

The capacity to respond appropriately to emotional expressions from others.

Infantile Reflexes

Automatic responses that are crucial for infant survival and development.

Mother-Infant Bonding

The emotional connection formed during pregnancy and shortly after birth.

Experience and Memory

How past experiences help shape memory retention and recall in infants.

Attachment Bonds

Emotional ties that develop between infants and their caregivers.

Risk Factors for Insecure Attachment

Factors like maternal stress that can impede secure relationship formation.

Cognitive Maturation

The process of developing cognitive capabilities through experience.