Development and Bio Exam 3

Smooth muscles and their function

control digestive system and other organs

Striated muscles and their function

control movement of the body in relation to the environment

Cardiac muscles and their function

control the heart

Relationship between motor axons and muscles (how many axons per muscle fiber)

an axon can send info to multiple muscle fibers but each fiber only receives info from 1 axon

Neuromuscular junction

synapse between motor neuron axon and muscle fiber, where acetylcholine is released

Acetylcholine function in muscle movement

triggers voluntary skeletal muscle movement and controls involuntary smooth muscle activity

Antagonistic muscles

opposing sets of muscles that are required to move an arm or leg back and forth

Flex and extensor

Flexor muscle

muscle that flexes limb (ex. brings hand to shoulder)

Extensor muscle

straightens the limb

Fast-twitch vs. slow-twitch muscle fibers

fast-twitch: fast contractions and rapid fatigue

slow-twitch: less vigorous contractions and no fatigue

varying percent of fast and slow

Proprioceptors

detects position and movement of body part

muscle proprioceptors detect stretch and tension of a muscle and sends messages to spinal cord

Muscle spindles vs. golgi tendon organs

muscle spindles - parallel to muscle, responds to stretch, causes muscle to contract

golgi tendon organs - opposite ends of muscles, responds to increases in muscle tension during contraction, sends impulse to spine where muscles are inhibited to prevent damage

Motor program

fixed sequences of movements

either learned or built into nervous system, automatic

ex. yawning

Primary motor cortex (location and function)

precentral gyrus of the frontal cortex, elicits movements

cortex axons → brain stem → spinal cord → sends impulses to muscles

both hemispheres contribute to planning movements

Posterior parietal cortex role in movement

mix of visual, somatosensory, and movement functions

monitors position of the body relative to the world

damage = difficulty coordinating visual stimuli with movment

Supplementary motor cortex role in movement

area of frontal cortex, active during preparation of a rapid sequence of movements in a specific order

active seconds before movement and after errors in movement

Premotor cortex role in movement

frontal cortex, active during the planning of a movement

receives info about target and organizes direction of movement in space

Prefrontal cortex (location and role in movement)

stores sensory info relative to movement

involved in considering probable outcomes from movement

Circannual rhythms

self-generated, last about 1 year, migratory patterns, hibernation

Circadian rhythms

lasts about 1 day, sleeping, body temperature, hormones, DNA repair, mood changes

slightly longer than 24 hours when no external cues are present

resetting sometimes necessary (ex. daylight savings, jet lag)

Changes in body temperature throughout the day

Zeitgeber (meaning of word and examples)

time giver, stimulus that resets rhythm

ex. sunlight, tides, meals, temperature, exercise

Role of jet lag on circadian rhythm

disruption of rhythm after traveling across time zones

west = phase delays, east = phase advances rhythm

Suprachiasmatic nucleus role in circadian rhythm

part of hypothalamus, main driver of rhythms and body temp, damage = erratic rhythms

not synched to environmental patterns

Melanopsin and its role in circadian rhythms

photopigment in retinal ganglion cells

reacts slowly to gradual light changes and responds to short-wavelength light

Melatonin and its role in circadian rhythms

hormone that influences rhythms, released by pineal gland, increases 2-3 hours before bedtime

taking melatonin can be helpful for traveling

Orexin and its role in circadian rhythms

hormone that regulates arousal, wakefulness, appetite, and energy balance

Coma

extended period of unconsciousness, low brain activity, little if any response to stimuli

Unresponsive wakefulness syndrome

alternates between sleep and moderate arousal but no awareness, no purposeful activity/response to speech, can be caused by trauma, illness, or previous coma

Minimally conscious state

one stage higher than unresponsive wakefulness, limited periods of purposeful action/speech comprehension

Brain death

no brain activity, total brain death = no brainstem activity → life support necessary

Stages of sleep and their functions

stage 1. sleep has just begun, irregular, jagged, low-voltage waves

stage 2. sleep spindles - burst in brain wave that lasts ½ a second, consolidation of memory

stage 3. and 4. slow-wave sleep, large-amplitude, slowed heart rate, breathing, and brain activity, brain waves in synchrony

Pontomesencephalon/Reticular Formation

part of reticular formation

axons extend to hypothalamus, thalamus, and basal forebrain, releases GABA glutamate, acetylcholine, and dopamine

produces excitatory and inhibitory effects

a brain structure located in the upper brainstem (spanning the pons and midbrain) that plays a central role in regulating arousal, wakefulness, and sleep-wake transitions

Locus Coeruleus

located at the pons, releases noropinephrine’s, increases wakefulness, dormant during sleep

Hypothalamus and its role in wakefulness

releases histamine, excitation throughout the brain, antihistamines cause sleepiness

Histamine and Antihistamines

antihistamines cause sleepiness

Histamine is a chemical messenger released by your immune system (stored mainly in mast cells and basophils) that helps communicate between cells

Antihistamines are medications that block or inhibit histamine receptors to prevent or relieve symptoms. They are generally split into main types based on the receptors they target

Sleepwalking

awake in one part of brain, asleep in others

Lucid dreaming

dreaming but being aware of being asleep

Night terrors

a type of parasomnia—an abnormal behavior or experience during sleep—that causes episodes of intense panic, screaming, and thrashing while a person remains partially asleep

Sleep paralysis

pons remains in REM while other brain areas wake up

Narcolepsy

periods of sudden sleepiness during the day, occasional muscles weakness (cataplexy), sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations (dreamlike)

linked to low orexin, primarily treated with stimulants

Insomnia

inadequate sleep

can be caused by stress, noise, pain, diet, medication, illness, or alcohol/drug dependence

Sleep Apnea

impaired ability to breathe while sleeping

sleepiness, impaired attentions, depression, and heart problems

caused by genetics, old age, hormones, or obesity

Sexual selection

Darwin

genes that make an individual more appealing to the opposite sex will increase probability of reproduction

Evolutionary reasons people may seek multiple sexual partners

increases variability in gene pool

more males than females seek out sex

differences in jealousy and mate preferences across cultures

Sex chromosomes’ role in sexual development

male = XY, female = XX

at least 3 genes on Y are active in specific brain areas

at least 1 X gene is only active in famel brain

recessive genes on X show more often in males

Turner syndrome

XO, female phenotypically

Short stature, webbed neck, streak ovaries (infertility), cardiac anomalies

Klinefelter syndrome

XXY, male

Tall stature, microorchidism (small testes), gynecomastia, low testosterone, infertility

XYY Syndrome

male

Tall stature, minor learning or language delays, frequently asymptomatic with normal fertility

XXX Syndrome

female

Tall stature, mild developmental or speech delays, usually asymptomatic with normal fertility

XY female (Swyer syndrome)

Normal external female genitalia, streak gonads (no ovaries), uterus/vagina present, delayed puberty, high risk of gonadal tumors

XX Male (de la Chapelle syndrome)

Typical male external appearance, small testes, testosterone deficiency, azoospermia (complete infertility)

Androgen insensitivity syndrome

CAIS: Female external genitalia, blind-pouch vagina, absent uterus/ovaries, internal undescended testes, typical female puberty (breasts develop, no menstruation)

SRY gene and its role in sexual development

on Y

causes testes to develop

Precursors to sexual development (wolffian ducts, Mullerian ducts)

Wolffian ducts - precursors to male organs (seminal vesicles and vas deferens)

Mullerian ducts - develop into oviducts, uterus, and upper vagina

Sex hormones and their differences

androgens - group of mostly male hormones, ex testosterone

estrogens - estradiol, progesterone (prepare uterus for implantation and promotes maintenance of pregnancy)

Sex differences in the brain

female hypothalamus releases hormones in cyclic patterns (menstrual cycle)

females have more connections between 2 hemispheres

males have more connections with each hemisphere

few people have completely male or female typical brain, mental health is better when between the two

Organizing effects vs. activating effects of sex hormones

organizing - long-lasting, present during a sensitive period in early development

activating - continue only when a hormone is present, temporarily affect behavior, oxytocin

Preoperational stage

ages 2-7

representational/symbolic activity increases

make believe play detaches real-life conditions, becomes less self-centered, and includes more complex combinations of schemes

Sociodramatic stage

make believe play with others

Benefits of make-believe play

• Cognitive Development: Enhances symbolic thinking, abstract reasoning, and problem-solving as children use one object to stand in for another (like a block representing a phone).

• Executive Function: Builds working memory, cognitive flexibility, and impulse control as children plan out narratives, set rules, and stay in character.

• Language & Communication: Encourages complex vocabulary, storytelling, and richer conversational grammar than everyday talk.

• Social Skills & Empathy: Teaches cooperation, turn-taking, conflict resolution, and perspective-taking ("theory of mind") by stepping into someone else’s shoes.

• Emotional Regulation: Provides a safe outlet to process big feelings, manage fears (such as playing doctor to ease clinic anxiety), and build self-confidence.

Imaginary friends

Dual representation

ability to view a symbolic object as both an object in its own right and a symbol

exposure to diverse symbols enhances ability to learn dual representation

Egocentrism

failure to distinguish other’s viewpoints from one’s own

Conservation

Centration

tendency to focus only on one object characteristic while neglecting other important features

Irreversibility

inability to go through a series of steps in a problem and then reverse direction

Hierarchical classification

organization into classes

struggle with in preoperational stage

Discovery learning

constructivist, inquiry-based educational approach originating in the 1960s—credited to psychologist Jerome Bruner—that advocates "learning by doing" through environment interaction, experimentation, and problem-solving rather than passive listening or rote memorization

Self-directed speech (when is it most common)

talking to self

most common at ages 3-7

tool to think through moderately difficult tasks

Scaffolding

adjusting support offered during a teaching session to fit child’s current level of performance, breaking task down into more manageable pieces

guided participation

Memory rehearsal and organization

• Maintenance Rehearsal: Simply repeating information (like a sequence of words) to keep it temporarily active in short-term memory.

• Elaborative Rehearsal: Connecting new information to existing knowledge and meaning, which develops later and is much more effective for long-term retention

Organization involves grouping items into meaningful categories (such as grouping animals together versus vehicles) to make them easier to remember.

Episodic memory

memory of everyday experience, remember in scrips (descriptions of what occurs and when to organize, interpret, and predict routine experiences), becomes mor elaborate with age

Elaborative vs. repetitive style

Elaborative Style

• Definition: Enriches the representation of an event by adding descriptive details, emotions, conceptual associations, open-ended questions, and links to prior knowledge or other life experiences

Repetitive / Low-Elaborative Style

• Definition: Relies on simple, surface-level repetition, restating the same prompt or question without adding new context, meaning, or descriptive scaffolding

Overlapping waves theory

when given challenging problems, children try out various strategies and gradually select those that are fastest and most accurate

accuracy and speed

Theory of mind

the cognitive capacity to understand that other people have unique mental states—such as beliefs, desires, intentions, knowledge, and emotions—that differ from one's own

Metacognition

thinking about thinking, awareness of mental activities

3 years = awareness of mind, understanding people have thoughts

4+ = realize beliefs and desires determine behavior

False belief tasks

A false belief task is a psychological test used to assess an individual's Theory of Mind—the cognitive ability to understand that other people have beliefs, desires, and perspectives that differ from one's own and from reality.

How It Works

The classic version of this test is the Sally–Anne task (developed by Heinz Wimmer, Joseph Perner, Simon Baron-Cohen, Alan Leslie, and Uta Frith)

1. The Setup: A child watches a scenario with two characters, Sally and Anne. Sally has a marble and places it into her basket, then leaves the room.

2. The Displacement: While Sally is gone, Anne moves the marble from the basket into her own box.

3. The Question: Sally returns, and the child is asked the critical question: "Where will Sally look for her marble?

Phonological awareness

ability to reflect on and manipulate the sound structures of spoken language

sensitivity to changes in sounds, rhyming, and incorrect pronunciation

strong predictor of emergent literacy and later literacy achievement

Ordinality

beginning to grasp at 14-16 months, principle specifying order relationships (great than or less than) between quantities

Cardinality

3 ½ - 4 years

the last number in a counting sequences indicates the quantity of items in the set

Child-centered vs. academic programs

child-centered - children select from provided activities, much learning takes place through play

academic - structured learning. letters, numbers, colors, shapes etc. through formal lessons using repetition and drill. cons: undermines motivation, increased stress, less advanced skills, lower confidence

Fast-mapping

ability to connect new words with their underlying concepts after only a brief encounter

in young kids

Syntactic bootstrapping

figuring out word meanings by observing how words are using in syntax

Mutual exclusivity bias

assumption that words refer to entirely separate categories (under extension)

Overregularization

extension of regular grammatical rules to words that are exceptions

Semantic bootstrapping

using semantics (word meanings) to figure out grammatical rules

Pragmatics of conversation

practical, social side of language, concerned with how to engage in effective and appropriate communication

Recasts vs. Expansions

recasts - adult responses that restructure children’s grammatically inaccurate speech into correct form

expansions - adult responses that elaborate on children’s speech, increasing in its complexity

Initiative vs. guilt

Self-concept vs. self-esteem

self-concept - set of attributes, abilities, attitudes, and values that an individual believe defines who he/she is

self-esteem - judgements we make about our own worth and the feelings associated with those judgements (about self-concept). high esteem contributes to development of initiative

Emotional competence

make up of emotional understanding, self-regulation, self-conscious emotions, and empathy

Emotional understanding

attribute emotions to external factors before internal states in toddlerhood/early childhood

difficulty interpreting emotions that present conflicting cues

Emotional self-regulation strategies

restrict sensory input, talking to themselves, changing goals and strategies improve with age

Self-conscious emotions

shame vs. guilt

depend on messages from caregivers for when to feel them

Empathy

Prosocial behavior

actions aimed at benefiting others, empathy serves as a motivator

Three stages of peer sociality (nonsocial, parallel play, cooperative play)

1. nonsocial activity - unoccupied, onlooker behavior, and solitary play

2. parallel play - children play near other children with similar materials but does not interact with them

3. associative play - children play separately but exchange toys and comments

3. cooperative play - children orient to common goal

Functional play

simple, repetitive movements

-2 years

ex. rolling a car

Constructive play

creating something

3-6 years

ex. puzzles