child psych exam 2

what are the changes in height in first year?

50% gain in height from birth to one year

what are the changes that occur in body proportions?

reduction of head size
reduction in body fat
increased leg length

what are gender differences with births in babies?

baby boys are slightly taller

what are the parts of a neuron?

dendrites
soma
axons
terminal buttons
neurotransmitters
synapse
myelin

what is the functioning of a neuron?

action potentials

what do SSRIs do?

block serotonin reuptake

what does blocking serotonin reuptake do?

increases the amount of serotonin present in the synapse and magnifies its affects
forces serotonin to stay in gap and increases chance of it being absorbed

what is dopamine?

neurotransmitter
pleasure (problem in addictions)
not enough dopamine = Parkinson's

what is acetylcholine?

neurotransmitter
not enough = alzheimers

what are ways that can help with problems caused by lack of neurotransmitters>

try to give brain building blocks to make neurotransmitter
or go after what is destroying it
SSRIs

what re the three parts of neuronal development?

cell production
cell migration
cell elaboration

when is cell production?

prenatal

what is cell migration?

cells go where they will be used in functioning

what is cell elaboration?

dendritic and axonal growth
myelination

when does cell elaboration happen?

throughout life

what are methods for measuring brain functioning?

electroencephalogram (EEG) - broad data
event related potentials (ERPs) - more specific data, pinpoint brain parts
scans (functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET))

what are the divisions of the brain?

hindbrain
midbrain
forebrain

what is the hindbrain? what are the main parts?

medulla, pons, and cerebellum

what does the medulla do?

breathing, heart beat, circulation

what do the pons do?

sleep/wake cycles

what does the cerebellum do?

coordination of movement
fine motor

what disease damages the cerebellum?

parkinsons

what are the parts of the midbrain?

reticular formation

what does the reticular formation do?

sleep/wake cycles

what are the parts of the forebrain?

limbic system, hypothalamus, thalamus, cerebral cortex

what does the limbic system do? what are its parts?

amygdala and hippocampus
amygdala: any extreme emotion
hippocampus: short term memory

where do adolescent mostly function out of?

the amygdala

what does the hypothalamus do?

hunger, thirst, sexual orientation

what does the thalamus do?

relay station from eyes, ears, skin, etc (not smell)
area of brain sensory info is processed

describe cerebral cortex.

outermost layer of brain
increased surface area from layers/folds
occipital: visual info
temporal: auditory info
parietal: receive info from body
frontal: largest lobe, directs motor activity

describe the parts of occipital lobe.

primary visual cortex: raw info from eyes
visual association cortex: interprets info

describe the parts of the temporal lobe.

primary auditory cortex: raw info from ears
auditory association cortex: interpets info

describe parts of the parietal lobe.

primary somatosensory cortex: receive raw info from body
somatosensory association cortex: interpret info

describe parts of frontal lobe.

motor association cortex: plan for movement first
primary motor cortex: execute motion/action

what is phantom pain?

missing limb but part of brain that corresponds to that area is still there

how does the brain develop during embryonic growth?

dendritic growth (as a back up system)

what occurs in brain development during growth after birth?

migration, elaboration, pruning, and cell death

what is lobe development NOT?

uniform; frontal lobe takes the longest to develop
occipital develops shortly after birth

what is lateralization? what is something that corresponds with it?

division of tasks across 2 hemispheres of brain
handedness

what are the critical periods of brain development?

prenatal production of neurons

what does the left hemisphere dominate?

sensory info
control of the right side of the body
verbal abilities
positive emotion
sequential, analytical processing

what does the right hemisphere dominate?

sensory info
control of the left side of the body
spatial abilities
negative emotion
holistic, integrative processing

why do infants and young children have higher brain plasticity?

because parts of their brain are not yet specialized

what is brain plasticity important?

recover better from injury

what recovers after a brain injury?

language recovers better than spatial skills
still some probs w complex mental skills
plasticity varies w severity of injury

how does plasticity change with age?

older children and adults only have some plasticity

what influences early growth?

heredity
nutrition (breast v bottle)
malnutrition
emotional well being

why does emotional well being influence growth?

problems w it can cause nonorganic failure to thrive
stress (kids don't have control or tools to handle stress)

what are gross motor skills?

walking, jumping
cruising is typical before walking

what are the milestones of reaching and grasping?

prereaching
reaching: two hands, then one
ulnar grasp: adjust grip to object, move object from hand to hand, grasp w wrist
pincer grasp: using fingers

what kind of movement is reaching and grasping?

fine motor

when should we begin potty training?

when they show interest
usual age 2 or 3
ready at latest by 4 or 5

why is it a problem to potty train too early?

can't understand language or bodily function

what are gender differences for potty training?

boys are usually later then girls because most training is done by women

what type of potty training is faster?

bowel faster then urinary

what are the nighttime control variables for potty training?

deepness of sleep
size of bladder
anxiety level (increased anxiety makes it worse)

what are factors to help with nighttime accidents?

go potty before bed
restrict liquid intake before bed
wake up in night to take them to potty

what is sensation?

raw info

what is perception?

interpretation of info

what are the developmental views of sensation and perception?

constructivist view (Piaget): learned over time
ecological view (Gibson): born with it

what methodology is used to test sensation and perception?

arousal and heart rate of infants
recognition and habituation
condition sucking or head turning for stimulus

describe newborn sense of vision.

least developed sense at birth
unable to see long distances and focus clearly
can scan environment and try to track interesting objects
color vision improves after first 2 months

describe improvements in vision.

2 months: focus and color vision
6 months: acuity, scanning/tracking
6-7 months: depth perception

what helps infants reach adult levels of vision?

brain development

what did Fantz study in 1963?

visual preferences in infants
used "looking time" to measure preferences

what did Fantz find in his study?

found preference for patterns over color or brightness
preference for human face/concentric circles

what did Yonas add to Fantz work?

he found further qualifications for it
said that infants like human faces because they like concentric circles

what are the parts of visual development?

size constancy
shape constancy
brightness constancy
depth perception

what do the constancies of vision help us to understand?

movement or motion

when does size constancy appear?

5-7 mos

when does shape constancy appear?

3 mos

when does brightness constancy appear?

7 wks

what experiment was done ton test infants and depth perception?

visual cliff

what does sever visual impairment cause?

severe delays in all areas
impairs ability to explore
reduced emotional expression
delay in language development

what is motor development tied to? what is this impaired by?

cognitive development
visual impairment

what does reduced emotional expression affect?

caregiver relationships

what is important to help severe visual impairment?

interventions; do something to help eyesight

describe newborn audition.

hearing ready to go at birth
localization of sound
prefer high pitched sounds (women's voices)
phonetic discrimination (sound differences bt letters)

what causes early hearing loss?

ear infections
damage
fluid in ears

what are the effects of early hearing loss?

delayed speech development
creates distractibility or inattention
reduces quality of interactions w others

what can prevent early hearing loss?

use tubes in ears

what do tubes in ears help with?

speech rebound

describe newborn touch and pain.

newborns respond to touch (sucking and rooting reflex)

what are previous beliefs about circumcision and newborns?

that circumcision right after birth is the thing to do

what are problems w circumcision?

newborns are highly sensitive to pain
can cause probs w breast-feeding

describe newborn smell and taste.

can differentiate odors at newborn age
prefer vanilla and strawberry scents
dislike rotten eggs and fish
show preference for mother's breastmilk scent

what did Piaget say about infant cognitive development?

infant thought thru sensory and motor actions

what were the two trends in infant cognitive development by Piaget?

symbolic thought
formation fo schemes
these change w age

what is symbolic thought?

symbolizes the world thru reenacting

what is the formation of schemes with infants? what do they form schemes thru?

schemes: learn by putting everything in mouth
change shape of mouth for different items = learning

describe the sensorimotor stage.

birth to 2 yrs
building schemes thru sensory and motor exploration
circular reactions = repetitive reactions

what is an example of circular reactions?

babies do something but don't have the cognitive ability to realize the same actions elicits the same result

what are mental representations?

internal, mental depictions of objects, ppl, events, and info
can manipulate w mind
allow deferred imitation and make believe play

what does make believe play help kids do?

organize concepts

what is deferred imitation?

developing mental representation
watch then translate to play

how do mental representations develop?

can be translated right away and then to being translated hours or days after observation

what are the assessments of Piagets sensorimotor stage?

are motor abilities confused with cognitive abilities?
memory effects
competence v performance

describe motor abilities being confused with cognitive abilities.

babies may know an object is there, but can't move to get it

describe memory effects in relation to the sensorimotor stage of Piaget.

childhood amnesia: not remembering everything but remember things like mom
understand objects still exist but just don't remember them

describe competence v performance.

know how to do it v actually doing it