Chapter 3: Tools for Exploring the World

Vocabulary flashcards for reviewing key terms and definitions related to physical, perceptual, and motor development in infancy and early childhood.

Perception

The process by which the brain receives, selects, modifies, and organizes incoming nerve impulses that are the result of physical stimulation.

Visual Acuity

Smallest pattern that one can distinguish reliably.

Cones

Specialized neurons in the back of the eye that sense color.

Visual Cliff

Glass-covered platform that appears to have a 'shallow' and a 'deep' side; used to study infants' depth perception.

Kinetic Cues

Cues to depth perception in which motion is used to estimate depth.

Visual Expansion

Kinetic cue to depth perception that is based on the fact that an object fills an ever-greater proportion of the retina as it moves closer.

Motion Parallax

Kinetic cue to depth perception based on the fact that nearby moving objects move across our visual field faster than do distant objects.

Binocular Disparity

Way of inferring depth based on differences in the retinal images in the left and right eyes.

Pictorial Cues

Cues to depth perception that are used to convey depth in drawings and paintings.

Linear Perspective

Cue to depth perception based on the fact that parallel lines come together at a single point in the distance.

Texture Gradient

Perceptual cue to depth based on the fact that the texture of objects changes from distinct for nearby objects to finer and less distinct for distant objects.

Intersensory Redundancy

Infants' sensory systems are attuned to information presented simultaneously to different sensory modes.

Theory of Mind

Ideas about connections between thoughts, beliefs, intentions, and behavior that create an intuitive understanding of the link between mind and behavior.