Intro to Developmental Psych Exam 3 Review

Four to six months 

At what age can a infant be introduced to solid foods?

Iron-enriched cereal, strained fruits, strained vegetables, meats

In what order should solid foods be introduced to a child?

Colostrum

An early form of breast milk that is produced late in pregnancy and following childbirth. 

Neurons

Cells found in the nervous system that transmit messages.

Dendrites

The rootlike parts of a neuron that receive impulses from other neurons. 

Axon

A long, thin part of a neuron that transmits impulses to other neurons through small branching structures. 

Neurotransmitter

A chemical substance that makes possible the transmission of neural impulses from one neuron to another.

Myelin’s

_____ presence improves the efficiency of whatever the message is about and speeds up the message as well. 

Myelin Sheaths

A fatty, white substance that encases and insulates some neurons, permitting more rapid transmissions of neural impulses.

Myelination

The process by which axons are coated with myelin.

Cerebellum

The part of the hindbrain that involves muscle coordination and balance.

Medulla

An area of the hindbrain that involves heartbeat and respiration.

Cerebrum

The large mass of the forebrain that consists of two hemispheres.

Prenatal Spurt

A growth spurt of the brain that occurs during the fourth and fifth months of life. There is a proliferation of neurons with this. 

Second Spurt

A growth spurt of the brain that occurs between the twenty-fifth week of prenatal development through the second year of life. There is a proliferation of dendrites and axon terminals with this. 

One month

At what age can infants begin to lift their head?

Two months

At what age can infants begin to lift their torso and upper body?

Three months

At what age can infants begin to make clumsy swipes at objects?

Ulnar Grasp

A method of grasping objects that occurs around three to four months in which the fingers close somewhat clumsily against the palm.

Four to Six months

At what age can infants begin to transfer things back and forth between their hands?

Pincer Grasp

A method of grasping objects that occurs around nine months of age in which there is a use of the opposing thumb to grasp objects between the thumb and other fingers. 

Locomotion

The movement from one place to another. 

Four; Six

Infants can roll over at about _____ months and can roll over in both directions at about _____ months.

Six to seven months

At what age can infants begin to sit up?

Eight to nine months

At what age can infants begin to crawl?

Nine months

At what age can infants begin to stand up while holding on to something?

Twelve to fifteen months

At what age can infants begin to walk alone?

Sensation

The detection of a stimulus and the stimulation of sensory organs. 

Perception

The mental processing of the brain in reaction to a stimulus.

Habituation

The process of becoming used to something.

Contrast Sensitivity

A way to help us understand the early pattern preferences of newborns. As long as an infant can perceive a contrast the infant will prefer a visual stimulus with higher contrast. 

Depth Perception

This develops in infants around six months and allows them to judge distance when they begin to crawl. This was also the focus in the visual cliff study. 

Perceptual Constancy

The tendency to perceive objects as the same even though the sensations produced by them may differ in position or distance. 

Size Constancy

The tendency to perceive objects as being the same size even though the sizes of their images on the retina may differ as a result of distance. 

Shape Constancy

The tendency to perceive objects as being the same shape even though the shapes of their images on the retina may differ when the objects are viewed from different positions.

Intermodal Stimulation

The simultaneous input from more than one sensory modality.

Intermodal Perception

The integration of a simultaneous stimulation that results in the perception of such input as an integrated whole. 

Schemes

An action pattern or mental structure that is involved in the acquisition or organization of knowledge.

Assimilation

The incorporation of new events or knowledge into existing schemes.

Accommodation

The modification of existing schemes in order to incorporate new events or knowledge.

Sensorimotor Stage

The first two years of cognitive development that deals with sensory and motor activity. Divided into six substages.

Substage One

The substage in the sensorimotor stage that occurs through one month of age and is when simple reflexes occur.

Substage Two

The substage in the sensorimotor stage that occurs through one to four months of age and is when primary circular reactions occur. 

Primary Circular Reactions

The repetition of actions that first occurred by chance and that focus on the infant’s own body. 

Substage Three

The substage in the sensorimotor stage that occurs from four to eight months of age and is when secondary circular reactions occur. 

Secondary Circular Reactions

The repetition of actions that produce an effect on the environment.

Substage Four

The substage in the sensorimotor stage that occurs from eight to twelve months of age and is when the coordination of secondary schemas occurs. Infants can now put together two things they already know how to do to accomplish a goal. 

Substage Five

The substage in the sensorimotor stage that occurs from twelve to eighteen months of age and is when tertiary circular reactions occur. Where the infant goes through deliberate trial and error.

Tertiary Circular Reactions

The purposeful adaptation of established schemes to new situations.

Substage Six

The substage in the sensorimotor stage that occurs from eighteen to twenty-four months of age and is when infants are now capable of working through problems mentally. Also when representational ability occurs.

Representational Ability

The ability to mentally represent objects and actions in memory largely through symbols such as words or mental pictures. 

Object Permanence

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not seen.

Deferred Imitation

The imitation of people and events that were encountered or experienced hours, days, or weeks in the past.

Memory; Imitation

_____ and _____ are an infant’s tools for processing information.

Zone of proximal development, scaffolding

What are two important social influences on early cognitive development that Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory talks about?

Bailey Scales of Infant Development

Tests mental scales items such as verbal communication, perceptual skills, learning and memory, and problem-solving skills. Also tests motor scale items such as gross and fine motor skills. 

Visual Recognition Memory

The ability to discriminate perviously seen objects from novel ones.

Crying, cooing, babbling, echolalia

What is the order of the pre-linguistic vocalizations that occurs in infants?

Receptive Vocabulary

The sum total of the words whose meaning one understands.

Expressive Vocabulary

The sum total of the words that one can use in the production of language.

Prelinguistic

Refers to vocalizations made by the infant before the development of language. 

Eleven to thirteen months

At what age do infants being to speak?

Referential Language Style

The use of language primarily as a means for labeling objects.

Expressive Language Style

The use of language primarily as a means for engaging in social interaction.

Overextension

The use of words in situations in which their meanings become extended or inappropriate. 

Aphasia

A disruption in the ability to understand or produce language.

Functional Overextension

When someone overextends the meaning of a term based on the function 

Contextual Overextension

When someone overextends words to include everything in a given context. Anything that is learned in a context gets the same label. 

Affective Overextension

When someone overextends a meaning of a word based on emotions. 

Telegraphic Speech

A type of speech in which only the essential words are used.

Holophrase

A single word that is used to express complex meanings.

Syntax

The rules in a language for placing words in the proper order to form meaningful sentences. 

Psycholinguistic Theory

The view that language learning involves an interaction between environmental influences and an inborn tendency to acquire language. 

Language Acquisition Device

A neural “prewiring” that facilitates the child’s learning of grammar.

Emergentist Theory

The view that an infant’s complex abilities to understand and produce language emerges from simpler processes that are biological, cognitive, and social in nature. 

Broca’s Area

The area of the brain that is crucial in the production of speech.

Wernicke’s Area

The area of the brain that makes it possible to understand the relationships between words and their meanings. 

Angular Gyrus

A tiny brain structure that sits between your visual cortex and Wernicke’s area. It looks at a visual stimulus, translates it to auditory information, and then sends it to Wernicke’s area. 

Attachment

An emotional tie we form with another person. 

Secure Attachment

A type of attachment characterized by showing mild distress at leave-taking, seeking nearness to an attachment figure, and being readily soothed by this figure. 

Avoidant Attachment

A type of insecure attachment characterized by apparent indifferences to the leave-takings of, and reunions with, an attachment figure. 

Resistant Attachment

A type of insecure attachment characterized by severe distress at the leave-takings of, and unsure behavior at reunions with, an attachment figure. 

Disorganized-Disoriented Attachment

A type of insecure attachment characterized by dazed and contradictory behaviors toward an attachment figure. 

Initial Pre-Attachment Phase

A phase in the formation of attachment that occurs from birth to about three months of age and is characterized by indiscriminate attachment. 

Attachment-In-The-Making Phase

A phase in the development of attachment that occurs from three to four months of age and is characterized by preference for familiar figures.

Clear-Cut Attachment Phase

A phase in the development of attachment that occurs around six to seven months of age and is characterized by intensified dependence on the primary caregiver. 

Emotion Regulation

Techniques for controlling one’s emotional states.

Self-Concept

One’s impression of oneself. Self-awareness.

Temperament

Individual differences in styles of reaction that are present early in life. 

Easy

In Thomas and Chess’ study, about forty percent of children had _____ temperament. They had regular feeding and sleeping schedules, adapted easily to change, and were generally cheerful. 

Difficult

In Thomas and Chess’ study, about ten percent of children had _____ temperament. They had irregular sleeping and feeding schedules, were very slow and almost resistant to accepting change, and responded very negatively to that change. 

Slow To Warm Up

In Thomas and Chess’ study, about fifteen percent of children had _____ temperament. They had somewhat difficult feeding and sleeping schedules and responded negatively to change, but eventually accepted it. 

Goodness of Fit

An agreement between the parents’ expectations of, or demands on, the child and the child’s temperamental characteristics.

Two to Three

From early childhood and up, children grow about how many inches every year?

Four to S

From early childhood and up, children gain about how many pounds every year?

myelination

_____ increases the volume of the brain and improves the efficiency of physical abilities, such as visual skills and attention. This occurs in children at around four to seven years of age. 

Plasticity

The tendency of new parts of the brain to take up the function of injured parts.

Sprouting, Redundancy of neural connections

What are the two factors of plasticity?