Infant and child development midterm 2 study guide

Occipital lobe

Part of the brain responsible for visual processing.

Parietal lobe

Part of the brain that processes sensory information.

Temporal lobe

Part of the brain involved in auditory processing and memory.

Frontal lobe

Part of the brain responsible for executive functions and decision making.

Corpus Callosum

Structure that connects the two hemispheres of the brain.

Plasticity

The brain's ability to change and adapt as a result of experience.

Experience-expectant development

Biologically prepared development that expects certain environmental information, refers to the brain's "pre-wired" neural systems that require common, species-typical environmental inputs (ex. light, sound, and social interaction) to develop normally

Experience-dependent development

The process by which unique, individual experiences across the lifespan shape brain structure and function (ex. learning to play a sport or instrument)

Serve and return

Interaction between adult and child that fosters neural connections.

Neuron Proliferation

Rapid increase of neurons during prenatal neurogenesis.

Neural pruning

Process where unnecessary neurons die off to streamline brain function.

Infant reflexes

Patterned, involuntary motor responses controlled by lower brain centers. Missing reflexes may indicate a neurological problem for the infant. Many are vestigial and fall away as we grow and develop our brains further (stepping reflex may be used to help develop motor skills, not to actually help us walk)

Cephalocaudal development

Physical growth and motor control that progresses from head to toe (ex. controlling the head before learning to walk)

Proximodistal development

Physical growth that proceeds from the center of the body outward (ex. infant gaining control over their shoulders and arms before mastering fine motor skills with their fingers and hands)

Canalization

Degree to which gene expression is influenced by the environment.

Sensorimotor stage

Piaget's stage from birth to 2 years focusing on reflexes turning into goal-oriented activity. Key milestone is object permanence/development of working memory. Starting to pass the A-not-B task (baby sees researcher hid toy in location A, but looks for it in location B).

Object permanence

Understanding that objects continue to exist even when not visible.

Preoperational stage

Piaget's stage from 2 to 7 years characterized by egocentrism and lack of conservation. Imagination starts to increase, might believe some inanimate objects are alive, playing pretend (ex. Teddy bear). Learning to speak. Starting to be able to pass theory of mind/Sally Anne test.

Concrete operational stage

Piaget's stage from 7 to 12 years where children understand conservation. Concrete cognitive operations are achieved (able to put objects in shape order, group objects together, understand how quantity remains the same after form changes). Egocentricism fades, we start to understand that other people think differently from us, can put ourselves in other people’s shoes.

Formal operational stage

Final stage of cognitive development at 12+ yrs old characterized by abstract thought. Have ability to think more rationally about abstract/hypothetical concepts and events. Better understanding of success vs failure, love vs hate, etc. Capable of deductive reasoning (can compare two concepts and reach logical generalization). Some aspects of egocentrism still remain (might feel like there is an imaginary audience watching us, might act hypocritically, think that we are very unique and special).

Theory of Mind

Understanding that others have beliefs, desires, and intentions different from one's own.

Violation of Expectation

Research technique measuring infant cognition by looking time at unexpected events. (drawbridge study and train going through object study)

Habituation Paradigms

Process where infants decrease looking time to familiar stimuli and increase to novel ones (drawbridge study and train going through object study)

Theory of Core Knowledge

Concept that infants have innate knowledge about 4 core domains (agents, objects, spatial relations, numbers), agentic understandings (relations between things)

Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Theory proposing eight distinct intelligences, each using a different processing method to result in a different end state

Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Theory that identifies three forms of intelligence:

analytical (Information processing capacities, included in traditional IQ tests),

creative (Insight and the ability to deal with novelty)

applied (how people deal with their surroundings)

Fluid intelligence

Ability to solve new problems and think logically, peaking in early adulthood.

Crystallized intelligence

Accumulation of knowledge and skills that remains stable or increases throughout adulthood.

Creativity

The ability to produce original ideas and solutions.

Nativist theory of language

Theory that language acquisition is an innate process occurring in an appropriate environment.

Interactionist theory of language

Theory that language is acquired through a combination of innate abilities and social interaction.

Child-directed speech

Speech that is louder, slower, and more exaggerated to help children learn language.

Phonemes

Smallest distinct sounds in a particular language.

Morphemes

Basic units of meaning in a language.

Theory of Core Knowledge

Early understanding of agents, objects, spatial relations, numbers (Spelke)

analytical intelligence

Information processing capacities

Included in traditional IQ

creativity intelligence

Insight and the ability to deal with novelty

applied intelligence

How people deal with surroundings

cognitive creativity

problem finding, divergent & convergent thinking, insight, knowledge

motivational/environment creativity

Rich in simulation emphasis on intellectual curiosity, building talent, time to reflect, encourage originality, intrinsic motivation

How are infants "citizens of the world"?

they are born with the universal ability to distinguish and produce all sounds and phonetic contrasts of all human languages, regardless of their environment.

Universal grammar theory

ability to acquire language is an innate, biological, and genetic component of the human mind, proposed by Noam Chomsky

Social pragmatic theory

language acquisition and communication skills are learned through social interaction, context, and understanding the intentions of others

Pragmatics

learning how to use language in a social context; learning how to communicate competently, “meta knowledge” about language

Morphological development

rules that govern the structure of words

Syntactic development

rules determining how words can be combined into sentences and phrases

Assimilation

new information is fit into existing mental frameworks (schemas)

Accommodation

when those existing schemas are changed or new ones are created to handle new, contradictory information

Equilibrium

the continuous process of balancing new information with existing mental frameworks (schemas) (assimilation + association)

Canalized motor development

sitting, crawling, and walking; reflexes such as rooting or sucking; and cephalocaudal and proximodistal

Early vocalizations

Cooing (2 to 4 months, vowel like noises) and babbling (4 to 6 months, repetitive consonant vowel combinations)