214 EXAM 2 RETRY
Chapter 5
• Function of “baby fat”:
maintains body temperature; peaks at 9 m
• Benefits of breastfeeding:
best for infants’ needs, correct amount of fat/protein, protection against respiratory/intestine infection
• Cephalocaudal trend vs. proximodistal trend:
Cephalocadual: head develops faster than body
Proximodistal: center outward develops before arms/legs
• Areas of the brain and the prefrontal cortex:
Neurons: nerve cells store/transmit info
Glial: ½ brains volume; physical and chemical; responsible for myelination; multiply rapidly 4th month of pregnancy - 2nd year of life
Prefrontal cortex: front areas controlling movement
Frontal lobe: responsible for concentration, planning, problem solving, speech, and motor control
Parietal lobe: sensory/touch processing and reception
Cerebellum: coordination
• Brain growth patterns :
Experience-expectant brain growth: natural-like chances to explore environment like interactions with people; depends on ordinary experience
Experience-dependent brain growth: growth based on specific experiences the child has; not always natural; additional growth as a result of specific experiences
• Synaptic pruning
Synapses: tiny gaps between neurons
Neurotransmitters: chemicals released by neurons and send messages across synapses
Synaptic pruning: neurons that die off when not stimulated (40% die off, leaves space for preexisting synapses)
• Function of myelination
Myelination: coating of neutral fibers with myelin, insulating fatty sheath; efficient message transfer
• Growth faltering and catch-up growth
Growth faltering: slower rate of weight gain in childhood than expected for sex/age
Catch up growth: physical growth delayed due to environment
• Neuroimaging techniques (basic procedure for each)
EEG (Electroencephalogram): brain wave pattern and stability
ERP (Event-Related Potentials): general location of brain wave activity with stimulus
PET (Positron Emission Tomography): blood flow and oxygen metabolism in areas of brain in response to stimuli; injection of radioactive substance and xray
fMRI (Functional magnetic Resonance Imaging): measures the same as PET (blood flow/oxygen metabolism) but magnetically
NIRS (Near-Infrared Spectroscopy): infared light beamed at areas of cerebral cortex; measures the same as PET and fMRI, allows movement; limited to C.C.
• Characteristics of a highly plastic cortex
Highly plastic cortex characteristics: depends on timing of lateralization; brain is highly plastic in first few years of life and able to reorganize specific functions
Cerebral Cortex: largest most sensitive brain structure with extended period of development
• Sensitive period for brain development; studies of children in orphanages
Extreme sensory depravation in early life = permanent brain damage or loss of function
• Appropriate stimulation vs. overstimulation in an infant’s environment
Appropriate stimulation: helps with brain development
Overstimulation: overwhelming amount of stimulus
• Learning capacities in infancy (conditioning, habituation)
Classical Conditioning: reflexes; require unconditioned stimulus; learned behavior
Operant conditioning: operate in environment; stimulus that causes learned behavior; reward-avoidance learning
Habituation: reduction of strength of response of a stimulus due to repetitiveness
Recovery: return high strength response with new stimulus
• Development of motor skills (prereaching, different grasps)
Gross-motor development: control over actions that help infant navigate environment
Fine motor development: control over smaller movements
Dynamic system theory of motor development: mastery of motor skills through aquiring more complex systems of actions
Prereaching: newborn poorly coordinated swipes toward objects (3-6 months)
Reaching: controlled by proprioception
Ulnar grasp: clumsy motion in which fingers close against palms (3-4 months)
Pincer grasp: well-coordinated grasp using thumb/index finger (9 months)
• Visual cliff (Gibson & Walk)
Visual cliff (Gibson & Walk): develops depth cues
• Infant preference for faces
Infants face preference: mother due to repeated exposure; distinctions at 3 months
• Other information
Lateralization: specialization of brain hemispheres (left/right brain
Skeletal age: measure of bone development
Programmed cell death: makes space for neural fibers/synapses
Chapter 6
• Piaget’s sensorimotor stage – how do infants think
Primary circular reaction (1-4 months) simple motor habits centered around body
Secondary circular reactions (4-8 months): imitation of familiar behaviors and interesting effects
Coordination of secondary circular reactions (8-12 months): intentional, goal directed behavior
Tertiary circular reactions (12-18 months): exploring objects by acting on them in novel ways
• Circular reactions • Mental representations
Mental representations (18 m - 2 years): internal depictions of that info can manipulate; make believe play
• Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory (scaffolding, zone of proximal development)
Sociocultural theory: social and economic status that the child is born into affects their cognitive structure of the world
Zone of Proximal Development: range of tasks the child cannot handle but can do with assistance
Scaffolding: child joins in interactions and picks up mental strategies
• Information processing theory – components of the mental system
Sensory store: sights and signs are represented directly and stored momentarily
Short term memory store: info is retained then discarded when not needed
• Infant categorization skills
(6 months) categorize on basis of 2 correlated features
(after 6 months) categories are based on clusters of features
• Operant conditioning research
memory moves from highly context dependent to context free
• Theories of language development (nativist, behaviorist, interactionist) – strengths and limitations of each
Behaviorist (BF Skinner): operant conditioning (reinforcement) and intimidation; the environment in which we pick up language will effect language we use; doesnt provide evidence for children making up words
Nativist (Noam Chomsky): inborn LAD (language acquisition) which biologically prepares infant to learn language rules; no explanation for universal rules of grammar
Interactionist: Children interact with environment then watch how environment responds
• Sequence of language development/acquisition
Language acquisition device (LAD): innate system containing a universal grammar common to all languages
• Language comprehension vs. production (which comes first)
Production: word combinations children use
Comprehension: language children understand
Joint attention: child attends to the same object/event as caretaker; mirroring
• First speech sounds
cooing: vowel-like sounds (2 months)
Babbling: repeated consonant-vowel combinations (6 months)
• Overextension and underextension
Overextension: applying words broadly
Underextension: applying words too narrowly
• Telegraphic speech
Telegraphic speech: 2-word utterances and involving smaller words that aren’t necessary
Chapter 7
• Erikson’s psychosocial stages during infancy and toddlerhood
Basic trust vs mistrust (year 1): if needs are met, they develop trust and expect the world to be good, allowing exploration. Reliant on people around.
Autonomy vs shame and doubt (year 2): seeing how much control over the environment; children who arent overly-criticized will develop self-confidence or security. Under controlling parents will create shame or doubt in ability to act on their own. Reliance on others
• Basic and self-conscious emotions
Emotions: important part of children’s dynamic system of actions; facial expression best cues for determining infant emotions
Basic emotions: happiness, interest, surprise, fear, anger, sadness, disgust
Self conscious emotions: higher-order feelings involving injury to or enhancement of sense of self; guilt, shame, embarrassment, envy, pride
• Social referencing
social referencing (8-10 months): seek emotional info from trusted person in uncertain situation. Toddlers use others’ emotional messages to evaluate safety of surroundings to guide their actions and gather information
• Emotional self-regulation and effortful control
Emotional regulation: strategies to adjust emotional states to a comfortable level of intensity to accomplish goals
• Temperament dimensions and modes of temperament
Temperament: early appearing, stable individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation
Reactivity: quickness and intensity of emotional arousal, attention, and motor activity
Self regulation: strategies that modify reactivity
Thomas and Chess’ model: categorizations of children; Easy child (40%), Difficult child (10%), slow to warm up child (10%)
• Goodness of fit and temperament
Goodness of fit and temperament: create child-rearing environments that recognize childs temperament and encourage more adaptive functioning; helpful in effective parenting
• Bowlby’s ecological theory and stages of attachment
Ethological Theory of Attachment: attachment as an evolved response that promotes survival; preattachment, attachment, clear cut attachment, reciprocal relationships
Preattachment: attachment at birth - 6 weeks old
Attachment: attachment in the making - 6 weeks to 6-8 months
Clear-cut attachment: 6-8 months to 18m - 2 years - separation anxiety emerges
Reciprocal relationships: attachment 18 months - 2 years
• Self-awareness and self-categorization in infancy and toddlerhood
Self awareness: implicit sense of self-world differentiation; acting on the environment and receiving sensitive caregiving
Self-recognition: well underway around 2 years old
Categorical self: classifying self and others based on age, sex, physical appearance, goodness and badness
• Self-control, compliance, delay of gratification
Self control: self awareness contributes to effortful control
Compliance: ability to obey simple requests and commands (12-18 months)
Delay of gratification: waiting for the right time and place to engage in a tempting act