3: Physical and Cognitive Development in Infants and Toddlers Flashcards
the gap between the dendrites of one neuron and the axon of another, over which impulses flow
synapse
an effective calming strategy that involves holding a young infant next to a caregiver’s body
skin-to-skin contact
excessively short stature in a child, caused by chronic lack of adequate nutrition
stunting
standard custom, in collectivist cultures, of having a child and parent share a bed
co-sleeping
Chomsky’s term for a hypothetical brain structure that enables our species to learn and produce language
language acquisition device (LAD)
first infant habits during sensorimotor stage, centered on the body
primary circular reactions
children’s ability to put themselves back to sleep when they wake up during the night - usually begins at about 6 months of age
self-soothing
the outer, folded mantle of the brain, responsible for thinking, reasoning, perceiving, and all conscious responses
cerebral cortex
a baby’s frantic, continual crying during the first three months of life, caused by an immature nervous system
colic
predictable loss of interest that develops once a stimulus becomes familiar
habituation
infant habits beginning around age 1, involving flexibly changing behavior to explore properties of objects, experiment with them (little-scientist phase)
tertiary circular reactions
newborns’ automatic response to a touch on the cheek, turning toward that location and beginning to suck
rooting reflex
performing a different action to achieve a certain goal - sign of emerging reasoning around age 1
means-end behavior
human tendency to be hypersensitive to fearful facial cues that, by alerting us to danger, may prevent us from harm
fear bias
formation of a fatty layer encasing the axons of neurons, speeds transmission of impulses - continues from birth to early adulthood
myelination
first clear evidence of language, when babies use a single word to communicate a sentence or complete thought
holophrase
tree-like, branching ends of brain that receive information and conduct impulses toward the cell body of a neuron
dendrites
long nerve fibers that conduct impulses away from the cell body of a neuron
axons
the unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant, often while sleeping, during the first year of life
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
first stage of combining words in which a toddler pares down a sentence to its essential words
telegraphic speech
alternating vowel and consonant sounds that babies repeat with varying intonation, pitch - precede first words
babbling
principle that human beings are attracted to novelty and look selectively at new things
preferential-looking paradigm
forming of connections between neurons at the synapses, responsible for all perceptions, actions, thoughts - continues throughout life
synaptogenesis
a response or action that is automatic, not under conscious control
reflex
Piaget’s first stage of cognitive development, lasting from birth to age 2, when babies’ agenda is to pin down the basics of physical reality through senses
sensorimotor stage
infant habits centered on exploring the external world - lasting from 4 months to baby’s first birthday
secondary circular reactions
understanding that objects continue to exist even when we can no longer see them
object permanence
repetitive action-oriented schemas (habits) characteristic of babies during sensorimotor stage
circular reactions
phase of sleep involving rapid eye movements, dreaming - infants spend most their time in this state, decreases as they mature
REM sleep
approach to language development that emphasizes its social function, specifically that babies and adults have mutual passion to communicate
social-interactionist perspective
a chronic lack of adequate food
undernutrition
malleable - capable of being changed
plastic
simplified, exaggerated, high-pitched tones that adults and children use to speak to infants that function to help teach language
infant-directed speech (IDS)
statistic of U.S. households that report needing to serve unbalanced meals, worries about not having enough food, going hungry due to lack of money
food insecurity
mistake made by infants in the sensorimotor stage, where they return to the original hiding place to look for an object even though they have seen it in a second place
A-not-B error
carrying a young baby in a sling close to the caregiver’s body - useful soothing technique
kangaroo care
ability to judge distances, including seeing heights
depth perception
making the home safe for a newly mobile infant
baby-proofing
the automatic, spontaneous sucking movements newborns produce, especially when anything touches their lips
sucking reflex
any skill related to managing and decoding people’s emotions and feelings, negotiating interpersonal interactions
social cognition
rules and word-arranging systems that every human language employs to communicate meaning
grammar
a table that appears to “end” in a drop-off at its midpoint; used to test infant depth perception
visual cliff
perspective on understanding cognition that divides thinking into specific steps and component processes, like a computer
information-processing approach
research using preferential looking and habituation to explore what young babies know about faces
face-perception studies
