Ch. 3 Physical, Perceptual, and Motor Development

Question 1

REM (irregular or rapid-eye-movement) Sleep

Answer 1

Irregular sleep in which an infant’s eyes dart rapidly beneath the eyelids while the body is quite active

Question 2

Regular or nonREM Sleep

Answer 2

sleep in which heart rate, breathing, and brain activity are steady

Question 3

Neuron

Answer 3

Basic cellular unit of the brain and nervous system that specializes in receiving and transmitting information

Question 4

Cell Body

Answer 4

Center of the neuron that keeps it alive

Question 5

Dendrite

Answer 5

end of the neuron that receives information; it looks like a tree with many branches

Question 6

Axon

Answer 6

Tubelike structure that emerges from the cell body and transmits information to other neurons

Question 7

Terminal Buttons

Answer 7

small knobs at the end of the axon that release neurotransmitters

Question 8

Neurotransmitters

Answer 8

chemicals released by the terminal buttons that allow neurons to communicate with each other

Question 9

Cerebral Cortex

Answer 9

Wrinkled surface of the brain that regulates many functions that are distinctly human

Question 10

Hemispheres

Answer 10

Right and left halves of the cerebral cortex. For most people, ability to produce and understand language is housed in left hemisphere. Ability to recognize other’s emotions is housed in right.

Question 11

Corpus Callosum

Answer 11

Thick bundle of neurons that connects the left and right hemispheres

Question 12

Frontal Cortex

Answer 12

Brain region that regulates personality and goal directed behavior.

Question 13

Neural Plate

Answer 13

Flat group of cells present in prenatal development that becomes the brain and spinal chord

Question 14

Myelin

Answer 14

Fatty sheath that wraps around neurons and enables them to transmit information more rapidly

Question 15

Electroencephalography

Answer 15

Study of brain waves recorded from electrodes placed on the scalp

Question 16

fMRI or Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Answer 16

method of studying brain activity by using magnetic fields to track blood flow in the brain

Question 17

experience-expectant growth

Answer 17

process by which the wiring of the brain is organized by experiences that are common to most humans

Question 18

experience-dependent growth

Answer 18

Process by which an individual’s unique experiences over a lifetime affect brain structures and organization

Question 19

Dynamic Systems Theory

Answer 19

Views motor development as involving many distinct skills that are organized and reorganized over time to meet needs

Question 20

Differentiation

Answer 20

distinguishing and mastering individual motions

Question 21

Integration

Answer 21

Linking individual motions into a coherent, coordinated whole

Question 22

Visual Acuity

Answer 22

Smallest pattern that one can distinguish reliably (think eye test chart)

Question 23

Cones (in eye)

Answer 23

Specialized neurons in the back of the eye that sense color

Question 24

Kinetic Cues

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Visual expansion

Answer 25

Object fills even greater portion of retina as it moves closer (clue to depth perception)

Question 26

Motion Parallax

Answer 26

Nearby objects move across our visual field faster than distant objects

Question 27

Intersensory Redundancy

Answer 27

Infants’ systems are attuned to information presented simultaneously to different sensory modes (infant sees and hears mother clapping)

Question 28

Theory of Mind

Answer 28

Ideas about connections between thoughts, beliefs, intentions, and behavior that create an intuitive understanding of the link between mind and behavior. Children develop this between ages 2 and 5. Think of false belief ball in the basket task