Ch. 5: Perceptual and Motor Development

Question 1

What is habituation?

Answer 1

Paying less attention as something becomes familiar.

Question 2

Define auditory threshold.

Answer 2

The quietest sound a person can hear.

Question 3

Describe the hearing of infants.

Answer 3

Good hearing, not as accurate as adults. Best for sounds that have pitches in range of human speech (medium).

Question 4

Hearing impairment can be caused by what?

Answer 4

Heredity or disease.

Question 5

When can an infant typically recognize their own name?

Answer 5

By 4 months.

Question 6

Define visual acuity. What is the general trajectory of it in infants?

Answer 6

The smallest pattern that can be dependably distinguished.

Improves rapidly from one month to one year.

Question 7

Until 6 months of age, vision is what?

Answer 7

20/240

Question 8

Visually, what do 2-3 week old children prefer?

Answer 8

Patterns.

Question 9

At what point is infants’ colour perception like adults’ colour perception?

Answer 9

3-4 months.

Question 10

Infants perceive many of the relations between sensory systems (e.g. “multimedia events”). What are three of these ways?

Answer 10

Recognize visually an object that they have only touched previously.

Detect relations between visual and auditory information.

Link body movement to musical rhythm.

Question 11

What four elements are used to perceive objects?

Answer 11

Motion, colour, texture, and aligned edges.

Question 12

By 4 months, infants have what four things in terms of perceiving objects?

Answer 12

Size, shape, brightness, and colour constancy.

Question 13

What are the five cues for perceiving depth?

Answer 13

Kinetic cues: motion used to perceive depth.

Visual expansion: as an object moves closer, fills a greater proportion of the retina.

Motion parallax: closer objects seem to move faster across the visual field than objects farther away.

Retinal disparity: left/right eyes see slightly different versions of the same scene - greater disparity means object is closer.

Pictorial cues: arrangement of objects in environment; artists use same cues to convey depth in paintings and drawings.

Question 14

What is the visual cliff? What happens when infants go on it?

Answer 14

Glass-covered platform; on one side, pattern appears directly under the glass, but on other, appears several feet below.

Young babies can detect a difference between shallow and deep sides; only older, crawling babies are actually afraid of it.

Question 15

In general, how would you describe infants perceive faces.

Answer 15

Infants like looking at faces. By 3 months, infants tend to look at the features of the face (eyes, nose, lips).

Question 16

Perceptual processes are closely linked to what?

Answer 16

Motor skills: coordinated movements of the muscles and limbs.

Question 17

Perception often guides a child’s _____.

Answer 17

Movement.

Question 18

What is dynamic systems theory?

Answer 18

Motor development involves many distinct skills that are reorganized over time to meet the demands of specific tasks.

Question 19

Define locomotion and fine-motor skills.

Answer 19

Locomotion: moving about in the world.

Fine-motor skills: associated with grasping, holding, and manipulating objects.

Question 20

Why are toddlers called “toddlers”?

Answer 20

Named after the toddling manner of early walking.

Question 21

Learning to walk involves what four things?

Answer 21

Posture and balance.

Stepping.

Environmental cues.

Coordinating skills.

Question 22

_____ oneself provides many opportunities to use and practice fine motor skills

Answer 22

Feeding.

Question 23

Toddlers prefer to use _____ and this preference becomes stronger during the preschool years

Answer 23

One hand.

Question 24

What influences handedness?

Answer 24

Heredity and culture.

Question 25

Mastery of intricate motions requires what two things?

Answer 25

Differentiation: mastery of component skills.

Integration: combining component skills in proper sequence into a coherent, working whole.

Question 26

_____ and _____ become more coordinated throughout infancy

Answer 26

Reaching; grasping.

Question 27

Fitness levels of Canadian children are considered low. What are two reasons for this?

Answer 27

Many children engage in sedentary leisure activities.

Minimal physical education in schools.

Question 28

Participation in sports can help improve what four things? What is the one condition of this, however.

Answer 28

Helps children be physically fit.

Teaches cognitive and social skills.

Increases feelings of competency and self-esteem.

Decreases suicidal thinking.

Participation must be with positive adults.