CHAP 3 P1 Flashcards
Describe the overall physical growth of infants in the first few days of life.
Infants typically lose about 5 percent of their body weight as they eliminate waste and adjust to feeding.
How does birth weight change in the first year of life?
Birth weight doubles by 4 months and triples by 1 year.
Define body proportions in infants compared to adults.
At birth, the head is 25% of the body length, while in adulthood, it is 20% of the body length.
What are neurons and their function?
Neurons are nerve cells that store and transmit information.
Explain the role of dendrites in neuron function.
Dendrites are branching extensions that collect information from other neurons and undergo a period of exuberance during development.
What is synaptogenesis?
Synaptogenesis is the formation of connections between neurons, continuing from the prenatal period and forming thousands of new connections during infancy and toddlerhood.
Describe synaptic blooming and its timing.
Synaptic blooming is a period of rapid neural growth that occurs during the first few years of life.
What is synaptic pruning and its significance?
Synaptic pruning is the reduction of neural connections, strengthening those that are used, and is influenced by experience.
How does pruning affect brain efficiency?
Pruning reduces unused neural connections, thereby increasing brain efficiency.
What are the main parts of a neuron?
The main parts of a neuron include the cell body, dendrites, axon, myelin sheath, and synapses.
What is the function of the myelin sheath?
The myelin sheath insulates the axon, helping to speed the transmission of impulses between nerve cells.
How does myelin development progress during life?
Myelin development continues into adolescence but is most dramatic during the first several years of life.
Define the cortex and its role in the brain.
The cortex is the thin outer covering of the brain involved in voluntary activity and thinking, divided into two hemispheres and four lobes.
What is the primary function of the frontal lobe?
The frontal lobe is responsible for thinking, planning, memory, and judgment.
Describe the function of the parietal lobe.
The parietal lobe processes information about touch.
What does the occipital lobe do?
The occipital lobe processes visual information.
Describe the role of the temporal lobe in the brain.
The temporal lobe is responsible for hearing and language, located in front of the occipital lobe and between the ears.
Define lateralization in the context of brain function.
Lateralization is the process in which different functions become localized primarily on one side of the brain, such as language production being more active in the left hemisphere.
How does neuroplasticity benefit the brain?
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to change physically and chemically, enhancing its adaptability to environmental changes and compensating for injury.
What is the typical sleep duration for a newborn?
A newborn typically sleeps approximately 16.5 hours per 24-hour period.
Explain polyphasic sleep.
Polyphasic sleep involves several sleep periods throughout the day instead of one long sleep period.
Define Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID).
SUID refers to deaths among infants less than one year old that occur suddenly and have no immediately obvious cause.
What is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)?
SIDS is identified when a healthy infant dies suddenly and unexpectedly, with inconclusive findings from medical and forensic investigations.
How many infants died from SIDS in 2017?
In 2017, 1,400 infants died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Describe a leading hypothesis regarding SIDS.
A leading hypothesis suggests that infants who die from SIDS may have abnormalities in the brainstem area responsible for regulating breathing.
What constitutes an unknown cause of infant death?
An unknown cause of infant death occurs when a thorough investigation is not conducted, and the cause of death cannot be determined.
How many infants died from unknown causes in 2017?
In 2017, 1,300 infants died from unknown causes.
List some reasons for accidental suffocation in infants.
Accidental suffocation can occur due to soft bedding, another person rolling onto the infant, wedging between objects, or strangulation from crib railings.
What impact did the AAP safe sleep recommendations have on SUID death rates?
Following the AAP safe sleep recommendations released in 1992, the combined SUID death rate declined considerably.
What was the major campaign launched in 1994 regarding infant sleep safety?
The major campaign launched in 1994 was the Back to Sleep Campaign, advocating that infants be placed for sleep on their backs.
How did mortality rates from accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed change after the late 1990s?
Mortality rates from accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed remained unchanged until the late 1990s.
Describe the trend in death rates from accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed from 1998 to 2017.
Death rates from accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed began to increase in 1998, reaching a peak of 24.6 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017.
How many infants died from accidental suffocation and strangulation in 2017?
In 2017, 900 infants died from accidental suffocation and strangulation.
Define the AAP’s stance on bed sharing as of June 2022.
The AAP updated its recommendations in June 2022, stating they are unable to recommend bed sharing under any circumstances.
Explain the cultural perspective on co-sleeping.
Co-sleeping is common in many cultures due to a collectivist perspective that encourages close parent-child bonds.
How do parents and infants typically sleep in cultures where co-sleeping is common?
In cultures where co-sleeping is common, parents and infants typically sleep on floor mats and hard surfaces to minimize suffocation risks.
What are reflexes in infants?
Reflexes are involuntary movements in response to stimulation, important for early development.
List some common reflexes in infants and their significance.
Common reflexes include the sucking reflex and rooting reflex, which are important for feeding.
How do reflexes change as infants develop?
Grasping and stepping reflexes are replaced by more voluntary behaviors within the first few months.
What role do reflexes play in pediatric assessments?
Reflexes provide pediatricians insight into the maturation and health of the nervous system.
What can prolonged reflexes indicate about an infant’s development?
Reflexes that persist longer than they should can impede normal development.
How do reflexes differ in preterm infants compared to neurologically healthy infants?
In preterm infants and those with neurological impairments, some reflexes may be absent at birth and may persist longer than in neurologically healthy infants.
Describe the sucking reflex in infants.
The sucking reflex involves infants sucking on anything that touches their lips.
What is the rooting reflex?
The rooting reflex is when infants turn their head in response to their cheek being touched.
Explain the grasp reflex in infants.
The grasp reflex is when fingers automatically grip anything that touches the palm of the hand.
What happens during the Babinski reflex?
In the Babinski reflex, the toes will fan out and curl when the sole of the foot is stroked from heel to toe.
Describe the Moro reflex.
The Moro reflex occurs when a sudden noise or loss of support to the head and neck causes infants to spread out their arms and legs and then quickly contract the limbs inward.
What is the tonic neck reflex?
The tonic neck reflex occurs when an infant lies on their back with the head to one side, extending the arm and leg on that side while flexing the limbs on the opposite side.
What occurs during the stepping reflex?
The stepping reflex involves infants moving their legs in a stepping-like motion when their feet touch a smooth surface.
How does motor development progress in infants?
Motor development occurs in an orderly sequence as infants move from reflexive reactions to more advanced motor functioning.
What are the two patterns of development mentioned in the content?
Development occurs according to the cephalocaudal pattern (from head to tail) and the proximodistal pattern (from the center of the body outward).
Describe the development of head control in infants.
Infants gain head control before they develop the ability to walk.
Define proximodistal development in motor skills.
Proximodistal development refers to the principle where motor skills develop from the midline of the body outward, such as grasping with the whole hand first and then using fingers later.
How do motor skills relate to body movement and object manipulation?
Motor skills refer to our ability to move our bodies and manipulate objects.
What are fine motor skills and their significance?
Fine motor skills focus on the muscles in our fingers, toes, and eyes, enabling coordination of small actions like grasping a toy, writing with a pencil, and using a spoon.
Explain the palmer grasp and its developmental timeline.
The palmer grasp, which occurs at around 4 months, involves grasping an object using the fingers and palm without the use of thumbs.
What is the pincer grasp and when does it develop?
The pincer grasp develops at about 9 months of age, allowing infants to grasp objects using the forefinger and thumb.
Describe gross motor skills and provide examples.
Gross motor skills focus on large muscle groups that control the head, torso, arms, and legs, involving larger movements such as balancing, running, and jumping.
How do gross motor skills develop in relation to fine motor skills?
Gross motor skills generally develop before fine motor skills.
What did William James describe about the newborn’s sensory experience?
William James described the newborn’s world as ‘a blooming, buzzing confusion’.
How developed is vision at birth?
Vision is one of the most poorly developed senses at birth, with newborns typically unable to see further than 8 to 10 inches away.
What is the visual acuity of an 8-week-old infant?
An 8-week-old infant has a visual acuity of 20/300.
How does visual acuity change by 3 months of age?
By 3 months, visual acuity sharpens to 20/200.
What visual characteristics do young infants experience?
The world looks blurry to young infants, and they prefer face-like stimuli over other patterns.
Explain the development of the fovea in infants.
The fovea, which allows for sharp detail vision, is not fully developed at birth and reaches adult levels of development by 15 months.
What color perception abilities do infants have by five months?
By five months, infants typically see the full color spectrum and can perceive pure colors like vivid red or green.
How do infants’ preferences for faces change with age?
One-month-olds fixate on the outer edges of faces, while two-month-olds focus more on inner features, especially the eyes.
When does depth perception develop in infants?
Depth perception is present by 6 months of age.
What role does experience play in sensory development?
Experience is very important for proper sensory development.
Describe saccadic movements in infants.
Saccadic movements are step-like jerky movements that infants exhibit.
What is binocular vision and when does it develop?
Binocular vision, which requires input from both eyes, is evident around the third month and continues to develop during the first six months.
How developed is the sense of hearing at birth?
The sense of hearing is almost fully developed at birth, having developed by the 7th month of prenatal development.
What preference do newborns have regarding voices?
Newborns prefer their mother’s voice over other females when speaking the same material.
How do infants register information from their mother’s voice?
Infants register specific information from their mother’s voice while in utero.
Describe the ability of infants to distinguish sounds shortly after birth.
Infants can distinguish between similar sounds as early as one month after birth and can differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar voices even earlier.
How do infants respond to human speech frequencies?
Infants are particularly sensitive to frequencies in human speech and prefer exaggerated infant-directed speech.
Define the language preference of infants between six and nine months.
Between six and nine months, infants show a preference for their native language, while the ability to distinguish sounds not present in their native language diminishes rapidly.
What is the sensitivity of newborns to touch and pain?
Immediately after birth, newborns are sensitive to touch and temperature, and they are highly sensitive to pain, responding with crying and cardiovascular responses.
Explain the impact of circumcision without anesthesia on infants.
Infants who were circumcised without anesthesia experienced more pain and fear during routine childhood vaccines.
How do newborns demonstrate their taste and smell preferences?
Newborns can distinguish between sour, bitter, sweet, and salty flavors, showing a preference for sweet flavors and the smell of their mothers.
What preference do infants show towards their mothers shortly after birth?
An infant only 6 days old is significantly more likely to turn toward its own mother’s breast pad than to that of another baby’s mother.
Describe the intermodal perception abilities of infants.
Infants seem to be born with the ability to perceive the world in an intermodal way, integrating stimulation from more than one sensory modality.
How do infants match sensory experiences with their motor abilities?
Sensory processes in infants are influenced by their developing motor abilities, allowing actions like reaching and crawling to enable new ways of seeing, touching, and organizing experiences.
What visual preferences do infants show when interacting with different pacifier surfaces?
Infants who suck on a pacifier with a smooth or textured surface prefer corresponding visual models of the pacifier.
At what age can infants match lip movements with speech sounds?
By 4 months, infants can match lip movements with speech sounds and other audiovisual events.
