Chapter 3

Question 1

rhythms

Answer 1

repetitive, cyclical patterns of behavior

Question 2

state

Answer 2

degree of awareness an infant displays to both internal and external stimulation

Question 3

rapid eye movement or REM, sleep

Answer 3

the period of sleep that is found in older children and adults and is associated with dreaming

Question 4

menarche

Answer 4

the onset of menstruation

Question 5

primary sex characteristics

Answer 5

characteristics associated with the development of the organs and structures of the body that directly relate to reproduction

Question 6

secondary sex characteristics

Answer 6

the visible signs of sexual maturity that do not directly involve the sex organs

Question 7

senescence

Answer 7

the natural physical decline brought about by increasing age

Question 8

primary aging

Answer 8

aging that involves universal and irreversible changes that, due to genetic programming, occur as people get older

Question 9

secondary aging

Answer 9

changes in physical and cognitive functioning that are due to illness, health habits, and other individual differences, but that are not due to increased age itself and are not inevitable

Question 10

osteoporosis

Answer 10

a condition in which the bones become brittle, fragile, and thin, often brought about by a lack of calcium in the diet

Question 11

gerontologists

Answer 11

specialists who study aging

Question 12

synaptic pruning

Answer 12

the elimination of neurons as the result of nonuse or lack of stimulation

Question 13

myelin

Answer 13

protective insulation that surrounds parts of the neurons, increasing the speed of transmission of electrical impulses along brain cells

Question 14

cerebral cortex

Answer 14

the upper layer of the brain

Question 15

plasticity

Answer 15

the degree to which a developing structure of behavior is modifiable due to experience

Question 16

sensitive period

Answer 16

a point of in development when organisms are particularly susceptible to certain kinds of stimuli in their environments, but the absence of those stimuli does not always produce irreversible consequences

Question 17

lateralization

Answer 17

the process in which certain cognitive functions are located more in one hemisphere of the brain than the other

Question 18

reflexes

Answer 18

unlearned, organized involuntary responses that occur automatically in the presence of certain stimuli

Question 19

norms

Answer 19

the average performance of a large sample of children of a given age

Question 20

Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS)

Answer 20

a measure designed to determine infants’ neurological and behavioral responses to their environment

Question 21

handedness

Answer 21

the preference of using one hand over the other

Question 22

sensation

Answer 22

the physical stimulation of the sense organs

Question 23

perception

Answer 23

the sorting out, interpretation, analysis, and integration of stimuli involving the sense organs and brain

Question 24

multimodal approach to perception

Answer 24

the approach that considers how information that is collected by various individual sensory systems is integrated and coordinated

Question 25

visual impairment

Answer 25

special need the involves significant loss of sight

Question 26

auditory impairment

Answer 26

a special need that involves the loss of hearing or some aspect of hearing

Question 27

speech impairment

Answer 27

sppech that deviates so much from the speech of others that it calls attention to itself, interferes with communication, or produces maladjustment in the speaker

Question 28

stuttering

Answer 28

substantial disruption in the rhythm and fluency of speech; the most common speech impairment

Question 29

presbyopia

Answer 29

a nearly universal change in eyesight during middle adulthood that results in some loss of near vision

Question 30

glaucoma

Answer 30

a condition in which pressure in the fluid of the eye increases, either because the fluid cannot drain properly or because too much fluid in produced

Question 31

presbycusis

Answer 31

loss of the ability to hear sounds of high frequency

Question 32

peripheral slowing hypothesis

Answer 32

the theory that suggests that overall processing speed declines in the PNS with increasing age

Question 33

generalized slowing hypothesis

Answer 33

the theory that processing in all parts of the nervous system, including the brain, is less efficient

Question 34

adolescence

Answer 34

a period of rapid physical growth, including the major changes associated with puberty

Question 35

autostimulation

Answer 35

when the brain stimulates itself – researchers believe the REM cycle is for this

Question 36

neurons

Answer 36

basic cells of the nervous system – consists of dendrite, axon, cell body, etc.

Question 37

dendrites

Answer 37

cluster of fibers at one end of neuron that receive messages from other cells

Question 38

axons

Answer 38

opposite end of neuron to dendrite, this part of neuron carries messages destined for other neurons

Question 39

neurotransmitters

Answer 39

chemical messangers between neurons

Question 40

synapses

Answer 40

smalls gaps between neurons

Question 41

corpus callosum

Answer 41

a bundle of nerve fibers that connect the two hemispheres of the brain

Question 42

autism

Answer 42

the profound developmental disability that produces language deficits and great difficulty in interacting with others

Question 43

prefrontal cortex

Answer 43

allows people to think, evaluate and make complex judgements in a uniquely human way, provides impulse control

Question 44

sound localization

Answer 44

allows us to pinpoint the direction in which a sound in emerging

Question 45

affordances

Answer 45

the option that a given situation or stimulus provides

Question 46

visual acuity

Answer 46

the ability to discern the fine spatial detail in both close and distant objects

Question 47

macula

Answer 47

a yellowish area near the retina at which visual perception is most acute