Chapter 3: Physical and Cognitive Development in Infancy Flashcards
cephalocaudal pattern
earliest growth always occurs at the top (head) with physical growth in size, weight, and feature differentiation gradually working from top to bottom
proximodistal pattern
growth starts at center of body and moves to extremities
lateralization
specialization of function in one hemisphere of the cerebral cortex or the other
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
infant stops breathing, usually during the night, and suddenly dies without apparent cause
dynamic systems theory
perspective on motor development that seeks to explain how motor behaviors are assembled for perceiving and acting
gross motor skills
motor skills involving large-muscle activities such as walking
fine motor skills
motor skills that involve more finely tuned movements, such as finger dexterity
sensation
the product of the interaction between information and sensory receptors - the eyes, ears, tongue, nostrils, and skin
perception
the interpretation of what is sensed
visual preference method
developed by Fantz to determine whether infants can distinguish one stimulus from another by measuring the length of time they attend to different stimuli
habituation
decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations of the stimulus
sensorimotor stage (birth-2 years)
infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with motoric actions
object permanence
Piagetian term for understanding that objects and events continue to exist, even when they cannot directly be seen, heard, or touched
memory
central feature of cognitive development; pertaining to all situations in which an individual retains information over time
telegraphic speech
use of short and precise words without grammatical markers such as articles, auxiliary verbs, and other connectives
