Chapter 3: Physical growth and aging across the life span

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 (REM) sleep

Answer 3

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

Question 4

puberty

Answer 4

the period of maturation during which the sexual organs mature

Question 5

menarche

Answer 5

the onset of menstruation

Question 6

primary sex characteristics

Answer 6

characteristics associated with the development of the organs and structures of the body that directly relate to reproduction (ex. development of the uterus)

Question 7

secondary sex characteristics

Answer 7

the visible signs of sexual maturity that do not directly involve the sex organs (ex. development of breasts)

Question 8

senescence

Answer 8

the natural physical decline brought about by increasing age

Question 9

primary aging

Answer 9

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

Question 10

secondary aging

Answer 10

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 11

osteoporosis

Answer 11

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

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 neurons, increasing the speeds 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 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

dendrites

Answer 17

cluster of fibers that receive messages from other cells

Question 18

axon

Answer 18

long extension part of the neurons that carries messages destined for other neurons

Question 19

neurotransmitters

Answer 19

chemical messengers that are how neurons communicate with each other

Question 20

laterization

Answer 20

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

Question 21

reflexes

Answer 21

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

Question 22

norms

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS)

Answer 23

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

Question 24

handedness

Answer 24

the preference of using one hand over the other

Question 25

sensation

Answer 25

the physical stimulation of the sense organs

Question 26

perception

Answer 26

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

Question 27

multimodal approach to perception

Answer 27

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

Question 28

affordances

Answer 28

the option that a given situation or stimulus provides

Question 29

visual impairment

Answer 29

a special need that involves significant loss of sight

Question 30

auditory impairment

Answer 30

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

Question 31

speech impairment

Answer 31

speech 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 32

stuttering

Answer 32

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

Question 33

presbyopia

Answer 33

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

Question 34

glaucoma

Answer 34

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

Question 35

presbycusis

Answer 35

loss of the ability to hear sounds of high frequency

Question 36

peripheral slowing hypothesis

Answer 36

the theory that suggests that overall processing speed declines in the peripheral nervous system with increasing age

Question 37

generalized slowing hypothesis

Answer 37

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

Question 38

moro reflex

Answer 38

activated when support for the neck and head is suddenly removed; baby’s arms thrusting outward and then appearing to seek to grasp onto something