Chapter 4: Brain, Perception, and Motor Development Flashcards
Brain Development in Infancy and Childhood
What are synapses?
connectors that allow messages to be sent from one neuron (nerve cell) to another, then throughout the body
Brain Development in Infancy and Childhood
What is synaptogenesis?
formation of new synapses
- at the beginning of line, the brain makes way more synapses than we need (500% jump from birth to 2 years)
Brain Development in Infancy and Childhood
What is synaptic pruning?
loss of unused neural connections
Brain Development in Infancy and Childhood
What is lateralization?
process of brain hemispheres (left and right) becoming specialized to carry out different functions
Brain Development in Infancy and Childhood
When does lateralization occur?
before birth
Brain Development in Infancy and Childhood
What is lateralization influenced by?
influenced by both genes and experience
ie. being forced to be right-handed
Brain Development in Infancy and Childhood
What is the Corpus Callosum?
neural fibres that runs down the middle of the brain and connect the two hemispheres that grow during lateralization
- grows very rapidly → the more it grows, the more the two hemispheres are able to coordinate responsibilities
Brain Development in Infancy and Childhood
What is plasticity?
brain’s capacity to change its organization and function in response to experience
ie. traumatic brain injury: brain is plastic enough that it can reorganize itself and recover significantly, whereas adults have a harder time
Brain Development in Adolescence
What triggers neurological developments?
pubertal hormones
Brain Development in Adolescence
Does synaptogenesis occur in adolescence?
yes, but makes way less than in infancy and childhood
Brain Development in Adolescence
What happens to the brain when pubertal hormones trigger neurological developments?
increase in cerebral cortex volume
Brain Development in Adolescence
What is the cerebral cortex?
helps with judgement, so adolescents can analyze things more complexly and look at things from different angles
Brain Development in Adolescence
What is the Dual Process Model?
limbic system undergoes burst of development before prefrontal cortex
Brain Development in Adolescence
What is the limbic system responsible for?
emotion and reward, things that make us feel good
Brain Development in Adolescence
What is the prefrontal cortex responsible for?
judgement
Brain Development in Adolescence
What accounts for “typical” adolescent behaviours?
adolescents are more likely to respond to stimulation of limbic system than it is to have the prefrontal cortex be functioning at a high level
Brain Development in Adolescence
What are “typical” adolescent behaviours?
- judgement is not good, specifically in situations where there can be a good judgement reward
- adolescents are more likely to be risk-takers, unrealistically emotional, aggressive because the limbic system is more advanced that prefrontal cortex
Gross Motor Development
What are gross muscles?
larger muscles
Gross Motor Development
What is gross motor development?
ability to control the large movements of the body
- actions that help us move around in our environment (rollover, sit up, crawl, walk)
- gains in coordination
Gross Motor Development
What is cephalocaudal progression?
motor control moves from the head down
- evolve in a predictable sequence
Fine Motor Development
What is fine motor development?
- ability to control small movements of the fingers such as reaching and grasping
- opportunities to practice all motor skills
Fine Motor Development
What is child-rearing context?
are parents and caregivers providing opportunities to practice these motor skills?
Fine Motor Development
How do different cultures see motor development?
- different cultures, different techniques are used to encourage motor development
- some types of motor development is more important than others
What is sensation?
occurs when one of the five senses (see, hear, smell, taste, touch) detects a stimulus
What is perception?
the sense our brain makes of the stimulus and our awareness of it
- brain needs to understand the sense
What is visual acuity?
sharpness of vision (perfect vision: 20/20)
- newborn can see, but not well (vision: 2400/20)
- 6-12 months (end up with 20/20 vision)
What is visual tracking?
follow movements with eyes
- improves with age
Describe hearing in infancy.
- the most well-developed sense at birth
- capacity to hear develops in utero
- newborns are attentive to voices and prefer speech sounds over non-speech sounds (know the difference between speech sounds and non-speech sounds), they would rather hear you talk than hear music
ie. some parents talk to the baby, read, play music
Describe touch in infancy.
(especially with the mouth) is a critical means of learning about the world
- children are always putting things in their mouth
What can reduce stress responses in infants?
- caregiver’s massage
- preterm and low weight babies can gain weight through massage
What is the analgesic effect?
reducing infants’ pain response
What sense has an analgesic effect?
touch: skin-to-skin contact
Describe smell in infancy.
- well developed at birth
- can discriminate between 2 different smells
- can recognize mother’s odor (which has a calming effect)
Describe taste in infancy.
- well developed at birth
- can discriminate between 2 different tastes
- show innate preferences for some tastes
How do infants show innate preferences for some tastes?
- newborns can tell the difference between human milk and formula, prefer human milk
- prefer sugary foods
- experiences modify their taste preferences (ie. according to different familial, cultural environments)
Gross Motor Development
What motor skill is achieved at age 2 months?
- lift head
- holds head steady when held upright
Gross Motor Development
What motor skill is achieved at age 3 months?
- pushes head and chest up from arms
- rolls from stomach to back
Gross Motor Development
What motor skill is achieved at age 4 months?
grasps cube
Gross Motor Development
What motor skill is achieved at age 6 months?
sits without support
Gross Motor Development
What motor skill is achieved at age 7 months?
- rolls from back to stomach
- attempts crawling
- uses opposite thumb to grasp objects
Gross Motor Development
What motor skill is achieved at age 8 months?
- achieves sitting position alone
- pulls to a stand
Gross Motor Development
What motor skill is achieved at age 9 months?
“cruises” by holding on to furniture
Gross Motor Development
What motor skill is achieved at age 10 months?
plays patty-cake
Gross Motor Development
What motor skill is achieved at age 11 months?
stands alone
Gross Motor Development
What motor skill is achieved at age 12 months?
walks alone
Gross Motor Development
What motor skill is achieved at age 14 months?
- builds tower of two cubes
- scribbles
Gross Motor Development
What motor skill is achieved at age 17 months?
walks up steps
Gross Motor Development
What motor skill is achieved at age 18 months?
runs
Fine Motor Development
What gross motor skills and fine motor skills are achieved at age 2-3?
Gross: walks more smoothly, runs but cannot turn or stop suddenly, jumps, throws a ball with a rigid body and catches by trapping ball against chest, rides push toys using feet
Fine: unzips large zippers, puts on and removes some clothing, uses a spoon
Fine Motor Development
What gross motor skills and fine motor skills are achieved at age 3-4?
Gross: runs, ascends stairs alternating feet, jumps 15-24 inches, hops, pedals and steers tricycle
Fine: serves food, can work large buttons, copies vertical line and circle, uses scissors
Fine Motor Development
What gross motor skills and fine motor skills are achieved at age 4-5?
Gross: runs more smoothly with control over stopping and turning, descends stairs alternating feet, jumps 24-33 inches, ski[s, throws balls by rotating the body and transferring weight to one foot, catches ball with hands, ride tricycles, and steers effectively
Fine: uses scissors to cut along a line, uses fork effectively, copies simple shape and some letters
Fine Motor Development
What gross motor skills and fine motor skills are achieved at age 5-6?
Gross: runs more quickly, skips more effectively, throws and catches a ball like older children, makes a running jump of 28-36 inches, rides bicycles with training wheels
Fine: ties shoes, uses knife to cut soft food, copies numbers and simple words
