Chapter 4: Infancy: Early learning, motor skills, and perceptual capacities Flashcards
True/False:
Babies start relating to their social worlds from around six weeks.
False. In relating to their social worlds, babies are active from the start.
Define reflex
an inborn, automatic response to a particular form of stimulation
What stimulation is required to induce the eye blink reflex?
By shining a bright light at the eyes or clapping near the head
What is the eye blink reflex?
Infant quickly closes eyelids
True/False:
The eye blink reflex disappears at 3 months.
False. It is a permanent reflex.
What is the function of the eye blink reflex?
It protects the infant from strong stimulation
When an infant’s cheek is stroked near the corner of the mouth, the infant turns his/her head towards the source of stimulation. What is this reflex called, and what is the function of this reflex?
Rooting. It helps the infant find the nipple.
When does the rooting reflex disappear?
At around 3 weeks when it becomes voluntary head turning
What stimulation induces the sucking reflex?
Placing a finger in the infant’s mouth induces the sucking reflex, and an infant will suck rhythmically on the finger
True/False:
The sucking reflex disappears at around 4 months.
True. The sucking reflex is replaced by voluntary sucking after 4 months
What is the function of the sucking reflex?
It permits feeding
The swimming reflex occurs when an infant is face down in pool of water. What does the infant do in response?
The infant paddles and kicks in swimming motion
True/False:
The swimming reflex disappears around the age of 8 months.
False. The swimming reflex disappears earlier - around 4-6 months.
What is the function of the swimming reflex?
It helps the infant survive if dropped into water
What stimulation induces the moro reflex?
The infant is held horizontally on its back and its head is allowed to drop slightly, or a sudden loud sound against the surface supporting infant is produced.
What is the moro reflex?
In response to the stimulus, the infant makes an ‘embracing’ motion by arching its back, extending its legs, throwing its arms outward, and then bringing its arms in toward the body
What is thought to be the function of the moro reflex?
In human evolutionary past, the moro reflex may have helped the infant cling to its mother
When does the moro reflex disappear?
At approximately 6 months.
When a finger is placed in an infant’s hand and pressed against the infant’s palm, the infant spontaneously grasps the finger. What is this reflex called?
Palmar grasp
When does the palmar grasp reflex disappear?
Around the age of 3-4 months.
What purpose is served by the palmar grasp reflex?
It prepares the infant for voluntary grasping
What stimulation is required to induce the tonic neck reflex?
While the infant is lying awake on its back, its head is turned to one side.
The infant lies in ‘fencing position’ with one arm is extended in front of the eyes on the side to which the head is turned, while the other arm is flexed. Which reflex is this?
Tonic neck
When does the tonic neck reflex disappear?
Around 4 months.
What is the function of the tonic neck reflex?
It may prepare the infant for voluntary reaching
How is the stepping reflex stimulated, and what is the infant’s response?
The infant is held under the arms, and its bare feet are allowed to touch a flat surface. In response, the infant lifts one foot after another in a stepping motion.
True/False:
The rate of weight gain in an infant affects the time that the stepping reflex disappears.
True. The stepping reflex disappears at around 2 months in infants who gain weight quickly, but it is sustained in lighter infants
Which reflex is thought to prepare the infant for walking?
The stepping reflex
When an infant’s sole of a foot is stroked from the toes towards the heel, the toes fan out and curl as the foot twists. Which reflex is this?
Babinski reflex
When does the babinski reflex disappear?
Between 8 - 12 months
What function does the babinski reflex serve?
This function is unknown
What are the five functions of infant reflexes in general?
- Some have survival value
- Some probably helped babies survive during our evolutionary past
- Some help parents and infants establish gratifying interaction
- Some can also help parents comfort the baby because they permit infants to control distress and amount of stimulation
- A few reflexes form the basis for complex motor skills that will develop later
Why is it important to assess reflexes?
Paediatricians test reflexes carefully because they can reveal the health of a baby’s nervous system.
What can weak or absent reflexes, overly rigid or exaggerated reflexes, and reflexes that persist beyond the point of development when they should normally disappear signal?
Brain damage
Are differences in reflexive responses enough to cause concern about possible brain damage?
No. An observer must assess reflexes along with other characteristics to distinguish normal from abnormal.
How many states of arousal do infants have?
- These are: Regular, or NREM, sleep; Irregular, or REM, sleep; Drowsiness; Quiet alertness; Waking activity and crying
What does the term ‘states of arousal’ refer to?
degrees of sleep and wakefulness
Describe regular, or NREM, sleep.
The infant is at full rest and shows little or no body activity. The eyelids are closed, no eye movements occur, the face is relaxed, and breathing is slow and regular.
How much time do newborns spend in each state of arousal per day?
Regular, or NREM, sleep: 8-9 hours Irregular, or REM, sleep: 8-9 hours Drowsiness: varies Quiet alertness: 2-3 hours Waking activity and crying: 1-4 hours
What does irregular, or REM, sleep look like?
Gentle limb movements, occasional stirring, and facial grimacing occur. Although the eyelids are closed, occasional rapid eye movements can be seen beneath them. Breathing is irregular.
In the drowsiness state of arousal, what does the infant do?
The infant is either falling asleep or waking up. Body is less active than in irregular sleep but more active than in regular sleep. The eyes open and close; when open, they have a glazed look. Breathing is even but somewhat faster than in regular sleep.
The infant’s body is relatively inactive, with eyes open and attentive, and breathing is even. Which state of arousal is this infant in?
Quiet alertness
What occurs during waking activity?
The infant shows frequent bursts of uncoordinated body activity. Breathing is very irregular; face may be relaxed or tense and wrinkled. Crying may occur.
Why do babies sleep more at night?
The foetus tends to synchronise its periods of rest and activity with those of the mother prior to birth.
How changes occur in an infant’s arousal patterns between birth and 2 years old?
The organisation of sleep and wakefulness changes substantially. Total sleep declines gradually, but periods of sleep and wakefulness become fewer but longer, and the sleep-wake pattern increasingly conforms to a circadian rhythm (24 hour schedule).
What three factors influence the changes in arousal patterns that occur in the first two years of life?
- brain development
- cultural beliefs and practices
- individual parents’ needs
What implications do arousal patterns have for the cognitive development of infants?
Babies who spend more time quietly alert probably receive more social interaction and opportunities to explore, and may be slightly ahead in mental development.
Describe the two states of sleep.
- Irregular, or rapid-eye movement (REM), sleep: brain wave activity measured with the EEG is remarkably similar to that of the waking state.
- Regular, or non-rapid-eye movement (NREM), sleep: body is almost motionless, and heart rate, breathing, and brain-wave activity are slow and even.
How do infants’ sleep patterns differ from children and adults?
Infants spend more time in REM sleep.
REM sleep is approximately 50% of a newborn baby’s sleep time. By 3 to 5 years, it has declined to an adult-like level of 20%.
Why do babies spend more time in the REM state?
Possibly to fulfil their need for stimulation which is not fulfilled by their short times of quiet alertness/wakefulness
The REM state safeguards the central nervous system. What is the other protective feature of REM sleep?
It also protects the health of the eye – eye movements cause vitreous to circulate, which delivers oxygen to parts of the eye that do not have their own blood supply.
What can be observed in the sleep cycles of infants who are brain damaged, or have experienced birth trauma?
Observations of sleep can help identify central nervous system abnormalities. Disturbed REM-NREM sleep cycles are often present in infants who are brain damaged, or have experienced birth trauma.
What is the most common cause of a young infant’s cry?
Hunger
What effect does parental responsiveness to an infant crying have?
Ethological research indicates that parental responsiveness to infant crying leads to less crying over time.
How does crying ensure that babies get the care and protection that they need?
The sound of a baby crying stimulates feelings of discomfort in most adults, which is an innately programmed response.
When Western parents choose to practice __________, amount of crying in the early months is reduced by about one-third.
proximal care
How do the cries of brain-damaged infants, or those who have experienced birth trauma, differ from those of healthy infants?
They are often shrill, piercing, and shorter in duration than those of healthy infants.
What is the most widely used instrument for assessing the organised functioning of newborns?
T. Berry Brazelton’s Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS)
What does the NBAS provide information about?
Individual and cultural differences in newborn behaviour by evaluating the baby’s reflexes, muscle tone, state changes, responsiveness to physical and social stimuli and other reactions
What does NNNS stand for?
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioural Scale (NNNS), which is a recently developed instrument consisting of items similar to the NBAS, but is specifically designed for use with newborns at risk for developmental problems because of low birth weight, preterm delivery, prenatal substance exposure, or other conditions
Define learning.
Changes in behaviour as the result of experience
True/False:
Newborns have built-in learning capacities.
True. Newborns are capable of two basic forms of learning: classical and operant conditioning, and they also learn through their natural preference for novel stimulation and through observing others.
What makes classical conditioning possible in newborns?
Newborns’ reflexes.
What is classical conditioning?
A neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that leads to a reflexive response.
What must occur before learning can take place through classical conditioning?
Before learning takes place, an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) must consistently produce a reflexive, or unconditioned response (UCR).
How does learning take place in classical conditioning?
To produce learning, a neutral stimulus that does not lead to the reflex is presented just before, or at about the same time as, the UCS.
What happens when learning has occurred through classical conditioning?
The neutral stimulus alone produces a similar response to the reflexive response. The neutral stimulus is then called a conditioned stimulus (CS), and the response it elicits is called a conditioned response (CR).
In classical conditioning, what is extinction?
If the CS is presented alone enough times, without being paired with the UCS, the CR will no longer occur.
True/False:
It is easy to classically condition most responses, including fear, in newborns.
False. Some responses, such as fear, are difficult to classically condition in young infants because, without the motor skills to escape unpleasant events, they have no biological need to form those associations.
Why are some responses easier to classically condition in newborns?
The association between two stimuli that have survival value are most easy to classically condition.
How do infants learn through operant conditioning?
Infants act, or operate, on the environment, and the stimuli that follow their behaviour change the probability that the behaviour will occur again.
With regards to operant conditioning, what is a reinforcer?
A stimulus that increases the occurrence of a response.
In operant conditioning, what is punishment?
Either removing a desirable stimulus or presenting an unpleasant one to decrease the occurrence of a response.
What important information has operant conditioning revealed about infants?
Operant conditioning has revealed important information about infant memory: 2 month olds remember for 1-2 days after training; by 6 months, memory increases to two weeks; at 18 months, memory was retained after 13 weeks.
What does this statement mean:
Infant memory is highly context-dependent?
It needs to be the same task in the same situation. This decreases with age.
Define habituation.
A gradual reduction in the strength of a response due to repetitive stimulation.
Once habituation occurs, what can be done to cause the habituated response to return?
A new stimulus – a change in environment – causes the habituated response to return to a high level (recovery)
True/False:
After a baby has habituated to a particular stimuli, and then recovers to a new one, the baby is unable to distinguish the habituated stimuli and the recovered one.
False. A baby who first habituates to a visual pattern, then recovers to a new one, appears to remember the first stimulus and to perceive the second one as new and different from it.
Preterm and newborn babies have long habituation times. When does habituation occur more quickly?
By 4 or 5 months
