Chapter 4 - Physical Development And Health

Question 1

Cephalocaudal Pattern

Answer 1

The sequence in which the fastest growth occurs at the top of the body—the head—with physical growth in size, weight, and feature differentiation gradually working from top to bottom.

Question 2

Proximodistal pattern

Answer 2

The sequence in which growth starts at the center of the body and moves toward the extremities.

Question 3

Puberty

Answer 3

A period of rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and bodily changes that take place primarily in early adolescence.

Question 4

Precocious Puberty

Answer 4

Very early onset and rapid progression of puberty.

Question 5

Hormones

Answer 5

Powerful chemical substances produced by the endocrine glands and carried through the body by the bloodstream.

Question 6

Androgens

Answer 6

The main class of male sex hormones.

Question 7

Testosterone

Answer 7

An androgen that is a key hormone in boys’ pubertal development.

Question 8

Estrogens

Answer 8

The main class of female sex hormones.

Question 9

Estradiol

Answer 9

An estrogen that is a key hormone in girls’ pubertal development.

Question 10

Neuroconstructivist View

Answer 10

Theory of brain development emphasizing the following points: (a) biological processes and environmental conditions influence the brain’s development, (b) the brain has plasticity and is context dependent, and (c) the development of the brain and the child’s cognitive development are closely linked.

Question 11

Frontal Lobe

Answer 11

Involved in voluntary movement, thinking, personality, and intentionality or purpose

Question 12

Occipital Lobe

Answer 12

Function in vision

Question 13

Temporal Lobe

Answer 13

Facilitate hearing, language processing, and memory

Question 14

Parietal Lobe

Answer 14

Help to register spatial location, direct attention, and maintain motor control

Question 15

More on the Brain

Answer 15

The brain, farthest from the spinal cord, is known as the forebrain. Its outer layer of cells, the cerebral cortex, covers it like a cap. The cerebral cortex is responsible for about 80 percent of the brain’s volume and is critically important in perception, thinking, language, and other functions. Each hemisphere of the cortex has four major areas, called lobes.

Deeper in the brain, beneath the cortex, lie other key structures. These include the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland as well as the amygdala, which plays an important role in emotions, and the hippocampus, which is especially active in memory and emotion.

Question 16

How do neurons work?

Answer 16

Nerve cells process information. An axon sends electrical signals away from the central part of the neuron. At the end of the axon are terminal buttons, which release chemicals called neurotransmitters into synapses, which are tiny gaps between neurons’ fibers. Chemical interactions in synapses connect axons and dendrites, allowing information to pass from neuron to neuron.

Most axons are covered by a myelin sheath, which is a layer of fat cells. The sheath helps impulses travel faster along the axon, increasing the speed with which information travels from neuron to neuron. The myelin sheath developed as the brain evolved. As brain size increased, it became necessary for information to travel faster over longer distances in the nervous system

Question 17

Lateralization

Answer 17

Specialization of function in one hemisphere of the cerebral cortex or the other.

Question 18

Myelination

Answer 18

The process of encasing axons with a myelin sheath that increases the speed of processing information.

Question 19

Corpus Callosum

Answer 19

Brain area where fibers connect the brain’s left and right hemispheres.

Question 20

Prefrontal Cortex

Answer 20

The highest level of the frontal lobes that is involved in reasoning, decision making, and self-control.

Question 21

Amygdala

Answer 21

The seat of emotions in the brain.

Question 22

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Answer 22

A condition that occurs when an infant stops breathing, usually during the night, and suddenly dies without an apparent cause.

Question 23

Marasmus

Answer 23

Severe malnutrition caused by an insufficient protein-calorie intake, resulting in a shrunken, elderly appearance.

Question 24

Kwashiorkor

Answer 24

Severe malnutrition caused by a protein-deficient diet, causing the feet and abdomen to swell with water.

Question 25

What might explain the increase in risk-taking behaviour that characterizes adolescence

Answer 25

The amygdala (involved in emotions) develops earlier than the prefrontal cortex (functions in reasoning and self-regulation)