Chapter 4: Physical Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood Flashcards
Four qualities that affect growth norms
- Infant growth and sleep
- Influence of health and environmental factors
- Increases in children’s growth
- Importance of good nutrition
Why is good nutrition needed for development?
Bodily energy needed to increase activity, muscle growth, increase synapses in brain
How is infant growth tracked?
Chart child’s stats with averages to determine where growth/development is
Two growth patterns
Cephalocaudal development, proximodistal development
Cephalocaudal development
Procession of growth from head downward, brain reaches final size earlier than legs or feet
Proximodistal development
Procession of growth from the center of the body outward, organs complete development sooner than limbs
Breastfeeding
Primary food source during the 1st 6 months
Benefits of breatfeeding
Breast milk has more fat, helps the baby gain weight, and has nutrients and other things than increase immunity (help combat allergens and pollutants)
T/F: There is a negative affect of using formula over breastmilk
False, there are no large impacts but there are cognitive and behavioral benefits from breast milk
Solid food in infancy
- Should include thin gruel, porridge, and purees
- Non-nutritious food can lead to infant obesity
Effects of malnutrition
Growth stunting and effects on the brain including impaired brain cells, limited dendrite branching, and abnormal/shorter dendrites.
Marasmus
A more severe malnutrition in infants. It is more common in developing countries and results in affected organs, cognitive development, and limbs.
Kwashiorkor
A more severe malnutrition in toddlers.
___% of families in the US are living in food insecurity/desert
13-14
What is indicative of growth faltering?
Weight below the 5th percentile for their age, delays in cognitive, verbal, and behavioral skills
How to treat growth faltering
Nutrition and psychosocial intervention
Sudden infant death syndrome
Sudden unexpected death of an infant during sleep. Caused by vulnerability (biological) and a stressor. Occurs most often at 2-5 months.
Ways to reduce risk of SIDS
- Sleeping on infant’s back
- Temperature of 18-20*C
- Firm mattress
- One stuffed animal
- No smoking
- Crib in the parent’s room, parents don’t share bed
- Sleeping bag without extra blankets
An axon is surrounded by a ___ ___ interrupted by ____ ___ ____
myelin sheath, nodes of ranvier
Neurogenesis
Most neurons are created during embryonic development (100 billion, the most you’ll ever have). Some unnecessary neurons die early on
Glial cells
Support cells for neurons, some of which produce myelin
Synaptogenesis
Creation of synapses, especially in the first year or two of life
Synaptic pruning
Death of synapses not being used. Increases efficiency as the brain can only handle a certain amount of info.
Two types of experience-derived brain development
Experience-expectant, experience-dependent
Experience-expectant brain development
Dependent on basic environmental experiences at key point (ex. baby that grows up in the dark has underdeveloped vision)
Experience-dependent brain development
Response to specific learning experience (ex. swimming). These experiences change your skills, but aren’t harmful if you don’t experience them.
Habituation
Repeated exposure to a stimulus results in a decline of a response. Dishabituation occurs when the stimulus is changed.
Classical conditioning
Learning through association, where an unconditional stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus, leading to a conditioned response.
Operant conditioning
Engaging on behavior based on consequences
Imitation
Mimicking facial expressions, corresponding mouth movements to vocal models
What is the least developed sense at birth?
Vision (visual acuity aka sharpness), infants don’t have color vision
The visual cliff
A real or fake cliff the infant may see
Gross motor development
Large motor movements, crawling allows an infant to explore their space better
