Chapter 5 Physical Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood Flashcards
What is the skeletal age? How is it assessed? What can skeletal age tell us?
a measure of development of the bones of the body.
by using x-rays of bone epiphyses (growth centers of the bone)
best way to estimate a child’s physical maturity
What are fontanels? How many do infants have? Functions?
the bones of the skulls are separated by soft spots.
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Be familiar with changes in infants’ weight and height from birth to the end of the second year. By what percent does a typical toddler’s weight increase during this period? Height increase?
Height.
50% in height from birth to 1
75% from birth to 2.
Weight.
doubles by 5 months
triples by 1 year
quadruples by 2.
What function of the increase in body fat during the first 9 months of infancy?
help maintain constant body temperature.
What is myelination? What function does myelination serve? What type of cell is responsible for myelination?
the coating of neural fibers with an insulating fatty sheath.
improves the efficiency of message transfer.
glial cells.
What is the cerebral cortex? What region of the cortex has the most extended period of development?
surrounds the rest of the brain, resembling half of a shelled walnut. Largest brain structure - accounts for 85% of the brain’s weight and containing the greatest number of neurons and synapses.
frontal lobes.
Describe the lateralization of the cerebral cortex, and specific functions associated with the left and right side of the brain in most adults.
specialization of function in two hemispheres.
Left - controls the right side of body, processing of info in a sequential/analytical way, verbal abilities, positive emotions.
Right - controls left side of the body, process info in a holistic integrative manner, spatial abilities, negative emotions.
What is brain plasticity? Describe characteristics of a highly plastic cerebral cortex. How is this related to lateralization.
ability of parts of the brain that are not yet committed to perform specific function, high capacity for learning.
Cortex becomes less plastic as hemispheres lateralize.
Be familiar with research on the cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes of children adopted from extremely deprived Romanian orphanages. What duration of time in the orphanage is associated with better cognitive catch up? What is linked to extreme stress reactivity, retarded physical growth, and learning and behavior problems? (attention, anger, etc).
Children transferred from Romanian orphanages to British adoptive homes in the first 6 months of life attained average scores and fared saw ell as early-adopted children, suggest that they had fully recovered from the extreme early deprivation. Romanian children adopted after 6 months of age performed well below average. And although those adopted after age 2 improved between ages 6 and 11, they continued to show serious intellectual deficits.
Cortisol in their saliva - physiological response linked to illness, retorted physical growth and learning and behavior problems, including deficits in at tenting and control of anger and other impulses.
know the difference between experience-expectant and experience-dependent brain growth. Be able to give examples of each
2 types of brain stimulation
Experience- expectant
- young brain’s rapidly developing organization, which depends on ordinary experiences-opportunities to see and touch objects, to hear language and other sounds, and move about and explore the environment.
Experience-dependent
- occurs throughout our lives. It consists of additional growth and refinement of established brain structures as result of specific learning experiences that vary widely across individuals and cultures
Can too much stimulation in early infancy be harmful? Explain.
Yes, there are no evidence to show that extensive training or exercise is necessary to support brain growth. Rushing can overwhelm young minds.
Be familiar with the advantages of breastfeeding over bottle feeding. Why is breastfeeding especially advantageous for infants in poverty-stricken regions of the world?
Benefits: correct fat-protein balance, nutritionally complete, more digestible, better growth, prevents obesity, better jaw and tooth development, easier transition to solid foods, immunity.
prevent iron-deficient anemia, a condition common among property-stricken infants and children that interferes with many central nervous system processes.
Be familiar with the consequences of extreme malnutrition of infant development. Know the difference between marasmus and kwashiorkor. What is food insecurity?
Marasmus - wasted condition of the body caused by a diet low in ALL essential nutrients. It usually appears in the first year of life when a baby’s mother is too malnourished to produce enough breast milk and bottle-feeding is also inadequate.
Kwashiorkor - diet low in PROTEINS.This disease usually strikes after weaning, between 1 and 3 years go age.
Food insecurity - uncertain access to enough food for healthy, active life.
Can infants’ progress in achieving motor milestones (such as learning to crawl or walk) disrupt their sleep patterns?
Yes
What is operant conditioning? Give an example of how operant conditioning works during caregiver-infant social interaction
infants act, or operate, on the environment, and stimuli that follow their behavior change that probability that the behavior will occur again. Reinforcement and Punishment.
Newborns will suck faster on a nipple that produces interesting sights and sounds, including visual designs, music or human voice.
