Chapter Three: Tools for Exploring the World

Question 1

alert inactivity

Answer 1

state in which a baby is calm with eyes open and attentive; the baby seems to be deliberately inspecting the environment

Question 2

waking activity

Answer 2

state in which a baby’s eyes are open but seem unfocused while the arms and legs move in bursts of uncoordinated motions

Question 3

irregular or rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep

Answer 3

irregular sleep in which an infant’s eyes dart rapidly beneath the eyelids while the body is quite active

Question 4

regular (non-REM) sleep

Answer 4

sleep in which heart rate, breathing, and brain activity are steady

Question 5

temperament

Answer 5

consistent style or pattern of behavior

Question 6

Some reflexes help infants get necessary nutrients, other reflexes protect infants from danger, and still other reflexes _______.

Answer 6

serve as the basis for later motor behaviors

Question 7

The _____ is based on five vital functions and provides a quick indication of a newborn’s physical health.

Answer 7

Apgar Score

Question 8

A baby lying calmly with its eyes open and focused is in a state of ________.

Answer 8

alert inactivity

Question 9

Newborns spend more time asleep than awake, and about half this time asleep is spent in ________, a time thought to foster growth in the central nervous system.

Answer 9

REM sleep

Question 10

The campaign to reduce SIDS emphasizes that infants should ________.

Answer 10

sleep on their back

Question 11

Research on the stability of temperament in infants and young children typically finds that ____________.

Answer 11

temperament is moderately stable in these years

Question 12

neuron

Answer 12

basic cellular unit of the brain and nervous system that specializes in receiving and transmitting information

Question 13

cell body

Answer 13

center of the neuron that keeps the neuron alive

Question 14

dendrite

Answer 14

end of the neuron that receives information; it looks like a tree with many branches

Question 15

axon

Answer 15

tubelike structure that emerges from the cell body and transmits information to other neurons

Question 16

terminal buttons

Answer 16

small knobs at the end of the axon that release neurotransmitters

Question 17

neurotransmitters

Answer 17

chemicals released by the terminal buttons that allow neurons to communicate with each other

Question 18

corpus callosum

Answer 18

thick bundle of neurons that connects the two hemispheres

Question 19

frontal cortex

Answer 19

brain region that regulates personality and goal-directed behavior

Question 20

neural plate

Answer 20

flat group of cells present in prenatal development that becomes the brain and spinal cord

Question 21

myelin

Answer 21

fatty sheath that wraps around neurons and enables them to transmit information more rapidly

Question 22

synaptic pruning

Answer 22

gradual reduction in the number of synapses, beginning in infancy and continuing until early adolescence

Question 23

electroencephalography

Answer 23

the study of brain waves recorded from electrodes that are place on the scalp

Question 24

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Answer 24

method of studying brain activity by using magnetic fields to track blood flow in the brain

Question 25

experience-expectant growth

Answer 25

process by which the wiring of the brain is organized by experiences that are common to most humans

Question 26

experience-dependent growth

Answer 26

process by which an individual’s unique experiences over a lifetime affect brain structures and organization

Question 27

Compared to older children and adults, an infant’s head and trunk are _______.

Answer 27

disproportionately large

Question 28

Because of the high demands of growth, infants need __________ calories per pound than adults.

Answer 28

more

Question 29

The most effective treatment for malnutrition is improved diet and ______.

Answer 29

parent training

Question 30

The ______ is the part of the neuron that contains the basic machinery to keep the cell alive.

Answer 30

cell body

Question 31

Human speech typically elicits the greatest electrical activity from the ________ of an infant’s brain.

Answer 31

left hemisphere

Question 32

The frontal cortex is the seat of personality and regulates ________.

Answer 32

planning

Question 33

A good example of brain plasticity is that, although children with brain damage often have impaired cognitive processes, _____________.

Answer 33

they often regain their earlier skills over time

Question 34

dynamic systems theory

Answer 34

theory that views motor development as involving many distinct skills that are organized and reorganized over time to meet specific needs

Question 35

differentiation

Answer 35

distinguishing and mastering individual motions

Question 36

integration

Answer 36

linking individual motions into a coherent, coordinated whole

Question 37

According to __________, motor development involves many distinct skills that are organized and reorganized over time, depending on task demands.

Answer 37

Dynamic Systems Theory

Question 38

When 4 month olds tumble from a sitting position, they usually try to keep their head upright. This happens even when they are blindfolded, which means that the important cues to balance come from ________.

Answer 38

their inner ear

Question 39

Skills important in learning to walk include maintaining upright posture and balance, stepping, and ________.

Answer 39

using perceptual information

Question 40

Akira uses both hands simultaneously, but not in a coordinated manner; each hand seems to be “doing it’s own thing.” Akira is probably ______ months old

Answer 40

four

Question 41

Before the age of ___, children show no signs of handedness; they use their left and right hands interchangeably

Answer 41

one

Question 42

perception

Answer 42

processes by which the brain receives, selects, modifies, and organizes incoming nerve impulses that are the result of physical stimulation

Question 43

visual acuity

Answer 43

smallest patter that one can distinguish reliably

Question 44

cones

Answer 44

specialized neurons in the back of the eye that sense color

Question 45

kinetic cues

Answer 45

cues to depth perception in which motion is used to estimate depth

Question 46

visual expansion

Answer 46

kinetic cue to depth perception that is based on the fact that an object fills an ever-greater proportion of the retina as it moves closer

Question 47

motion parallax

Answer 47

kinetic cue to depth perception based on the fact that nearby moving objects move across our visual field faster than do distant objects

Question 48

retinal disparity

Answer 48

way of inferring depth based on differences in the retinal images in the left and right eyes

Question 49

pictorial cues

Answer 49

cues to depth perception that are used to convey depth in drawings and painting

Question 50

linear perspective

Answer 50

a cue to depth perception based on the fact that parallel lines come together at a single point in the distance

Question 51

texture gradient

Answer 51

perceptual cue to depth based on the fact that the texture of objects changes from coarse and distinct for nearby objects to finer and less distinct for distant objects

Question 52

intersensory redundancy

Answer 52

infants’ sensory systems are attuned to information presented simultaneously to different sensory modes

Question 53

Infants respond negatively to substances that taste sour or _____

Answer 53

bitter

Question 54

Infants respond to ______ with a high-pitched cry that is hard to soothe.

Answer 54

pain

Question 55

Infants’ hearing is best for sounds that have the pitch of ______.

Answer 55

human speech

Question 56

At age _____, infants’ acuity is like that of an adult with normal vision.

Answer 56

one year

Question 57

______ are specialized neurons in the retina that are sensitive to color.

Answer 57

cones

Question 58

The term ______ refers to the fact that images of an object in the left and right eyes differ for nearby objects.

Answer 58

retinal disparity

Question 59

When elements consistently move together, infants decide that they are ______.

Answer 59

parts of the same object

Question 60

Infants readily integrate information from different senses, and their sensory systems seem to be particularly attuned to ______.

Answer 60

information presented redundantly to multiple senses

Question 61

theory of mind

Answer 61

ideas about connections between thoughts, beliefs, intentions, and behavior that create an intuitive understanding of the link between mind and behavior

Question 62

Apparently children are first self-aware at age 2 because this is when they first recognize themselves in a mirror and in photographs and when they first use the _______.

Answer 62

personal pronouns such as “I” and “me”

Question 63

During the preschool years, children’s self-concepts emphasize ______, physical characteristics, preferences, and competencies.

Answer 63

possessions

Question 64

Unlike 4-year-olds, most 3-year-olds don’t understand that other people’s behavior is sometimes based on ________.

Answer 64

false beliefs