Exam 2 Flashcards
Features of Human Growth
- height and weight gain is rapid the first 2yrs of life
- body fat is accumulated quickly in first 9mos; keeps body temp constant
- muscle development is slow and gradual
- body proportions change
How does human growth differ from other species?
humans undergo a prolonged period of physical growth
What is the growth rate of humans body parts?
body parts develop at different rates; we grow the most in infancy
Growth is __________ across age
uneven
Girls perception of body during puberty/age of puberty
- experience puberty early (about 2yrs earlier): 11-17 (9-15)
- girls want to be skinny: negative perception of body; may partake in negative weight loss practices or have bad behavior
Boys perception of body during puberty/age of puberty
- experience puberty around 10-17yrs of age
- boys have a positive body image and successful peer relations early on
Advantages/Disadvantages of early maturation for BOYS
- early maturing boys have a positive body image and more successful relationships early on compared to those who do not have a positive body image
- have stronger advantages of early maturation than girls
- In late 30’s, boys who matured late have better self image and success
-**Early maturation=more benefit in adolescence
Late maturation-benefit in 30’s
Advantages/Disadvantages of early maturation in GIRLS
- early maturing girls are more likely to smoke, drink, drop out, have sex, have eating disorders, have unstable sexual relations, and get married sooner
- essentially they have more negative behaviors if they mature early on
Physical changes in early adulthood
-subtle physical changes
-peak functioning of joints in 20’s
-peak muscle tone & strength
>declines in 30’s
Physical changes in middle adulthood
- lose height
- gain weight
- noticeable aging in 40’s/50’s
- loss of lean muscle/strength (bone loss is greater in women)
- high cholesterol and BP (menopause for women)
Physical changes in late adulthood
-physical appearance
>more pronounced midlife changes
>weight loss due to lost muscle mass
>mobility limitations linked to obesity
-circulatory system
>high BP is linked to heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease
At what age is nutrition most important for physical growth? why?
- most important during infancy (birth to 5 or 6 mos)
- need more calories (50 per pound)
- breastmilk-antiobiotics from mom is free of bacteria
Outcomes of breast feeding in children
- fewer GI incetions
- fewer respiratory infections
- less likely to be overweight and have diabetes
Outcomes of breastfeeding in mothers
-less likely to get breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and type 2 diabetes
What are medical and social problems suffered by overweight/obese children?
- social: socially isolated, low self-esteem, bad grades or school situations
- medical: high cholesterol, diabetes, eating disorders, diet pills
Causing factors of obesity
> child’s weight similar to biological parents
activity level
basal metabolic rate
taste for high fat/sugar foods
eat out, little exercise, no PE programs, cafeteria lunches
tv advertisements
Child Obesity in the U.S.
- proportion of overweight children has tripled in the past 4 decades
- 1 in 6 children are obese
- The U.S. has the 2nd highest rate of child obesity
Anorexia Bulimia: symptoms, causes, and consequences
- symptoms: persistent refusal to eat; constant feeling of being overweight
- causes: mental disorder
- consequences: heart and kidney damage; possibly death
Bulimia Nervosa: symptoms, causes, and consequences
- symptoms: excessive eating periods and then purging b/c of guilt
- causes:over concern about body weight (mainly affects females in adolescence)
- consequences: ???
How can parents and peers influence adolescents’ health?
- sit down and eat with family 5 or more times per week
- peer pressure, family activities, and homemade meals
What are common health problems among young adults?
- more than twice the mortality rate of adolescents
- higher rates of chronic health problems
- obesity
- mental health disorders
What are symptoms of Alzheimer disease?
-it is a progressive, irreversible brain disorder
>loss in memory, reasoning, language, and physical function
>occurs more in women than men
-Risk factors: family history
>CV disease
>obesity, smoking, high cholesterol
>drug treatments
What are symptoms of Parkinson’s disease?
-it is a condition in which one experiences muscle tremors, slowing of mvmt, and partial facial paralysis
>degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons
Visual preference method
- shows infants two patterns/objects at a time
- infants would rather look at something over nothing
Habituation
- repeatedly present an infant with a stimulus until an infant’s response declines
- present a novel stimulus: infants response increases b/c babies CAN differentiate objects
What is visual acuity?
-“sharpness” of vsiion
>smallest patterns that can be distinguished dependably
How can an infants visual acuity be measured using the visual preference method?
- pair a gray square and a striped square
- make lines of striped square narrower
- measure width of stripes an infant can detect and their distance from the eyes
- newborns see at 20ft what adults would see at 200-400ft
- by age 1, infant acuity is the same as adults
Infants and color vision
- newborns can perceive few colors
- by 4 mos, infants color vision is similar to that of adults
- infants look longer at same basic colors that adults rate as most pleasant
- infants respond equivalently to two shades that adults label as the same color (red & blue)
- infants discriminate between two shades that adults refer to with different color names (blue & green)
What is perceptual constancy?
-the perception of objects remain constant although they may look different
Infants and size constancy
-realize that objects size remains the same despite size of retinal image
infants and shape constancy
-shape remains the same despite orientation to viewer
Visual cliff experiment and infants ability that was tested in this experiment
-depth perception: young infants do not recognize depth perception
-visual cliff experiment: baby crawled over clear glass to mother
>older baby (approx. 1yr of age) would not crawl over glass to mother b/c they noticed the ground seemed far away
Changes in visual acuity, color vision, and depth perception in aging (childhood)
-childhood: increasingly efficient at detecting boundaries between colors (red and orange) at 3-4 yrs of age;
>many preschool children are farsighted
>most children can focus eyes and sustain attention effectively on close up objects
Changes in visual acuity, color vision, and depth perception in aging (adulthood)
-accommodation: eye’s ability to focus and maintain an image on the retina, eyes blood supply, sensitivity to low levels of illumination, dark adaptation, color vision, depth perception
When can a baby begin to hear?
-fetus is able to hear 7-8 mos after conception
>can remember sounds/things they heard in the womb
What does auditory threshold mean?
- minimum sound that can be heard by an infant
- the faintest sound a newborn responds to is 4x louder than the quietest sound an adult can hear
At what age does hearing approach adult levels?
5-10yrs of age
Cat and the hat study and results
-during last months of pregnancy, 16 mothers consistently read The Cat in the Hat to their fetuses.
>after delivery, mothers read a different story to their infants
>infants sucked on mothers nipple differently when the mother read the 2 stories to them
>this show fetuses can hear but also differentiate sounds even before birth
Newborns and taste
- flavor is experienced in the womb (carrot juice study)
- innate preference for sweet flavors
- sensitivity to changes in taste in breastmilk
- declines in taste sensitivity in older adults
Newborns and smell
- newborns differentiate scent of mother and other women
- decrease in sensitivity to smells may occur as early as the 20’s
Newborns and touch
- newborns respond to touch
- older adults may detect touch much less in lower extremities (ankles/knees) than in upper extremities (wrists/shoulders)
Piaget’s view of children
- children are actively contributing to their own development
- constructivists: children construct their own knowledge about the world
- they are “scientists”
- children’s theories are often incomplete and incorrect, but are valuable
