Infancy Flashcards
Differentiation
the process by which behaviors and physical structures become specialized
Failure to Thrive (FTT)
a disorder of infancy and early childhood characterized by variable eating and inadequate gains in weight
Canalization
the tendency of growth rates to return to normal after undergoing environmentally induced change
Micronutrients
nutrients required in small doses, such as vitamins and mineral that are required for physical growth
Macronutrients
nutrients required in large quantities, such as protein, carbohydrates and fat, that are responsible for physical growth
Palmar Grasp
grasping objects between the fingers and the palm
Pincer Grasp
grasping objects between the finger and thumb
Habituation
becoming used to a stimulus and therefore paying less attention to it
Schema
a mental structure that categorizes information based on similarity
Assimilation
new information is added to an existing schema
Accommodation
new information must be modified to fit an existing schema as new information is acquired
Primary Circular Reactions
the repetition of actions that first occurred by chance and that focus on the infant’s own body
Secondary Circular Reactions
the repetition of actions that produce an effect on the environment
Tertiary Circular Reactions
the purposeful adaptation of established schemas to new situations
Object Permanence
recognition that objects continue to exist when they are not in view
Deferred Imitation
imitation of a behavior that was seen earlier
Visual Recognition Memory
the kind of memory shown in infant’s ability to discriminate previously seen objects from novel objects
What are the physical changes of babies in infancy?
apart from prenatal development, the period with the greatest physical changes
babies grow 25 to 30 cm and triple their body weight in the first year, follows increased sleeping time, growth spurts overnight
failure to thrive syndrome: hard time gaining weight
canalization: after a period of non-growth they catch up quickly
differentiation: physical reactions become less global and more specific
What does brain development look like in infancy?
synaptogenesis: happens in spurts
brain is less efficient, but has greater plasticity
reflexes aren’t as quick because of less myelination
synaptic pruning: “use it or lose it”, if connections aren’t made they will never develop
What does sleep look like in infancy?
states of consciousness (cyclical): deep sleep, lighter sleep, awake, fussiness, drowsiness
by 6 months develops clearer nighttime sleep and napping patterns
cultural differences: western cultures focused on babies sleeping through the night, other cultures don’t enforce it
How do bones develop throughout infancy?
change in size, number and composition
How do muscles develop throughout infancy?
high ratio of water at birth, high proportion of fat in newborns
How do lungs develop throughout infancy?
increase in efficiency
How do heart develop throughout infancy?
increase in muscle strength
How do gross motor (locomotor) skills develop throughout infancy?
3 months: rolling over
6 months: moving
7 months: sitting without support
8 months: standing while holding
8 to 9 months: crawling
11 months: standing alone
12 to 15 months: walking
17 months: walking up steps
24 months: jumping in place
How do fine motor (manipulative) skills develop throughout infancy?
3 months: opens hand prominently
3 months: grasps rattle
8 months: grasps with thumb and finger
11 months: hold crayon adaptively
14 months: builds tower of two cubes
16 months: places peg in board
24 months: imitates strokes on paper
How do non-locomotor skills develop throughout infancy?
1 month: follows slowly moving objects, lifts head slightly
2 to 3 months: lifts head up to 90 degrees
4 to 6 months: holds head while sitting
10 to 12 months: squats and stops, plays patty cake
13 to 18 months: rolls balls, claps
19 to 24 months: jump with both feet
How does breastfeeding impact development?
lower risk for chronic disease
better gut microbiota and immune system function
only breastfeed up to 6 months, after 6 months can introduce solids
How does malnutrition impact development?
affects all areas if development
macronutrients: carbs, fats, proteins
micronutrients: vitamins and minerals
indigenous populations are more vulnerable
How does healthcare impact development?
regular medical check-ups
high incidence of respiratory diseases (>50%)
higher infant mortality among indigenous peoples, lower income families, families in remote areas
vaccination starting at 2 months in Canada
How do we know what the baby knows?
habituation: get used to a stimulus over time, shows learning
preference technique: show two images and see preference
operant conditioning: associate one stimulus with another
event-related potential (ERP), parent report
How does vision develop in infancy?
visual acuity: from 40 to 8 times worse than adults by 6 months, fully developed by 7 years
peripheral vision: by 6 months is about adult level
tracking: poor at birth, improves around 6 to 10 weeks
depth perception: develops from 3 to 9 months
preferences: look longer at complex patterns/pictures, like looking at faces because they are complex
How does hearing develop in infancy?
auditory acuity: almost as good as adults, high-pitched sounds need to be louder to be heard by infants, in general improves up to adolescence
sound location: can somewhat judge general direction, reach adult-level by 18 months
“universal citizens” at birth, discriminate individual voices, pay attention and respond to sound patterns
How does smelling and tasting develop in infancy?
intrinsically related
infants relate to unpleasant tastes and smells from birth
infants have an innate sweet tooth, possibly because of the evolutionary survival advantage of preferring sweets
How does touch develop in infancy?
best developed sense
responsive to gentle social touch, very important for early brain development
infants experience pain, reactions are slower earlier on
How do sensory and perceptual skills develop in infancy?
intermodal perception: starts at 1 month, becomes common by 6 months, from earliest days can identify mother by sight, smell, or sound
interaction of inborn and experiential factors: both nature and nurture play a role
infants slowly move from a passive to an active role
What is Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development?
intelligence: adaptation to your environment
schemes: mental structures that categorizes information based on similarity
equilibration: assimilation plus accommodation
universal and fixed sequence
emphasis in qualitative changes
What are the stages of Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage?
simple reflexes
primary circular reactions
secondary circular reactions
coordination of circular reactions
tertiary circular reactions
beginning of thought/mental representation
What is the simple reflexes stage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage?
accommodate reflexes and adapt
0-1 month
What is the primary circular reactions stage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage?
whatever gives them pleasure in their own body
1-4 months
What is the secondary circular reactions stage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage?
will discover something in their environment that they really like
4-8 months
What is the coordination of circular reactions stage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage?
coordinate two secondary schemes, sometimes to reach a goal
8-12 months
What is the tertiary circular reactions stage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage?
experiment with the environment, don’t know what the outcome is going to be
12-18 months
What is the beginnings of thought/mental representation stage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage?
transition from sensorimotor stage to preoperational stage, language starts to develop
18-24 months
What are the stages of Piaget’s object permanence?
- absence
- rudimentary
- look for partially hidden objects
- look for hidden objects
What are Piaget’s imitation stages?
- absence of imitation
- parodic imitation
- beginnings of systematic imitation of visible movements and sounds that are already part of the infant’s repertoire
- imitation of movements that are part of the infant’s repertoire but which are not visible to him/her, and imitation of novel sounds
- imitation of new models invisible to the child
- beginnings of representative and deferred imitation
What are some critiques to Piaget’s theories?
emphasis on maturation: adult and peer pressure influences are not discussed
underestimate infants’ competence: object permanence and deferred imitation
not tied to discrete stages: development is more gradual
How does memory develop through infancy?
3 month old’s can remember actions and specific objects after a week, strongly tied to context, very specific
memory capacity increases in infancy: 6 month old’s can remember actions/objects after two weeks
infantile amnesia: babies forget what happens in the first two years of life
Attachment
an affectional bond characterized by seeking closeness with another when distressed, especially after separation
Separation Anxiety
fear of separation from an attachment figure
Contact Comfort
the pleasure derived from physical contact with another
Ethologists
scientists who study the behavior patterns characteristic of various species
Social Smile
a smile that occurs in response to a human voice or face
Critical Period
a period during which imprinting can occur
Imprinting
the process by which waterfowl become attached to the first moving object they follow
Pre-Attachment Phase
lasts from birth to 6 weeks, characterized by random attachment
Attachment-In-The-Making Phase
occurs from 6 weeks to 6 months, characterized by preference for familiar figures
Clear-Cut-Attachment Phase
occurs from 6 to 7 months and lasts until 18 to 24 months, characterized by dependence on the primary caregiver, usually the mother
Formation of Reciprocal Relationships
occurs from 18 months to 2 years and beyond, characterized by awareness of factors that predict the parent’s return
Internal Working Model
a set of expectations and beliefs about the self, others, and the relationship between self and others
Secure Attachment
a type of attachment characterized by mild distress when a caregiver leaves and being readily soothed by reunion
Avoidant Attachment
a type of insecure attachment characterized by apparent indifference to leave-takings by the reunions with an attachment
Anxious-Ambivalent Attachment
a type of insecure attachment characterized by severe distress at the caregiver’s departure and ambivalent behavior at reunions
Disorganized-Disoriented Attachment
a type of insecure attachment characterized by dazed and contradictory behaviors toward an attachment figure
Reactive Attachment Disorder
characterized as disturbed or inappropriate social interactions across a number of social situations, developed before the age of 5 years
Prototype Hypothesis
the belief that the initial relationship between child and caregiver serves as the foundation of all other relationships, including romantic ones
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASDs)
developmental disorders characterized by impairment in social communication and social interaction across various contexts, and by repetitive, stereotyped behavior
Mutism
refusal to speak
Echolalia
automatic repetitions of sounds or words
Social Referencing
using another person’s reaction to a situation to form one’s own response
Emotional Regulation
techniques for controlling ones emotional states
Separation-Individuation
the process of becoming separate from and independent of the mother
Temperament
individual difference in style of reaction, which is present early in life
Goodness of Fit
agreement between the parents’ expectations of a child and the child’s temperament
Sex
a way of classifying individuals usually as male or female, due to a combination of biological and physiological features
Intersex
individuals who are born with variation to their chromosomes or genitals such that their sex does not match binary notions of male or female
Gender
cultural view of what it means to be masculine or feminine according to one’s sex
What are the Bayley scales of infant and toddler development?
neurological functioning between 1 and 42 months
cognitive, language, motor skills
test for comparison to cultural norms, different for every country
What is the Fagan test of infant intelligence?
habituation: pay more attention to new stimuli
information processing: will habituate faster
visual recognition memory
What is infant directed speech or motherese?
prosody and pitch
repetition/recasting
structure
impact on infant language development: attention grabber, segmentation of speech sounds, grammar and syntax, vocabulary
What does language look like in babies from birth to 3 months?
crying, cooing, etc.
discriminate sounds of all languages
What does language look like in babies from 4 to 6 months?
start to take turns and establishing expectations
What does language look like in babies from 6 to 8 months?
canonical babbling
recognize words within sentences
What does language look like in babies from 9 to 12 months?
“culture-bound” listeners
variegated babbling
intentionality understanding
meaningful gestures
What does language look like in babies from 12 to 18 months?
blame assignment “that’s the ___”
first one word utterances
halo phrases: “birdie” + pointing
overextension
What does language look like in babies from 18 to 24 months?
first multi-word utterances
one-word utterances combinations: “ball table” or “table ball”
telegraphic speech: “baby out” not “out baby”
pivot schemas: “apple gone”, “mama gone”, “___ gone”
item-based constructions: “I gained apples” but not “I liked apples”
What is receptive vocabulary?
everything baby understands
What is expressive vocabulary?
everything baby can say
more nouns than verbs
vocabulary spurt
naming explosion
What is referential style?
naming things all the time
first born
What is expressive style?
hello, goodbye, goodnight
cultural differences
second born
What is bilingualism?
better metalinguistic skills
buffer against onset of Alzheimer and dementia
better executive functioning
What are the social pragmatic and usage-based theories?
general mechanisms: intention-reading, pattern-finding, role-reversed imitation
joint attention scenes: overall communicative intention/function, social pragmatic information (gestures, facial expressions, looking, intonation of speech, objects in the surrounding environment)
What is Erikson’s Psychosocial Development stage of trust vs. mistrust?
from birth to 18 months
sense that caregivers are reliable and predictable
depend on how well needs are met
goes beyond nursing, talking and comforting is also important
trust: sense of hope, feel like needs can be fulfilled
mistrust: difficulty in forming bonds, see world as harsh and unfriendly
What is Bowlby’s Definition of Attachment Theory?
an emotional tie that someone forms with someone else
a predisposition to intermittently seek proximity to the object of attachment
internal working model
borrows the idea of critical period from ethology: imprinting in goslings, in humans it takes 36 months
What are Bowlby’s stages of attachment?
Phase 1: 0 to 12 weeks, orientation/signals without discrimination of a figure
Phase 2: 3 to 6 weeks, orientation/signals directed towards discriminated figures
Phase 3: 6 months to 3 years, maintenance of proximity to a discriminated figure
Phase 4: 3 years on, goal-corrected partnership, transactional objects
What are secure attachment patterns?
proximity seeking
contact maintaining
What are insecure attachment styles?
anxious-ambivalent: contact-resisting, mad at mom but wants her
anxious-avoidant: proximity-avoiding, mad at mom, ignores mom
disorganized: no pattern
What is reactive attachment disorder?
no bond due to appropriate social interactions
What is the role of the primary caregiver in developing a secure attachment with the child?
be sensitive to infant’s needs, be aware of the infant’s moods, provide appropriate responses, tactile responsiveness, interactional synchrony
What are “easy babies”?
positive disposition
body functions operate regularly
What are “difficult babies”?
negative moods, slow to adapt to new situations
withdraw from new situations
What are “slow to warm up babies”?
inactive, relatively calm reactions to environment
moods are generally negative
withdraw from new situations, adapting slowly
What are the key dimensions that determine temperament profile in an infant?
activity level
approach/positive
emotionality/sociability
inhibition and anxiety
negative emotionality/irritability/anger
effortful control/task persistence
strong gene factor and certain stability
What is autism spectrum disorder?
it’s a continuum of severity in communication skills and social interactions impairments
despite their difficulties with synchrony, most infants with ASDs are securely attached to their caregivers
What are some possible causes of autism spectrum disorder?
neonatal environment: what kind of hormones and nutrition baby receives in the womb
genetics, parent’s age, low-birth weight
abnormal sensitivity to some neurotransmitters
What is the subjective self?
infants awareness they are a separate person that can act on their own environment
has fully emerged around 8 to 12 months
What is the objective/categorical self?
understanding that the “self” also has qualities/properties (eg. gender, shyness)
developed between 18 and 24 months
What is the emotional self?
perception and understanding of other’s and own emotions starting in the first months of life
self-conscious emotional expressions emerge by end of infancy
What is awareness of intentions?
understanding that other people have “minds” of their own
develops through infancy and early childhood
How does childcare impact infancy?
impact on child development is difficult to study, too many variables to disentangle
quality of care (richness of environment, ratio of caregivers to children) and parental satisfaction with situation (working or at home) matters the most
How does childcare impact attachment?
insecurity can be intensified if coupled with insensitive mothering
for the most part it does not
How does childcare impact socio-emotional development?
number of hours spent in daycare is related to externalizing behaviours
more peer orientated, play at higher levels, more likely to share
What are the sex differences in development?
some differences in motor skills but minimal when it comes to cognitive and social abilities
boy tend to be more active and fussier than girls
girls achieve language and fine motor skills milestones earlier than boys
What are sex differences in preferences?
some differences in preference for toy and play activities
genetic/nature or socialization/nurture?
mothers spend more time with daughters and fathers with sons
by 2 years of age, infants are aware of gender-appropriate behaviors in their culture
Vaccines
a small amount of dead or weakened germs that, when taken in by an infant’s body, allows the immune system to protect itself against the disease by creating antibodies
Neurons
cells in the nervous system that transmit messages
Dendrites
rootlike parts of neurons that receive impulses from other neurons
Axon
a long, thin part of a neuron that transmits impulses to other neurons through branching structures called axon terminals
Neurotransmitters
chemicals that transmit neural impulses across a synapse from one neuron to another
Myelin Sheath
a fatty, whitish substance that encases and insulates axons
Myelination
the coating of axons with myelin
Multiple Sclerosis
a disorder in which hard fibrous tissue replaces myelin, impeding neural transmission
Medulla
an area of the hindbrain involved in heartbeat and respiration
Crerbellum
the part of the hindbrain involved in coordination and balance
Cerebrum
the part of the brain responsible for learning, thought, memory, language, and muscle control
Plasticity
the ability of the brain to compensate for injuries in particular areas by developing new neural pathways
Toddler
child who walks with short, uncertain steps
Prelinguistic
vocalizations made by the infant before the use of language
Cooing
prelinguistic vowel-like sounds that reflect feelings of positive excitement
Babbling
the child’s first vocalizations that have the sounds of speech
Echolalia
the automatic repetition of sounds or words
Intonation
the use of pitches of varying levels to help communicate meaning
Receptive Vocabulary
the number of words a person understands
Expressive Vocabulary
the number of words a person can use in the production of language
Referential Language Style
use of language primarily as a means of labelling objects
Expressive Language Style
use of language primarily as a means of engaging in social interaction
Overextension
use of words in situations in which their meanings become extended
Holophrase
a single word that is used to express complex meanings
Telegraphic Speech
type of speech in which only the essential words are used
Syntax
the language rules for placing words in an order to form sentences
Models
in learning theory, those whose behaviors are imitated by others
Extinction
decrease in the frequency of a response due to the absence of reinforcement
Shaping
gradual building of complex behavior by reinforcing successive approximations to the target behavior
Sensitive Period
the period from about 18 months to puberty when the brain is especially capable of learning language
Physical Abuse
any type of deliberate force that leads to non-accidental injury to any part of the body
Sexual Abuse
the molestation or exploitation of a child
Emotional Abuse
verbal abuse or inadequate attention
Neglect
failing to supervise a child, which may result in the child receiving injury
