Infancy Flashcards
Brain development
Neonates brain is about 25% of adult’s brain, but by age 2 it is 70%
Hindbrain and midbrain mature earliest in prenatal development- basic biological functions necessary to live
overproduction of exuberance
dendritic connections between neurons multiply vastly (after birth)
Brain growth in first 2 years caused by
overproduction of exuberance
myelination
synaptic pruning
forebrain divided into
lymbic system
cerebral cortex
limbic system divided into
hypothalamus
thalamus
hippocampus
hypothalamus
monitoring and regulating our basic animal functions, including hunger, thirst, body temp, sexual desire and hormones
thalamus
receiving and transfer centre for sensory information from body to brain
hippocampus
memory transfer from STM to LTM
verebral cortex
where most brain growth occurs after birth; ability to speak and understand language, solve problems and understand concepts
LH
language and processing information in a sequential, step by step way
RH
spatial reasoning and processing information in a holistic, integrative way
Sleep
Neonates sleep for 16-17 hours a day in periods of a few hours, and are in REM half this time
By 3-4 months they sleep for longer periods (up to 6-7 hours in a row at night) and REM declines to 40%
At 6 MO, cultural practices influence
Gross motor development
Many milestones over first year (holding head up alone, rolling over, sitting alone, crawling, standing, cruising, sometimes walking)
Gross motor development in infancy result of combination of the genetic timetable, maturation of the brain, support and assistance form adults for developing the skill, and the child’s won efforts to practice the skill
cultural practices can slightly speed up or slow down the ontogenetic timetable for gross motor development in infancy, but the influence of the environment is relatively small and transient for this particular area of development.
ontogenetic
takes place due to an inborn, genetically based, individual timetable
Fine motor development
Principle milestones of fine motor development in infancy are reaching and grasping
Infants better at reaching at 1MO than 2MO
Neonates will extend arms awkwardly to objects (prereaching), a reflex that disappears within the first months of life
At 3MO, reaching reappears but is more coordinated
Grasping initially a reflex, but becomes smoother
By the end of the first year, infants are able to grasp a spoon well enough to feed themselves
By 5MO, once they reach and grasp an object (coordinating the two), they can multitask with it or transfer between hands
At 4-5MO, can only grasp objects that they cannot choke on
But by 9-12MO, they have ‘pincer grasp’ and can grasp dangerous hazards
Sensory development
Taste and touch are nearly mature at birth
Hearing mostly developed
Sight is least mature
Depth perception
ability to discern the relative distance of objects in the environment
Binocular vision
ability to combine the images of the two eyes into one image, begins to develop by 3MO
Especially important when they become mobile
intermodal perception
integration and coordination of information from the various senses
Even neonates have a rudimentary form of this
Over first years, develops further
1MO integrate touch and sight: recognise objects put in mouth but not seen before
4MO visual and auditory appeals: like puppets that jump in rhythm to music
8MO visual and auditory: match unfamiliar person’s face with correct voice when faces and voices vary on the basis of age and gender
schemes
For infants, schemes are based on sensory and motor processes but after infancy, schemes become symbolic and representational
assimilation
new information is altered to fit an existing scheme
accomodation
changing the scene to adapt to the new information