Physical And Cognitive Development In Infancy Flashcards
Cephalocaudal pattern
Sequence in which the earliest growth always occurs at the top (ie: head) w/ physical growth and differentiation of features gradually working their way down from top to bottom (ie: shoulder, middle trunk, and so on)
Proximodistal pattern
Sequence in which growth starts at the center of the body and moves toward the extremities (ie: muscle movement of trunk and arms before hands
Lateralization
Specialization of function in one hemisphere of the brain over the other
Neuroconstructivist view
Emphasizes the importance of interactions b/w experiences and gene expression in the brain’s development (ie: similar to what epigenetic view proposes)
SIDS
Condition that occurs when an infant stops breathing and dies suddenly w/o apparent cause
Dynamic systems theory
Emphasizes perception and action are coupled in development of motor skills (proposed by Thelen)
True or False: to develop motor skills infants must perceive something in the environment that motivates them to act then use the perceptions to fine tune their movements
True
Gross motor skills
Skills involving large muscle activity (ie: walking)
Fine motor skills
Involve finely tuned movements (ie: grasping a toy, using a spoon, anything requiring finger dexterity)
Sensation
when info interacts w/ sensory receptors (ie: eyes, ears, tongue, skin, nose)
Perception
Interpretation of what is sensed
Ecological view
Emphasizes that our perceptual system can select from rich info that the environment provides (ie: we perceive info that exists in the world and adapt to it w/o piecing together data from our senses)
Visual preference method
Studies whether infants can distinguish one stimulus from another by measuring length of time they attend to different stimuli (ie: infants gaze longer at patterned stimuli then color or brightness)
Habituation
Decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations of the stimulus
Dishabituation
Recovery of a habituated response after a change in stimulation
Intermodal perception
Integrates info from 2 or more sensory modalities (ie: vision and hearing)
Schemes
Actions (ie: sucking) or mental representations (ie: strategies and plans for problem solving) that organize knowledge
*Part of Piaget’s theory
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
Children actively construct their own cognitive worlds
Assimilation
When children use their existing schemes to deal w/ new info or experiences (ie: calling all vehicles including motorcycles “vehicles”
*part of Piaget’s theory
Accommodation
When children adjust their schemes to account for new info and experiences (ie: learns that all vehicles aren’t cars and excludes them from that category)
*part of Piaget’s theory
Organization
Grouping of isolated behaviors and thoughts into a higher order system (ie: child has vague idea how to use hammer as well as other tools but after learning how to use each tool the uses can be related to one another thus organizing the knowledge)
*part of Piaget’s theory
Equilibration
Child’s shift from one stage of thought to the next
- part of Piaget’s theory
True/False: An individual needs to go through each of Piaget’s 4 stages of cognitive development in order for equilibration to occurs with each stage.
True
1st stage of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor stage
Construct concept of world by coordinating sensory experiences (ie: seeing and hearing) w/ physical motor actions
