Physical Development Flashcards
Physical growth, regardless of the environment.
• Although the timing of our growth may be different,
the sequence is almost always the same.
Maturation
growth occurs from top down. Because the brain grows
Cephalocaudal Principle
growth and
motor development proceed from the center of the body outward.
Proximodistal Principle
a measure of physical
maturation based on the child’s level of skeletal development.
Skeletal Age
• Newborns are born with all the muscle
fibers they will ever have.
• Muscular development proceeds in
cephalocaudal and proximodistal
directions.
• maturation of muscle tissue occurs
very gradually over childhood and then
accelerates during early adolescence.
Muscular Development
• uneven process in which
different bodily systems
display unique growth
patterns.
• brain and head actually grow
much faster.
• Individual variations
• Cultural variations
Variations in Physical
Development
the period between the 7th prenatal month and 2 years of age when more than half of the child’s eventual brain weight is gained.
Brain growth spurt
The connective space (juncture) between one nerve cell
(neuron) and another.
Synapse
nerve cells that receive and transmit neural impulses.
Neurons
cells that nourish neurons and encase them in
insulating sheaths of myelin
Glia nerve
the process during which young, immature (unspecialized) cells take on individual characteristics and reach their mature (specialized) form and function.
Cell Differentiation
formation of connections
(synapses) among neurons.
Synaptogenesis
capacity for change; a developmental state that has the potential to be shaped by experience.
Plasticity
the process by which
neurons are enclosed in waxy myelin sheaths that will facilitate the
transmission of neural impulses.
Myelinization
the highest brain center;
includes both hemispheres of the b
Cerebrum
the bundle of neural
fibers that connects the two hemispheres of the brain and transmits information
from one hemisphere to the other.
Corpus callosum
the outer layer of the brain’s cerebrum that is involved in voluntary body movements, perception, and higher
intellectual functions such as learning, thinking, and speaking.
Cerebral cortex
the specialization of brain functions in the left and the right cerebral hemispheres
Cerebral Lateralization
controls hearing, verbal memory, decision making,
language processing, and expression of positive emotions.
• Right Hemisphere - processing visual-spatial information,
Left Hemisphere
processing visual-spatial information, nonlinguistic sounds such as music, tactile (touch) sensations, and
expressing negative emotions
Right Hemisphere
is used to chart progress between ages 1 month and 6 years and to identify children who are not developing normally. It measures gross motor skills (using large
muscles) and fine motor skills (using small muscles). It also assesses language development and personality and social development. The newest edition, Denver II
Scale includes revised norms.
Denver Developmental Screening Test
● Describes motor development as the
unfolding of a genetically programmed
sequence of events in which the nerves and
muscles mature in a downward and
outward direction.
Maturational Viewpoint
● This viewpoint believes that opportunities
to practice motor skills are also important.
● infants who are physically capable of
sitting, crawling, or walking will not be very
proficient at these activities unless they
have opportunities to practice them
Experiential/Practice Hypothesis
● a theory that views motor skills
as active reorganizations of
previously mastered capabilities
that are undertaken to find more
effective ways of exploring the
environment or satisfying other
objectives.
Dynamical systems theory
An infant’s ability to reach out and manipulate objects
changes dramatically over the 1st year
Voluntary reaching
ability to transfer
items from hand to hand or to hold
them with one hand and finger them
with the other.
Manipulatory skills
the rapid increase in physical growth
that marks the beginning of adolescence.
Adolescent growth spurt
The _______ _______ _______ are the organs
necessary for reproduction. During puberty these
organs enlarge and mature.
primary sex characteristics
The ________ _______ ______ are psychological
sign of sexual maturation that do not directly involve
the sex organs
secondary sex characteristics
The first menstruation,
called _________, occurs
in a fairly late sequence
of female development;
its normal thing can vary
from age 10 to 161
/2.
menarche
a “master gland” located at the base of the brain that
regulates the endocrine glands and produces growth hormone
Pituitary
hormones responsible for
sexual maturation.
Estrogen and Testosterone
a period of accelerated growth in which children who
have experienced growth deficits grow very rapidly to “catch up to” the growth trajectory that they are genetically programmed to follow.
Catch-up growth
a growth-retarding disease affecting infants who receive
insufficient protein and too few calories.
Marasmus
a growth-retarding disease affecting children who receive
enough calories but little if any protein.
Kwashiorkor
a form of malnutrition in which
the diet provides sufficient protein and calories but is lacking in
one or more substances that promote normal growth.
Vitamin and mineral deficiency
a listlessness caused by too little iron in the diet that makes children inattentive and may retard physical
and intellectual development.
Iron deficiency anemia
a medical term describing individuals who are at least 20
percent above the ideal weight for their height, age, and sex.
Obese
an infant growth disorder, caused
by lack of attention and affection, that causes growth to slow
dramatically or stop.
Nonorganic failure to thrive
a childhood growth disorder that is
triggered by emotional deprivation and characterized by
decreased production of GH, slow growth, and small stature.
Deprivation dwarfism
