PHYSICAL, SENSORY AND PERCEPTUAL INFANT DEVELOPMENT Flashcards
Apart from prenatal development, when is the greatest degree of physical change in one’s lifetime?
First 2 years of life
During infancy, babies grown __ to __ centimeters and _x their body weight
25 to 30, 3x their body weight
When are toddlers about half their adult height?
For girls at age 2, and for boys age 2 and a half
The brain and nervous system develop rapidly in the first _ years
2
What brain structures are the most and least developed at birth and what do they do?
The midbrain and medulla are most developed-they regulate vital functions like eating and sleeping
The Cortex is the least developed, and it controls perception, thinking and language
Define Synaptogenesis, Synaptic Pruning, and Myelinization
Synaptogenesis: The creation of new synapses
Synaptic Pruning: Cutting off un-used synapses, occurs a lot in early childhood
Myelinization- Myelin covers axons and electrically insulates them, making them work quicker and more efficiently
How do a 1-year-old’s synapses and dendrites differ from an adult?
A 1-year-old has denser dendrites and synapses, which leads to greater neuroplasticity. However, their brain’s network is far less efficient than an adult’s
When is Myelinization the most rapid?
First two years
What is Reticular Formation and how does it relate to Myelinization
Reticular formation is the part of the brain that regulates attention, and it isnt fully myelinized until one’s 20s
Define and compare Adaptive and Primitive reflexes
Adaptive reflexes (sucking) help keep newborns alive, some disappear in infancy while some continue to adulthood
Primitive reflexes are controlled by primitive parts of the brain and disappear after 6 months
What are Rooting, Babinski and Moro and when do they disappear?
Rooting- A soft touch on the cheek will cause an infant to turn toward the touch and open their mouth in an attempt to suck (3 months)
Babinski- When the sole of the foot is stroked, the infant’s toes fan out and up (12 months)
Moro- A sudden noise or loss of support causes the infant to arch the back and throw the arms and legs out and then bring them back in (4-5 months)
What are different states of consciousness infants shift through?
Deep sleep, Lighter sleep, Alert wakefulness, Angry, Drowsy
Neonates sleep __% of the time
80%
How does sleep change at 8 weeks? 6 months?
8 weeks- Babies will begin sleeping through the night
6 months- Babies are sleeping 13 hours per day
What are a baby’s 3 basic cries?
Basic cry (hunger, rhythmic), Angry cry (louder and more intense), and Pain cry (very abrupt)
Crying increases until _ _____ then tapers off
6 weeks of age
What is Colic (what type of cry)?
Colic has an unknown cause, with intense, angry crying for 3 or more hours per day for several months
What does the acquisition of motor skills depend on?
Brain development and changes in other body systems (muscles)
Define Cephalocaudal and Proximodistal patterns (which comes first?) Example?
Cephalocaudal pattern of development occurs first, and goes from the head down, and Proximodistal development goes center of the body out (needing head and neck stability before being able to crawl/walk)
Increase in ______ of long bones underlie increases in height
Length
Changes in ______ and _______ of bones lead to improved coordination
Number and density
What is Ossification? When does it occur? How is it related to motor development?
Ossification is the hardening of bones, and it begins during prenatal development. It is required for an infants motor development
How many muscle Fibers are present at birth?
Virtually all of them
What is the initial muscle to water ratio? What happens to fat ratio by age 1?
High water : muscle, the high fat content greatly decreases by age 1
Define Locomotor skills, Non-locomotor skills, and Manipulative skills
Locomotor: Gross motor skills (crawling)
Non-locomotor: Controlling head motor
Manipulative: Fine motor skill (use of hands and fingers)
How do Indigenous developmental milestones differ from broader Canadian norms?
Indigenous children generally achieve gross motor skills earlier but language skills slightly later in comparison to broader Canadian norms
How do girls and boys differ in physical maturity in infancy?
Girls are ahead in some physical areas, like manipulative skills, while boys are typically more active and aggressive in play
How does the sequence of motor skill differ between average and developmentally delayed children?
All children follow the same sequence (cephalocaudal and proximodistal), even developmentally behind children, just slowly
What do developmental psychologists think about breastfeeding?
Greatly prefer breastfeeding as it contributes to weight/size gain, breastfed children are less likely to develop common illnesses, and it improves their immune system
What is the recommended length of breastfeeding for an Infant? When does it usually end?
About 1 year, typically ends at 4-6 months
When are full-term infants ready to be introduced to solid foods?
6 months
What are some reasons mothers are unable to breastfeed?
Maternal medications and the mother’s medications
What is Macronutrient and Micronutrient malnutrition, Kwashiorkor, and Marasmus?
Macronutrient- A diet with too few calories. Leading cause of death under 5 years
Micronutrient- Diet low in certain vitamins/minerals. Most common form of malnutrition in developed countries except for Canada
Kwashiorkor- Diet too low in protein. Children are chronically ill with large water retention in stomachs
Marasmus- Result of severe calorie deficiency, infants are extremely small and may suffer permanent brain damage
Mortality can be reduced by __% with Vitamin _
23%, With Vitamin A
Routine immunization should start at _ months
2 months
Why do people avoid too many immunizations at once before 6 months?
Babies are much more susceptible to complications
Over _ of infants in Canada have a respiratory illness in …
1/2, 1st year of life with daycare centers having 2x as many infections
Chronic Ear Infections increase chances of…
Learning disabilities, attention disorders, and
language deficits during the school years
What is a Preterm baby?
Infants born before 37 weeks gestation
Infants born before __ weeks gestation may lack adaptive reflexes?
32 weeks
How does the development of Preterm babies differ from others? What type of care can help them?
Slower, but they catch up by age 2. Kangaroo care (holding the baby skin to skin a lot)
Multiples have _______ chance of being preterm
Higher
Have the rates of preterm births increased?
Yes
What is a post-term baby?
A baby born 42 or more weeks post conception
What methods contributed to the fall in post-term births?
Ultrasound dating and Inducing births
How does a post-term birth affect the mother and fetus?
Increases chances of maternal and fetal complications
What provinces/territories have the highest post-term birth rate?
Manitoba and Yukon
½ of infant deaths occur in ________, others die between _ _____ to _ _____ ___
Neonates, 4 weeks to 1 year of age
How has the infant death rate dropped in Canada from 1901 to 2007?
In 1901- 134/1000 births. 2007- about 5 deaths/1000 deaths
Which families experience higher infant mortality rates?
Lower Income and rural families
How do Inuit, First Nations, and Metis infant mortality rates differ from broader Canada?
3.9x, 2.3x and 1.9x respectively
How many infant deaths does SIDS account for? When does 90% of SIDS cases occur?
5%, 28 days and 1 year
What do infants need to develop their sensory skills?
Tactile, colourful stimulation
What is Visual Acuity and how does it compare between a newborn, a 6 month old, and an adult?
Visual acuity: How well one can see details at a distance
A newborn is 40x worse than an adult, by 6 months an infant’s only 8x worse
RGB vision is present at
1 month
How is a newborn’s auditory acuity?
They hear nearly as well as adults and can sense a sound’s general direction, but high-pitched sounds need to be louder to be heard
What is the best developed of a baby’s 5 senses?
Touch and motion
What does the Steiner Experiments say about newborn’s sense of taste?
When the babies were given flavoured water with sweet, sour, and bitter tastes, expressions were very similar for each taste.
What are 3 basic methods that allow researchers to “ask” what a baby experiences?
Preference techniques: longer looking times at one picture/object compared to another reveals what captures a babies attention
Habituation/Dishabituation: Renewed interest in novel stimulus indicates infant percieves change
Operant Conditioning: Varying stimulus in systematic ways to see if the baby still responds
What happens when early experience in visual stimulation is lacking?
The Sleeper Effect, where visual capability fails to develop normally
How is Depth judged?
Binocular cues- Uses both eyes, starts at 4 months
Kinetic cues- Motion, 3 months
Monocular cues- One eye, Linear perspective, 5-7 months
At _ months, babies can discriminate pa and ba, by _ months they can discriminate between 2 syllable words like bada
1,6
What 2 things are important for speech perception development and language acquisition?
Sensorimotor experiences and Hearing
How do newborns discriminate the voices of their parents?
Newborns can discriminate mother’s voice from
another female, but not father’s from another male
What is Intermodal Perception?
Formation of a single perception of a stimulus that’s based on information with 2 or more senses (1/6 months)
What is Cross-Modal transfer?
The transfer of information from one sense to another
