Section 5: Senses, Perception, and the Magical Brain Flashcards
6 key questions about sense and perception:
i. How do senses develop?
ii. What can be perceived?
iii. Are certain perceptual capacities “hardwired” or learned through experience?
iv. What stimuli are most salient?
v. What kinds of stimuli are perceived as the same?
vi. How is the information integrated?
Indirect way to measure brain development
growth of the skull
Infant’s skull composed of
7 flat membrous bones that are soft and elastic, separated by fontanels
Soft spots on the head are also called
fontanels
formation of new synapses
Synaptogenesis
central nervous system includes
spine
brain stem
cerebral cortex
The brain stem does
a. Controls elementary reactions
b. E.g. blinking, sucking
Cerebral cortex does
a. Associated with complex functions
i. Not reflexive
b. Processes patterns
c. Executes complex motor sequences
d. Controls Planning, decision making
e. Controls speech
4 lobes of the brain are
i. Occipital lobes
ii. Temporal lobes
iii. Parietal lobes
iv. Frontal lobes
The occipital lobe controls
vision
The temporal lobe controls
hearing and speech and language
The parietal lobe controls
spatial perception
The frontal lobe controls
control and coordination of other cortical areas with no predetermined function, language
controls basic functions
most developed part of brain at birth
cerebellum
At birth, the circuitry of the cerebral cortex is
less mature than that of the brain stem and spinal cord
The brain develops through two processes:
experience-expectant processes
experience-dependent processes
In experience-expectant processes
brain expects the world will present particular, species-universal experiences, such as light, taste, and odor
Includes exuberant synaptogenesis and then synaptic pruning
In experience-dependent processes
development of dendrite connections occurs in response to specific experiences
The prefrontal area is
a. Behind forehead
b. Associated with the child’s ability to regulate their behavior
c. Develops at 7-9 months
Methods of testing children’s senses
- Preferential looking
- Scanning
- Operant conditioning
- Variation in brain waves
- Change in suck rate
- Length of gaze
- Habituation/Dehabituation
sharpness of vision is referred to as
visual acuity
Endogenous means
originates in the neural activity of the central nervous system
Intermodal perception is
simultaneous perceiving of an object or event by more than one sensory system
