Test 1 Learning Objectives 5-6 Flashcards
tiny gaps between neurons where fibers from different neurons come close together but do not touch
Synapses
nerve cells that store and transmit information
Neurons
how neurons send messages to one another by releasing these chemicals, which cross the synapse
Neurotransmitter
returns neurons that are not needed at the moment to an uncommitted state so they can support future development
Synaptic pruning
causes the dramatic increase in brain size during the first two years. Half the brains volume is made up of these, which are responsible for myelination.
Glial cells
the coating of neural fibers with an insulating fatty sheath that improves the efficiency of message transfer, contributes most to the weight of the brain
Myelination
surrounds the rest of the brain, resembling half of a shelled walnut. It is the largest brain structure- 85% of the brains weight and contains the greatest number of neurons and synapses.
cerebral cortex
regions with the most extended period of development
Frontal lobes
responsible for thought- in particular, for consciousness, inhibition of impulses, integration of information, and use of memory, reasoning, planning, and problem solving. Functions more effectively from 2 months on. Helps to regulate emotions. Last part of the brain to be fully developed.
Prefrontal Cortex
verbal abilities, positive emotion
Left brain
spatial abilities (judging distances, reading maps, and recognizing geometric shapes), and negative emotion
Right brain
many areas of the brain are not yet committed to specific functions, has a high capacity for learning. If part of the cortex is damaged, other parts can take over the tasks it would have handled.
Brain Plasticity
Trying to prime infants with stimulation that they are not ready for can cause them to …., threatening their interest in learning, much like stimulus deprivation.
Withdrawal
refers to the young brains rapidly developing organization, which depends on ordinary experiences: opportunities to see and touch objects, to hear language and other sounds, and to move about and explore the environment.
Experience-Expectant Brain Growth
occurs throughout our lives. Consists of additional growth and the refinement of established brain structures as a result of specific learning experiences that vary widely across individuals and cultures
Experience-Dependant Brain Growth
not being sure when or if your next meal will come.
Food insecurity
infants whose weight, height, and head circumference are substantially below age related growth norms and who are withdrawn and apathetic. Half of these cases involve a disturbed parent-infant relationship.
Growth faltering
…may play the greatest role in infant cognitive development. By grasping, turning things over and seeing what happens when they are released, infants learn about sights sounds, and feel of objects.
Reaching
poorly coordinated swipes made by newborns. Disappears around 7 weeks when eye movements are improved. These early behaviors suggest that babies are biologically prepared for hand-eye coordination.
Prereaching
our sense of movement and location in space, arising from stimuli within the body.
proprioception
a clumsy motion in which the infants fingers close against the palm
Ulnar grasp
using the thumb and index finger to grasp well-coordinated, end of the first year
Pincer grasp
What is the greatest change in hearing over the first year?
babies start to organize sounds into complex patterns.
infants display a sense of musical phrasing between….
4 and 7 months
Infants can distinguish musical tunes on the basis of variations in rhythmic patterns between…
6 and 7 months
…can make comparable discriminations in human speech
6-12 months
the ability to judge the distance of objects from one another and from ourselves
Depth perception
vision undergoes extraordinary changes during the first …months of life
7-8
infants can focus on objects about as well as adults at … Months
2
vision of color becomes adult like at….months
4 months
vision reaches a near adult level of about 20/20 at…months
6
used in the earliest studies of depth perception. Consists of a plexiglass covered table with a platform at the center, a shallow side with a checker pattern just under the glass, and a deep side with a checkerboard several feet below the glass. Babies would readily cross the shallow side but would avoid the deep side.
Visual cliff
first depth cue to which infants are sensitive. Babies 3-4 weeks old blink when something moves toward their face as if it is going to hit.
Motion
our eyes have two slightly different views of the visual field. The brain blends these two images, resulting in perception of depth. Emerges between 2 and 3 months.
Binocular depth cues
between 5 and 7 months. Something that looks three dimensional when it is not.
Pictorial depth cues
refers to the difference in the amount of light between adjacent regions in a pattern. If babies are sensitive to this in two or more patterns, they prefer the one with more contrast.
Contrast Sensitivity
According to Piaget, specific psychological structures- organized ways of making sense of experience- called….- change with age.
Schemes
At first schemes are…action patterns.
Sensorimotor
involves building schemes through direct interaction with the environment
Adaption
we use our current schemes to interpret the external world. Example: when objects were dropped, the child assimilates them into the sensorimotor dropping scheme.
Assimilation
we create new schemes or adjust old ones after noticing that our current ways of thinking do not capture the environment completely. Example: when items are dropped in different ways, the dropping scheme is modified to take account of the varied properties of objects.
Accommodation
a process that takes place internally, apart from direct contact with the environment. Once children form new schemes, they rearrange them, linking them with other schemes to create a strongly interconnected cognitive system.
Organization
According to Piaget, schemes reach a true state of… when they become part of a broad network of structures that can be jointly applied to the surrounding world.
equilibrium
spans the first two years of life. Piaget believed that infants and toddlers think with their eyes, ears, hands and other equipment. They cannot yet carry out many activities inside their heads.
Sensorimotor Stage
The reaction is this way because, as the infant tries to repeat the event again and again, a sensorimotor response that originally occurred by chance becomes strengthened into a new scheme.
Circular reaction
repeating chance behaviors largely motivated by basic needs
Primary Circular Reaction
babies try to repeat interesting events in the surrounding environment that are caused by their own actions.
Secondary Circular Reaction
coordinating schemes deliberately to solve simple problems.
intentional or goal directed behavior
the understanding that objects continue to exist when they are out of sight.
object permanence
if they reach several times for an object at a first hiding place (A), then see it moved to a second (B), they still search for it in the first hiding place (A). Piaget concluded that they do not have a clear image of the object as still existing when hidden from view.
A-not-B search error
internal depictions of information that the mind can manipulate.
Mental representations
mental pictures of objects, people, and spaces.
Images
categories in which similar objects or events are grouped together
Concepts
the ability to remember and copy the behavior of models of those that are not present.
Deferred Imitation
children act out every day and imaginary activities.
Make-Believe Play
Do cognitive attainments of infancy and toddlerhood develop together in the neat, stepwise fashion Piaget predicted?
No
babies are born with a set of innate knowledge systems, or core domains of thought. Each of these prewired understandings permits a ready grasp of new, related information and therefore supports early, rapid, development.
Core Knowledge Perspective
We hold information in three parts in the mental system for processing:
the sensory register, working, or short term memory, and long term memory.
First information enters this where sights and sounds are represented directly and stored briefly.
Sensory register
In the second part of the mind,….., we actively apply mental strategies as we “work” on a limited amount of information.
working or short-term memory
directs the information. It decides what to attend to, coordinates incoming information with information already in the system, and selects, applies, and monitors strategies.
Central executive
our permanently knowledge base, which is unlimited. This is the third and largest storage area.
Long term memory
refers to a range of tasks that the child cannot yet handle alone but can do with the help of more skilled partners
Zone of Proximal Development
emphasizes that children live in rich social and cultural contexts that affect the way their cognitive world is structured. He believed that complex mental activities, like voluntary attention and problem solving have origins in social interaction. This happens through the zone of proximal development.
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory
the adult guides and supports, adjusting the level of support offered to fit the child’s current level of performance.
Scaffolding
Vygotsky emphasizes that many aspects of cognitive development are….
socially prompted and encouraged.
Vygotsky Stressed the importance of….
Social interaction
Form of communication made up of short sentences with high-pitched, exaggerated expression, clear pronunciation, distinct pauses between speech segments, clear gestures to support verbal meaning, and repetition of new words in a variety of contexts.
Child-Directed Speech
Deaf children need access to….to experience natural language learning.
other deaf adults and peers
