Unit 3 Flashcards
Reflexes
Unlearned responses triggered by specific stimulation. Most major reflexes found in newborns fade over time.
Babinski
A baby’s toes fan out when the sole of the foot is stroked from heel to toe.
Blink
A baby’s eyes close in response to bright light or loud noise. This reflex is permanent.
Moro
A baby throws its arms out and then inward (as if embracing) in response to loud noise or when its head falls.
Palmar
A baby grasps an object placed in the palm of its hand.
Rooting
When a baby’s cheek is stroked, it turns its head toward the stroking and opens its mouth.
Stepping
A baby who is held upright by an adult and then moved forward begins to step rhythmically.
Sucking
A baby sucks when an object is placed in its mouth.
Apgar Score
A quick assessment that scores the infant based on their respiration, heart rate, muscle tone, skin tone, and presence of reflexes.
Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS)
A more comprehensive evaluation when a newborn needs special attention and care following their Apgar Score evaluation. Includes 46 items that are used to evaluate the functioning of four particular systems: autonomic, motor, state, and social.
Autonomic
The baby’s ability to control body functions such as breathing and temperature regulation.
Motor
The baby’s ability to control body movements and activity level.
State
The baby’s ability to maintain a state (eg. staying alert or asleep).
Social
The baby’s ability to interact with people.
How many newborn’s states are there?
Four different states: alert inactivity, waking activity, crying, and sleeping.
Alert Activity
The baby is calm with open and attentive eyes; seems to be deliberately inspecting the environment.
Waking Activity
The baby’s eyes are open but unfocused; the arms or legs move in bursts of uncoordinated motion.
Crying
The baby cries vigorously, usually accompanied by agitated but uncoordinated movement.
Sleeping
The baby alternates between being still and breathing regularly to moving gently and breathing irregularly; eyes are closed.
Basic Cry
Cry that starts softly and gradually becomes more intense; often heard when babies are hungry or tired.
Mad Cry
More intense version of a basic cry.
Pain Cry
Cry that begins as a sudden long burst, followed by a long pause and gasping.
Irregular or Rapid-Eye Movement (REM) Sleep
Irregular sleep in which an infant’s eyes dart rapidly beneath the eyelids while the body is quite active.
Regular or nonREM Sleep
Sleep in which heart rate, breathing, and brain activity are steady. This becomes less frequent as infants grow.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
When a healthy baby dies suddenly for no apparent reason.
Temperament
Consistent style or pattern of behavior; the genetic building blocks of personality.
How is temperament throughout infancy to childhood?
Temperament is moderately stable throughout infancy, childhood, and even adolescence.
Malnourished
Being small for one’s age because of inadequate nutrition.
Neuron
Basic cellular unit of the brain and nervous system that specializes in receiving and transmitting information.
Cell Body
Center of the neuron that keeps the neuron alive.
Dendrite
End of the neuron that receives information; resembles a tree with many branches.
Axon
Tubelike structure that emerges from the cell body and transmits information to other neurons.
Terminal Buttons
Small knobs at the end of the axon that release neurotransmitters.
Neurotransmitters
Chemicals released by the terminal buttons that allow neurons to communicate with each other.
Cerebral Cortex
Wrinkled surface of the brain that regulates many functions that are distinctly human.
Hemispheres
The right and left halves of the cortex.
Corpus Callosum
Thick bundle of neurons that connects the two hemispheres.
Frontal Cortex
Brain region that regulates personality and goal-directed behavior.
Neural Plate
At roughly three weeks after conception, a flat group of cells are present that becomes the brain and spinal cord.
Myelin
A fatty sheath that wraps around neurons and enables them to transmit information more rapidly; forms in the fourth month of prenatal development.
How many layers of the matured brain are formed about seven months after conception?
There are six layers, beginning with the innermost layers.
Synaptic Pruning
Gradual reduction in the number of synapses, beginning in infancy and continuing until early adolescence. Completed first for brain regions associated with sensory and motor functions, then basic language and spatial skills, followed by attention and planning.
Electroencephalography (EEG)
The study of brain waves recorded from electrodes that are placed on the scalp.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Method of studying brain activity by using magnetic fields to track blood flow in the brain.
Experience-Expectant Growth
Process by which the wiring of the brain is organized by experiences that are common to most humans, found through environmental input.
Experience-Dependent Growth
Process by which an individual’s unique experiences over a lifetime affect brain structures and organization.
Motor Skills
Coordinated movements of the muscles and limbs.
Locomote
To move around in the world.
Fine Motor Skills
Motor skills associated with grasping, holding, and manipulating objects.
Toddling
Early, unsteady form of walking done by infants.
Toddler
Young children who have just learned to walk.
Dynamic Systems Theory
Theory that views motor development as involving many distinct skills that are organized and reorganized over time to meet specific needs.
Differentiation
Distinguishing and mastering individual motions.
Integration
Linking individual motions into a coherent, coordinated whole.
Perception
Processes by which the brain receives, selects, modifies, and organizes incoming nerve impulses that are the result of physical stimulation.
Visual Acuity
Smallest pattern that one can distinguish reliably.
Cones
Specialized neurons in the back of the eye that sense/perceive color.
Visual Cliff
Glass-covered platform that appears to have a “shallow” and a “deep” side; used to study infants’ depth perception. Developed by Eleanor Gibson and Richard Walk.
Kinetic Cues
Cues to depth perception in which motion is used to estimate depth.
Visual Expansion
Kinetic cue to depth perception that is based on the fact that an object fills an ever-greater proportion of the retina as it moves closer.
Motion Parallax
Kinetic cue to depth perception based on the fact that nearby moving objects move across our visual field faster than do distant objects.
Binocular Disparity
A way of inferring depth based on differences in the retinal images in the left and right eyes.
Pictorial Cues
Cues to depth perception that are used to convey depth in drawings and paintings.
Linear Perspective
A cue to depth perception based on the fact that parallel lines comes together at a single point in the distance.
Texture Gradient
Perceptual cue to depth based on the fact that the texture of objects changes from distinct for nearby objects to finer and less distinct for distant objects.
Intersensory Redundancy
Infants’ sensory systems are attuned to information presented simultaneously to different sensory modes.
Theory of Mind
Ideas about connections between thoughts, beliefs, intentions, and behavior that create an intuitive understanding of the link between mind and behavior.
