Week 3: Development through infancy (0-3 years) Flashcards
What are the 4 principles of growth?
1) cephalocaudal principle
2) proximodistal principle
3) principle of hierarchical integration
4) principle of independence of systems
What is the cephalocaudal principle?
Head / top down
What is the proximodistal principle?
Center outward
What is the principle of hierarchical integration?
Simple to complex skills
What is the principle of independence of systems?
Different body systems grow at different rates.
What are the 5 different parts of a neuron?
1) neurons
2) dendrites
3) axons
4) neurotransmitteres
5) synapses
What is a neuron and what is its job
It is the cells of the nervous system. It is specialized, and conducts electrical impulses, which is how our body communicates.
What is the job of dendrites?
They receive the signal from the neuron.
What is the job of axons?
It carries the signal
What is the job of neurotransmitters?
It transmits the signal between neurons.
What are the synapses?
It is the space between neurons, where the neurotransmitter is located.
What is happening during infant brain growth?
1) Infants are born with 100-200 billion neurons, and during these first two years, billions of connections are made between neurons.
2) Synaptic pruning happens. Connections are formed by experiences, and if the neuron is not used it is removed.
What is myelination in infant brain growth? What is its purpose?
It is the covering of axons in a fat called myelin.
It is for insulation and protection. More importantly, it speeds up the signal, processing
Where are the two places that neurons reposition themselves with growth, based off function?
1) Cerebral growth - the outer part of the brain, responsible for conscious thought
2) subcortex - the inner part of the brain, responsible for unconscious movements like breathing. You are born with this.
What is SIDS? Is it the leading cause of death in the first year?
Sudden infant death syndrome. It is the sudden, unexpected and unexplained death of an apparently healthy baby.
Yes, it is the leading cause of death in the first year of life.
What are some guidelines for safe sleep for an infant?
1) put babies on their backs to sleep
2) use a pacified because it keeps the airway open
3) careful with second hand smoke
4) sleeping surface - don’t have a mattress that’s too soft because they can sink into it, and it’d block their airways
5) don’t bedshare
You are born with reflexes that are genetically determined. What are their three benefits?
1) diagnostic - check if infant is following a typical range of development
2) social function - i.e. rooting reflex (i.e. baby will turn head toward hand if you stroke his cheek or mouth)
3) survival function - i.e. dropping a baby into a pool and it automatically starts swimming / floating on its own
What are the 5 gross motor skills an infant learns, in order?
1) head control
2) push against resting surface and propel (= turn)
3) sitting unsupported
4) crawling
5) walking
What is gross motor
Big muscles doing big movements
Are newborns able to see well?
No, but by 6 months their vision is 20/20
Put these skills in order:
1) imitates strokes on paper
2) grasps rattle
3) copies circle
4) places pegs in board
5) opens hand prominently
6) builds tower of two cubes
7) holds crayon adaptively
8) grasps with thumb and finger
1) opens hand prominently
2) grasps rattle
3) grasps with thumb and finger
4) holds crayon adaptively
5) builds tower of two cubes
6) places pegs in board
7) imitates strokes on paper
8) copies circle
What is the difference between sensation and perception?
- sensation = the physical feeling of the 5 senses - stimulation of the senses
- perception - makes sense of the stimulus, processing the stimulus / understanding it
How good is an infant’s auditory perception?
- Very good.
- Can hear before birth.
- Can discriminate between groups of different sounds
- React to changes in musical key and rhythm
- Can recognize many language-related sounds
What is the most developed sensation at birth?
Touch
