Week 3 - Infants (A) - Growth

Question 1

discuss major changes in infancy, such as growth (4)

Answer 1

• Cephalocaudal principle - top to bottom growth
• Proximodistal principle - Centre to extremities
• A child’s weight doubles in the first 5 months of life and triples by the end of the first year.
  -While the average child is around 50 centimetres long at birth and weighs 3.5 kilograms, by the end of the first year, an infant weighs on average 10 kilograms and is around 75 centimetres tall.

Question 2

describe infants’ motor development

Question 3

describe how infants learn, remember and conceptualise

Question 4

describe the nature of language and how it develops in infancy

Question 5

discuss the development of emotions and personality in infancy

Question 6

describe the development of attachment in infancy

Question 7

summarise and evaluate Piaget’s theory of infant development.

Question 8

Overproduction (exuberance)

Answer 8

A burst in the production of dendritic connections between neurons

Question 9

Myelination

Answer 9

Myelination refers to the process of the growth of the myelin sheath around the axon of a neuron.

Question 10

synaptic pruning

Answer 10

a process in brain development, in which dendritic connections that are used become stronger and faster, and those that are unused wither away.

Question 11

Developmental Plasticity

Answer 11

how adaptable the developing brain is to the environment (also to overcome damage)

Question 12

discuss major changes in infancy, such as the brain (4)

Answer 12

-Developmental Plasticity
-synaptic pruning
-Myelination
-Overproduction (exuberance)
-At birth, the brain is one-third the size of the adult brain; after birth, the brain resumes its explosive growth. Initially, the brain increases in volume by 1% per day, and by 3 months has increased 64%

Question 13

discuss major changes in infancy, such as sleep patterns (4)

Answer 13

-Neonates or newborns generally sleep for an average of 16 to 17 hours per day, but they vary a lot in how much each individual actually sleeps. The range is between 10 and 20 hours.
-often in short sleeps of two to three hours per sleep
-One of the tasks that infants in these early stages are doing, is adapting to the 24 hour light and day cycles of day and night.
-Sleeping-related problems during infancy are common, affecting somewhere between 15% and 35% of children

Question 14

cephalocaudal principle

Answer 14

principle of biological development that growth tends to begin at the top, with the head, and then proceeds downwards to the rest of the body

Question 15

proximodistal principle

Answer 15

principle of biological development that growth proceeds from the middle of the body outwards

Question 16

At birth, the brain is one-third the size of the adult brain; after birth the rate of growth is…

Answer 16

The brain increases in volume by 1% per day, and by 3 months has increased 64%

Question 17

How many brain cells in the average infant brain

Answer 17

100-200 billion brain cells

Question 18

The cerebellum (part of the hindbrain) coordinates____and is the ____growing part of the brain____(extent of growth) in the infant’s first ____ days

Answer 18

muscles and movement, and is the fastest growing part of the brain after birth, doubling its size in the infant’s first 90 days

Question 19

The hindbrain and midbrain mature ______ and perform _____________. They keep your _________

Answer 19

earliest

the basic biological functions necessary to life

lungs breathing, your heart beating and your bodily movements balanced.

Question 20

The forebrain is divided into two main parts:

Answer 20

the limbic system and the cerebral cortex.

Question 21

Structures of the limbic system include:

Answer 21

hypothalamus, thalamus and the hippocampus

Question 22

hypothalamus is ________, about the size of _________, and plays a key role in monitoring and regulating our _________

Answer 22

small
a peanut
basic animal functions, including hunger, thirst, body temperature, sexual desire and hormonal levels.

Question 23

The thalamus acts as a:

Answer 23

receiving and transfer centre for sensory information from the body to the rest of the brain.

Question 24

The hippocampus is crucial in______. It is the part of the brain with the ________ growth initially, increasing ______ in the first ____ days of life

Answer 24

crucial in memory, especially the transfer of information from short-term to long-term memory.

slowest

only 47%

90

Question 25

cerebral cortex

Answer 25

outer portion of the brain, containing four regions with distinct functions

Question 26

The cerebral cortex accounts for what percentage of total brain weight?

Answer 26

85%

Question 27

The cerebral cortex is the basis of our distinctively human abilities, including the ability to (3)

Answer 27

speak and understand language,
to solve complex problems and
to think in terms of concepts, ideas and symbols.

Question 28

Corpus callosum connects:

Answer 28

the left and right hemispheres of the cerebral cortex

Question 29

lateralisation

Answer 29

specialisation of functions in the two hemispheres of the brain

Question 30

The right hemisphere is specialised for… (2)

Answer 30

spatial reasoning and
for processing information in a holistic, integrative way.

Question 31

In general, the left hemisphere is…

Answer 31

specialised for language and for
processing information in a sequential, step-by-step way

Question 32

The cerebral cortex is also _____ in that each hemisphere has ____ regions or lobes with distinct functions

Answer 32

specialised

four

Question 33

The temporal lobes at the lower side of each hemisphere are involved in

Answer 33

processing auditory information, including understanding spoken language.

Question 34

The parietal lobes above the temporal lobes process

Answer 34

information from bodily sensations.

Question 35

The frontal lobes behind the forehead are the centre of the most advanced human brain processes, including (2)

Answer 35

producing spoken language, and
planning for the future and making decisions.

Question 36

The occipital lobes at the rear of each hemisphere

Answer 36

process visual information.

Question 37

By 3-4 months old, REM sleep has declined to about:

Answer 37

40%

Question 38

When infants are 2–4 months of age, they are at highest risk of

Answer 38

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

Question 39

sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

Answer 39

death within the first year of life due to unknown reasons, with no apparent illness or disorder

Question 40

Risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) (5)

Answer 40

• sleeping stomach-down instead of flat on the back
• low birth weight and low Apgar score
• having a mother who smoked during pregnancy or was around smoke during infancy
• soft bedding, including sleeping on a sofa
• Sleeping in an overheated room or wearing two or more layers of clothing during sleep (most SIDS deaths take place in autumn and winter)

Question 41

custom complex

Answer 41

distinctive cultural pattern of behaviour that reflects underlying cultural beliefs

Question 42

marasmus

Answer 42

disease in which the body wastes away from lack of nutrients

Question 43

gross motor development

Answer 43

development of motor abilities including balance and posture as well as whole-body movements such as crawling

Question 44

fine motor development

Answer 44

development of motor abilities involving finely tuned movements of the hands such as grasping and manipulating objects

Question 45

ontogenetic growth

Answer 45

takes place due to an inborn, genetically based, individual timetable

Question 46

During the first year of life, fine motor skills (reaching and grasping) make _________ progress.

Answer 46

considerable

Question 47

Gintermodal perception

Answer 47

integration and coordination of information from the various senses