Chapter 4

Front 1

Proximodistal Trend

Back 1

Growth proceeds, literally, from "near to far" , from the center of the body outward.

Front 2

Cephalocaudal trend

Back 2

"Head to tail". During the prenatal period, the head develops more rapidly than the lower part of the body.

Front 3

Neurons

Back 3

Nerve cells that store and transmit information.

Front 4

Synapses

Back 4

Tiny gaps, where fibers from different neurons come closer but do not touch

Front 5

Neurotransmitters

Back 5

Neurons send messages to one another by releasing chemicals, which cross synapse.

Front 6

Programmed Cell Death

Back 6

Part of brain growth. Which makes space for these connective structures. As synapses form, many surrounding neurons die 20 to 80 percent, depending on brain region.

Front 7

Synaptic Pruning

Back 7

Neurons that are seldom stimulated soon loose their synapses, in this process, That returns neurons not needed at the moment to an uncommitted state so they can support future development.

Front 8

Myelination

Back 8

The coating of neural fibers with an insulting fatty sheath (called myelin) that improves the efficiency of message transfer

Front 9

Glial Cells

Back 9

About half the brains volume is made up of these which are responsible for Myelination.

Front 10

Cerebral Cortex

Back 10

Surrounds the rest of the brain, resembling half of a shelled walnut. It is the largest brain structure, accounting for 85% of the brains weight and containing the greatest number of neurons and synapses.

Front 11

The prefrontal Cortex

Back 11

Lying in front of areas controlling body movement, is responsible for thought- in particular, consciousness, inhibition of impulses, integration of information and use of memory , reasoning, planning, and problem - solving strategies.

Front 12

Lateralization

Back 12

Specialization of the two hemespheres

Front 13

Brain Plasticity

Back 13

Many areas 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 tasks it would have handled.

Front 14

Experienced- Expectant Brain growth

Back 14

Refers to young brains rapidly developing organization, which depends on ordinary experiences- opportunities to explore the environment, interact with people, and hear language and other sounds.

Front 15

Experience- Dependent brain growth

Back 15

Occurs throughout our life. It consists of additional growth and refinement of established brain structures as a result of specific learning experiences that vary widely across individuals and cultures.

Front 16

Marasmus

Back 16

is wasted condition of the body caused by a diet low in essential nutrients. It usually appears during the first year of life when the mother is malnourished to produce enough breast milk and bottle feeding is also inadequate.

Front 17

Kwashiorkor

Back 17

Caused by an unbalanced diet very low in protein. The disease usually strikes after warning, between 1 and 3 years of age.

Front 18

Classic Conditioning

Back 18

Possible in young infants. A neural stimulus is paired with a stimulus that leads to a reflexive response.

Front 19

Unconditioned Stimulus

Back 19

Must consistently make a reflex.

Front 20

Unconditioned Response

Back 20

Is the reflexive response that happens in response to a UCS

Front 21

Conditioned Stimulus

Back 21

If learning has occurred. Neutral stimulus by itself produces a response similar to the reflexive response. The neutral response is this.

Front 22

Conditioned Response

Back 22

The response that occurs to the learned neutral stimulus.

Front 23

Operant Conditioning

Back 23

Infants act or operate , on the environment, and stimuli that follow their behavior change the probability that the behavior will occur again.

Front 24

Reinforcer

Back 24

A stimulus that increases the occurrence of a response.

Front 25

Punishment

Back 25

Removing a desirable stimulus or presenting an unpleasant one to decrease the occurrence of a response.

Front 26

Habituation

Back 26

Refers to a gradual reduction in the strength of a response due to repetitive stimulation.

Front 27

Recovery

Back 27

A new stimulus- a change in environment causes responsiveness to return to a high level.

Front 28

Imitation

Back 28

By coping the behavior of another person.

Front 29

Mirror Neurons

Back 29

Specialized cells in motor areas of the cerebral cortex in primates. They fire identically when a primate hears or sees an action and when it carries out the action on its own.

Front 30

Dynamic System Theory of Motor Development

Back 30

Mastery of motor skills involves acquiring increasingly complex systems of action. When motor skills work as a system, separate abilities blend together, each cooperating with others to produce more effective ways of exploring and controlling the environment.

Front 31

Statistical Learning Capacity

Back 31

By analyzing the speech stream for patterns- repeatedly occurring sequences of sound- they acquire a stock of speech structures for which later they will learn meanings, long before they start to talk around age 12 months.

Front 32

Contrast sensitivity

Back 32

Explains early pattern preferences. Refers to difference in the amount of light between adjacent regions in a pattern. If babies are sensitive to the contrast in two or more patterns, they prefer the one with more.

Front 33

Intermodal Perception

Back 33

We make sense of these running streams of light, sound, tactile, odor, and taste information. perceiving them as integrated wholes.

Front 34

Differentiation Theory

Back 34

Infants actively search for involuntary features of the environment - those that remain stable- in the constant changing perceptual world.