Human Development Ch. 5

Front 1

head-sparing

Back 1

A biological mechanism that protects the brain when malnutrition affects body growth. The brain is the last part of the body to be damaged by malnutrition.

Front 2

norm

Back 2

An average, or standard, measurement, calculated from the measurements of many individuals within a specific group or population.

Front 3

percentile

Back 3

A point on a ranking scale of 0 to 100. The 50th percentile is the midpoint; half the people in the population being studied rank higher and half rank lower.

Front 4

REM sleep

Back 4

Rapid eye movement sleep, a stage of sleep characterized by flickering eyes behind closed lids, dreaming, and rapid brain waves.

Front 5

co-sleeping

Back 5

A custom in which parents and their children (usually infants) sleep together in the same bed.

Front 6

neuron

Back 6

One of the billions of nerve cells in the central nervous system, especially the brain.

Front 7

cortex

Back 7

The outer layers of the brain in humans and other mammals. Most thinking, feeling, and sensing involve the cortex. (Sometimes called the neocortex)

Front 8

axon

Back 8

A fiber that extends from a neuron and transmits electrochemical impulses from that neuron to the dendrites of other neurons.

Front 9

dendrite

Back 9

A fiber that extends from a neuron and receives electrochemical impulses transmitted from other neurons via their axons.

Front 10

synapse

Back 10

The intersection between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites of other neurons.

Front 11

transient exuberance

Back 11

The great increase in the number of dendrites that occurs in an infant's brain during the first two years of life.

Front 12

experience-expectant brain functions

Back 12

Brain functions that require certain basic common experiences (which an infant can be expected to have) in order to develop normally.

Front 13

experience-dependent brain functions

Back 13

Brain functions that depend on particular, variable experiences and that therefore may or may not develop in a particular infant.

Front 14

prefrontal cortex

Back 14

The area of cortex at the front of the brain that specializes in anticipation, planning, and impulse control.

Front 15

shaken baby syndrome

Back 15

A life-threatening injury that occurs when an infant is forcefully shaken back and forth, a motion that ruptures blood vessels in the brain and breaks neural connections.

Front 16

self-righting

Back 16

The inborn drive to remedy a developmental deficit.

Front 17

sensation

Back 17

The response of a sensory system (eyes, ears, skin, tongue, nose) when it detects a stimulus.

Front 18

perception

Back 18

The mental processing of sensory information when the brain interprets a sensation.

Front 19

binocular vision

Back 19

The ability to focus the two eyes in a coordinated manner in order to see one image.

Front 20

motor skill

Back 20

The learned ability to move some part of the body, in actions ranging from a large leap to a flicker of the eyelid. (The word motor here refers to movement of muscles)

Front 21

reflex

Back 21

An unlearned, involuntary action or movement emitted in response to a particular stimulus. A reflex is an automatic response that is built into the nervous system and occurs with out conscious thought.

Front 22

gross motor skills

Back 22

Physical abilities involving large body movements, such as walking and jumping. (The word gross her means "big")

Front 23

fine motor skills

Back 23

Physical abilities involving small body movements, especially of the hands and fingers, such as drawing and picking up a coin. (The word fine here means "small")

Front 24

immunization

Back 24

The process that stimulates the body's immune system to defend against attack by a particular contagious disease. Immunization may be accomplished either naturally (by having the disease) or through vaccination (often by having an injection)

Front 25

sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

Back 25

A situation in which a seemingly healthy infant, at least 2 months of age, suddenly stops breathing and dies unexpectedly while asleep.

Front 26

protein-calorie malnutrition

Back 26

A condition in which a person does not consume sufficient food of any kind. This deprivation can result in several illnesses, severe weight loss, and even death.

Front 27

marasmus

Back 27

A disease of severe protein-calorie malnutrition during early infancy, in which growth stops, body tissues waste away, and the infant eventually dies.

Front 28

kwashiorkor

Back 28

A disease of chronic malnutrition during childhood, in which a protein deficiency makes the child move vulnerable to other diseases, such as measles, diarrhea, and influenza.