Development Psychology Midterm Review

• Infants typically lose about 5 percent of their body weight


  In the first few days of life, as they eliminate waste and get used to feeding
• We have 85 billion neurons present at birth
• Dendrites


  • Branching extensions that collect information from other neurons
• Synaptogenesis


  Formation of connections between neurons
• Synaptic blooming


  Period of rapid neural growth
• Synaptic pruning


  Neural connections are reduced thereby making those that are used much stronger
• Myelin


  A coating of fatty tissues around the axon of the neuron
• Cortex


  Thin outer covering of the brain involved in voluntary activity and thinking
• Cortex


  • Hemispheres (left and right)
  • Lobes (4)
  • Fissures (8)
• Frontal lobe


  • Thinking, planning, memory, and judgment
• Parietal lobe


  • Touch
• Occipital lobe


  • Visual information
• Temporal lobe


  • Hearing and language
• Primary motor areas develop earlier than primary sensory areas
• Lateralization


  Different functions become localized primarily on one side of the brain
• Neuroplasticity


  The brain's ability to change, both physically and chemically, to enhance its adaptability to environmental change and compensate for injury
• Polyphasic sleep


  16.5 hours over several sleep periods throughout the day
• Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID)


  Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS): death of a healthy infant occurs suddenly and unexpectedly, and medical and forensic investigation findings (including an autopsy) are inconclusive
• One leading hypothesis: abnormalities in brainstem which regulates breathing
• Cause of SIDS is unknown
• Reflexes


  Involuntary movements in response to stimulation
• Reflexes offer pediatricians insight into the maturation and health of the nervous system
• In neurologically impaired infants, some of these reflexes may be absent at birth
• Once present, they may persist longer than in a neurologically healthy infant
• Sucking reflex


  • Suck on anything that touches the lips
• Rooting reflex


  • Turning the head when the cheek is touched
• Grasp reflex


  • Fingers automatically grip anything that touches the palm of the hand
• Babinski reflex


  • The toes will fan out and curl when the sole of the foot is stroked from heel to toe
• Moro reflex


  • A sudden noise or loss of support to the head and neck will cause infants to spread out their arms and legs the quickly contract the limbs inward
• Tonic neck (fencer pose) reflex


  • When lying on the back with the head to one side infants will extend the arm and leg on that side while flexing the limbs on the opposite side
• Stepping reflex


  • Legs move in stepping like motion when feet touch a smooth surface
• Cephalocaudal


  From head to tail
• Proximodistal


  From the midline outward
• Cruising


  Walking while holding on to something
• Motor skills


  Ability to move our bodies and manipulate objects
• Fine motor skills


  Focus on the muscles in our fingers, toes, and eyes, and enable coordination of small actions
• Palmer grasp


  • Grasping an object involves the use of the fingers and palm but no thumbs
• Pincer grasp


  • Use of the thumb comes about 9 months when the infant is able to grasp an object using the forefinger and thumb
• Gross motor skills


  Focus on large muscle groups that control our head, torso, arms and legs and involve larger movements
• The infant will try to move towards an object while crawling and surprisingly move backward because of the greater amount of strength in the arms than in legs