Developmental Psychology Midterm Latest Version 2025

Cephalocaudal pattern - -developmental sequence in which the earliest growth always occurs at the top (head) with physical growth in size, weight, and feature differentiation gradually working from top to bottom Proximodistal pattern - -developmental sequence in which growth starts at the center of the body and moves toward the extremities Lateralization - -specialization of function in one hemisphere of the cerebral cortex or the other Neuroconstructivist view - -perspective holding that biological processes and environmental conditions influence the brain's development; the brain has plasticity and is context dependent; and development of the brain and cognitive development are closely linked Sudden infant death syndrome (sids) - -a condition that occurs when an infant stops breathing, usually during the night, and suddenly dies without an apparent cause Marasmus - -a wasting away of body tissues in the infant's first year caused by severe protein-calorie deficiency Kwashiorkor - -a condition caused by severe protein deficiency in which the child's abdomen and feet become swollen with water; usually appears between 1 and 3 years of age Dynamic systems theory - -the perspective on motor development that seeks to explain how motor behaviors are assembled for perceiving and acting Reflexes - -built-in reactions to stimuli that govern the newborn's movements, which are automatic and beyond the newborn's control Rooting reflex - -a newborn's built in reaction that occurs when the infant's cheek is stroked or the side of the mouth is touched. In response, the infant turns its head toward the side that was touched, in an apparent effort to find something to suck Sucking reflex - -a newborn's built in reaction to automatically suck an object placed in its mouth. Reflex enables the infant to get nourishment before he or she has associated a nipple with food and also serves as a self-soothing or self-regulating mechanism PSYCHOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY Moro reflex - -neonatal startle response that occurs in reaction to a sudden, intense noise or movement; when startled the newborn arches its back, throws its head back and flings out its arms and legs; then the newborn rapidly pulls its arms and legs closer to the center of the body Grasping reflex - -a neonatal reflex that occurs when something touches the infant's palms; the infant responds by grasping tightly Gross motor skills - -motor skills that involve large-muscle activities such as walking Fine motor skills - -motor skills that involve more finely tuned movements, such as finger dexterity Sensation - -the product of the interaction between information and the sensory receptors--eyes, ears, tongue, nostrils, and skin Perception - -interpretation of what is sensed Ecological view - -view that perception functions to bring organisms in contact with the environment and to increase adaptation Affordances - -opportunities for interaction offered by objects that fit within our capabilities to perform functional activities Visual preference method - -method used to determine whether infants can distinguish one stimulus from another by measuring length of time they attend to different stimuli Habituation - -decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations of the stimulus Dishabituation - -recovery of a habituated response after a change in stimulation Size constancy - -recognition that an object remains the same even though the retinal image of the object changes as you move toward or away from the object Shape constancy - -recognition that an object's shape remains the same even though its orientation to us changes Intermodal perception - -the ability to relate and integrate information from two or more sensory modalities, such as vision and hearing Schemes - -in piaget's theory, actions or mental representations that organize knowledge Assimilation - -piagetian concept of using existing schemes to deal with new information or experiences PSYCHOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY Accommodation - -piagetian concept of adjusting schemes to fit new information and experiences Organization - -piaget's concept of grouping isolated behaviors and thought's into a higher-order, more smoothly functioning cognitive system Equilibration - -a mechanism that piaget proposed to explain how children shift from one stage of thought to the next Sensorimotor stage - -piaget's first stage; birth-2; infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with motor actions Primary circular reaction - -a scheme based on the attempt to reproduce an event that initially occurred by chance Object permanence - -the piagetian term for understanding that objects and events continue to exist even when they cannot directly be seen, heard, or touched A-not-b error - -error that occurs when infants make the mistake of selecting the familiar hiding place (a) rather than the new hiding place (b) of an object as they progress into substage 4 in piaget's sensorimotor stage Core knowledge approach - -states that infants are born with domain-specific innate knowledge systems Attention - -the focusing of mental resources on select information Joint attention - -process that occurs when individuals focus on the same object and are able to track another's behavior, one individual directs another's attention, and reciprocal interaction takes place Memory - -a central feature of cognitive development, pertaining to all situations in which an individual retains information over time Implicit memory - -memory without conscious recollection; involves skills and routine procedures that are automatically performed Explicit memory - -memory if facts and experiences that individuals consciously know and can state Deferred imitation - -imitation that occurs after a delay of hours or days Concepts - -cognitive groupings of similar objects, events, people, or ideas PSYCHOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY Developmental quotient (dq) - -an overall score that combines subscores in motor, language, adaptive, and personal-social domains in the gesell assessment of infants Bayley scales of infant development - -scales developed by nancy bayley that are widely used to assess infant development; the current version has 3 components: a mental scale, a motor scale, and an infant behavior profile Language - -a form of communication, whether spoken, written, or signed, that is based on a system of symbols. Language consists of the words used by a community and the rules fore varying and combining them Infinite generativity - -the ability to produce an endless number of meaningful sentences using a finite set of words and rules Phonology - -the sound system of the language, including the sounds that are used and how they may be combined Morphology - -units of meaning in