Chapter 5-Physical and Cognitive Development in Infancy
Terms
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- A newborn
- Neonate
- Brain structure at top of spinal cord, involved mainly in functions essential for physiological survival
- Brain stem
- Outer covering of the cerebrum
- Cerebral cortex
- Hair-like tendrils found on a neuron's cell body and whose function is to receive neural impulses
- Dendrites
- A gap that must be bridged if neural transmission is to occur
- Synaptic Cleft
- Fatty substance that helps insulate neurons and speeds the transmission of nerve impulses
- Myelin
- Unlearned, organized involuntary responses that occur automatically in the presence of certain stimuli
- Reflexes
- Expressions used to describe the young infant's spontaneous, regularly recurring body movements
- Cyclic movements
- The stimulation of the sense organs
- Sensation
- The sorting out, interpretation, analysis, and integration of stimuli involving the sense organs and brain
- Perception
- The decrease in the response to a stimulus that occurs after repeated presentations of the same stimulus
- Habituation
- The initial response of humans and other animals to novel stimulation
- Orienting response
- Piaget's expression for a child's understanding that the world is composed of objects that continue to exist quite apart from the child's immediate perception of them
- Object concept
- Children's knowledge and beliefs about their mental world
- Theory of mind
- Changes in existing ways of thinking that occur in response to encounters with new stimuli or events
- Accommodation
- The process in which people understand an experience in terms of their current stage of cognitive development and way of thinking
- Assimilation
- A systematic, meaningful arrangement of symbols that provides a basis for communication
- Language
- The simplest unit of language, consisting of a single sound such as a vowel
- Phoneme
- A neural system of the brain hypothesized to permit understanding of language
- Language-acquisition device (LAD)
- Speech in which words not critical to the message are left out
- Telegraphic speech