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Lifespan Development Ch. 3 Vocab

Terms in this set (32)

Norm
An average, or standard, calculated from many individuals within a specific group or population
Percentile
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
Bed-sharing
When two or more people sleep in the same bed. If one of those people is an infant, some researchers worry that the adult will roll over on the infant.
Co-sleeping
A custom in which parents and their children (usually infants) sleep together in the same room
SIDS
An infant's unexpected, sudden death; when a seemingly healthy baby, usually between 2 and 6 months old, stops breathing and dies while asleep
Head-sparing
A biological mechanism that protects the brain when malnutrition disrupts body growth. The brain is the last part of the body to be damaged by malnutrition
Neuron
Nerve cells in the central nervous system, especially the brain
Cortex
The outer layers of the brain in humans and other mammals. Most thinking, planning, and impulse control
Prefrontal cortex
The area of the cortex at the very front of the brain that specializes in anticipation, planning, and impulse control
Axon
A fiber that extends from a neuron and transmits electrochemical impulses from that neuron to the dendrites of other neurons
Dendrite
a fiber that extends from a neuron and receives electrochemical impulses transmitted from other neurons via their axons
Synapse
the intersection between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites of other neurons
Neurotransmitter
A brain chemical that carries information from the axon of a sending neuron to the dendrites of a receiving neuron
Transient exuberance
The great but temporary increase in the number of dendrites that develop in an infant's brain during the first two years of life
Shaken baby syndrome
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
Binocular vision
The ability to focus the two eyes in a coordinated manner in order to see one image. Depth perception requires it
Gross motor skills
Physical abilities involving large body movements, such as walking and jumping
Fine motor skills
Physical abilities involving small body movements, especially of the hands and fingers, such as drawing and picking up a coin
implicit memory
Memories we don't deliberately remember or reflect on consciously
Explicit memory
Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare"
Sensorimotor intelligence
Piaget's term for the way infants think by using their senses and motor skills during the first period of cognitive development
Object permanence
The realization that objects (including people) still exist when they can no longer be seen, touched, or heard
Little scientist
The stage-five toddler (age 12 to 18 months) who experiments without anticipating the results, using trial and error in active and creative exploration
Babbling
The extended repetition of certain syllables, such as ba-ba-ba, when babies are between 6 and 9 months
Holophrase
A single word that is used to express a complete, meaningful thought
Name explosion
A sudden increase in an infant's vocabulary, especially in the number of nouns, that begins at about 18 months of age
Mean length of utterance (MLU)
The average number of meaningful sound combination in a typical sentence
Language acquisition device (LAD)
Chomsky's term for a hypothesized mental structure that enables humans to learn language, including the basic aspects of grammar, vocabulary, and intonation
Immunization
a process that stimulates the body's immune system to defend against attack by a particular contagious disease; may be accomplished naturally or through a vaccine
Protein-calorie malnutrition
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
Stunting
The failure of children to grow to a normal height for their age due to severe and chronic malnutrition
Wasting
The tendency for children to be severely underweight for their age as a result of malnutrition
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