CH. 3 - Body and Mind

Question 1

Norm

Answer 1

An average, or standard, calculated from many individuals within a specific group or population.

Question 2

Percentile

Answer 2

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

Question 3

REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep

Answer 3

A stage of sleep characterized by flickering eyes behind closed lids, dreaming, and rapid brain waves.

Question 4

Bed-Sharing

Answer 4

When two or more people sleep in the same bed.

Question 5

Co-Sleeping

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Head-sparing

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

Transient Exuberance

Answer 7

The great but temporary increase in the number of dendrites that develop in an infant’s brain during the first two years of life.

Question 8

Cortex

Answer 8

The outer layers of the brain in humans and other mammals. Most thinking, feeling, and sensing involves the cortex.

Question 9

Prefrontal Cortex

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Synapse

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Neurotransmitter

Answer 11

A brain chemical that carries information from the axon of a sending neuron to the dendrites of a receiving neuron.

Question 12

Limbic System

Answer 12

The parts of the brain that interact to produce emotions, including the amygdala, the hypothalamus, and the hippocampus. Many other parts of the brain are also involved with emotions.

Question 13

Amygdala

Answer 13

A tiny brain structure that registers emotions, particularly fear and anxiety.

Question 14

Hippocampus

Answer 14

A brain structure that is a central processor of memory, especially memory for locations

Question 15

Cortisol

Answer 15

The primary stress hormone; fluctuations in the body’s cortisol level affect human emotions.

Question 16

Hypothalamus

Answer 16

A brain area that responds to the amygdala and the hippocampus to produce hormones that activate other parts of the brain and body.

Question 17

Experience-Expectant

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Experience-Dependent

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Shaken-Baby Syndrome

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

Sensation

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Perception

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Binocular Vision

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Motor Skill

Answer 23

The learned abilities 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.)

Question 24

Gross Motor Skills

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Fine Motor Skills

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Sensorimotor Intelligence

Answer 26

Piaget’s term for the way infants think—by using their senses and motor skills—during the first period of cognitive development.

Question 27

Object Permanence

Answer 27

The realization that objects (including people) still exist when they can no longer be seen, touched, or heard.

Question 28

Information-processing Theory

Answer 28

The idea that human cognition and comprehension occurs step by step, similar to the way that input, analysis, and output occur via computer.

Question 29

Babbling

Answer 29

An infant’s repetition of certain syllables, such as ba-ba-ba , that begins when babies are between 6 and 9 months old.

Question 30

Holophrase

Answer 30

A single word that is used to express a complete, meaningful thought.

Question 31

Naming Explosion

Answer 31

A sudden increase in an infant’s vocabulary, especially in the number of nouns, that begins at about 18 months of age.

Question 32

Grammar

Answer 32

All of the methods—word order, verb forms, and so on—that languages use to communicate meaning, apart from the words themselves.

Question 33

mean length of utterance (MLU)

Answer 33

The average number of words in a typical sentence (called utterance because children may not talk in complete sentences). MLU is often used to measure language development.

Question 34

language acquisition device (LAD)

Answer 34

Chomsky’s term for a hypothesized mental structure that enables humans to learn language, including the basic aspects of grammar, vocabulary, and intonation.

Question 35

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Answer 35

A situation in which a seemingly healthy infant, usually between 2 and 6 months old, suddenly stops breathing and dies unexpectedly while asleep.

Question 36

Immunization

Answer 36

A process that stimulates the body’s immune system by causing production of antibodies to defend against attack by a particular contagious disease. Creation of antibodies may be accomplished either naturally (by having the disease), by injection, by drops that are swallowed, or by a nasal spray.

Question 37

Protein-calorie Malnutrition

Answer 37

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.

Question 38

Stunting

Answer 38

The failure of children to grow to a normal height for their age due to severe and chronic malnutrition.

Question 39

Wasting

Answer 39

The tendency of children to be severely underweight for their age and height as a result of malnutrition.