Psychology 2301 Study guide Exam 2 Synaptogenesis the process of creating new synapses which happens very quickly in the first couple of years after birth Myelinization a process in neuronal development in which sheaths made of a substance called myelin gradually cover individual axons and electrically insulate them from one another to improve the conductivity of the nerve Cortex part of the brain responsible for higher thought and function reticular formation the part of the brain that regulates attention babinski reflex 2 years old big toe goes up not down when foot is stroked Sign of a brain or nervous system disorder moro reflex infantile reflex normally present in all infants newborns up to 4 or 5 months of age as a response to a sudden loss of support when the infant feels as if it is falling It involves spreading out the arms abduction unspreading the arms adduction crying usually breastfeeding Only breastfeed for first 6 months Supplement breastfeed first year Benefits low likelihood of diseases diabetes cancer asthma etc lower rate of infant mortality less likely to die of SIDS Benefits to mother less likely to develop post delivery bleeding increased spacing between kids stop ovulating return to pre pregnancy weight sooner low risk of disease ovarian cancer breast cancer and osteoporosis Malnutrition Micronutrient not enough vitamins and minerals anemia motor development delays food insecurity low birth weight low iron formula Macronutrient Too few calories for growth maragmas underweight chronic diarrhea neurological damage Kwashiorkor protein deficient swollen bellies and feet thin hair irritable brain damage weened from mother no breastfeeding SIDS Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Random death of apparently healthy infant within 1st year think it s caused by neurological and brain problem 2500 year 2 9 mos crib death mortality rates Highest group in US blacks poor boys Lowest group in US whites wealthy girls Immunization Vaccination shots within the first few years of life Shows access to care how adequately kids are cared for Hepatitis DTP flu polio measles chicken pox Habituation form of learning in which an organism decreases or ceases to respond to a stimulus after repeated presentations Piaget sensorimotor stage Substage 1 Infants develop reflexes Substage 2 coordination of senses primary circular reaction look at baby baby look at hand Reaction that focuses on self sticks anything in his mouth that he can get his hands on He has also started looking in the general direction of sounds that he hears Substage 3 secondary circular reactions child explores outside world and does actions to get a reaction from adults Substage 4 means end behavior actions with a goal to produce effect and accomplish something Substage 5 Tertiary circular reactions experiment on environment with behaviors see what happens challenges to Piaget s work Activity On environment Object permanence late Deferred imitation Underestimate what kids can do Kids don t appear to grow in stages Egocentricism language development behaviorist Skinner learn language through operant conditioning and reinforcement kids are pressured to communicate clearly to get needs met nativist Chomsky language is biologically based critical period for learning language is 2 years old puberty interactionist Vygosky language development is both biological and social Interactionists argue that language learning is influenced by the desire of children to communicate with others The Interactionists argue that children are born with a powerful brain that matures slowly and predisposes them to acquire new understandings that they are motivated to share with others theories of attachment Freud feeding serves as basis for attachment oral activities Erikson feeding not crucial mother s responsiveness and warmth Bowlby adults and children actively involved in attachment Internal Working Model How a child views long term and future relationships based on mother s response and relationship with child stranger anxiety fear of people the child is not familiar with 8 9 months separation anxiety fear of being away from caregiver 8 months Crying attachment Ainsworth secure mother is responsive and acts as the basis for information insecure avoidant overly independent anxious Mothers who didn t want to be mothers insecure ambivalent anxious never comfortable mother doesn t calm anxiety and is not a secure base Mother is inconsistent insecure disorganized trauma temperament Kagan easy secure kids adaptive in new situations difficult insecure nervous in a new situation slow to warm up in new situation nervous and uncomfortable at first but eventually is ok with the difference characteristics of high quality day care Ratio Group size Under 2 1 4 2 3 1 4 1 10 Infants 6 8 1 2 6 12 3 15 20 Large colorful age appropriate space with activities Structured day patterns of physical growth early childhood 2 5 inches year Gain 6 pounds lateralization Localization of function attributed to either the right or left side of the brain diet and nutrition lower appetites that vary from meal to meal eating patterns overweight The longer a child is obese in childhood the more likely it is that the child will be obese in adulthood Factors include obese parents high responsiveness to sweet taste heightened response to unwanted stimuli distress stress eating rate at which kids eat kids who watched more television Piaget preoperational stage Accomplishments Gaps Semiotic symbolic function Think by using symbols pretend play one object represents another represents world in head think in words Deferred imitation A child sees how an adult solves a problem remembers it and uses it later Conservation don t understand object is the same despite changing number mass and volume Centration Child captured by one aspect of a problem Egocentrism child only cares about self and thinks everyone see world through his her eyes Theory of Mind Awareness of mental states and emotions of others and self 2 yr olds understand that infants don t understand speech as well false belief principle A box said it had one thing but had something else Kids can be fooled intelligence capacity to learn and develop skills that are required to adapt to one s culture and environment Stafford Binet tests verbal memory mathematical and reasoning Wechsler Intelligence Scale vocabulary memory and performance measurement individual differences Gender Ethnics Sample questions for Exam 2 1 What is the