question

Neurons send messages to one another by releasing chemicals called

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neurotransmitters

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Baby Edda's body looks wasted, and she is withdrawn and apathetic. However, she is offered enough food and there is no biological cause for her condition. She most likely has

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nonorganic failure to thrive

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Breastfed and bottle-fed children in industrialized nations

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do not differ in emotional adjustment

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During infancy, __________. These sex differences will __________ during adolescence.

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girls are slightly shorter and lighter than boys; be greatly magnified

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In interviews with more than 3,000 U.S. parents of infants and toddlers, results indicated that _____ ate no fruits or vegetables

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one-third

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Human adults have especially elaborate ___________, which enable them to observe another's behavior while simulating the behavior in their own brains.

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mirror neurons

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________ refers to a gradual reduction in the strength of a response due to repetitive stimulation.

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Habituation

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Between the ages of ________, napping subsides.

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3 and 5 years

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As neurons form connections, stimulation

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becomes vital to their survival

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In the study of Romanian orphans adopted into Canadian homes, the longer the children spent in orphanage care, the

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higher their cortisol levels

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Maggi is concerned because her 8-month-old daughter has gained 10 pounds since birth and has transformed into a round, plump baby. You can assure Maggi that her daughter's rise in "baby fat"

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helps her keep a constant body temperature

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A stimulus that increases the occurrence of a response is called a(n)

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reinforcer

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The cerebral cortex accounts for ______ percent of the brain's weight.

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85

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The best way of estimating a child's physical maturity is to use ________ age.

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skeletal

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Neurons that are seldom stimulated soon lose their synapses in a process called

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synaptic pruning

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Coating the neural fibers with an insulating fatty sheath during the process of _________________ improves the efficiency of message transfer

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myelination

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__________ is the ability to judge the distance of objects from one another and from ourselves.

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Depth perception

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At first, babies are sensitive to virtually all speech sounds, but around 6 months, they

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narrow their focus, limiting the distinctions they make to the language they hear and will soon learn.

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Which of these is an example of a fine-motor skill?

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grasping

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In an investigation of children who had spent their first eight months or more in Romanian institutions and were then adopted into Canadian homes, late adoptees showed

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extreme stress reactivity

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The __________ is the largest, most complex brain structure.

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cerebral cortex

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__________ refers to control over actions that help infants get around in the environment, whereas ___________ has to do with smaller movements, such as reaching and grasping.

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Gross-motor development; fine-motor development

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Newborn Sam's poorly coordinated swipes or swings toward an object in front of him are called

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prereaching

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At first, baby Mario was easily awakened every night by a barking dog in his neighborhood. Several weeks later, Mario's sleep is not bothered by the dog's barks. This is an example of

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habituation

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Pound for pound, an infant's energy needs are __________ those of an adult.

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twice

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Parent-infant "cosleeping" is the norm for approximately _____ percent of the world's population.

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90

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When _______ are adequate, height is largely determined by heredity.

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diet and health

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_______ growth is a return to a genetically influenced growth path once negative conditions improve.

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Catch-up

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Before Jack's mother leaves for work every morning, she takes her car keys off of a hook on the wall. Now, as soon as she unhooks her car keys, Jack begins to cry. In this example, __________ is the conditioned response.

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crying

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The chronic stress of early, deprived orphanage rearing

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disrupts the brain's capacity to manage stress.

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__________ provide(s) the most precise information about which brain regions are specialized for certain capacities.

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Neuroimaging techniques

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The clumsy motion in which a baby's fingers close against the palm to hold an object is called

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the ulnar grasp

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For exploring the environment, humans depend on _______ more than any other sense.

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vision

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________ are nerve cells that store and transmit information.

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Neurons

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The average 2-year-old needs _____ hours of sleep.

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12 to 13

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The specialization of the two hemispheres of the brain is called

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lateralization

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Which picture is newborn Alex most likely to prefer to look at?

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a black-and-white checkerboard with a few large squares

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Which motor activity typically develops first?

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sits alone

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Research on breastfeeding indicates that mothers who __________________ wean their babies from the breast earlier.

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return to work earlier

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At birth, the brain is

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nearer to its adults size than any other physical structure.

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The secretion of the hormone _________ within the brain helps promote drowsiness.

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melatonin

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A baby's ability to manipulate objects greatly expands with the development of the __________, use of the thumb and index finger opposably.

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pincer grasp

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The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding until age ______, with solid foods added at ______.

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2 years; 6 months

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Which of the following is consistent with the proximodistal trend of body growth?

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During childhood, the arms and legs continue to grow somewhat ahead of the hands and feet.

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_______ are tiny gaps where fibers from different neurons come close together but do not touch.

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Synapses

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Removing a desirable stimulus or presenting an unpleasant one to decrease the occurrence of a response is called

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punishment

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Research suggests that cosleeping children

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are no different from other children in any aspect of adjustment

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The weights of adopted children

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correlate more strongly with those of their biological than of their adoptive parents.

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Breastfeeding for just a few weeks

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offers some protection against respiratory and intestinal infections

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A surprising aspect of brain growth is that

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as synapses form, many surrounding neurons die.

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Visual acuity is

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the fineness of visual discrimination.

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Nadia calls her son "right-brained" because he is analytical and calls her daughter "left-brained" because she is artistic. What can you tell Nadia about her notions?

answer

She is oversimplifying lateralization because the two brain hemispheres actually communicate and work together.

question

_________ greatly influences the organization of the cerebral cortex.

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Early experience

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Which of the following is true about Romanian orphans adopted into British homes?

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Most children who had been institutionalized for more than the first six months displayed at least three serious mental health problems.

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_______ seems to help protect the young brain from excessive or inadequate stress-hormone exposure.

answer

Sensitive adult care

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Shay suffers from a wasted condition of the body caused by a diet low in all essential nutrients. Shay most likely has

answer

marasmus

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The newborn's capacity to imitate

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has been demonstrated in many ethnic groups and cultures.

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According to the ___________ of motor development, mastery of motor skills involves acquiring increasingly complex systems of action.

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dynamic systems theory

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Of all motor skills, ________ may play the greatest role in infant cognitive development.

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voluntary reaching

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Which of the following is true about differentiation theory?

answer

According to the theory, babies actively seek out invariant relationships.

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Lana understands that an object's shape is the same whether she sees it or touches it; that breaking a glass causes a sharp, crashing sound; and that the patter of footsteps signals the approach of a person. This understanding is called

answer

intermodal stimulation

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