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Norm

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An average, or standard, measurement, calculated from the measurements of many individuals within a specific group or population

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Head-sparing

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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

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Neuron

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One of billions of nerve cells in the central nervous system, especially in the brain

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Cortex

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

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Prefrontal cortex

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

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Axon

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A fiber that extends from a neuron and transmits electrochemical impulses from that neuron to the dendrites of other neurons

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Dendrite

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A fiber that extends from a neuron and receives electrochemical impulses transmitted from other neurons via their axons

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Synapses

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

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Neurotransmitter

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

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Synaptic gap

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The pathway across which neurotransmitters carry information from the axon of the sending neuron to the dendrites of the receiving neuron

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Transient exuberance

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

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Pruning

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When applied to brain development, the process by which unused connections in the brain atrophy and die

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Shaken baby syndrome

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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

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Self-righting

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The inborn drive to remedy a developmental deficit; literally, to return to sitting or standing upright after being tipped over. People of all ages have these impulses, for emotional as well as physical imbalance

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REM (rapid eye movement) sleep

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

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Co-sleeping

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

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Sensation

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

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Perception

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

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Binocular vision

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

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Motor skills

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The learned abilities to move some part of the body, in actions ranging from a large leap to a flicker of the eyelid

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Gross motor skills

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Physical abilities involving large body movements, such as walking and jumping

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Fine motor skills

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Physical abilities involving small body movements, especially of the hands and fingers, such as drawing and picking up a coin

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Immunization

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A process that stimulates the body's immune system to defend against attack by a particular contagious disease. This may be accomplished either naturally (by having the disease) or through vaccination (often by having an injection).

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Protein-calorie malnutrition

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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

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Stunting

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

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Wasting

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

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Marasmus

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A disease of severe protein-calorie malnutrition during early infancy, in which growth stops, body tissues waste away, and the infant eventually dies

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Kwashiorkor

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A disease of chronic malnutrition during childhood, in which a protein deficiency makes the child more vulnerable to other diseases, such as measles, diarrhea, and influenza

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Sensorimotor intelligence

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

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Object performance

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

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Little scientist

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The stage-five toddler (age 12 to 18 months) who experiments without anticipating the results, using trial and error in active and creative exploration

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Deferred imitation

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A sequence in which an infant first perceives something done by someone else and then performs the same action hours or even days later

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Mirror neurons

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Cells in an observer's brain that respond to an action performed by someone else in the same way they would if the observer had actually performed that action

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Information-processing theory

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A perspective that compares human thinking processes, by analogy, to computer analysis of data, including sensory output, connections, stored memories, and output

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Reminder session

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A perceptual experience that is intended to help a person recollect an idea, a thing, or an experience, without testing whether the person remembers it at the moment

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Child-directed speech

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The high-pitched, simplified, and repetitive way adults speak to infants

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Babbling

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The extended repetition of certain syllables, such as ba-ba-ba, that begins when babies are between 6 and 9 months old

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Holophrase

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

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Naming explosion

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

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Grammar

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

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Language acquisition device (LAD)

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

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Hybrid theory

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A perspective that combines various aspects of different theories to explain how language, or any other developmental phenomenon occurs

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50% of babies weigh less, 50% weigh more

answer

Jordan's weight is in the 50th percentile. This means that:

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Prefrontal cortex q

answer

The last part of the brain to mature is the:

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Blood vessels in the brain rupture, and neural connections break

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An abusive caregiver shakes an infant to get her to stop crying. The infant stops crying. Why?

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15-17

answer

Approximately how many hours per day does the average newborn spend asleep?

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Last trimester

answer

At what point in development is the sense of hearing already quite acute?

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Are legally blind and only focus on things between 4-30 inches

answer

In terms of visual acuity, newborns:

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Vision

answer

The sense that is least developed at birth is an infant's:

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Binocular vision q

answer

By 3 months of age, babies look closely at the eyes and mouth when studying faces. This change in focus is due to:

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Next to their caregivers

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Due to smell recognition, babies prefer to sleep:

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Relax (gives the security)

answer

Newborns' sense of touch allows them to:

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5 months

answer

Most infants are able to inch forward on their bellies by the age of ______?

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13-15 months

answer

On average, children begin to walk independently at approximately?

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Muscle strength, brain maturation, practice

answer

What three factors contribute to the ability to walk?

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6 months

answer

Most babies learn to grasp and hold onto objects by about _____ months old.

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Women have less kids, and it advances the national economy

answer

What is one effect of lower infant mortality rates?

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Herd immunity

answer

When children are immunized, they contribute to the protection of others. This is referred to as:

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Autism

answer

A hypothesis that has been repeatedly disproved is that the MMR vaccine cause:

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It provides antibodies to disease

answer

Why are breast-fed babies less likely to contract infectious diseases than bottle-fed babies?

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Breast feeding is better

answer

Studies comparing breast-feeding to bottle-feeding show that:

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Parents teaching their kids words

answer

By 10 months age, Alan has a vocabulary of a dozen words. B.F. Skinner would have attributed Alan's rapid speech development mainly to:

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