Physical Growth
• General principles
– Directionality- Refers to how body proportions change; Cephalocaudal-head to tail. & Proximodistal- body.
– Independence of systems- asserts that different part of the body develop along different time tables.
– Canalization- development tends to follow and return to a normative course.
• Norms and Individual Differences
– Represent average outcomes
– Wide variation in individual differences occur within normal range
– Growth affected by larger genetic and cultural factors
Development of the CNS
• Division of the nervous system that consists of brain and spinal cord
• Processes information and directs behavior
• Develops at many levels at the same time
• Reciprocal interplay between biology and context affects brain development
The Brain
• Brain development
– Subcortical structures- component that controls state of arousal. Ex: What minds we are in when sleep; awake
– Limbic system- part of nervous system that manages emotions.
– Cortex and association areas- awareness, attention, memory; do not develop until late adolescence
Brain Cells
Neurons- cells that carry info from body to the brain. Neurons and their conn’t compose gray matter of the brain.
Cell Body- contain nucleus of the cell to keep cell alive and determine if cell will send out signal to other cell.
Dendrites- antennas that pick up signals from other neurons.
Axon- carry signal away from the body toward other neurons in the brain or nerves of the body; had many terminals
Cell Activity
• Hubel and Wiesel – Tried to find out how individual cells in the visual cortex respond to light using cats known as Microelectrode recording
• Electroencephalographic rec- measurements acquire with sensors at the scalp, shows shoes electrical activity of masses of individual cells .
• Event-related potentials - specific pattern of brain activity. Evoked by a specific stimulus.
Brain Plasticity
• Experience-expectant processes – Prewired processes in the brain
• Experience-dependent processes– Involve the active formation of new synaptic connec in response to experience.
• Types of plasticity
– Modifiability-cell functions can be changed even though they were pre designed for a specific function
– Compensation- cells substitute for others, permitting recovery of function after loss or damage
The Autonomic Nervous System
• Regulates many body activities without voluntary control
– Many systems cycle in identifiable and predictable rhythms.
– States of arousal
– Regulation of sleep-wake cycle
Reflexes and Development
• Reflexes are simple, involuntary responses to certain stimuli
– Approach reflexes- concerned with intake such as breathing, rooting, sucking, swallowing.
– Avoidance reflexes- coughing, sneezing, and blinking.
– Other reflexes- Palmar Grasp(when baby tighten on obj as it rises) Moro response(swing arm to center of body)
• Most reflexes develop before birth and are normally present for four to eight months after birth
Motor Development-physical maturation and experience.
• Predictable sequence of developmental milestones
• Motor development influenced by parental expectations and childrearing practices.
• Milestones also affect parent-infant interaction.
• Dynamic systems theory- that one change in devel. impacts others. Achievements affect other aspects of psychological growth.
Sensing and Perceiving
– Seeing- Pattern, shape, depth, Movement, Color
– Touching- uses touch to learn about world
Multimodal and Cross-Modal Perception
• Our senses interact with another and fuse perceptions into wholes.
• Information obtain by sight, sound, and touch are coordinated very early in life.
• Self-knowledge might be based on the coordination of information.
Experience and Early Perceptual Development
• Perceptual experience is