directionality

The principle that describes growth as having intrinsic direction

cephalocaudal

Directional growth that begins with the head and moves towards the toes

Proximodistal

Directionality that begins near the center of the body and proceeds towards the extremities

Independance of Systems

The principle that different body systems grow on different schedules

Canalization

The tendency for growth,if disturbed or deflected, to return to an expected path

Epiphyses

Skeletal Age

An assessment of physical maturity that depends on examination of the size and appearance of the epiphyses

Primary Teeth

The first teeth to appear, usually in the latter half of the 1st year; often called baby teeth.

Neurotransmitters

Chemicals that move across synapses, allowing communication between neurons

Apoptosis

The programmed process of cell death undergone by some neurons in response to a relative lack of environmental input

Synaptic Pruning

The death over time of many synapses that are not stimulated by input from the environment

Glial Cells

Fatty cells responsible for mylenating the neruons in the brain and providing other support functions to neurons

Cerebral Cortex

The 2 large, outer hemospheres that make up the layer of the brain; responsible for much of perception, thought, and planning

Lateralization

Separation of functions in the two hemisperes of the cerebral cortex

Plasticity

The ability of the brain to be changed by experience

Experience-expectant plasticity

The brain's ability to creat circuits based on typical human experiences, such as hearing voices or seeing faces.

Experience-dependant plasticity

The brain's ability to create circuits based on atypical or idiosyncratic forms of experience, such as extensive training in music or sports

Tripod position

Visual Cliff

Cruising

Moving around on two feet while holding onto furniture forsupport; a mode of movement used by infants before thy learn to wal independently

Haptic Discrimination

Ability to tell objects apart using touch

Visual Acuity

Clarity of vision; the ability to distinguish details

Object Segregation

The ability to identify objects in the world; to tell where one object begins and another ends

Phoneme

The smalles unit of sound that carries meaning in a language

Perceptual Tuning

The process of becoming less sensitive over time to stimuli that are not in the typical environment; also called perceptual narrowing

Kwashiorkor

A condition that results from extreme starvation; symptoms include swolen bellies and feet, hair loss, and lack of energy

Marasmus

A condition that results form extreme stravation, in which the body becomes extremely thin and fragile

Food insecurity

Uncertainty about whether enough food will be available when it is needed

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

The sudden unexplained death of an otherwise healthy infant

Colic

A condition in which infants who are otherwise normal show excessive crying; usually for at least 3 days per week, for at least 3 weeks

Otitis Media

Ear infection

Cognitive Schema

In Piaget's theory, a cognitive structure or cognitive representation

Equilibrium

In Piaget's theory, the process that maintains balance in cognitive structures via the joint operation of accomodation and assimilation

Primary circular reaction

In Piaget's theory, the second substage of snsorimotor development, in which infants extend reflexive behavior to acquire new behavior patterns

Secondary circular reaction

In Piaget's theory, the third substage of sensorimotor development, in which infants begin to control events in the world outside their bodies

Teriary circular reaction

In Piaget's theory, the fifth substage of sensorimotor develompent, in which infants invent new behaviors by trial and error, in order to achieve their goals

Deferred imitation

Imitation that occurs after a delay; of particular interest to Piaget because it apparently depends on the existence of symbolic representation of the behavior being imitated

Object permanence

The belief that objects continue to exist in time and space evinif we cannot see, hear, or touch them

Violation-of-expectation paradigm

Bahavior pattern in which infants react with surprise to unexpected events

Information processing theory

An approach to cognitive development that emphasizes the glow of information through the mind, using the metaphor of information moving through a computer

Core knowledge theory

An approach to the study of cognitive development that suggests infants are born with some understanding about essential aresas, such as language, space, objects, and numbers

Sociocultural Theory

A perspective on human development that empasizes social and cultural factors in development

Joint attention

The phenomenon of two or more people directing their attention to the same object or person; in communication, when two people pay attention to the same topics

Normative development

Development that is considered typical or expected within a particular cultural group

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

The result of a test intended to measure intellectual skills; common intelligence tests are scored so that a score of 100 is average, scores over 100 indicate above-average intelligence, and scores below 100 indicate below-average intelligence

Developmental Quotient (DQ)

A score on a test of infant intelligence, calculated in the same way as an intelligence quotient (IQ) score

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

In Chomsky's theory, the hypothetical innate mental structure that allows language learning to take place in all humans

Universal grammar

In Chomsky's theory of language development, the idea that use of language requires knowledge of abstract rules and that these rules are common to all languages

Social Interactionist approach to language development

The view that language develops as a social skill for use in communication and social interaction

Connectionist view of language development

The theory that linguistic develppment results form strengthening of existing networks of neural connections in the brain; also known as the neural network view

Statistical learning

In early language development, learning the likelihood of one word or sound being followed by another word or sound, by noting the frequencies with which various combinations of sounds and words actually occur in the language

Cooing

Vocal behavior of infants that involves the repetition of vowel sounds, such as /aaaaaaa/,/ooooooo/, and /eeeeeee/

Babbling

Vocal behavior of infants that involves the repetition of consonant-vowel combinations, cuch as /babababa/ and /dededede/

Noun bias

In early learning of English, children's tendency to learn many nouns among their earliest words; this is not a universal tendency and does not occur in languages that put more emphasis on verbs, such as Japanese or Mandarin Chinese

Referential pattern

In early language development, a pattern of learning that empasizes the names fo objects and contains many nouns

Expressive pattern

In early language development, a pattern of learning that emphasizes description of action words that contain many verbs and pronouns

Overextension

In language development, the application of a word beyond its customary semantic boundaries; for example, using the label cat for all animals

Underextension

In early language development, the overly narrow use of a word; for example, using the label doggie to refer to golden retrievers, but not to poodles or terriers

Word spurt

In language learning, the rapid increase in word knowledge that often occurs around 18 months of age

Fast Mapping

In young children, the ability to learn new words on the basis of very little input

Whole-object assumption

In early language development, the ssumption that words refer to whole objects, not to parts or properties of objects

Taxonomic assumption

In early language learning, the assumption that the name of an object applies to the object and to similar things; for example, dog applies to a particular dog and to other dogs, but not to leashes or leashes or dog biscuits

Mutual exclusivity assumption

In early word learning, children's assumption that words refer to separate and nonoverlapping categories, or that a given object will have only one name

Telegraphic speech

In early language learning, two- and three-word utterances that typically contain content but not function words; for example, "see doggie," "mama sit chair" 

Growth error

In language development, a mistake that revels the child's growth in understanding of grammatical rules but not all of the exceptions

Child-directed speech

A style of speaking, commonly used in speaking to infants and very young children, that includes slowed pace, reduced vocabulry, simplified sentence structire, exaggerated variations in pitch, and marked rhythmic characteristics; also sometimes referred to as "motherese"

Basic trust

In Erikson's theory, the infant's belief that people can be trusted and that the world is a safe place

Basic mistrust

In Erikson's theory, the infant's belief that people cannot always be trusted to provide for his or her needs and that the world is not necessarily a safe place

Autonomy

In Erikson's theory, the individual's belief that she or he is a competent actor in the world

Shame and Doubt

In Erikson's theory, the individual's feelings that she or he is not a competent actor in the world.

Social smile

By 3 months of age, the smile that infants direct toward other people

Wariness of strangers

A reaction of fear, concern, or distress in the presence of strangers, shown by infanfts 8- to 12-months old

Self-conscious emotions

Emotions sucha s pride, guilt, shame, and embarrasment, that emerge in the 2nd year of life

Emotional self-regulation

The ability to modulate the intensity of one's own emotional reactions to people and events

Temperament

Stable individual characteristics in attention, activity, and strength of emotional reactions

Easy temperament

According to Thomas and Chess, easy infants are generally happy, establish routines easily, and adapt quickly to change

Difficult temperament

According to Thomas and Chess, difficult infants show intense negative reactions, have difficulty adjusting to family routines, and resist change

Slow to warm up temperament

According to Thomas and Chess, these infants are relatively inavtive, negative in mood, and adjust slowly to change

Behavioral inhibition

A temperamental characteristic that invilves negative reactivity to novel stimuli of all kinds

Goodness of fit

In the Thomas and Chess theory of temperament, the match between the temperaments of infants and their caregivers that leads to the best outcome

Attachment

A deep, enduring, and specific emotional bond formed between infants and their parents or other important caregivers during the 1st year of life

Preattachment phase

In Bowlby's theory, the earlies phase of infant attachment; usually lasts from birth to 2 months of age

Attachment behavior

In Bowlby's theory, infant behavior that has the predicatble outcome of increasing proximity between the infant and the caregiver or attachment figure

Attachment in the making

In Bowlby's theory, the second phase of infant attachment in which infants begin to recognize caregivers and levels of responsiveness; usually lasts form 2 to 7 months of age

Clearcut attachment

In Bolby's theory, the third phase of infant attachment in which an infant-parent bond hads clearly been formed; usually lasts form 7 to 24 months of age

Separation protest

The infant's or toddler's tendency to show anger and distress at being spearated from mother or another attachment figure

Internal working models

Cognitive representations of attachment figures that specify the extent to which such figures can be counted on in various situations

Strange Situation

A laboratory procedure designed by Mary Ainsworth to assess security of attachment amont 12- to 18-month-olds; sometimes called the Ainsworth Strange Situation

Secure attachment

A type of attachment relationship characterized by the infants' sense of security that the attachment figure (usually the parent) will protect and provide for them, and serve as a secure base for exploration and a safe haven under stressful circumstances

Avoidant attachment

A type of attachment relationship characterized by the belief that the attachment figure (usually the parent) will not protect or provide for the infant or child, and that the attachment figure does not generally serve as a haven of safety under stressful circumstances

Ambivalent attachment

A type of attachment relationship characterized by uncertainty that the attachment figure (usually the parent) will protect or provide for the infant or child, and about whether the attachment figure can be trusted to serve as a haven of safety under stressful circumstances

Disorganized attachment

A rare type of attachment relationship characterized by a disordered pattern of behavior that is not clearly organized around an attachmentfigure, that may include odd or bizarre actions, and occurs primarily in cases that involve child abuse, neglect, or other trauma

Attachment Q-Sort

A tachnique for assessing security of attachment in which an observer is asked to sort cards that describe the infant's or child's attachment behavior, and in which scores fo security of attachment are assigned depending on the way cards are sorted

Self-concept

The attributes tha people believe characterize themselves

I-Self

The sense of self as an actor or agent of action

Me-Self

The sense of self as an object of knowledge

Child maltreatment

Physical, emothional, and sexual abuse, as well as neglect, of children

Neglect

Child maltreatment involving a caregiver's gailure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, supervision, or medical care; the most common form of child maltreatment in the United States today

Physical Abuse

Child maltreatment involving hitting, kicking, slapping, shaking, shooting, or other physical violence intended to cause harm; includes sexual abuse

Sexual abuse

Inappropriate exposure to sexual acts or materials, sexual contact, or forced sexual behavior of any kind

Emotional Abuse

A caregiver's demeaning, coercive or overly distant behavior that interferes with a child's normal development