The Developing Person Through the Life Span - Kathleen Stassen Berge
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_2rfsh
1. norm: An average, or standard, measurement, calculated from the measure-
ments of many individuals within a specific group or population.
2. percentile: A point on a ranking scale of 1 to 99. The 50th percentile is the
midpoint; half the people in the population rank higher and half rank lower.
3. head-sparing: The biological protection of the brain when malnutrition affects
body growth. The brain is the last part of the body to be damaged by malnutrition.
4. REM sleep: Rapid eye movement sleep, a stage of sleep characterized by flick-
ering eyes behind closed lids, dreaming, and rapid brain waves.
5. co-sleeping: A custom in which parents and their children (usually infants) sleep
together. (Also called bed-sharing.)
6. neuron: One of the billions of nerve cells in the central nervous system, especially
the brain.
7. cortex: The outer layers of the brain in humans and other mammals. Most
thinking, feeling, and sensing involve the cortex. (Sometimes called the neocor tex.)
8. axon: A nerve fiber that extends from a neuron and transmits electrical impulses
from that neuron to the dendrites of other neurons.
9. dendrite: A nerve fiber that extends from a neuron and receives electrical impuls-
es transmitted from other neurons via their axons.
10. synapse: (SIN-apps) The intersection between the axon of one neuron and the
dendrites of other neurons.
11. transient exuberance: (TRAN-zhent ex-OO- ber-ents) The great increase in the
number of dendrites that occurs in an infant's brain during the first two years of life.
12. experience-expectant: Refers to brain functions that require certain basic com-
mon experiences (which an infant can be expected to have) in order to develop
normally.
13. experience-dependent: Refers to brain functions that depend on particular,
variable experiences and that therefore may or may not develop in a particular infant.
14. prefrontal cortex: The area of cortex at the front of the brain that specializes in
anticipation, planning, and impulse control.
15. shaken baby syndrome: A life-threatening condition that occurs when an infant
is forcefully shaken back and forth, rupturing blood vessels in the brain and breaking
neural connections.
16. self-righting: The inborn drive to remedy a developmental deficit.
17. sensitive period: A time when a certain type of development is most likely to
happen and happens most easily. For example, early childhood is considered a
sensitive period for language learning.
18. sensation: The response of a sensory system (eyes, ears, skin, tongue, nose)
when it detects a stimulus.
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, The Developing Person Through the Life Span - Kathleen Stassen Berge
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_2rfsh
19. perception: The mental processing of sensory information, when the brain
interprets a sensation.
20. binocular vision: (bye-NOCK-you-ler)The ability to focus the two eyes in a
coordinated manner in order to see one image.
21. motor skill: The learned ability to move some part of the body, from a large leap
to a flicker of the eyelid. (The word motor here refers to movement of muscles.)
22. reflex: A responsive movement that seems automatic because it almost always
occurs in reaction to a particular stimulus. Newborns have many reflexes, some of
which disappear with maturation.
23. gross motor skills: Physical abilities involving large body movements, such as
walking and jumping. (The word gross here means "big.")
24. fine motor skills: Physical abilities involving small body movements, especially
of the hands and fingers, such as drawing and picking up a coin. (The word fine here
means "small.")
25. immunization: (im-you-nye-ZAY-shun) A process that stimulates the body's
immune system to defend against attack by a particular contagious disease. A
person may acquire immunization either naturally (by having the disease) or through
vaccination (by having an injection, wearing a patch, swallowing, or inhaling).
26. sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): A situation in which a seemingly
healthy infant, at least 2 months of age, suddenly stops breathing and dies unex-
pectedly while asleep. The cause is unknown, but it is correlated with sleeping on
the stomach and having parents who smoke.
27. protein-calorie malnutrition: 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 sometimes death.
28. marasmus: (muh-RAZZ-muss) A disease of severe protein-calorie malnutrition
during early infancy, in which growth stops, body tissues waste away, and the infant
eventually dies
29. kwashiorkor: (kwah-shee-ORE-core) 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.
30. sensorimotor intelligence: Piaget's term for the way infants think—by using
their senses and motor skills during the first period of cognitive development.
31. primary circular reactions: The first of three types of feedback loops in sen-
sorimotor intelligence, this one involving the infant's own body. The infant senses
motion, sucking, noise, and so on, and tries to understand them.
32. secondary circular reactions: The second of three types of feedback loops
in sensorimotor intelligence, this one involving people and objects. The infant is
2/9
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_2rfsh
1. norm: An average, or standard, measurement, calculated from the measure-
ments of many individuals within a specific group or population.
2. percentile: A point on a ranking scale of 1 to 99. The 50th percentile is the
midpoint; half the people in the population rank higher and half rank lower.
3. head-sparing: The biological protection of the brain when malnutrition affects
body growth. The brain is the last part of the body to be damaged by malnutrition.
4. REM sleep: Rapid eye movement sleep, a stage of sleep characterized by flick-
ering eyes behind closed lids, dreaming, and rapid brain waves.
5. co-sleeping: A custom in which parents and their children (usually infants) sleep
together. (Also called bed-sharing.)
6. neuron: One of the billions of nerve cells in the central nervous system, especially
the brain.
7. cortex: The outer layers of the brain in humans and other mammals. Most
thinking, feeling, and sensing involve the cortex. (Sometimes called the neocor tex.)
8. axon: A nerve fiber that extends from a neuron and transmits electrical impulses
from that neuron to the dendrites of other neurons.
9. dendrite: A nerve fiber that extends from a neuron and receives electrical impuls-
es transmitted from other neurons via their axons.
10. synapse: (SIN-apps) The intersection between the axon of one neuron and the
dendrites of other neurons.
11. transient exuberance: (TRAN-zhent ex-OO- ber-ents) The great increase in the
number of dendrites that occurs in an infant's brain during the first two years of life.
12. experience-expectant: Refers to brain functions that require certain basic com-
mon experiences (which an infant can be expected to have) in order to develop
normally.
13. experience-dependent: Refers to brain functions that depend on particular,
variable experiences and that therefore may or may not develop in a particular infant.
14. prefrontal cortex: The area of cortex at the front of the brain that specializes in
anticipation, planning, and impulse control.
15. shaken baby syndrome: A life-threatening condition that occurs when an infant
is forcefully shaken back and forth, rupturing blood vessels in the brain and breaking
neural connections.
16. self-righting: The inborn drive to remedy a developmental deficit.
17. sensitive period: A time when a certain type of development is most likely to
happen and happens most easily. For example, early childhood is considered a
sensitive period for language learning.
18. sensation: The response of a sensory system (eyes, ears, skin, tongue, nose)
when it detects a stimulus.
1/9
, The Developing Person Through the Life Span - Kathleen Stassen Berge
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_2rfsh
19. perception: The mental processing of sensory information, when the brain
interprets a sensation.
20. binocular vision: (bye-NOCK-you-ler)The ability to focus the two eyes in a
coordinated manner in order to see one image.
21. motor skill: The learned ability to move some part of the body, from a large leap
to a flicker of the eyelid. (The word motor here refers to movement of muscles.)
22. reflex: A responsive movement that seems automatic because it almost always
occurs in reaction to a particular stimulus. Newborns have many reflexes, some of
which disappear with maturation.
23. gross motor skills: Physical abilities involving large body movements, such as
walking and jumping. (The word gross here means "big.")
24. fine motor skills: Physical abilities involving small body movements, especially
of the hands and fingers, such as drawing and picking up a coin. (The word fine here
means "small.")
25. immunization: (im-you-nye-ZAY-shun) A process that stimulates the body's
immune system to defend against attack by a particular contagious disease. A
person may acquire immunization either naturally (by having the disease) or through
vaccination (by having an injection, wearing a patch, swallowing, or inhaling).
26. sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): A situation in which a seemingly
healthy infant, at least 2 months of age, suddenly stops breathing and dies unex-
pectedly while asleep. The cause is unknown, but it is correlated with sleeping on
the stomach and having parents who smoke.
27. protein-calorie malnutrition: 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 sometimes death.
28. marasmus: (muh-RAZZ-muss) A disease of severe protein-calorie malnutrition
during early infancy, in which growth stops, body tissues waste away, and the infant
eventually dies
29. kwashiorkor: (kwah-shee-ORE-core) 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.
30. sensorimotor intelligence: Piaget's term for the way infants think—by using
their senses and motor skills during the first period of cognitive development.
31. primary circular reactions: The first of three types of feedback loops in sen-
sorimotor intelligence, this one involving the infant's own body. The infant senses
motion, sucking, noise, and so on, and tries to understand them.
32. secondary circular reactions: The second of three types of feedback loops
in sensorimotor intelligence, this one involving people and objects. The infant is
2/9
