Chapter 4
All of the genetic material within the microbiata - the entire community of microorganisms, such as bacteria, virus, fungi living on or in body including the human gut, skin & body orifices
Microbiome
Different states of sleep & wakefulness in infants
States of consciousness
Near universal, age related events whose first appearence signals noteworthy change or growth
Developmental milestones
Theorists who claim that perceptual abilities are inborn
Nativists
The population of microbes that colonizes the gastrointestional tract
Gut microbiota
Smooth movements of the eye used to follow the track of a moving object
Tracking
Ability to judge the relative distances of objects
Depth perception
Essential vitamins/nutrients needed to regulate physical and mental processes
Micronutrients
The part of the brain that regulates attention
Reticular formation
Process in neuronal development in which sheaths made of a substance called myelin gradually cover individual axons and electrically insulate them from 1 another to improve the conductivity of the nerve
Myelinization
Ability of the brain to recognize its neural structures & functioning in response to experiences
Neuroplasticity
The process of synapse development
synaptogenesis
Recurrence of a response to a stimulus that has undergone habituation
Dishabituation
Describes sudden and unexpected death of healthy infant
SIDS
Reflexes controlled by "primitive" parts of the brain, disapear during the first year of life
Primitive Reflexes
A research method in which A researcher Keeps track of how long A baby looks at each of 2 Objects shown
Preference technique
Formation of a single perception of a Stimulus that is based on information from 2 or more senses
Intermodal perception
Theorists who argue that perceptual abilities are learned
Empiricists
Death in first year of life
Infant mortality
Process by which unused or unnecessary neural pathways & connections are eliminated
synaptic pruning
How well one can see details at a distance
visual acuity
The decline in responding that occurs as a stimulus becomes familiar
Habituation
Reflexes that help newborns survive : some persist throughout life
Adaptive reflexes
How well one can hear
Auditory acuity
Infant behavior pattern involving intense, inconsolable bouts of crying, totalling 3 or more hours a day
Colic