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Key Terms
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Below are the key terms featured in this chapter. The textbook's full glossary is also available for online searching.

Bayley Scales of Infant Development  An assessment of infant development that has a mental scale, a motor scale, and an infant behaviour profile
Cephalocaudal pattern  The sequence in which the growth gradually proceeds from top to bottom
Deferred imitation  Imitation that occurs after a time delay of hours or days
Developmental quotient  An overall developmental score that combines subscores in motor, language, adaptive, and personal-social domains
Dynamic systems theory  The new perspective on motor development in infancy that seeks to explain how motor behaviours are assembled for perceiving and acting
Fine motor skills  Motor skills that involve more finely turned movements, such as finger dexterity
Grasping reflex  A neonatal reflex in which the infant tightly grasps something touching the infant's palms
Gross motor skills  Motor skills that involve large muscle activities, such as walking
Habituation  Repeated presentation of the same stimulus, which causes reduced attention to the stimulus
Infant-directed speech  Speech used by parents and other adults when they talk to babies
Infinite generativity  An individual’s ability to generate a seemingly endless number of meaningful sentences using a finite set of words and rules
Intermodal perception  The ability to relate and integrate information about two or more sensory modalities
Kwashiorkor  A condition caused by a deficiency in protein, in which the child’s abdomen and feet become swollen with water
Language  A system of symbols used to communicate with others
Language acquisition device (LAD)  A biological endowment that enables the child to detect phonology, syntax, and semantics
Lateralization  Specialization of functions in one hemisphere of the cerebral cortex or the other
Marasmus  A wasting away of body tissues in the infant's first year, caused by protein-calorie deficiency
Moro reflex  A neonatal startle response that occurs in reaction to a sudden, intense noise or movement
Neuron  Nerve cell that handles information processing at the cellular level
Object permanence  The Piagetian term for an infant’s understanding that objects and events continue to exist even when they cannot be seen
Perception  The interpretation of what is sensed
Proximodistal pattern  The sequence in which growth starts at the centre of the body and moves towards the extremities
REM (rapid eye movement) sleep  A recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur
Rooting reflex  When the infant’s cheek is stroked, the infant turns its head in an effort to find something to suck
Scheme  In Piaget’s theory, a cognitive structure that helps individuals organize and understand their experiences
Sensation  Occurs when information interacts with the sensory receptors
Sucking reflex  A newborn automatically sucks an object placed in its mouth.
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)  A condition that occurs when an infant stops breathing and suddenly dies without apparent cause
Telegraphic speech  The use of short and precise words to communicate, such as young children’s two-and three-word utterances







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