Deck 4: The First Three Months

Question 1

The process of myelination, in which myelin covers nerve cells, assists in:

A)speeding the transmission of neural impulses or signals.
B)increasing the surface area of the brain.
C)the assimilation of new experiences.
D)generalizeability.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

At birth, an average baby weighs about ____________ pounds and is about ____________ inches long.

A)5; 21.5
B)7; 19.5
C)8; 19
D)8; 21

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The soft spots on infants' skulls are known as:

A)myelins.
B)fontanels.
C)cortexes.
D)cerebellums.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The structure of the brain that controls such elementary reactions as blinking and sucking, as well as vital functions like breathing and sleeping, is called the:

A)cerebellum.
B)frontal lobe.
C)hippocampus.
D)brain stem.

Question 5

Neuronal networks that are formed in utero:

A)remain fixed throughout later development.
B)undergo changes as a result of continued biological growth.
C)undergo changes as a result of experience in the world.
D)undergo changes as a result of both biology and experience.

Question 6

The outermost layer of the brain is called the:

A)cerebellum.
B)cerebral cortex.
C)hippocampus.
D)brain stem.

Question 7

What is the recommended length of time for mothers to breastfeed their infants?

A)4 weeks
B)6 months
C)1 year
D)3 years

Question 8

The chemical that carries an impulse across the gap between axons and dendrites is called a:

A)synapse.
B)myelination.
C)neurotransmitter.
D)neuron.

Question 9

The brain of an adult is approximately four times larger than that of a newborn. What accounts for this tremendous growth?

A)The complexity of networks between neurons increases.
B)The chemical reaction that occurs when myelin begins to dissolve triggers new nerve cells to develop.
C)New neurons form in response to experiences occurring in the first five years of life.
D)Nutritional benefits of breast milk and formula cause an increase in the production of neurons.

Question 10

Axons, dendrites, and synapses perform the function of:

A)sending and receiving messages within the central nervous system.
B)neurotransmitters.
C)voluntary motor control, primarily.
D)myelination.

Question 11

When a child jerks away her hand after she has touched a hot stove, her reaction is due to:

A)growth in her cerebral cortex and increasing myelination.
B)development in her occipital and parietal lobes.
C)cephalocaudal developmental patterns.
D)impulses being carried between her axons, dendrites, and synapses.

Question 12

The central nervous system is divided into three major sections, including:

A)cerebral cortex, neurons, brain stem.
B)brainstem, spinal cord, cerebral cortex.
C)brainstem, spinal cord, dendrites.
D)axon, dendrites, synapses.

Question 13

Shanti notices that her week-old infant has several "soft spots" on his skull. When she calls her pediatrician, she is MOST likely told to:

A)bring the baby in for immediate medical attention as such spots are indications of serious developmental concerns.
B)relax because these spots are nature's way of allowing the skull to accommodate brain growth.
C)relax because these spots will allow for positional skull flattening as her baby ages.
D)purchase a helmet-like device to help protect her baby's skull while the bones harden.

Question 14

The interconnections between dendrites and axons form complex webs are called:

A)myelin sheaths.
B)neuronal networks.
C)white matter.
D)synapses.

Question 15

During early childhood, the growth in brain volume can primarily be attributed to:

A)increasing grey matter.
B)increasing white matter.
C)increasing myelination.
D)increasing blood volume.

Question 16

In the first 3 months of life, an infant will gain approximately:

A)2 pounds.
B)4 pounds.
C)6 pounds.
D)12 pounds.

Question 17

The approximate number of neurons in the brain at birth is:

A)1 billion.
B)10 billion.
C)100 billion.
D)unknown.

Question 18

At birth, which area of the central nervous system is the LEAST mature?

A)spinal cord
B)brain stem
C)cerebral cortex
D)cerebellum

Question 19

Why might growth charts mislead parents and pediatricians who are evaluating a baby's physical growth?

A)They contain separate age-specific averages of height and weight for boys and girls.
B)They combine age-specific averages of height and weight for formula-fed and breastfed babies.
C)They indicate variations from averages in height and weight.
D)They are compiled using averages from both typically and atypically developing children.

Question 20

Which of the following is a statement about breastfed babies?

A)Breastfed children are more likely than formula-fed children to sleep through the night at an early age.
B)Breastfed children have an increased likelihood of developing immune-related diseases.
C)Breastfed children have an increased likelihood of becoming obese compared to formula-fed babies.
D)Breastfed children tend to score higher on tests of cognitive functioning than children who are fed formula.

Question 21

Uncommitted areas of the brain provide infants with the capacity to develop brain circuits that grow and change depending upon the experiences infants encounter as they develop. These uncommitted areas permit developmental plasticity, and depend heavily on:

A)cultural influences.
B)evolutionary influences.
C)experience-expectant processes.
D)experience-dependent processes.

Question 22

Uncommitted areas of the brain provide infants with the capacity to develop brain circuits that grow and change depending upon the experiences infants encounter as they develop. These un- committed areas permit ____________, and depend heavily on experience-dependent processes.

A)developmental plasticity
B)evolutionary stability
C)synaptic pruning
D)hormonal regulation

Question 23

When presented with a picture of a house cat and a picture of a tiger, Radha looks longer at the picture of the house cat. This suggests that she:

A)has seen more house cats in her life than tigers.
B)is able to tell the two pictures apart.
C)has no preference for either house cats or tigers.
D)is aware that tigers are often dangerous.

Question 24

Which area of the brain appears to be quite immature at birth and is essential for a wide variety of voluntary behaviors?

A)neurons
B)spinal cord
C)brain stem
D)cerebral cortex

Question 25

Electroencephalography involves measurement of:

A)sucking rate.
B)brain waves.
C)heart rate.
D)galvanic skin response.

Question 26

The occipital lobe is specialized for:

A)vision.
B)hearing and speech.
C)spatial perception.
D)complex thought.

Question 27

The development of neural connections under genetic control that occur in any normal environment is called a(n) ____________ process.

A)cultural
B)evolutionary
C)experience-expectant
D)experience-dependent

Question 28

Caitlyn was born severely visually impaired; as a result, the visual areas of her brain failed to develop normally. This is an example of:

A)synaptogenesis.
B)experience-expectant brain development.
C)experience-dependent brain development.
D)plasticity.

Question 29

Which of following has occurred when a newborn stops attending to a repeatedly presented stimulus?

A)modeling
B)habituation
C)classical conditioning
D)operant conditioning

Question 30

Experience-expectant processes of brain development ____________.

A)are the result of specific individual experiences
B)have been found in chick embryos and rats, but not in humans
C)anticipate certain experiences that are typically universal for humans
D)allow organisms to learn from experience

Question 31

Which of the following statements MOST accurately summarizes findings from Rosenzweig's study of rats raised in different environments?

A)Rats raised individually performed better on learning tasks than those raised with other rats.
B)The brains of rats raised in enriched environments contained more synaptic connections than the brains of rats raised in standard laboratory cages.
C)The environments in which rats were raised had no effect on their performance on learning tasks.
D)The quality of the environment proved to impact female rats' brain development, but not the brain development of male rats.

Question 32

A comparison of how long babies look at different stimuli is the basic feature of:

A)electroencephalography.
B)the visual preference technique.
C)the habituation paradigm.
D)the preferred exposure strategy.

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT a lobe in the cerebral cortex?

A)occipital lobe
B)parietal lobe
C)frontal lobe
D)spatial lobe

Question 34

____________ reduces the oversupply of neural connections in the brain as part of the experience-expectant process of development.

A)Hormonal activity
B)Synaptic pruning
C)Experience
D)A proper diet

Question 35

Which of the following responses is used to evaluate infants' sensory capacities?

A)head turns
B)variations in brain waves
C)changes in heart rate
D)All of the responses are correct.

Question 36

Which of the following senses is the LEAST well-developed at birth?

A)vision
B)hearing
C)tasting
D)smelling

Question 37

The oversupply of synapses in the brain during the early months of development provides the raw material for ____________ processes of brain development.

A)experience-expectant
B)experience-dependent
C)learning-based
D)exogenous

Question 38

Which of the following is an example of habituation?

A)A newborn cries because she is hungry.
B)An infant tires of looking at his mobile.
C)A newborn is startled by a loud truck horn.
D)An infant cannot differentiate between two round objects.

Question 39

The habituation/dishabituation technique is used primarily to:

A)measure infants' sensory capacities.
B)teach infants early sensory-motor skills.
C)measure infants' rate of physical growth.
D)predict infants' later aptitude for learning.

Question 40

The development of neural connections initiated in response to experience is called a(n) ____________ process.

A)cultural
B)evolutionary
C)experience-expectant
D)experience-dependent

Question 41

Which of the following is NOT one of a young infant's sensory capacities?

A)slightly blurred vision
B)the ability to differentiate tastes
C)a fully developed visual acuity
D)the ability to distinguish among phonemes

Question 42

Visual acuity in children is close to adult levels:

A)at birth.
B)by 2-3 months.
C)by 7-8 months.
D)by 1 year.

Question 43

Studies conducted by Peter Eimas and others indicate that:

A)newborns do not have the ability to make phonemic distinctions.
B)the ability to perceive basic language sounds is present very early.
C)the ability to make phonemic distinctions is only slight at birth and grows to its greatest capacity by the age of 6 to 8 months.
D)a newborn's sense of hearing is poor until absorption of amniotic fluid, which is present in the ears at birth, is complete.

Question 44

Infants are able to perceive color at adult levels by:

A)2 weeks of age.
B)2 months of age.
C)6 months of age.
D)1 year of age.

Question 45

Studies of newborn infants' auditory preferences demonstrate that:

A)infants prefer to hear foreign languages more than their own language.
B)infants prefer the sound of the human voice to other types of sounds.
C)infants prefer low-pitched voices to high-pitched voices.
D)infants' hearing is not acute enough for them to demonstrate preferences for particular categories of sound.

Question 46

Which factor(s) appears to be responsible for blurry vision in early infancy?

A)immaturity of the lens of the eye
B)immaturity of the retina of the eye
C)immaturity of the neural pathway from the retina to the brain
D)All of the answers are correct.

Question 47

Shortly after birth, infant hearing capacities can be described as:

A)nonexistent.
B)particularly sensitive to phonemes and the human voice.
C)sensitive to loud noises only.
D)sensitive to their mother's voice only.

Question 48

Infants' sucking rate increased when they heard a phoneme change from /pa/ to /ba/. This is evidence that:

A)infants have some hearing capacity.
B)human infants have a unique capacity to perceive properties of human speech.
C)infants can perceive differences in the phonemes of their native language only.
D)All of the answers are correct.

Question 49

Newborns' visual acuity allows them to see objects about ____________ away.

A)6 inches
B)12 inches
C)2-3 feet
D)5 feet

Question 50

Early infant sensory capacities include:

A)some hearing, taste, smell, and visual abilities.
B)acute vision but limited hearing.
C)a well-developed sense of smell but limited ability to differentiate between tastes.
D)well-developed hearing, a sense of smell, and acute visual abilities.

Question 51

Researchers assume that infants can tell the difference between two stimuli if they:

A)look at only one stimulus.
B)refuse to look at either stimulus.
C)pay more attention to one stimulus than to the other.
D)spend equal amounts of time looking at both stimuli.

Question 52

Which of the following is an example of a phoneme?

A)the word "sap"
B)the sound of /t/
C)the sound of the syllable /so/
D)the sound of middle C on the piano

Question 53

Stephen, age 2 months, turned his head toward his mother every time she spoke to him in "baby talk" or Child Directed Speech (e.g., spoken at a high pitch with slow, exaggerated pronunciation). What conclusion can you draw from this example?

A)His mother should stop talking to him in this manner because it is distracting to him.
B)His hearing capacities are developing normally.
C)He is developing more quickly than is typical.
D)He is probably experiencing a hearing difficulty.

Question 54

The ability to make phonemic distinctions begins to narrow to just those distinctions that are present in one's native language at about what age?

A)birth
B)3 to 4 months
C)6 to 8 months
D)12 months

Question 55

Newborns have been found to show a preference for the sound of:

A)human voices.
B)low-pitched tones.
C)instrumental music.
D)very loud noises to very soft noises.

Question 56

Habituation and dishabituation in an infant are important because they show that the infant:

A)can perceive change.
B)is too young to learn.
C)is overwhelmed by his world.
D)is able to think about what she is doing.

Question 57

Babies are often called "Citizens of the World." What evidence supports this?

A)Newborns only make those phonological distinctions that are present in their native language.
B)Humans never lose the ability to hear differences among phonemes.
C)Newborns prefer to listen to others speaking foreign languages more than others speaking their own native language.
D)During the first 7 months of life, babies can distinguish phonemes from any of the world's languages.

Question 58

One of the MOST striking discoveries about the hearing of very young infants (Eimas, 1985) is that they are particularly sensitive to the sound category known as:

A)phonemes.
B)the purr of a cat.
C)baby talk register.
D)their mother's voice.

Question 59

Visual acuity in children is close to adult levels:

A)at birth.
B)sometime after they learn to walk.
C)around the time they are able to crawl.
D)around the same time they can talk in complete sentences.

Question 60

Psychologists who propose that the driving force behind visual scanning is "endogenous" believe that scanning:

A)originates in spontaneous neural activity.
B)is a result of cultural experience.
C)is a response to environmental stimulation.
D)is a result of infants' poor visual capacity.

Question 61

Alicia is concerned that swaddling her baby is unsafe. Which of the following would be the BEST response?

A)Tell her that her concern is valid because swaddling can lead babies to become very agitated due to their inability to move their arms and legs.
B)Tell her that her concern is valid because swaddling interferes with babies' reflex responses.
C)Tell her not to be concerned because swaddling helps babies to organize their behavior and become calmer.
D)Tell her not to be concerned because swaddling has very little effect on infants' behaviors.

Question 62

When looking at images of faces, newborns prefer images that:

A)have jumbled features over those with normal configurations.
B)are stationary to those that move in front of them.
C)depict a stranger over those that depict someone more familiar.
D)have more elements in the upper half than the bottom half.

Question 63

Marta's mother makes a loud noise. Marta, age 2 months, then throws her arms outward while arching her back and bringing her hands back together as if grasping something. Marta's mother should do which of the following?

A)She should see the pediatrician to find out why Marta startles so easily.
B)She should not worry because this reflexive reaction is typical for a child Marta's age.
C)She should be very concerned about Marta's neurological health because this reflex should have disappeared by the age of 2 months.
D)She should hope Marta will always respond this way because it is a consistent sign of normal neurological development.

Question 64

Studies of how mothers' diets affect newborns' taste preferences revealed that:

A)the flavors of the mothers' diets do not influence infants' taste preferences.
B)infants of mothers who drank carrot juice in their third trimester and while breastfeeding were more adverse to carrot-flavored cereal than infants without such exposure.
C)infants of mothers who drank carrot juice in their third trimester and while breastfeeding were more tolerant of carrot-flavored cereal than infants without such exposure.
D)although mothers' consumption of strong flavors (e.g., garlic) influence infants' taste preferences, their consumption of milder flavors (e.g., carrots) does not.

Question 65

Infants' ability to integrate information perceived by more than one sensory system is known as:

A)crossmodel perception.
B)intermodal perception.
C)integration.
D)coordinated action.

Question 66

Following the opportunity to explore a small object with their mouths, infants:

A)looked longer at a picture of the same object.
B)looked longer at a picture of a different object.
C)were no longer interested in objects of similar shapes.
D)were no longer interested in exploring objects with their mouths.

Question 67

Which of the following reflexes do some psychologists think is a holdover from early evolutionary stages, but with no current purpose?

A)Moro
B)rooting
C)sucking
D)eyeblink

Question 68

Curtis would like to purchase a mobile to hang in his son's nursery. At which of the following mobiles would his newborn baby MOST enjoy looking?

A)a mobile with soft pastel flowers
B)a mobile with black and white patterned abstract shapes
C)a mobile with fuzzy brown teddy bears
D)a mobile with bright colorful flowers

Question 69

Which of the following is a statement about the reflexes of a young infant?

A)All early reflexes disappear by 6 months of age.
B)Some early reflexes disappear and some remain after 6 months of age.
C)All reflexes disappear but are replaced by related voluntary behavior.
D)All early reflexive behavior remains with the infant throughout life.

Question 70

Investigations of newborn infants' ability to discriminate among different tastes reveals that:

A)newborn infants are only able to discern differences among sweet and not-sweet flavors.
B)newborn infants are able to discriminate among sweet, bitter, salty, and sour tastes.
C)newborn infants demonstrate a clear preference for salty flavors.
D)it is difficult to identify infants' perceptual abilities in this area because they show no outward reaction to varying tastes.

Question 71

Shortly after birth, infants can perceive:

A)differences between categories of phonemes.
B)changes in temperature.
C)sweet and sour tastes.
D)All of the answers are correct.

Question 72

Bronson argues that the increase in scanning competence seen in 3-month-old infants is due to: A. global growth. B. brain maturation. C. experience in seeing objects. D. seeing their mother's face during nursing.

Question 73

When tested, which of the following tastes do neonates show a preference for?

A)sour
B)sweet
C)slightly salty
D)They cannot differentiate distinct tastes.

Question 74

Babies who were prevented from hearing their mothers' voices immediately after birth were:

A)particularly adept at identifying her by visual information alone.
B)unable to distinguish between her face and that of another woman.
C)extremely distressed and unable to be comforted.
D)more sensitive to their mothers' body odor than babies who had heard their mothers' voices immediately after birth.

Question 75

The function of some early reflexes are:

A)the baby's biological survival.
B)not clearly understood.
C)to serve as building blocks for later development.
D)All of the answers are correct.

Question 76

The facial expressions that newborns make in response to tastes and smells are:

A)unique to each individual child.
B)innate adaptive responses.
C)learned by observing other people around them.
D)the same, regardless of the stimuli.

Question 77

The grasping reflex disappears in about ____________ months and is replaced by ____________.

A)1 to 2 months; automatic grasping
B)1 to 2 months; ballistic grasping
C)3 to 4 months; voluntary grasping
D)3 to 4 months; cooperative grasping

Question 78

Researchers measure newborns' responses to odors by:

A)observing their vocalizations in response to each odor.
B)measuring changes in activity in response to each odor.
C)teaching them to perform behaviors that are rewarded by presentation of an odor.
D)pairing each odor with a visual stimulus, then measuring responses to the visual stimuli.

Question 79

How would you describe the visual scanning of 13-week-old infants?

A)It is completely random and haphazard.
B)They follow only the regions of high contrast.
C)They scan boundaries of objects.
D)They scan the entire boundary.

Question 80

A reflex is:

A)one of the newborn's first voluntary behaviors.
B)an automatic response to specific kinds of stimuli.
C)the tendency for newborns to ignore a repeated stimulus.
D)a response made by newborns to a wide variety of stimuli.