Question 1

Much research is focused on the extent to which the brain is "plastic" in childhood, meaning:

Accepted Answer

Brain plasticity refers to the brain's ability to change and adapt as a result of experience, which is especially pronounced during childhood. This includes the ability to form new connections and pathways in response to learning and environmental changes.

Question 2

Human face perception seems to be

Accepted Answer

Human face perception is both an inborn predisposition and a process that involves perceptual learning based on experience. From birth, humans show a preference for looking at faces, indicating a natural predisposition. However, the ability to recognize and differentiate between individual faces improves with experience, showing that learned behavior also plays a significant role.

Question 3

Studies that investigate the effects of "perinatal" brain damage show that

Accepted Answer

Children with perinatal brain damage often show remarkable recovery in many areas of cognitive function due to the brain's plasticity during early development. However, more complex cognitive functions, such as language, may not fully recover to typical developmental levels, indicating a nuanced impact of early brain injury.

Question 4

How has the advent of neuroimaging techniques changed the way infant and child development is investigated? Brain imaging allows researchers to

Accepted Answer

Neuroimaging techniques have revolutionized the study of infant and child development by enabling researchers to measure anatomical changes, observe functionally relevant brain activity, and investigate myelination of brain pathways in a relatively non-invasive manner.

Question 5

Which of the following describes the progression of brain region development?

Accepted Answer

The development of brain regions progresses from areas involved in basic processing to those involved in more complex functions. The sensorimotor cortex, responsible for processing sensory information and motor control, develops first. This is followed by the development of the parietal and temporal association cortex, which integrates sensory information for complex processing. Finally, the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in decision making, planning, and social behavior, develops, reflecting the progression from basic to complex functions in brain development.

Question 6

What does the term 'rise and fall' of postnatal brain development refer to with respect to brain maturational processes?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What does the term 'rise and fall'...

Question 7

What brain regions develop and mature early in life? Which ones develop later?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What brain regions develop and mature early...

Question 8

Object permanence refers to the

Accepted Answer

Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or otherwise sensed. This is a key stage in the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development in infants, typically developing around 8-12 months of age.

Question 9

'Cognitive control' refers to processes that

Accepted Answer

Cognitive control encompasses all the given aspects: it develops over time, involves the prefrontal cortex, and helps in focusing on relevant environmental aspects while ignoring the irrelevant ones.

Question 10

The first year of life represents an)

Accepted Answer

During the first year of life, brain growth follows an uneven pattern, with sensory regions and areas involved in basic functions developing before those regions responsible for more complex functions, such as the frontal lobes. This reflects the principle of cephalocaudal and proximodistal development, where growth and development proceed from the head downward and from the center of the body outward, respectively.

Question 11

A teratogen is any agent that causes structural damage in the fetus during pregnancy, typically by exposing the unborn infant to the mother's ingestion of these agents. Examples include:

Accepted Answer

Teratogens include a wide range of substances that can cause birth defects or developmental issues in a fetus. This includes alcohol, cigarette smoke, drugs of abuse, marijuana smoke, and certain prescription drugs, all of which can harm the developing fetus if the mother is exposed during pregnancy.

Quiz 14: Growing up