The Brain
The lobe of the cerebral cortex primarily responsible for processing visual information.
What is the occipital lobe?
The central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS).
What are the two divisions of the human nervous system?
The psychologist who proposed four stages of cognitive development from infancy through adolescence.
Who is Jean Piaget?
The brain's ability to change its structure and neural connections in response to experience.
What is neural plasticity?
The hormone that promotes sleepiness and helps regulate the sleep–wake cycle.
What is melatonin?
The area of the brain responsible for producing fluent speech.
What is Broca's area?
The type of neuron that carries information from sensory receptors towards the CNS.
What is a sensory neuron?
The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot currently be seen.
What is object permanence?
The developmental process in which unused or unnecessary neural connections are eliminated.
What is neural pruning?
The physiological measurement used to record the electrical activity of the brain during sleep.
What is an EEG?
This type of aphasia is characterised by fluent speech that may lack meaning, along with difficulty understanding language.
What is Wernicke's aphasia?
This fatty covering around some axons increases the speed and efficiency of neural transmission.
What is the myelin sheath?
A four-year-old assumes that because they can see the picture on their side of a card, the person sitting opposite them can see the same picture.
What is egocentrism?
Unlike a critical period, development can still occur after this optimal developmental window, although it may be more difficult.
What is a sensitive period?
A student concentrates on their teacher's voice while ignoring a conversation occurring outside the classroom. This type of attention is being demonstrated.
What is selective attention?
Following a brain injury, a person can understand a question and knows what they want to say but responds slowly using short, effortful sentences.
What is Broca's aphasia?
The type of neuron found primarily within the CNS that connects and communicates between other neurons.
What is an interneuron?
A seven-year-old understands that spreading ten counters into a longer row does not increase the number of counters. This cognitive ability has developed.
What is conservation?
A child receives frequent opportunities to read, solve problems, explore their environment and interact with others. These experiences may strengthen neural connections and promote development. This type of environment is being described.
What is an enriched environment?
A person repeatedly stops breathing for short periods while asleep, causing disrupted sleep and often excessive daytime tiredness.
What is sleep apnoea?
Following an accident, a patient can see and hear normally but has difficulty identifying where their body is positioned in space and processing touch sensations. This lobe is the most likely site of damage.
What is the parietal lobe?
You accidentally step on a sharp object. These three types of neurons, in the correct order, allow the information to reach the CNS, be processed and produce a muscular response.
What are sensory neurons, interneurons, and motor neurons?
A student is asked, “If humans could breathe underwater, how might cities be designed differently?” Their ability to reason about this hypothetical situation suggests they have reached this Piagetian stage.
What is the formal operational stage?
A 16-year-old understands that speeding is dangerous but decides to race their friends anyway. The continuing development of this brain region may help explain their poorer impulse control and consideration of consequences.
What is the prefrontal cortex?
A 15-year-old says, “I'm not tired at 9 pm anymore, but I can barely wake up for school at 6:30 am.” This normal developmental change in the timing of their circadian rhythm helps explain their experience.
What is adolescent sleep-phase delay?