| affordance | In the Gibsons' ecological theory of perception, the fit between a person's physical attributes and capabilities and characteristics of the environment.
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| brain growth spurts | Periods of rapid brain growth and development.
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| cell death | In brain development, normal elimination of excess cells to achieve more efficient functioning.
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| central nervous system | Brain and spinal cord.
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| Denver Developmental Screening Test | Screening test given to children 1 month to 6 years old to determine whether they are developing normally.
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| depth perception | Ability to perceive objects and surfaces in three dimensions.
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| differentiation | Process by which cells acquire specialized structure and function.
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| dynamic systems theory (DST) | Thelen's theory, which holds that motor development is a dynamic process of active coordination of multiple systems within the infant in relation to the environment.
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| ecological theory of perception | Theory developed by Eleanor and James Gibson, which describes developing motor and perceptual abilities as interdependent parts of a functional system that guides behavior in varying contexts.
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| Emotional maltreatment | Action or inaction that may cause behavioral, cognitive, emotional, or mental disorders.
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| fine motor skills | Physical skills that involve the small muscles and eye-hand coordination.
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| gross motor skills | Physical skills that involve the large muscles.
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| haptic perception | Ability to acquire information about properties of objects, such as size, weight, and texture, by handling them.
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| infant mortality rate | Proportion of babies born alive who die within the first year.
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| integration | Process by which neurons coordinate the activities of muscle groups.
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| lateralization | Tendency of each of the brain's hemispheres to have specialized functions.
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| myelination | Process of coating neurons with a fatty substance (myelin) that enables faster communication between cells.
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| neglect | Failure to meet a dependent's basic needs.
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| neurons | Nerve cells.
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| physical abuse | Action taken deliberately to endanger another person, involving potential bodily injury.
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| plasticity | Modifiability of performance.
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| reflex behavior | Automatic, involuntary, innate response to stimulation.
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| sexual abuse | Physical or psychologically harmful sexual activity, or any sexual activity involving a child and an older person.
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| sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) | Sudden and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant.
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| systems of action | Increasingly complex combinations of motor skills that permit a wider or more precise range of movement and more control of the environment.
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| visual cliff | Apparatus designed to give an illusion of depth and used to assess depth perception in infants.
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| Visual guidance | Use of the eyes to guide movements of the hands or other parts of the body.
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