Information for students
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Language development and the Brain 1
Student study guide
The book contains sections on the following topics:
Chapter One: Beginnings and Basics
The structure of the brain.
The parts of the cortex and the sub-cortical brain and what they do.
Navigating your way around the brain and what terms like caudal and rostral mean.
How neurons work.
How the brain develops.
Plasticity – how the brain grows through experience.
Factors affecting the health of the prenatal brain.
Advances in neural imaging techniques.
Chapter Two: Developing visual perception
Assessing visual perception in infants – the use of preferential looking and habituation paradigms.
What young infants can see.
The development of the visual cortical regions including visual acuity and focus.
The development of visual orientation and attention
The development of infants’ ability to perceive depth.
Object perception and shape constancy.
Vision and object permanence.
Seeing faces.
Chapter Three: Development of thinking
The ideas of Jean Piaget and more recent criticism of these.
Challenges to Piaget’s ideas on object permanence.
The early development of working memory.
Metacognition and working memory.
Cognitive complexity and control theory.
Executive command and the frontal cortex.
Chapter Four: Emotional Development
Which emotions develop and when do they do so – the debate.
Primary and secondary emotions.
Emotional regulation.
Attachment theory – the work of Bowlby and Ainsworth
The neuroscience of attachment including the work of Allan Schore.
The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis.
Abuse, neglect and emotional development.
Chapter Five: Language and Literacy
Uniqueness of human language.
The Empiricists: Skinner and Bandura.
The nativists: Chomsky and Pinker.
Bruner’s social interactionist theories.
The brain areas used for language.
The forbidden experiment.
Categorical speech perception.
The perceptual magnet effect.
Why motherese is so brilliant.
Multilingualism
Literacy – decoding and comprehension
Developmental dyslexia.
Chapter Six: Learning and Memory
Iconic memory, short-term/working memory and long-term memory.
The case of HM.
Development of implicit (non-declarative) memory.
Development of explicit (declarative) memory.
Different types of learning.
Learning by imitation.
Statistical learning.
Learning by analogy.
How neurons learn.
Neural plasticity and learning.
Long-term potentiation.
Popular misconceptions about the brain: neuromyths.
Chapter Seven: Genetics and neurodevelopmental disorders
A brief over-view of genetics.
ADHD.
Fragile X.
Autism.
Down’s syndrome.
Williams syndrome
Phenylketonuria.
Turner syndrome.
Prader-Willi syndrome.
Chapter Eight: The future
New techniques for imaging the brain.
Ethical issues
Integrating ideas about the brain
Learning and development
Need for more understanding about emotional brain
Self-test questions for students
Chapter One: Beginnings and Basics
1. What’s the name of the thick layer of neural fibres that joins the two symmetrical hemispheres of the brain?
2. What are the names of the four lobes of the cerebral cortex?
3. Name one type of processing that is associated with each of the four lobes.
4. Name three parts of the brain which are usually considered to be part of the limbic system.
5. What’s the difference between a dendrite and an axon?
6. What’s an action potential?
7. What do glial cells do in the brain?
8. Are myelinated neurons white or grey?
9. What is myelination?
10. Neurogenesis is the name given to the process of producing new neurons. When does it reach its peak?
11. What effect does the mother inhaling cigarette smoke have on the brain of the embryo?
12. Why is it difficult to put young infants through an MRI scanner?
13. What does electroencephalography measure?
Chapter Two: Developing visual perception
1. What’s the difference between sensation and perception?
2. What’s visual habituation?
3. Young children do not prefer novelty. True or false?
4. Why is the distinction between innate and learnt abilities not so clear cut as was previously thought?
5. What three factors pay a part in the development of visual acuity?
6. How far can new born babies see?
7. What’s visual orientation?
8. What are oculomotor skills and when do they develop?
9. How do babies begin to develop the ability to perceive depth?
10. What does the ‘visual cliff’ experiment show?
11. What are the differences between the information processed by the ventral and dorsal pathways?
12. How do these pathways affect the infant’s ability to process object permanence?
13. Young babies have preference for faces. True or false?
14. What is the N170?
Chapter Three: Development of thinking
1. What, according to Piaget, does the A not B error show?
2. What do neuroscientists now believe the A not B error is actually measuring?
3. What is cognition?
4. What are the four stages of cognitive development in Piaget’s theory?
5. Which of these are correct? More recent theories suggest that success at Piaget’s object permanence tasks is about:
a. the development within specific brain regions;
b. the development of working memory;
c. increased myelination in the cerebral cortex;
d. an increase in the ability to inhibit responses.
6. Which one of these is correct? Metacognition allows children to:
a. Use their imaginations more effectively;
b. Interact more spontaneously with other children and adults;
c. Develop control over their mental processes.
7. The development of the _________ allows children to exercise far greater control over their cognitive processing.
8. What is cognitive flexibility?
9. What is the theory of Cognitive Complexity and Control?
10. An increased working memory capacity shows an increased level of brain activity in the _________ region
11. Which brain structures allow young children to make decisions?
Chapter Four: Emotional Development
1. Name three primary emotions?
2. Name three secondary emotions?
3. Which part of the subcortical brain is usually thought to be implicated in our experience of fear?
4. Which little understood brain region is responsible for the development of social interactions?
5. Which part of the brain exercises executive control over emotional processing?
6. Attachment theory is all about the desire of the infant for food. True or false?
7. Match the names on the left with the ideas on the right: Bowlby The need for comfort outweighs the need for food Freud Attachment theory Ainsworth Imprinting Harlow The strange situation Lorenz Secondary drive theory
8. According to Allan Schore which part of the cerebral cortex regulates emotion?
9. What is “emotional synchrony”?
10. In simple terms, what is a hormone?
11. Why is it difficult to measure changes in the HPA axis?
12. Cortisol is always produced in stressful situations. True or false?
Chapter Five: Language and Literacy
1. According to Skinner we learn language through the process of being rewarded for getting it right. What’s the problem with this?
2. Why might theories that explain language acquisition as being about imitation also be flawed?
3. Explain the poverty of stimulus argument.
4. What are the components of Bruner’s LASS?
5. What sort of problems with language arise when there is damage to
a. Broca’s area
b. Wernicke’s area
6. What is equipotentiality?
7. What’s the difference between a voiced and an unvoiced consonant?
8. Explain what is meant by categorical speech perception?
9. What is the perceptual magnet effect?
10. How does motherese help babies to develop language?
11. Why is literacy unnatural?
12. In what way does reading involve both the auditory and visual parts of the brain?
13. What is the phonological deficit hypothesis of developmental dyslexia?
Chapter Six: Learning and Memory
1. Match the description of the memory system to the name:
Working memory We are not conscious of this and it does not depend on language
Implicit long term memory It lasts only a few seconds and is an important part of our sense of continuity
Iconic memory This helps you remember what you had for lunch yesterday.
Intermediate memory This can be consciously recalled and is often language based.
Explicit long-term memory Is used short-term for store language, visual and spatial information.
2. Iconic memory is formed by:
a. One year
b. Three months
c. Six months
3. If I remember that I like a particular sound or perfume but cannot quite remember why, I am likely to be using: a) my explicit long-term memory or b) my implicit long-term memory.
4. Which part of the brain is of central importance in the storage of long-term memories?
5. What is a pre-explicit memory system and when, according to Charles Nelson, does it develop?
6. What is the significance of the prefrontal cortex in the development of memory? 7. What’s the video deficit effect?
8. What is the mirror neuron system?
9. Which of these statements is correct:
a. Statistical learning does not begin until the age of two.
b. Statistical learning is usually conscious and deliberate.
c. Statistical learning does not use the senses as a means of learning.
d. All of the above.
e. None of the above.
10. How does learning how to put on a hat help you to learn how to put on your socks?
11. How has the Aplysia sea slug helped us to understand how neurons work?
12. What is an action potential?
13. Brain plasticity:
a. Is highly dependent on experience.
b. Requires new synaptic connections to be formed.
c. Continues throughout life
d. All of the above.
e. None of the above.
4. LTP is the name given to the increasing effectiveness of synaptic connections. What do the initials LTP stand for?
15. There is very little evidence to support the existence of learning styles. True or false?
16. What will you say to the next person you meet who tells you they are ‘right-brained’?
Chapter Seven: Genetics and neurodevelopmental disorders
1. Why is it difficult not to turn into your mother or father?
2. Give an example of a polygenic disorder.
3. How does anticipation increase the effects of a genetic disorder?
4. What’s the possible relationship between the prefrontal striatal circuit and children with ADHD?
5. How does Fragile X get its name?
6. Why are girls more likely to get Fragile X than boys?
7. What is theory of mind and how does it relate to children who are on the autistic spectrum?
8. What is weak central coherence theory?
9. What is mentalising and what are the three brain regions associated with it?
10. What is a trisomy and how does this relate to Down’s syndrome?
11. In the 1960s it looked as though we had phenylketonuria under control. What’s changed?
12. Which region of the brain has been shown to have reduced amounts of grey matter in children with Turner syndrome?
13. Which areas of the brain are linked with behaviours characteristic of Prader-Willi syndrome?
Chapter eight: The future
1. What priorities for neuroscience research are identified in the chapter?
2. What ethical issues are identified in researching the brains of young children?
3. What sort of integration would benefit further research?
4. How has brain science helped us in understanding learning and development?
5. How might future developments assist in this area? 6. What is neuroconstructivism?
7. Why might it be useful to know more about the orbitofrontal cortex?
Glossary/Key terms
Accommodation: This process is where new information is accommodated by mental schema. Existing schemata change and new ones develop as the cognitive system reorganises to accommodate conflicting new information.
Action potentials: Waves of electrical activity that are conducted along the body of the neuron.
Adrenal glands: Glands that sit above the kidneys and that release hormones in response to stress. Amygdala: The left and right amygdalae are situated in the temporal lobes. They play a role in the production and processing of emotions and in the processing of memories.
Assimilation: This process occurs when new knowledge fits in with an existing schema and does not entail any restructuring of the existing schemata.
Astrocytes: Glial cells that reside in the brain and spinal cord. Their functions include the maintenance of the chemical environment to facilitate neural signalling.
Attachment: An inbuilt set of behaviours designed to keep the infant close to his/her primary carer by means of establishing a strong emotional relationship.
Axon: The part of the neuron that carries the action potential.
Binocular parallax: Objects appear in different locations when viewed separately with one eye from the same position. This parallax is an important depth cue when the information from both eyes is combined during visual processing.
Brain stem: This plays an important function in regulating reflex activities such as heart rate, blood sugar levels and breathing. Together with the medulla, pons and midbrain, it also plays a role in relaying information between the brain and the spinal cord.
Broca’s area: Broca’s area is an area in the frontal lobe of one hemisphere usually associated with functions of speech production. Typically this area is in the left hemisphere.
Categorical speech perception: The ability to categorise the language sounds we hear, such that we can distinguish, for example, between the phonemes /b/ and /p/.
Central nervous system (CNS): Collective term for the brain and the spinal cord.
Cerebellum: Sometimes called the ‘little brain’. This is involved in planning and controlling movement, although damage to this region also affects language use and decision-making abilities, so it clearly has quite a number of functions.
Cerebrum cingulate cortex: This is important in emotional processing as well as learning and memory. It is situated just above the corpus callosum.
Computed tomography: Often just called CT scans, these are X-rays that are computer processed to produce images of the brain.
Conduction velocity: The speed at which an electrical signal or action potential travels along the length of the neuron.
Corpus callosum: The thick layer of neural fibres that connects the two hemispheres of the brain.
Cortisol: A hormone released as part of the daily diurnal rhythm and also in response to stress.
Dendrite: The part of the neuron that receives synaptic input.
Depth perception: The ability to assess the distance of stimuli from the viewer and in spatial relation to other stimuli, for example to see whether or not objects are closer or farther away than other objects.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI): An MRI process that allows the diffusion of molecules to be mapped.
Diurnal: A daily repeating pattern.
Electroencephalography: A means of recording electrical activity in the brain by placing electrodes on the scalp.
Electrophysiological: This term refers to the electrical components of cells and tissues and changes in the voltage or current that are measured to assess a range of activity. The methods involve a wide range of techniques from single-cell to whole-organ recording to assess healthy biological function.
Emotional regulation: ability to monitor and manage feelings.
Equilibrium: According to Piaget, the cognitive systems strives towards a balanced state of equilibrium. This means that new schemas emerge by means of accommodating and assimilating conflicting information to strive for cognitive structural consistency.
Explicit memory: Verbal and conscious memory system.
Fixation: In relation to vision, this refers to involuntary gaze on one location.
Frontal lobe: The largest lobe of the brain, which is involved in a great number of higher functions.
Fusiform face area: Part of the fusiform gyrus that is specialised for human face recognition. The fusiform gyrus is part of the temporal lobe and occipital lobe and is also sometimes referred to as the occipitotemporal gyrus.
Glia or glial cells: Cells that support the work of neurons. They include astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and microglial cells.
Gray matter: Areas of the brain and CNS that have lots of unmyelinated neurons. This contrasts with white matter which include neurons with myelinated axons and which communicate between areas of the cerebrum.
Gyrus (plural = Gyri): The hills that make up the crinkly surface of the brain (Greek = ring or circle).
Habituation: A reduction in response to a stimulus that has been repeatedly presented. It is generally taken as a sign that the stimulus has become familiar. The process is used extensively in research with infants to get them accustomed to perceptual stimuli.
Hippocampus: This is situated in the medial temporal cortex. It is a part of the brain that is used in the formation of memory.
Hormone: A chemical messenger.
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA): A system in the body that is used to control the response to stress.
Hypothalamus: A small collection of clusters of neurons that sit just below the thalamus. It controls functions such as body temperature, feeling hungry or thirsty and sleep. monitor and manage feelings.
Iconic memory: Visual memory that lasts only fleetingly, and is used to give us a sense of continuity.
Implicit memory: Non-verbal memory system that we do not control and are unable to recall, as it is in the unconscious part of the brain.
Insula or insula cortex: Part of the cerebral cortex.
Intermediate working memory: Used to store memory over a matter of days.
Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN): Part of the thalamus, a section of the brain that acts as a relay for information from the retina to all parts of the brain.
Limbic system: Term that is used for the parts of the cortical and sub-cortical brain that control emotions.
Long-term potentiation (LTP): Increases in the effectiveness of synaptic connections that occur because of experience. This allows us to learn from our experiences.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): Using an MRI scanner, which produces a strong magnetic field, to detect signals from excited hydrogen atoms that are present in water.
