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Neurons are the basic cells of the nervous system. Like all cells in the body, neurons have a cell body containing a nucleus. But unlike other cells, neurons have a distinctive ability: they can communicate with other cells, using a cluster of fibers called dendrites at one end. Dendrites receive messages from other cells. At their opposite end, neurons have a long extension called an axon, the part of the neuron that carries messages destined for other neurons. Neurons do not actually touch one another. Rather, they communicate with other neurons by means of chemical messengers, neurotransmitters, that travel across the small gaps, known as synapses, between neurons.
Although estimates vary, infants are born with between 100 billion and 200 billion neurons. In order to reach this number, neurons multiply at an amazing rate prior to birth. At birth, most neurons in an infant's brain have relatively few connections to other neurons. During the first 2 years of life, however, a baby's brain will establish billions of new connections between neurons. Furthermore, the network of neurons becomes more complex. The intricacy of neural connections continues to increase throughout life.
Child care authorities agree: For the first 12 months of life, there is no better food for an infant than breast milk. Breast milk not only contains all the nutrients necessary
for growth, but it also seems to offer immunity to a variety of childhood diseases, such as respiratory illnesses, ear infections, diarrhea, and allergies. Breastfeeding for as little as 4 months reduces infections by an average of 45 percent, and the reduction in infection is 65 percent lower for 6 months of breastfeeding compared to formula-fed babies. Breast milk is more easily digested than cow's milk or formula, and it is sterile, warm, and convenient for the mother to dispense. There is
even some evidence that breast milk may enhance cognitive growth, leading to high adult intelligence.
-emotional advantages between mother and child
-beneficial for the mother, less chance of ovarian and breast cancer, and helps shrink the uterus after birth
the model that seeks to identify the way that individuals take in, use, and store information
-three basic aspects: encoding, storage, and retrieval
-How mental processes become automatic:
without intending to and without being aware of it, infants and children develop a sense of how often different stimuli are found together simultaneously. This permits them to develop an understanding of concepts, categorizations of objects, events, or people that share common properties. For example, by encoding the information that four legs, a wagging tail, and barking are often found together, we learn very early in life to understand the concept of "dog."
-In
a study by developmental psychologist Karen Wynn, infants first were shown an object—a 4-inch-high Mickey Mouse statuette. A screen was then raised, hiding the statuette.
-Next, the experimenter showed the infants a second, identical Mickey Mouse, and then placed it behind the same screen .
-Finally, depending on the experimental condition, one of two outcomes occurred. In the "correct addition" condition, the screen dropped, revealing the two statuettes (analogous to 1 + 1 = 2). ---But
in the "incorrect addition" condition, the screen dropped to reveal just one statuette (analogous to the incorrect 1 + 1 = 1).
-Because infants look longer at unexpected occurrences than at expected ones, the researchers examined the pattern of infants' gazes under the different conditions.
-In support of the notion that infants can distinguish between correct and incorrect addition, the infants in the experiment gazed longer at the incorrect result than at the correct one, indicating
they expected a different number of statuettes.
-existence of basic math skills