An unlearned inclination of adults (and even children as young as two years of age) to react adequately to an infant’s physical, social and emotional needs and learning abilities. This concept is most closely associated with the work of the pediatrician Hanuš Papoušek (1922–2000). See Differential parenting, Innate releasing mechanism, Maternal responsiveness, Parental styles, Parenting
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Intrinsic dynamics
The set of factors that determine the changing properties of body parts during movements. These factors include the elasticity of tendons, the resistance of joints, size and weight of the body part, the forces generated by muscles etc. See Biomechanical degrees of freedom, Dynamics, Torque
Introspective method
Traced back to Aristotle (384-322 BP), it is a method of data collection in which observers record their own mental processes and experiences. Refined by Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) from uncontrolled to controlled introspection (or rather immediate retrospection), it was finally banished from psychology by the behaviourists and John B. Watson (1878-1958) in particular. See Behaviorism, …
Intrinsic
Events of internal origin for parts of higher-order systems. See Extrinsic
Intrauterine growth restriction or retardation (IUGR)
An insufficient growth of the fetus, due, for example, to placental dysfunction that fails to deliver an adequate supply of oxygen and nutrients from the mother to the fetus. It may result in a weight at birth that is inappropriate (i.e., small) for the duration of gestation such as one below the 10th percentile of …
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Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH)
An intracranial hemorrhage originating in the periventricular germinal matrix that extends into the fluid-filled ventricles. Most common in preterm and low-birthweight infants, especially those with respiratory distress syndrome, but is relatively uncommon in fullterm infants. Infants with gestational ages of less than 30 weeks are at most risk for IVH. It is thought to arise …
Intrapsychic conflicts
Classical Freudian psychoanalysis assumes that mental disorder is due to contradictory and irreconcilable wishes and beliefs on the part of the sufferer. Freud and some of his followers conceived of these conflicts as generally occurring between instinctual (sexual and aggressive) desires, an awareness of the constraints of reality, and moral imperatives. Put in Freudian terminology, …
Intrafusal muscle fibers
Specialized, skeletal muscle fibers found within muscle spindles that detect muscle stretch and become innervated by gamma motoneurons during early development (see figure below). Intrafusal fibers in muscle spindles relative to extrafusal fibers and gamma motoneurons that innervate infrafusal fibers. See Actin, Alpha (α) motoneuron, Extrafusal muscle fibers, Gamma (γ) motoneuron, Hypotonia, Motor cortex, Muscle …
Intra-individual differences
Differences in the expression of a behavior by an individual over time. See Behavior variable, Burst designs, Child psychology, Developmental psychology, Developmental research, Microgenetic method, Variance within
Intracortical pathways
The connections between one part of the cortex and another, usually arising from the neurons of layers II and III of the cortex. See Cerebral cortex (or pallium), Hodology