The branch of biology that studies the growth and development from the fertilised egg to new adult mature organism. In a more restricted sense, it is limited to the period between fertilization of the egg and the hatchling or birth, which is both described and subjected to experimental analysis, especially during the rudimentary formation of …
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Emergence
An abstract concept, considered to be a property of non-linear systems, that is meant to express the state of affairs in which multiple combinations of factors can lead to a particular behavioural outcome. The behavior is emergent if no single factor by itself determines whether the behavior may arise. Put another way, it is the …
Embryogenesis
The formation, growth and development of the embryo during approximately the first two months of human life after conception. In metazoan embryological development, there are six principal stages appearing before the functional period: maturation, fertilization, blastula, gastrula and neurula, the latter coinciding with the formation of the neural tube. See Anlage, Blastomere, Blastula, Brain derived neurotrophic …
Embodiment
The theory that that cognitive and behavioral development can only be understood as occurring in a body. As such, it grounds much of cognition on an internal model of the human body and its actions. While frequently theories of development focus on abstract algorithms describing information processing, the embodiment view maintains that processing in a …
Embryo
An organism between the time of conception and hatching or birth. In mammalian development, the period of the embryo comprises the span from the first cell divisions until the organism begins to take the form of the adult, when it is referred to as a fetus (at about 7 weeks post-conception). Mammalian embryos are all …
Embodied cognition
Stands for the research program attempting to understand cognition in close association with the sensory and motor processes through which cognition manifests itself and the neural structures on which cognition is based. Embodied cognition also includes the notion of ‘situatedness’, which postulates that cognition takes place in contexts provided by highly structured and specific environments, …
Embarrassment
Two types of embarrassment have been described. The first type of embarrassment appears to be more similar to shyness than to shame. In certain situations of exposure, people become embarrassed. This type of embarrassment is not related to negative evaluation, as is shame. Perhaps the best example is the case of being complimented. One phenomenological …
Embedded Figures test (EFT)
A test in which the task is to locate simple geometrical forms that are embedded in more complex figures (see figures below for examples). Performance is scored as the mean time taken to detect all 24 simple forms. A paper-and-pencil group version requires finding 25 hidden figures by tracing over them. In addition, there is …
Electromyography (EMG)
Electrical activity recorded from muscles by means of skin (surface) electrodes affixed to the belly of muscles or needle (intramuscular) electrodes inserted into the muscles. The electrodes detect a small electrical potential generated by muscle fibers contracting when a muscle is voluntarily contracted. As the contraction is increased, more fibers produce an action potential. See …
Electron transport chain (or respiratory chain)
A sequence of biochemical reactions that reduce oxidation and which forms the final stage of aerobic respiration. It ensures the transfer of electrons or hydrogen atoms derived from the Krebs cycle to the molecular oxygen, with the formation of water as waste product. At the same time, it conserves energy from food or light in …
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