Middle Childhood

Physical Development: Key Highlights

Bodily Growth and Sleep

Recess-time Play

Rough-and-tumble play: Vigorous play involving wrestling,hitting, and chasing, often accompanied by laughing andscreaming.

Asthma: A chronic respiratory disease characterized by sudden attacks of coughing, wheezing, and difficulty in breathing.

I. PIAGET: THE CONCRETE OPERATIONAL CHILDConcrete operations: Piaget’s third stage of cognitive development (approximately from ages 7 to 11). Children think logically about concrete events, have the ability to do basic math, understand the conservation of mass, and engagein inductive reasoning.

Cognitive Advances

Spatial Relationships and CausalityImproved understanding of…

MapsHow long it takes to get from one place to another.Cause and effect relationships between levers intended

actions.

Cognitive Development

Categorization

Seriation: Ability to order items along a dimension.

Transitive inference: Understanding of the relationship between two objects by knowing the relationship of each to a third object.

Class inclusion: Understanding of the relationship between a whole and its parts.

Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

Inductive…Starting specific and making generalizations.‘My dog barks, her dog barks…so, all dogs bark!’

Deductive…Starting general and then making specific statements.‘All dogs bark. Spot is a dog… so Spot barks!’

Conservation

Identity: Knowledge that a substance retains its nature even when it looks different.

Reversibility: Knowledge that reversing an action will cause the substance to revert to its former appearance.

Decenter: Ability to focus on more than one feature of a stimulus at a time.

Horizontal lag: the inability to transfer learning about one type of conservation to other types, which causes a child to master different types of conservation tasks at different ages.

The 3 Steps of Piaget’s Moral Reasoning

1. Very little moral understanding: Ages 2-7

2. Increasing flexibility and moral understanding: Ages 7-11

3. Notion of Equity: (Ages 11-12) The belief that one person may be treated differently than another because of special circumstances that are taken into account

II. INFORMATION PROCESSING: MEMORY AND OTHER PROCESSING SKILLS

Mnemonics: Strategies for Remembering

Rehearsal (Ages 6-7): repeat over and over again until memorized.

Organization (Ages 10-11): Categorizing material to be remembered.

Hawk, Oriole, Tiger, Timberwolf, Blue Jay, Bull

Rhymes

Elaboration (Ages 12 and up): Mnemonic strategy of making mental associations involving items to be remembered.

Method of loci: you memorize a series of places and then using a vivid image, you associate each of these locations with something you want to remember.

Selective Attention

III. Is There More Than One Intelligence?

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Analytical (academic)Creative (planning approaches to new problems)Practical (actually doing something)

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Multiple intelligences: a variety of unrelated forms of intelligence.

Language abilitiesMusical abilitiesLogic and mathematical reasoningSpatial reasoningKinesthetic (body movement) skillsIntrapersonal (self-control and understanding) skillsInterpersonal (social sensitivity and awareness) skillsNaturalistic (farming, cooking, hunting, etc.)

IV. LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Analogy and Metaphor: Figures of speech in which a word or phrase that usually designates one thing is compared or applied to another.

Reading

Phonetic, or code-emphasis approach: Approach to teaching reading that emphasizes decoding or sounding out unfamiliar words.

Whole-language approach: Approach to teaching reading that emphasizes visual retrieval and use of contextual cues.

V. THE CHILD IN SCHOOL

Influences on School Achievement

High Self-efficacy“I know that I can do this.”

GenderGirls tend to perform better than

boys.

Parenting Practices

Extrinsic Motivation: Refers to things that are external to oneself, such as money or rewards.

Intrinsic Motivation: Refers to things that are internal, such as pride of accomplishment.

Teacher Expectations

Self-fulfilling prophecy: False expectation or prediction of behavior that tends to come true because it leads people to act as if it already were true.

Learning Disabilities

Dyslexia: a difficulty with reading or writing that involves an inability to see words as meaningful shapes or the differences between letters.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Syndrome characterized by persistent inattention and distractibility, impulsivity, low tolerance for frustration, and inappropriate overactivity.

Identifying Gifted Children

Convergent thinking: Thinking aimed at finding the “one”right answer to a problem.

Divergent thinking: Thinking that produces a variety of fresh, diverse possibilities.

Creativity: Ability to see situations in a new way, to produce innovations, or to discern previously unidentified problems and find novel solutions.

Educating Gifted Children

Enrichment: Approach to educating the gifted, which broadensand deepens knowledge and skills through extra activities, projects, field trips, or mentoring.

Acceleration: Approach to educating the gifted, which moves them through the curriculum at an unusually rapid pace.

Industry versus inferiority: Erikson’s fourth stage of psychosocial development, in which children must learn the productive skills their culture requires or else face feelings of inferiority.

Competence: A view of the self as able to master skills and complete tasks.

Virtue attained…

I. THE DEVELOPING SELF & SELF-ESTEEM

Psychosocial Development

Emotional Growth and Prosocial Behavior

By age 7 or 8 children are acutely aware of feeling shame, guilt, and pride.They are aware of their culture’s rules for expressing emotion.

Emotional self-regulation: involves voluntary control over emotions, attention, and behavior.

Better emotional self-regulation equals…better performance and adjustment to elementary

schoolbetter peer and teacher relationsmore prosocial behavior

Social comparison theory: we tend to feel happier when we compare ourselves to people we perceive as inferior to ourselves and less happy when we compare ourselves to people we perceive as superior to ourselves .

At this stage, we often compare ourselves to our peers not so much in terms of academic performance, but rather physical attractiveness and popularity.

Coregulation: Transitional stage in the control of behavior in which parents exercise general supervision and children exercise moment-to-moment self-regulation.

II. THE CHILD IN THE FAMILY

Family Atmosphere: The general demeanor of the family, including personalities, presence or absence of support, monetary status, and conflicts.

Effects of Parents’ Work

In 2002, nearly 4 out of 5 mothers with children ages 6-17 were in the workforce.The more satisfied a mother is with her employment, the more effective she is as a parent.

Impact of mother’s work depends on:

Whether she works part-time or full-time.Why she is working.Partner support.Type of care before and after school.

Poverty and ParentingApproximately 17% of all US children under age 18 live in

poverty.Poor children are more likely to:

Have emotional and behavioral problems.Suffer cognitively and scholastically.

Family Structure: The composition of a family, such as singleversus two parents, only child or several children, adoptedchildren, stepfamilies, and other non-traditional families.

Adoptive Families

Adoption is found in all cultures throughout history.60% of adoptions are by stepparents or relatives, usually grandparents.Increase in “open adoptions”

Parties share information or have direct contactAdoptions of foreign-born children quadrupled between 1978-2001

When Parents Divorce

Adjusting to DivorceDivorce causes stress for all family

members.Adjustment of children depends upon:

The level of parental conflict before and after the divorce. Child’s age or maturityGender and temperamentPsychosocial development before

divorce

Custody and Visitation Issues Joint custodyCustody shared by both

parents.Beneficial if parents can

cooperate.Joint legal custodyParents share the rights to make decisions about child’s

welfare.Joint physical custody

Child lives part time with each parent.

Long-term EffectsMost children adjust reasonably wellHowever, divorce increases risk of:

Antisocial behaviorDifficulties with authority figuresDropping out of schoolEmotional or psychological problems

(anxiety)

Living with Gay or Lesbian Parents

1 to 9 million children have at least one homosexual parent.Research shows NO special concerns in terms of children’s physical, cognitive, or emotional development.Children of homosexuals are no more likely to be homosexual than children of heterosexuals.

Companion Animals

Play an important and often overlooked role in families.Contribute to ‘basic trust’.

Children form trustful attachments to animals and in return gain emotional support.

Teach older children about empathy, responsibility, and caring for others.

III. THE CHILD IN THE PEER GROUP

Positive and Negative Influences of Peer Relations

Positive:Develop sociability and intimacy skillsLearn leadership and communication skillsGain a sense of belonging

Negative:CliquesReinforce prejudiceFoster anti-social tendencies – pressure to conform

Prejudice: an attitude or feeling, favorable or unfavorable, toward a person or group of people, prior to, or not based on, actual experience.

Discrimination: actual behaviors based on prejudice.

Popularity

Popular kids are usually…physically attractiveathleticsomewhat intelligentsocialkind to otherstrustworthy

Reasons Children May be UnpopularAggressiveHyperactiveInattentive or withdrawnInsensitive to other children’s feelingsDo not adapt well to new situations

Friendship

Girls tend to have fewer friends than do boys, but are very close with those friends.Boys tend to have more friends than do girls, but are less intimate with those friends.

Aggression and Bullying

Does Televised Violence Stimulate Aggression?

6 out of 10 TV shows portray violenceUsually glamorized, trivialized, or glorifiedMost studies support a relationship between media violence and aggressive behavior.Virtual violence (video games) may have a stronger effect than passive media (TV).

Patterns of Bullying Become established as early as kindergarten.Bullying increases during middle school and then

declines.Temporary rise as social networks form.

Especially with middle-school boys.Victims are usually: Weak, Vulnerable, Defenseless.

IV. MENTAL HEALTHCommon Emotional Disorders

Disruptive conduct disorders: Disorders having to do withundesirable behavior such as aggression or defiance, stealing, and other antisocial behavior.

Anxiety disorders: Disorders having to do with excessive fear or anxiety.

Mood disorders: Disorders having to do with emotional imbalances, such as sadness or depression.

Disruptive Conduct Disorders

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD): Pattern of behavior, persisting into middle childhood, marked by negativity, hostility, and defiance toward authority figures.

Conduct disorder (CD): Repetitive, persistent pattern of aggressive, antisocial behavior violating societal norms or the rights of others.

Antisocial personality disorder: Chronic psychiatric condition characterized by behavior, often criminal, that manipulates, exploits, or violates the rights of others.

Anxiety Disorders

School phobia: Unrealistic fear of going to school; may be a form of “separation anxiety disorder” or “social phobia”.

Separation anxiety disorder: Condition involving excessive, prolonged anxiety concerning separation from home or from people to whom a child is attached.

Social phobia: Extreme fear and/or avoidance of social situations.

Generalized anxiety disorder: Anxiety not focused on any single target.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Anxiety aroused by repetitive, intrusive thoughts, images or impulses, often leading to compulsive ritual behaviors.

Childhood depression: Mood disorder characterized by such symptoms as a prolonged sense of friendlessness, inability to have fun or concentrate, fatigue, extreme activity or apathy, feelings of worthlessness, weight change, physical complaints, and thoughts of death or suicide.

Mood disorders

Individual psychotherapy: the therapist sees a troubled person one-on-one.

Family therapy: the therapist sees the whole family together to analyze patterns of family functioning.

Behavior therapy: Therapy using principles of learning theoryto encourage desired behaviors or eliminate undesired ones.

Art therapy: Therapy that allows a child to express troubled feelings without words, using a variety of art materials and media.

Play therapy: Therapy in which a child plays freely while a therapist observes and occasionally comments, asks questions, or makes suggestions.

Drug therapy: Administration of drugs to treat emotional disorders.

Treatment Techniques

Stress of Modern Life

Today’s child is the ‘hurried child’.Exposed to adult problems, like violence on TV and real life.Children are expected to:

Succeed in schoolCompete in sportsMeet parents’ emotional needs

The Resilient Child

Children who maintain composure under challenge or threat. Children who ‘bounce back’ from trauma.Protective Factors:

Good family relationshipGood cognitive functioning