MIDDLE CHILDHOOD

Chapter 8

Physical and Cognitive Development

Middle Childhood Physical and Cognitive Development

• Development is continuous

• Physical, cognitive, and psychosocial factors interact

• Development occurs in a broad social context

• Physical growth is gradual until children experience adolescent growth spurt

Development in middle childhood

Physical and Motor Development

Physical Development in Middle Childhood

Physical and Motor Development

Changes in Body Size and Proportion During Middle Childhood

Broad variations in growth patterns occur during middle childhood. The illustrated changes are typical.

• Brain development continues, neural plasticity remains high

• Gender difference in cerebellar size

• Lateralization of brain becomes more pronounced

• Gray matter follows a different developmental path than does white matter

• Brain development in childhood and adolescence involves a balance of growth, as well as the pruning away, of neural cells

Brain changes

Physical and Motor Development

The leading cause of death is accidents, especially involving motor vehicles

Obesity is increasing: over 19% of U.S. grade-school-age children are obese

Physical activity and exercise have been declining

Minor illnesses occur

Middle childhood is one of healthiest periods in life

Health

Health, Fitness, and Accidents

Video produced by the Dove Corporation to highlight body image and self-esteem issues among girls in middle childhood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWzbIVwGd1E

Video Clip

Trends in U.S. Childhood Obesity Ages 6 to 11 Years

Assessing Obesity

Describes New Jersey’s initiative to combat childhood obesity using health report cards http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXvDI3Lh9xQ

Video Clip

Asthma

Asthma

• Most prevalent chronic disease in children in U.S.

• Gender, ethnic, genetic, and regional differences in prevalence

• Suggested causes include pollution, indoor and outdoor activities

Accidents and Injuries

Accidents

• Accidents cause more child deaths than the six other major causes of death combined

• Pneumonia or influenza, heart disease, birth defects, cancer, suicide, and homicide

• Accidents also are leading cause of physical disability in childhood

Leading Causes of Death Rank <1 1-4 5-9 10-14 15-24

1 Congenital Anomalies

5107

Unintentional Injury 1394

Unintentional Injury 758

Unintentional Injury 885

Unintentional Injury

12,341

2 Short Gestation

4148

Congenital Anomalies

507

Malignant Neoplasms

439

Malignant Neoplasms

477

Homicide 4678

3 SIDS 2063

Homicide 385

Congenital Anomalies

1683

Sicide 267

Suicide 4600

4 Maternal Pregnancy

Complications

1561

Malignant Neoplasms

346

Homicide 111

Homicide 150

Malignant Neoplasms

1604

5 Unintentional Injury

1,110

Heart Disease 159

Heart Disease 68 Congenital Anomalies 135

Heart Disease 1028

6 Placenta Cord.

Membranes 1,030

Influenza & Pneumonia

91

Chronic Low Respiratory Disease

60

Heart Disease 117

Congenital Anomalies 412

Psyc

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and

men

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About 20% children age 9-17 have mental disorders with at least mild functional impairment Some disorders, such as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, are most commonly diagnosed in childhood Under-recognition of mental illness as a major problem of childhood is a concern Treatment decisions can be difficult

Psychological Disorders

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Children move from preoperational to concrete operational thought during

the years from ages 5 to 7

Thought becomes less intuitive and egocentric and more logical

Thinking becomes more reversible, flexible, and complex

Cause-effect evaluations are possible

Cognitive Development

Preoperational Versus Concrete Operational Thought

FIGURE 8-5 Piaget’s Matchstick Problem Concrete operational children realize that the six matchsticks in the zigzag top row will make a longer line than the five matchsticks in the straight bottom row. Younger children will say that the bottom row is the longest because they tend to center only on the end points of the two lines and not on what lies between them.

Piaget’s Matchstick Problem

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Children become more skilled in using words to help them understand, structure, and solve problems

Concrete operational children can theorize about the world around them

Acquisition of concrete operational thought is gradual and occurs without formal education or prompting

Cognitive Development

Piaget and Education

• Piaget believed children are better off when they learn at their own pace and that learning is best when it is intrinsically motivated rather than extrinsically rewarded

• Use of concrete objects can enhance learning and cognitive development

• Use of concrete learning aides promotes active learning and constructivist knowledge

Cognitive Development

Mem

ory

and

met

acog

nitio

n Children’s memory strategies and techniques—control processes—improve with age

Children are better able to monitor their own thinking, memory, knowledge, goals, and actions—

metacognition

Metacognition begins at about age 6 and emerges more fully between the ages of 7 and 10

Cognitive Development

Control Processes Used by Children in Middle Childhood

Language • Language learning expands, as vocabulary increases and complex grammar

is mastered • Reading and writing skills (literacy) are natural growths of language

development • Development of reading and writing skills during middle childhood is

complex and multidimensional • Teachers and peers aid in enhancing literacy skills

Language and Literacy Development

Conditions That Promote Literacy

Conditions That Promote Literacy

Individual differences • Intelligence test scores

are used in educational, career, and public policy decisions

• In many developed nations, educational opportunities depend heavily on how well the child performs on standardized tests.

Individual Differences in Intelligence

Assessment of intelligence • IQ scores today assessed by

comparing individual’s score with scores of other people in same age range—deviation IQ

• Two commonly used assessments of intelligence – Stanford-Binet Intelligence

Scale

– Wechsler (versions for varying ages: WPPSI, WISC, WAIS)

Individual Differences in Intelligence

Howard Gardner

• Promotes broad-based model of intellectual abilities consisting of eight “types” of intelligence

Robert Sternberg

• Developed a broad triarchic theory of intelligence • Contextual

intelligence • Experiential

intelligence • Componential

intelligence

The Nature of Intelligence

Gardner’s Eight Types of Intelligence

• Some U.S. minority groups typically score lower on average on tests when compared to Whites

• Some disparity may be due to cultural bias in tests

• Research suggests that race is not a factor in determining intelligence, although culture probably is

• When social and economic circumstances are considered, group difference in intelligence all but disappear

• IQ is dynamic interaction of genetics and environment

Race and intelligence

Race and Intelligence

• World customs differ as to when children enter school and how long they remain

• Children face a variety of new expectations and adjustments when they enter school

• Students must meet behavioral expectations when in school, and teachers spend a good amount of time enforcing rules, disciplining and praising, in addition to performing their teaching duties

Learning and thinking

Learning and Thinking in School

• U.S. schools are placing greater emphasis on teaching learning and thinking schools

• Teachers try to develop different teaching strategies to teach different skills and to meet the individual needs and learning styles of students

• Group projects seem to aid in critical thinking. They also foster cooperative, rather than competitive, learning

Competent learners and critical thinkers

Developing Competent Learners and Critical Thinkers

School success influenced by many factors

– Achievement motivation

– Gender differences

Success in School

Motivation for learning is

influenced by ways that

teachers and parents

encourage children

• Girls tend to adopt a “performance” focus while boys adopt a “learning” focus

• A critical goal is to encourage children to develop a “learning” orientation

• Praise is critical for children to develop a positive academic self-concept

Success in School

Evaluating Gender Bias in the Classroom: Questions for Parents

Developmental Disorders

• Significantly subaverage intellectual functioning and self-help skills

• Genetics, birth, or early childhood trauma • Social deprivation • Unknown causes • Severity and extensiveness of impairment

Condition characterized by

Condition only diagnosed when child can be tested, usually school age

Intellectual Disability

Diagnosis of Intellectual Disability

Levels of Mental Retardation

Learning Disorders

ADHD

ADHD