Chapter 7: Physical and cognitive Development in Middle and Late childhood Flashcards
What characterizes children’s bodies during middle and late childhood
Continued growth and change in proportions
Motor skills improve
How is growth during middle and late childhood
Slow and consistent growth
What is weight increase mainly due to
An increase in the size of the skeletal and muscular systems, as well as the size of some body organs.
What are some proportional changes in physical changes in this stage
- Head and waist circumference decrease
- Bones continue to ossify
- Muscle mass and strength gradually increase
- Children double their strength
What happens to brain volume in the end of late childhood
Total brain volume stabilizes, but significant changes in various structures and regions of the brain continue to occur.
What happens to brain activation as children develop
Brain activation increases in some areas and decreases in others.
One shift in activation that occurs is from diffuse, larger areas to more focal, smaller areas. -> this shift is characterized by synaptic pruning
What is synaptic pruning
Areas of the brain that are being used show increased connections and areas that are not being used lose synaptic connections.
What is the she shift in brain activation accompanied by
increased efficiency in cognitive performance (esp. cognitive control)
What causes improved fine motor skills
Increased myelination of the central nervous system
Positive impact of exercise
- lower body fat
- lower fasting insulin
- decreased inflammatory markers
- increased physical fitness
theres also a link to improvement in attention, executive function, and academic achievement
What can screen time do to the brain
- lower connectivity between brian regions
- lower levels of language skills
- cognitive control
- Higher rates of disruptive behavior
How is general health during this stage
Disease and death are less prevalent at this time
But many children in this age group have health problems that threaten their development
What are some causes of being overweight during childhood
- Heredity
- Availability of food (Esp. high in fat)
- Declining physical activity
- Screen time
What are some consequences of being overweight in childhood
- Diabetes
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Elevated blood cholesterol levels
- Sleep problems
- More likely to have problems of depression and anxiety
- Low self-esteem
What are some interventions programs for overweight`
Combination of diet, exercise, behavior modification
What difficulties do people with learning disabilities
- Difficulty in learning that involves understanding or using spoken or written language
- Difficulty can appear in listening, thinking, reading, writing and spelling.
- Could also involve difficulty in math
What does a disability need to be classified as a learning disability
- not be the result of visual, hearing, motor disabilities, intellectual disability, emotional disorders, environmental cultural or economic disadvantages
What are 3 types of learning disabilities
- Dyslexia
- Dysgraphia
- Dyscalculia
What is dyslexia
Severe impairment in their ability to read and spell.
What is Dysgraphia
learning disability- involves difficulty in handwriting.
- Children with it may write very slowly
- writing may be virtually illegible
- numerous spelling error because of inability to match up sounds and letters
What is Dyscalculia
Known as developmental arithmetic disorder
= learning disability that involves difficulty in math computation.
What are learning disabilities usually due to
Problems integrating information from multiple brain regions
or subtle difficulties in brain structures and functions
What is ADHD
dyability in which children show: for a long period of time
- inattention
- hyperactivity
- impulsivity
Depending on the characteristics that children with adhd display, what are the three types of adhd
1) ADHD with predominantly inattention
2) ADHD with predominantly hyperactivity/impulsivity
3) ADHD with both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity
Reasons for the frequent diagnosis of ADHD
- heightened awareness of the disorder
- incorrect diagnosis
Development in children with adhd
- adjustment and optimal development are difficult
- increased risk of lower academic achievement
- problematic peer relations
- school dropout
- disordered eating
- adolescent pregnancy
- substance use problems
- antisocial behavior
What are some causes of ADHD
- tendency from parents
- damage to the brain during prenatal or postnatal dev
- cigarette and alcohol exposure
- low birth weight and preterm birth
What are the recent three types of training exercises might reduce ADHD
- neurofeedback
- mindfulness
- Physical exercise
What are autism spectrum disorders (ASD) characterized by
By problems in social interaction, problems in verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behavior.
When can AD be detected
as young as 1 to 3 years
What are the main reasons for the increase in ASD
- increased awareness
- more services available to treat it
Early signs of ASD
- Lack of social gestures at 12 months
- No meaningful words at 18 months
- no interest in other children
no spontaneous 2-word phrases at 24 months
What causes ASD
Common consensus is that it’s a brain dysfunction characterized by abnormalities in brain structure and neurtransmitters
genetic factors also play a role
What is an IEP
a customized program specifically tailored for each student with a disability.
What does Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) aim
to place children in settings similar to those for children without disabilities, often supporting their education in general classrooms.
what is inclusion
practice of educating students with special needs full-time in the regular classroom.
How long does the concrete operational stage last
from 7 to 11
Can children in the concrete operational thought reason
Yes as long as reasoning can be applied to specific or concrete examples
What are operations
Mental actions that are reversible
What are concrete operations
Operations that are applied to real, concrete objects
What is an indicator that a child is capable of concrete operations
That they pass the conservation tasks
What other abilities are characteristic of children who have reach the concrete operational stage
- ability to classify or divide things into different sets or subset and consider their interrelationships
- Seriation (ability to order stimuli alon a qualitative dimension like length)
- Transitivity (ability to logically combine relations to understand certain conclusions
Some critics of Piaget’s concrete operatonal stage
- some abilities don’t appear at the same time/in synchrony
- Education and culture exert stronger influences on children’s development than Piaget reasoned.
How are neo-Piagetians different than Piaget
- more emphasis on how children use attention, memory and strategies to process info
- speed of information processing
- …
What happens to attention during those years
Most children dramatically improve their ability to sustain and control attention
When does short-term memory stop showing an increase
after 7
What’s a more dynamic term to encompass short-term memory
Working memory
How does Alan Baddeley define working memory
as a kind of mental ‘workbench’ where individuals manipulate and assemble info when they make decision, solve problems and comprehend language.
What does working memory involve
Bringing info to mind and mentally work with it or update it,
What brain region plays a key role in the development of working memory
The frontoparietal brain network
What’s the link between ADHD and working memory
Children with ADHD have working memory deficits
What is long-term memory
Relatively permanent and unlimited type of memory
it increases with age
Link between expertise and memory
Expertise in something gives superior memory
What are strategies
Deliberate mental activities that improve the processing of information.
What does elaboration involve
More extensive processing of information, it makes the info more meaningful
Effective strategies to improve memory skills
- Elaboration
- Mental imagery
- Understand material, not memorize
Is rehearsal effective long-term
No it’s more effective short term
What is thinking
Manipulating and transforming info in memory
What are 2 important aspects of thinking
Thinking critically and creatively
What is critical thinking
Involves thinking reflectively and productively and evaluating evidence
When does Deep understanding occur
When students are stimulated to rethink previously held ideas
What’s a critic about school regarding thinking
They ask childrens to recite, define, describe, list etc
rather than to analyze, infer, connect, synthesize evaluate etc
They don’t make them think critically and deeply
What is creative thinking
The ability to think in novel and unusual ways to come up with unique solutions to problems
What difference between intelligence and creativity did J.P Guilford recognize
He distinguished between convergent thinking and divergent thinking
What’s convergent thinking
Produces one correct answer
usually the thinking required on intelligence tests
What is divergent thinking
Produces many different asnwers to the same question
characterizes creativity
What is metacognition
It’s cognition about cognition, or knowing about knowing
What is metamemory
Knowledge about memory
- General knowledge about memory
- Knowledge of one’s own memory
What does conceptualization of metacognition consist of
several dimensions of executive function, like planning and self-regulation
What are some dimensions of executive function that are most imp for 4 to 11 yo’s cognitive dev
- self-control/inhibition
- working memory
- Flexibility (consider diff strategies and perspectives)
What is Intelligence
The ability to solve problems and to adapt and learn from experiences
Who developed the 1905 scale test
Alfred Binet and his student Theophile Simon
Who developed the concept of Mental Age (MA)
Binet
What is Mental Age (MA)
Individuals level of mental development relative to others
Who created the concept Intelligence quotient (IQ)
William Stern
What is IQ
A person’s mental age divided by chronological age (CA) multiplied by 100
What is IQ if mental age = chronological age
100
What are the Stanford-Binet tests
Revisions of the Binet test
How are the scores o the Stanford-Binet test
They approximate a normal distribution
Most scores are in the middle, and few scores on the extremities
What’s another set of tests used for intelligence other than the stanford binet
Wechsler scales
What does the WISC-V show
Overall IQ + 5 composite scores :
- verbal comprehension
- workign memory
- processing speed
- flid reasoning
- visual spatial
How many subscales in the Weschler scales
16 verbal and nonverbal
Give 3 examples of weschler subscales
Verbal sc:
- Similarities: child must think logically and abstractly to to answer a number of questions about how things are similar
- Comprehension: Designed to measure individuals judgmeent and common sense
Nonverbal
- Block design : child must assenble a number of multicolored block to match designs the examinor shows
What’s Sternberg’s Theory
Triarchic theory
= intelligence comes in 3 forms
- Analytical
- Creative intelligence
- Practical intelligence
What are Gardner’s 8 Frames of Mind
Frames of mind = types of intelligence
- Verbal
- Mathematical
- Spatial
- Bodily-kinesthetic
- Musical
- Interpersonal (understand and effectively interact with others
- Intrapersonal (understand oneself)
- Naturalist (observe patterns in nature and udners)
What’s a potential influence on intelligence test performance
Stereotype threat : anxiety that one’s behavior might confirm a negative stereotype about one’s group
What is intellectual disability
Limited mental ability
IQ usually below 70 + difficulty adapting to demands of daily life
What can be the origin of intellectual disability
Organic or sociocultural
What is organic intellectual disability
- caused by genetic disorder or brain damage
What is Cultural-familial intellectual disability
Mental deficit with no evidence of organic brain damage
What are gifted people
People with above-average intelligence
IQ of 130 or more, or superior talent for smth, or both
What are the three criteria that characterize gifted children
- Precocity = begin to master an area earlier than their peers
- Marching to a different drummer = learn in a qualitatively different way from ordinary children
= need minimal help or scaffolding from adults to learn
- Passion to master = driven to understand, display intense and obsessive interest and ability to focus
What is the alphabetic principle
Concept that the letters of the alphabet represent sounds of the language
What are the vocab and grammar advances accompanied by
The development of metalinguistic awarness
What is metalinguistic awarness
knowledge about language.
it improves a lot during elementary school years
What are pragmatics
Understanding how to use language in culturally appropriate ways
Is vocab development important in reading comprehension
yes
How should children be taught to read
The phonics approach
= teaches children to connect letters with their corresponding sounds = learning basic sound-letter rules
Do adults learn a second language faster
Yes, but language mastery is not as high as children
What’s the dual language approach in language learning
Instructions given both in ELL child’s home language and English for varying amounts of time
