Chapter 9: Exam 3 (Skipped) Flashcards
Middle Childhood
Defined as ages from 6 to 12
Growth Patterns
- Boys and Girls continue to gain over two inches in height per year until the growth spurt begins
- Average gain in weight is 5 to 7 pounds in a year (less stocky and more slender)
Growth Spurt
A period during which growth advances at a dramatically rapid rate compared with other periods
Nutrition and Growth
- Average child’s body weight doubles in middle childhood
- A Great deal of energy in physical activity and play therefore, school children eat more than preschoolers to fuel this growth and activity
a. 4 to 6-year-olds need 1,400 to 1,800 calories per day
b. average 7 to 10-year-olds require 2,000 calories per day
Gender Similarities & Differences
(Physical Growth)
- Boys are slightly heavier and taller than girls through the age of 9 or 10
- Girls begin their adolescent growth spurt and surpass boys in height and weight until about 13 or 14 years old. Then boys spurt and grow heavier & taller
(this process is paralleled by increased muscle strength in both genders)
Weight
(Obesity)
- 16% - 25% of children and adolescents in the U.S. are overweight or obese.
- Latin American boys are more likely than European Americans to be overweight.
- African American girls are more likely than European Americans to be overweight
- Obese children are more likely to develop high blood pressure and high cholesterol
- Obese children are more likely to develop diabetes
- Obese children are more likely to develop breathing problems (like asthma), joint problems, fatty liver disease, gallstones, and acid reflux.
- They are also often rejected by their peers
Causes of Being Overweight
Heredity:
a. some inherit the tendency to burn up extra calories
b. some inherit the tendency to turn extra calories into fat
Other factors:
Consumptions of sugary drinks (sodas)
Less healthful foods at school or daycare
Advertising for fattening foods
Lack of regular physical activity
Limited access to healthful affordable foods
Availability of “high energy” drinks (high sugar)
Large portion sizes (supersizing)
Lack of breastfeeding
TV and other media
Overweight parents serve as examples of poor exercise habits, encouraging overeating, and keeping unhealthful foods in home.
Motor Development
School years are marked by increases in child speed, agility, and balance.
Gross Motor Skills
(Middle Childhood)
- Age 6 - children are hopping, jumping, and climbing
- Age 6 or 7 - children are capable of pedaling and balancing on a bicycle
- Age 8 to 10 - children are showing balance, coordination, and strength allowing them to engage in gymnastics and team sports
Muscles are growing stronger, and neural pathways that connect the cerebellum to cortex becoming are more myelinated
Reaction Time
The amount of time required to respond to a stimulus.
- Gradually improves (decreases) from early childhood to about 18, but there are individual differences [increases again in adulthood]
Fine Motor Skills
- By age 6 to 7 - children usually tie their shoelaces and hold their pencils as adults do.
*Abilities to fasten buttons, zip zippers, brush their teeth, wash their bodies, coordinate a knife and fork, and use chopsticks all develop during the early school years and improve during childhood.
Gender Differences
Between middle childhood and adolescence, physical activities become increasingly stereotyped by children as being masculine (e.g. football) or feminine (e.g. dance)
*Boys show slightly greater strength (especially in the forearm strength; aiding in swinging a bat or throwing a ball)
- Girls show somewhat greater limb coordination and overall flexibility (valuable in dancing, balancing, and gymnastics)
Exercise and Fitness
- Cardiac and Muscular Fitness developed by: (aerobic exercises) such as running, walking quickly, swimming laps, bicycling, or jumping rope.
- Reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain forms of cancer.
Physically active children have better self-image and coping skills
Disorders that affect Learning
Certain disabilities of childhood are most apt to be noticed in middle childhood years
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD)
A disorder characterized by excessive inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity
*Typically occurs at the age of 7, impairing children’s ability to function in school, sit still, and get along with others.
- 1% - 5% of school-aged children diagnosed and more common among boys
Hyperactivity
Excessive restlessness and overactivity; a characteristics of ADHD
Causes of ADHD
*Genetic component involving the brain chemical dopamine
1970s view that food coloring and preservatives were linked but proven wrong through research
Researchers suggest a lack of executive control of the brain over motor and more primitive functions
Truth or Fiction
Hyperactivity is caused by chemical food additives.
Fiction
Researchers now generally agree that food coloring and preservatives do not cause ADHD
Stimulants
Drugs that increase the activity of the nervous system
*Ritalin, for example, promotes the activity of the brain chemicals dopamine and noradrenaline, stimulating the “executive center” of the brain to control more primitive areas of the brain. It provides the following effects:
a.) increases children’s attention span
b.) improves their academic performance
Truth of Fiction
Stimulants are often used to treat children who are already hyperactive
Truth
The stimulants help children obtain cortical control over lower brain center (which may fire overactivity)
Dyslexia
A reading disorder characterized by letter reversals, mirror reading, slow reading, and reduced comprehension
*5% - 17.5% of American Children
Learning Disabilities
Disorders characterized by inadequate development of specific academic, language, and speech skills.
Origins of Dyslexia
Genetic Factors:
* 25% - 65% of children who have one dyslexic parent are dyslexic themselves
* 40% of the siblings of children with dyslexia are dyslexic
Neurological Problems or Circulation Problems in the Left Hemisphere:
- Circulation problems would result in oxygen deficiency in the part of the brain called the angular gyrus, which translates visual information (written words) into auditory information (sounds).
Making it difficult for the reader to associate letters with sounds
Phonological Processing
Dyslexic children may not discriminate sounds as accurately as other children do (b’s, d’s, and p’s may be hard to tell apart, creating confusion that impairs the reading ability.
Educating Children with Disabilities
Remediation (Highly structured exercises)
a.) how to blend sounds to form words
b.) identifying word pairs that rhyme and do not change
Later in life, the focus tends to be on accommodations:
a.) college student given extra time in reading and taking tests
Mainstreaming
Placing disabled children in classrooms with nondisabled children
Cognitive Development
- At age 11, children can understand ambiguities in grammatical structure
- Thought process and language become more logical and complex
Concrete-Operations
The third stage of Piaget’s scheme is characterized by flexible, reversible thought concerning tangible objects and events.
- by the age of 7 to about 12 years old, show beginnings of adult logic but generally focus on tangible objects rather than abstract ideas “concrete.” (adding and subtracting)
They are less egocentric recognizing that people see things differently because of different situations and values.
Decentration
Simultaneous focusing on more than one aspect or dimension of a problem or situation (focusing on multiple parts of a problem at once)
Conservation
Concrete-operational children show an understanding of the laws of conservation
[know that objects can have several properties or dimensions]
Transitivity
The principle that if A > B and B > C, then A > C.
Researchers can asses whether children understand the principle of transitivity by asking them to place objects in a series, or order, according to some property, such as lining up one’s family members according to age, height, or weight.
Seriation
Placing objects in an order or series according to a property or trait
Class Inclusion
Concrete-operational children can focus on two subclasses (cat, dog) and the larger subclass (animals) at the same time.
Applications of Piaget’s Theory of Education
*Piaget believed learning involves active discovery and instructions should be geared to a child’s level of development
Example:
When teaching fractions, teachers should not only lecture but should allow the child to divide concrete objects into parts.
Also that the perspective of others is a key ingredient in the development of both cognitive and morality
Moral Development: The Child as Judge
Cognitive level, moral development concerns the basis on which children make judgments that an act is right or wrong.
*Maybe influenced by the values of the cultural settings in which they are reared, but also reflect the unfolding of cognitive processes.
Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development
Children’s moral judgement develops in two overlapping stages:
- moral realism
- autonomous morality
Moral Realism
The judgment of acts as moral when they conform to the authority or to the rules of the game (Age 5)
*Children consider behavior correct when if forms to authority or to the rules of the game
Objective Morality
The perception of morality as objective, that is, as existing outside the cognitive functioning of people
Immanent Justice
or Automatic Retribution
The view is that retribution for wrongdoing is a direct consequence of the wrongdoing.
- Involves thinking that negative experiences are punishment for prior misdeeds even when realistic causal links are absent.
Autonomous Morality
The second stage of Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory of moral development is in which children base moral judgments on the intentions of the wrongdoer and on the amount of damage done.
*Children in this stage show a greater capacity to take the point of view of others to empathize with them.
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
Children and adults arrive at “Yes” or “No” for different reasons. These reasons can be classified according to the level of moral development they reflect.
3 Levels of Moral Development:
1. Preconventional (Stages 1 & 2)
2. Conventional (Stages 3 & 4)
3. Postconventional (Stages 5 & 6)
Preconventional Level
According to Kohlberg, a period during which moral judgments are based largely on expectations of rewards or punishments (base their moral judgments on the consequences of their behavior)
[ages 7 to 10]
Stage 1: Oriented toward obedience and punishment. Good behavior means being obedient so one can avoid punishment.
Stage 2: Good behavior allows people to satisfy their own needs and perhaps the needs of others
Conventional Level
According to Kohlberg, a period during which moral judgments largely reflect social rules and conventions (family, religious, societal standards of right or wrong)
[emerge during middle childhood]
Stage 3: it is good to meet the needs and expectations of others, moral behavior what is “normal” and what the majority does
Stage 4: Moral judgments are based on rules that maintain the social order, and showing respect for authority and duty is valued highly.
Postconventional Level
According to Kohlberg, a period during which moral judgments are derived from moral principles and people look to themselves to set moral standards, moral reasoning is based on the person’s own moral standards.
[adolescents and adults]
Stage 5 - one must weigh pressing human needs against society’s need to maintain social order and contractual, legalistic orientation.
Stage 6 - People must follow universal ethical principles and their own consciences
even if it means breaking the law, universal ethical principles orientation.
Information Processing: Learning, Remembering, Problem-Solving
Key Elements:
*Development of selective attention
*Development of the capacity of memory and of children’s understanding of the processes of memory
*Development of the ability to solve problems, for example, by finding and applying the correct formula.
Development of Selective Attention
*Ability to focus one’s attention and screen out distractions advances steadily through middle childhood
*Concrete operational children can attend to multiple aspects of the problem at once, permitting them to conserve number and volume.
Developments in the Storage and Retrieval Information
Many psychologists divide memory functioning into three major processes or structures:
Sensory memory
Working memory
Long-term memory
Sensory Memory
The structure of memory first encountered by sensory input information is maintained in sensory memory for only a fraction of a second.
Sensory Register
Another term for sensory memory
(Applies to all senses)
Working Memory
The structure of memory can hold sensory stimulus for up to 30 stimuli for up to 30 seconds after the trace decays.
Encode
To transform sensory input into a form that is more readily processed
Rehearsing
Repeat in this case, mentally
Long-term Memory
The memory structure capable of relatively permanent storage of information
Elaborative Strategy
A method for increasing retention of new information by relating it to well-known information
*English teachers use an elaborative strategy when they have children use new words in sentences to help them remember them
Organizing in Long-Term Memory
Preschoolers tend to organize their memories by grouping objects that share the same function. “Toas ./t” may be grouped with “peanut butter sandwich” because they are both edible.
In middle childhood, toast and peanut butter are likely to be joined as foods.
***When items are correctly categorized in long-term memory, children are more likely to recall accurate information
Development of Recall Memory
Children’s memory is a good overall indicator of their cognitive ability.
*Placed objects into four categories experiment ( given 3 minutes to arrange pictures to remember)
Results: Fourth graders were more likely to categorize and recall the pictures than second graders.
Metacognition
Awareness of and control of one’s cognitive abilities is shown by the ability to formulate problems, awareness of the processes required to solve a problem, activation of cognitive strategies, maintaining focus on the problem, and checking answers.
Metamemory
Knowledge of the functions and processes involved in one’s storage and retrieval of information.
*older students are more likely to accurately access their knowledge. So, older children store and retrieve information more effectively.
Intelligence
A general mental capability that involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience.
*Associated with academic success, advancement on the job, and appropriate social behavior
*Cannot be seen, touched, or measured physically, therefore it is subject to various interpretations
Achievement
That which is attained by one’s efforts and presumed to be made possible by one’s abilities.
*involves a child’s acquired competencies or performance
*most psychologists agree that many of the competencies underlying intelligence are seen during middle childhood when most children are first exposed to formal schooling.
Factor Theory of Intelligence
View intelligence as consisting of one or more major abilities or factors.
- Spearman Suggests:
Behaviors considered intelligent have a common underlying factor (g factor) or general intelligence, which represents broad reasoning and problem-solving capabilities, and the specific capabilities, or (s factors) account for certain individuals’ abilities, like music or poetry.
*Thurstone believed intelligence consists of several specific factors, or primary mental abilities, such as the ability to learn the meaning of words and visual-spatial abilities (factors were somewhat independent)
Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence
Three-Part or “Triarchic” Theory of Intelligence
- Analytical Intelligence is an academic ability
*Creative Intelligence is defined by the ability to invent solutions to problems and cope with novel situations
*Practical Intelligence or “Street Smarts” enables people to adapt to the demands of their environment, including the social environment
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Three of Gardner’s intelligence are:
1. Verbal Ability (Linguistic)
2. Logical-Mathematical reasoning
3. Spatial Intelligence (Visual-spatial skills)
Others Include:
a.) Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence (dancers/gymnasts)
b.)Musical Intelligence
c.) Interpersonal Intelligence (empathy/ability to relate to others)
d.) Personal Knowledge
(self-insight)
Measurements of Intellectual Scale
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (SBIS)
Wechsler Scale for Children
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
1) ratio obtained by dividing a child’s mental age on an intelligence test by his or her chronological age
2) a score on an intelligent test
Most children’s IQ scores cluster around the average (only 5% of population have IQ scores above 130 or below 70)
Binet-Simon Scale
Work of Frechman Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon (for French Public School)
- Assumed intelligence increases with age therefore, older children should get more answers right.
Binet-Simon Scale yielded a score called Mental Age
Mental Age (MA)
The intellectual level at which a child functions, based on the typical performance of a child of a certain age
Stanford-Binet Intelligent Test
Louis Terman adapted Binet-Simon scale for use with American children. (work carried out at Stanford University, changing to name to “Stanford-Binet”)
*Used today with children ages 2 up to adults
Chronological Age (CA)
A person’s age
IQ states the relationship between a child’s mental age and his or her chronological age
Formula
IQ = Mental Age / Chronological Age X 100
Truth or Fiction
Two children can answer exactly the same times on an intelligence test correctly yet one can be above average and the other below average
True
Two children can answer exactly the same times on an intelligence test correctly, yet one can be above average and the other below average. The younger child would have a higher IQ score because his or her performance is compared to those of others in his or her age group.
Wechsler Scales
Series of scales:
*Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) school-aged children
* Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) younger children
*Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales (WAIS) adults
Group test questions into subtests that measure different intellectual tasks
Testing Controversy
Most psychologists and educational specialists consider intelligence test to be somewhat biased against African Americans and members of lower social classes
Cultural Bias
A factor hypothesized to be present in intelligence tests that provide an advantage for test takers from certain cultural backgrounds
Culture-Free
Descriptive of a test in which cultural biases have been removed
Raymond Cattells Culture-Fair intelligence Test evaluated reasoning ability through a child’s comprehension of the rules that govern a progression of geometric designs
Culture-Free did not live up to its promise.
- Middle-class children outperformed lower-class children due to familiarity with materials used in testing, like blocks, pencils, and paper.
- They did not predict academic success, as well as other intelligence tests and scholastic aptitude, remain the central concern of educators.
Patterns of Intellectual Development
Intellectual Growth occurs in 2 major growth spurts:
1.) Age 6, A shift from pre-operational to concrete operational thought occurs during entry into school
2.) Age 10 or 11, Once they reach middle childhood, children appear to undergo relatively more stable patterns or gains in intellectual functioning in spurts.
Many factors that influence changes in IQ scores include:
a. changes in the home
b. socio-economic circumstances
c. education
Differences in Intellectual Development
- Average IQ score in the U.S. is close to 100; about half the children in the U.S. attain IQ scores between 70 and 130
Below 70 is labeled”Intellectually Disabled.”
Above 130 is labeled “Gifted”
Intellectual Disability
American Association Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD, 2016)
“Intellectual Disability is…characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior, which covers many everyday social and practical skills. This disability originates before the age of 18.” [IQ scores of no more than 70 to 75]
80% are mildly disabled and are most capable of adjusting to the demands of educational institutions and society at large. (children with Down’s Syndrome)
Severely disabled children may not acquire speech and self-help skills and may remain dependent on others for survival.
Biological Causes for Intellectual Disability
*Chromosomal abnormalities such as Down’s Syndrome
- Genetic Disorders such as phenylketonuria (PKU)
- Brain Damage for childhood accidents or maternal problems during pregnancy like:
a. maternal alcohol abuse
b. malnutrition
c. diseases that can damage the fetus
Cultural-Familial Disability
Substandard intellectual performance stems from a lack of opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills.
*Biologically normal, but do not develop age-appropriate behavior at a normal pace because of impoverished home environment
Giftedness
More than excellence on tasks provided by standard intelligence tests
*Most educators include children who have outstanding abilities: capable of high performance in academic area, such as language or mathematics, or show creativity, leadership, distinction in the visual or performing arts, or bodily talents such as gymnastics or dancing.
Socio-economic and Ethnic Differences in IQ
*Lower-class American children obtain IQ scores of some 10 to 15 points lower than those obtained by middle and upper-class children
*African American, Latin American, and Native American children all tend to score below the norms for European Americans.
Creativity
A trait characterized by flexibility, ingenuity, and originality (ability to do things that are novel and useful)
*can solve problems to which there are no pre-existing solutions, no tried and tested formulas.
Truth or Fiction
Highly intelligent children are creative
Fiction
It is not necessarily true that highly intelligent children are creative – unless, of course, one considers creativity to be an aspect of intelligence, as in Robert Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence.
Convergent Thinking
A thought process that attempts to focus on the single best solution to a problem
*Problem solver narrows down his or her thinking to find the best solution (mainly used for arriving at the correct answer on tests like multiple choice)
Divergent Thinking
Free and fluent association with the elements of a problem (used when we try generate ideas to answer an essay question)
Heritability
The degree to which the variations in a trait from one person to another can be attributed to genetic factors
- Genetic factors of intelligence 40% - 60%
Children whose parents are responsive and provide appropriate play materials and varied experiences during early years attain higher IQ and achievement test scores.
However, heredity and environment interact and influence intelligence
Language Development and Literacy
Childrens language ability grows more sophisticated in middle childhood in middle childhood (and they learn to read as well)
Vocabulary and Grammar
*Age 6, vocabulary expands to nearly 1,000 words
*Age 7 or 9, able to know most words can have different meanings (become entertained with riddles and jokes that require semantic sophistication)
*Age 8 or 9, able to form “tag questions” in which the question is tagged at the end of a declarative sentence, such as “You want ice cream, don’t you?”
*Preschoolers have a hard time understanding passive sentences such as “The truck was hit by the car,” but children in middle years have less difficulty interpreting them.
Word recognition method
A method for learning to read in which children come to recognize words through repeated exposure to them
*Associates visual stimuli such as cat and Robert with the sound combinations that produce the spoken words [usually acquired by rote learning or extensive repetition]
Phonetic Method
A method for learning to read in which children decode the sounds of words based on their knowledge of the sounds of letters and letter combinations
*Associate written letters and letter combinations (such as ph or sh) with the sound they indicate
Sight Vocabulary
Words that are immediately recognized on the basis of familiarity with their overall shapes rather than decoded (such as danger, stop, poison and a child’s name)
Bilingual
Using or capable of using two languages with nearly equal or equal facility
A century ago, it was believed that children raised in bilingual homes were delayed in their cognitive development. Theory - mental capacity is limited with people storing two linguistic systems crowding their mental abilities.
Today most linguistics consider it advantageous for children to be bilingual because knowledge of more than one language contributes to the complexity of a child’s cognitive processes.
Truth or Fiction
Bilingual children encounter more academic problems than children who only speak one language
Fiction
It is not true that bilingual children encounter more academic problems than children who speak only one language.
