Chapter 9: Physical and Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood

Question 1

Prefrontal cortex

Answer 1

Executive functioning and thinking, regulates thoughts, emotions, and behavior

Question 2

Gray matter

Answer 2

Unmyelinated neurons

Question 3

White matter

Answer 3

Myelinated brain tissue (myelination speeds up transmission)

Question 4

Hippocampus

Answer 4

Increased neural connections to prefrontal and parietal, increased ability to experience and remember things, episodic memory (specific details)

Question 5

Adrenarche

Answer 5

“Pre-puberty”, trigger adrenal glands to increase amount of fat before puberty begins. Body hair and odor, first molars.

Question 6

Brain development

Answer 6

Growth of cerebellum and connections to parietal lobe. Balance, coordination, speed. Complex movements and fine motor skills.

Question 7

Physical activity

Answer 7

60+ min a day recommended for children. Lowers anxiety and improves mental health, associated with cognitive and physical health.

Question 8

____ socioeconomic homes have higher rates of injury

Answer 8

low

Question 9

BMI

Answer 9

body mass index, calculated based on height and weight. Obesity is being above the 95th percentile for age and height.

Question 10

Obesity can lead to….

Answer 10

Depression, low self-esteem, orthopedic problems

Question 11

Developmental disabilities

Answer 11

ADHD, autism, specific learning disorders (dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia)

Question 12

ADHD

Answer 12

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: persistent attention difficulties and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity. Structural abnormalities in the brain. Interferes with daily functioning. More common in boys, 80% heritable.

Question 13

ADHD treatment

Answer 13

Medication, symptoms decline with age, behavioral strategies

Question 14

ADHD patterns

Answer 14

• Inattentive - difficulty with attention, careless mistakes, not listening well or following directions, trouble organizing. More difficult to diagnose, “head in the clouds”
• Hyper-active impulsive - fidgeting, trouble sitting still in class. Easier to diagnose.
• Combined presentation

Question 15

Autism spectrum disorder

Answer 15

Family of neurodevelopmental disorders, difficulty in social engagement behavior, repetitive disorders, effect on intellectual functioning, difficulty with working memory. More common in males and epigenetic.

Question 16

Autism spectrum disorder strategies

Answer 16

Use of a first/then chart to provide structure and additional time to process information, use of visual tools

Question 17

Three specific learning disorders

Answer 17

Dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia

Question 18

Specific learning disorders

Answer 18

Children who demonstrate a difference between aptitude (intelligence, genetics) and achievement. Can be affected by race and socioeconomic status for diagnosis and treatment.

Question 19

Developmental dyslexia

Answer 19

Reading difficulty, trouble distinguishing sounds and how they come together. It doesn’t affect memory if the individual can comprehend the passage, but would struggle to read it alone.

Question 20

Development dyscalculia

Answer 20

Math difficulty, poor executive function and working memory, concept of “taking away” is hard to grasp.

Question 21

Developmental dysgraphia

Answer 21

Difficulty with written language, not necessarily penmanship but with spelling or conveying thoughts onto paper. May struggle with grammar, spacing, labeling a drawing, poor posture, poor pencil grip, poor motivation, and feeling of incompetency.

Question 22

Classification

Answer 22

Part of Piaget’s concrete operational reasoning. Ability to consider relations to categories, organize objects by physical dimension.

Question 23

Transitive inference

Answer 23

Part of Piaget’s classification. Inferring the relationship between two objects by understanding their relationships with a third

A —-
B ———-
C ———————-

A is shorter than B
B is longer than A
B is shorter than C
C is longer than B
A is shorter than C
C is longer than A

Question 24

Seriation

Answer 24

Part of Piaget’s classification. Order objects according to a dimension

Question 25

Class inclusion

Answer 25

Part of Piaget’s classification. Understanding hierarchical relationships among items.

Question 26

Conservation

Answer 26

Part of Piaget’s concrete operational reasoning. Characteristics of an object do not change despite a change in appearance. Includes reversibility, where a child recognizes objects can be returned to their original state.

Question 27

Information processing

Answer 27

Working memory and executive function, metacognition, metamemory, memory strategies

Question 28

Working memory and executive function

Answer 28

Storing memory, completing complex tasks, focused attention, where all thinking takes place. Executive functioning is how kids think about, initiate, and complete tasks.

Question 29

Metacognition

Answer 29

Awareness of one’s thoughts, becoming better at planning

Question 30

Metamemory

Answer 30

Understanding of one’s memory and the ability to enhance it, evaluate and adjust actions. Use of proper writing/language rules.

Question 31

Memory stratgies

Answer 31

Rehearsal (repetition), organization (categorizing/chunking), elaboration (imaginary story to relate to material)

Question 32

Intelligence

Answer 32

The ability to adapt to the world in which we live

Question 33

Wechsler intelligence scale

Answer 33

Measures intellectual aptitude/capacity to learn through 10 subtests and five indexes that test processing speed, working memory, verbal, and nonverbal abilities.

Question 34

Flynn effect

Answer 34

Intelligence is increasing 9 IQ points for every generation

Question 35

History of IQ

Answer 35

Poor origin, used to prove group “superiority”. Improper ability to measure different contexts. Wasn’t designed for all groups to be successful.

Question 36

Stereotype threat (IQ)

Answer 36

Black children may perform poorer if told the examination is a test rather than if they weren’t told

Question 37

Gardner’s multiple intelligences

Answer 37

Intelligence is more broad. It is the ability to solve problems or create culturally-valuable products.

Question 38

Gardener’s 8 types of intelligence

Answer 38

• Naturalist - understanding livings things and reading nature
• Spatial - visualizing the world in 3D
• Linguistic - finding the right words to express what you mean
• Intra-personal - understanding yourself, what you feel, and what you want
• Interpersonal - sensing people’s feelings and motives
• Logical-mathematical - quantifying things, making hypotheses and proving them
• Musical - discerning sounds, their pitch, tone, rhythm, and timbre
• Bodily-kinesthetic - coordinating your mind with your body

Question 39

Stenberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence

Answer 39

Three categories of intelligence
- Analytical: information processing, acquiring knowledge, problem-solving
- Creative: insight, pair new info to what’s known already, high learning capacity
- Practical: modify info to your needs, how well you evaluate your environment

Question 40

Children expand their vocabulary ___x in elementary school

Answer 40

4

Question 41

Grammar development in middle childhood

Answer 41

Hear yourself speaking and self correct, metalinguistic awareness

Question 42

Pragmatics

Answer 42

Changing speech to match the listener and situation, social situation

Question 43

Bilingual language learning forms

Answer 43

• ESL through English immersion - place foreign-speaking children in English-speaking classes
• Bilingual learning - learn native language, then English
• Dual-language learning - equal importance on each language

Question 44

Two approaches to teaching

Answer 44

• Teacher-centered: the instructor is the holder of knowledge, traditional lecture, drills, quizzes, memorization
• Student-centered: instructor encourages children in problem-solving, children structure their own learning

Question 45

Phonics instruction

Answer 45

The teaching of sounds and how they come together rather than single word instruction. Generally more effective.