Middle Childhood Flashcards
What is growth like in middle childhood?
It is the calm before the storm (before puberty)
slower, more consistent growth
Learning disabilities are characterized by inadequate development of
- Specific academic skills
- Language skills
- Speech skills
They still perform well on IQ tests, but under performing in terms of learning
Two factors important in order to learn how to compensate for a learning disability
1) early recognition- earlier on in life brain is more malleable
2) remediation- using strengths to move them up in terms of abilities
Amount of children with learning disabilities
1/10
ADHD
children consistently display one of the following over a period of time:
- inattention
- hyperactivity
- impulsivity
ADHD can be diagnosed in three different categories
1) ADHD with inattention
2) ADHD with hyperactivity
3) ADHD with both inattention and hyperactivity and impulsivity
Rates of ADHD
3-7% of children under 18
more often in males, has increased in last 10 years
Cause of ADHD
No cause has been found.
Contributing factors:
-smoking or alcohol during prenatal period
-higher level maternal stress during pregnancy
-low birthweight
What is the significance of cortical thickness in ADHD?
Peak cortical thickness occurs three years later in kids with ADHD
-this delay is especially pronounced in prefrontal cortex
What do children with ADHD have an increased risk for?
- school dropout
- adolescent pregnancy
- substance use problems
- antisocial behaviour
Medications for ADHD
Ritalin and Adderall- improve attention
But side effects, so recommend extended release form of medication
Autism Spectrum Disorders are characterized by
- problems in social interaction
- problems in verbal and nonverbal communication
- repetitive behaviours
- sometimes atypical responses to sensory experiences
- can be detected in children as young as 1-3 years
What is Autistic Disorder?
severe developmental autism spectrum disorder
-onset in first 3 years of life
What is Asperger syndrome?
mild developmental autism spectrum disorder
-good verbal language skills, restricted range of interests, repetitive and obsessive routines
Causes of Autism spectrum disorders?
No consensus
- may be abnormalities in brain structure (cerebellum) and neurotransmitters (GABA)
- genetic factors
What does Dr. Baron-Cohen argue about autism?
That is reflects an extreme male brain (language is less of a priority)
Dr. Grandin
- Has autism
- at age 4 she was still non-verbal
- rather than relying on verbal representations, she relies on images
- could visualize what cows would go through – revolutionized slaughter houses
- USE the kids fixation to motivate them, take advantage of it
- educate people about the boundaries of social interaction
Concrete operational stage
Think logically about objects and events in the real world
- no longer able to only focus on one task at a time
- can now take multiple factors into account at one time to solve a problem
Decentration
Thinking that takes more than one variable into account
Reversibility
Having the understanding that physical actions and mental operations can be reversed
Inductive logic
Type of reasoning in which general principles are inferred from specific experiences (ex. Anne lives in a mansion, so Anne must be rich)
Deductive logic
Type of reasoning, based on hypothetical premises, that requires predicting a specific outcome from a general principle (ex. all dolphins are mammals, all mammals have kidneys, all dolphins must have kidneys)
Memory in middle childhood
Short term and working memory improve
Metamemory- thinking about own memory
Strategies used in memory
Dual-coding can be useful. If show them set of lines: Stage 1: no strategy Stage 2: visual strategy Stage 3: verbal and visual Stage 4: heavy reliance on verbal encoding