MIDDLE CHILDHOOD CHAP 13 Flashcards
According to Erikson, what is the primary psychosocial conflict of middle childhood? How do parents and peers contribute to children’s resolution of this conflict?
industry versus inferiority, which is resolved positively when experiences lead children to develop a sense of competence at useful skills and tasks.
Be familiar with how children’s self-descriptions change during middle childhood. That is, how do children refine their self-concept during the school years?
children become able to describe themselves in terms of psychological traits, to compare their own characteristics with those of their peers, and to speculate about the causes of their strengths and weaknesses.
What are social comparisons? Give an example of how children use social comparisons during middle childhood.
judgments of their appearance, abilities, and behavior in relation to those of others.
Joey observed that he was “better at spelling” than his peers but “not so good at social studies.
What is the ideal self versus the real self? How do these concepts contribute to children’s self esteem during middle childhood?
they form an ideal self that they use to evaluate their real self.
greatly undermine self-esteem, leading to sadness, hopelessness, and depression.
Be familiar with the four categories of self esteem that 7-8 year-olds in Western cultures typically develop. Which one is the strongest predictor of children’s overall (global) self-esteem?
academic competence, social competence, physical/athletic competence, and physical appearance.
Physical appearance
What is an attribution? What are mastery-oriented attributions? What is learned helplessness? Describe the characteristics of children with each type of attribution. What teaching strategies are associated with each type of attribution? Describe some interventions for children with learned helplessness. What is attribution retraining?
Attribution our common, everyday explanations for the causes of behavior.
Mastery oriented attribution – child learns that it is due to their abilities and efforts that they succeeded
learned helplessness = child learns that it is due to chances NOT their abilities/efforts that they succeeded
Attribution retraining– encourages learned-helpless children to believe they can overcome failure by exerting more effort and using more effective strategies.
Which emotion is most likely to prompt children to make amends, after a transgression?
Guilt
What is emotional self-efficacy? Why is this capacity important?
a feeling of being in control of their emotional experience
Allows them to have an optimistic outlook
Describe developmental trends in children’s understanding that people’s intentions and the context of their actions affect moral judgments.
7 through 11, children increasingly say it is acceptable to hit another child in certain situations—in self-defense, to protect someone else from serious bodily injury, or to prevent the other child from hurting herself
Older children focus less on the actor’s transgression (hitting) and more on the positive aim of his actions (trying to prevent harm).
by age 7 to 8, children no longer say truth telling is always good and lying is always bad but also consider prosocial and antisocial intentions and the context of the behavior
as with moral rules, older children realize that people’s intentions and the context of their actions affect the moral implications of violating a social convention.
What can reduce children’s feeling of prejudice and negative bias against children from other ethnic groups?
Long-term contact and collaboration among neighborhood, school, and community groups may be the best way to reduce prejudice
Be familiar with the findings of research regarding the best methods of reducing children’s prejudice and negative biases about out-group members.
Research confirms that an effective way to reduce prejudice is through intergroup contact, in which racially and ethnically different children have equal status, work toward common goals, and become personally acquainted, and in which authority figures (such as parents and teachers) expect them to engage in such interaction.
What are peer groups? What characteristics of peer groups affect children for the better? For the worse? How can adults help school-age children satisfy their desire for group belonging in a positive (beneficial) way?
collectives that generate unique values and standards for behavior and a social structure of leaders and followers.
through working on joint projects and helping in their communities, children gain in social and moral maturity
Be familiar with the different ways that friendship changes in middle childhood, compared to during the preschool period. Describe the benefits and costs of friendship for school-aged children.
Trust becomes more defiant
Children tend to select friends similar to themselves in age, sex, ethnicity
Children who bring kindness and compassion to their friendships strengthen each other’s prosocial tendencies. But when aggressive children make friends, the relationship is often riddled with hostile interaction and is at risk for breakup
What is peer acceptance and how is it assessed? Be familiar with the different categories of peer acceptance Describe the characteristics of each category of peer acceptance.
refers to likability—the extent to which a child is viewed by a group of agemates, such as classmates, as a worthy social partner.
Popular children, who get many positive votes (are well-liked) Rejected children, who get many negative votes (are disliked) Controversial children, who receive many votes, both positive and negative (are both liked and disliked) Neglected children, who are seldom mentioned, either positively or negatively Average children, who receive average numbers of positive and negative votes
Which category of peer acceptance is most at-risk for bullying? For later delinquency and criminality?
rejected children
Describe the different types of “likable” children. Which two types may eventually be rejected by peers?
Popular children and controversial children
Describe two types of rejected children. Which type of rejected child is most at risk for being targeted by bullies?
Rejected-withdrawn and rejected-aggressive
rejected withdrawn
Are children who are neglected by their peers (as opposed to rejected) at risk for maladjustment?
yes
What is gender typing? What are some gender-stereotyped beliefs children have during middle childhood? How do these change as children grow older?
views of themselves as relatively masculine or feminine
Boys = tough, aggressive, dominant
Girls = gentle, affectionate, dependent
Children are more flexible
During middle childhood, do boys or girls feel freer to experiment with cross-gender activities?
No, they are likely to experience peer disapproval especially among the boys
What is parent-child co-regulation? Give an example.
a form of supervision in which they exercise general oversight while letting children take charge of moment-by-moment decision making
their whereabouts, activities, and problems so parents can intervene when necessary
Does sibling rivalry increase or decrease in middle childhood? What parental behavior contributes to sibling rivalry? When are parental comparisons of their children more frequent?
Increase
When fathers prefer one child over the other
Same sex-siblings who are close in age
Be able to describe the risks associated with single parenting for mothers, fathers, and children.
boys are at slightly greater risk for serious adjustment problems
Be familiar with the effects on maternal employment on children during middle childhood. How does it affect fathers? child adjustment?
part-time employment and flexible work schedules are associated with good child adjustment
Be familiar with differences in the short- vs. long-term effects of divorce on children.
Long-term – score slightly lower in academic achievement, self-esteem, social competence, and emotional and behavioral adjustment
Short term– high maternal stress, depression, and anxiety
What factor offers the best protection against lasting problems for children living in chronic danger (e.g., ethnic and political violence)?
Parental affection and reassurance
Be familiar with research findings regarding children’s eyewitness testimony in court cases involving child abuse.
The experience can be difficult and traumatic, requiring children to report on highly stressful events and sometimes to speak against a parent or other relative to whom they feel loyal.
Be able to describe the different resources that foster resilience in middle childhood.
Personal – easygoing, sociable, above average intelligence, good self esteem, good emotional self regulation
Family – warm trusting relationship with at least one parent, authoritative parenting style, warm supportive sibling relationship
School- teacher encouragement, lessons on bullying, extracurricular activities
Community – after school skilled building activities, family, teacher or neighbor provide warmth and social support, safe neighborhood, youth groups
