Chap9 10

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Chapter 9

Physical and Cognitive Development in Middle and Late

Childhood


Body Growth and Proportion

• Proportional changes: Cephalocaudal pattern– Head and waist circumference decrease when compared to

height

• Muscle mass/tone improve

• Strength doubles

• Weight gain: about 5-7 lbs/year– Increased size of the skeletal and muscular systems, and the

size of some organs.


Motor Development

• Smoother and more coordinated

• Gross muscle skills:– Skipping rope, swimming, bike riding, skating, and climbing

are mastered.

• Fine motor skills improve—increased myelination CNS– Hands are used as tools—hammering, pasting, tying shoes,

and fastening clothes.– By 10-12 years similar to adult like


Exercise and Sports

• Only 22% of children in grades 4-12 were physically active for 30 minutes daily (1997)

• 34% attended daily P.E.

• 23% had no P.E.


Participation in Sports

• Positive and negative consequences for children

• Positives– opportunity for exercise, healthy competition, building

self-esteem, peer relations and friendships.

• Negatives:– pressure to achieve to win, physical injuries,

distractions from school, unrealistic expectations.


Obesity• Overall, 20% of children are overweight 10% are

obese– Girls are more likely to be obese

– More common:

• White: childhood

• African American: adolescence

• Chances of obesity in adulthood:– At age 6 results in approximately a 25%

– At age 12 results in approximately a 75%


Consequences of Obesity in Children

• Risk factor for many medical and psychological problems– Pulmonary problems, such as sleep apnea

– Hip problems

– High blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels

– Low self-esteem and depression

– Exclusion from peer groups


Treatment of Obesity

• Exercise is most successful for children

• Experts recommend– diet, exercise, and behavior modification

• Behavior modification teaches children to monitor their own behavior– ex) keeping a food diary– Makes a more permanent change


Accidents and Injuries• Most common injury/death:

– motor vehicle accidents; pedestrian or a passenger.

– Seat-belts very important

• Other serious injuries involve:– skateboards, roller skates, and other sports equipment.

– Appropriate safety helmets, protective eye and mouth shields, and protective padding are recommended.


Cancer• Second leading cause of death (5-14 years)

• 1 in every 330 (before 19)

• The incidence is increasing

• Mainly effects:– white blood cells, brain, bone, lymph system,

muscles, kidneys, and nervous system.


Who Are Children with Disabilities?

• Approximately 10% receive special education or related services. (US)– More than half have a learning disability.

• Of children with disabilities:– 21% have speech or language impairments– 12% have mental retardation– 9% have serious emotional disturbance

• Boys 3 times more likely to be classified as having a learning disability.


Learning Disabilities• Children with a learning disability:

– are of normal intelligence or above.– difficulties in one academic or more – difficulty is not attributable to other diagnosed

problem or disorder

• Most common learning disability is dyslexia.– Difficulties in reading, possibly handwriting,

spelling, or composition.– Successful intervention programs exist


Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

• ADHD: children consistently show one or more of the following characteristics:– inattention– hyperactivity– Impulsivity

• 4-9 times more likely in boys

• Higher failure rate in school (2-3 x higher)


Causes of ADHD• No definitive cause(s) found

• Possible Causes:– Low levels of certain neurotransmitters

– Pre- and postnatal abnormalities

– Environmental toxins such as lead

– Heredity • 30-50% have parent/sibling with


Treatment of ADHD• Combined approach is recommended

– Academic, behavioral, and medical

• Requires parents, school personnel, and health-care professionals to cooperate

• Controversial drug treatments– Ex) Ritalin slows down nervous system and behavior


Educational Issues• Public Law 94-142 is the Education for All

Handicapped Children Act (1975)– Requires free, appropriate public education for children

with disabilities

• Renamed IDEA (1983) spells out mandates for services to children with disabilities– Evaluation/eligibility determination, appropriate education– individualized education plan (IEP) – least restrictive environment (LRE).


The IEP

• Individualized Education Plan (IEP)– spells out a program specifically tailored for the student

with a disability.

• Requirement for students with disabilities

• Generally, the IEP should:– relate to child’s learning capacity– specially constructed to meet individual needs– not copy of what is offered to other children.– designed to provide educational benefits.


The LRE• LRE: least restrictive environment

• Similar as possible to the one in which children who do not have a disability are educated.

• Inclusion - educating children with a disability in the regular classroom.

• Mainstreaming - educating partially in a special education classroom and partially in a regular classroom.


Piaget’s Theory:Concrete Operational Stage

• Age Range: 7-12

• Concrete operational thinking involves:– mental operations replacing physical actions– reversible mental actions– coordinating several characteristics of objects


Contributions & Criticisms of Piaget• Contributions:

– Helped us understand children’s cognitive development – Ex) assimilation, accommodation, object permanence

– His observation yielded advances in cognitive development, such as shifts in thinking

• Criticisms– Underestimation of children’s competence

– Stages

– Didn’t recognize the effects of training, culture or education


What Is Intelligence?

• Intelligence– verbal ability, problem-solving skills, and the

ability to adapt to and learn from life’s everyday experiences.

• Cannot be directly measured

• IQ tests can only provide an estimate of a student’s intelligence.


IQ: Ways to Evaluate• William Stern: intelligence quotient (IQ).

• IQ is a person’s mental age divided by chronological age, multiplied by 100

» IQ = MA/CA x 100

• Alfred Binet: mental age/traditional IQ tests

• Sternberg: triarchic theory of intelligence (3 forms)

• Gardner: Eight Frames of Mind

• Why look for alternative?


Evaluating the Multiple Intelligence Approaches

• Educators must consider:– What makes up children’s competencies?– Instruction in multiple domains– Assessment and learning in innovative ways

• Critics: No research base to support the theory of multiple intelligences.


Ethnicity and Culture• Racial differences in IQ tests

– African American and Latino score below White children

• Consensus: differences are based on environmental differences

• Many early tests were culturally biased– Favored urban children over rural children, children from

middle SES families over children from low-income families, and White children over minority children

• Culture-fair tests are tests of intelligence that attempt to be free of cultural bias.


The Use and Misuse of Intelligence Tests

• Effectiveness depends on the knowledge, skill, and integrity of the user

• Positive uses or misuses

• Some cautions about IQ:– Scores can lead to stereotypes and expectations.– A high IQ is not the ultimate human value.– A single, overall IQ score is limiting.


Mental Retardation• Characterized by:

– low IQ (70 or lower)– difficulty adapting to everyday life (BIGGEST)

• Causes can be organic or social and cultural

• Stats on MR:– 89% mildly retarded (IQs of 55-70).– 6% moderately retarded (IQs of 40-54).– 3.5% severely retarded (IQs of 25-39).


Giftedness• Characterized by:

– above-average intelligence (an IQ of 120 or higher)– and/or superior talent for something

• Characteristics of gifted children are:– Precocity– Marching to their own drummer– A passion to master

• Gifted people tend to be:– more mature, have fewer emotional problems, and grow up in a

positive family climate


Creativity• Unique problem solving through novel and

unusual thinking

• Convergent thinking vs. Divergent thinking

• Creative, usually intelligence

• Developing creativity– Brainstorming– Provide environments that stimulate creativity– Don’t over-control– Encourage internal motivation– Foster flexible and playful thinking– Introduce children to creative people


Bilingualism• About 10 million children (English not primary)

• Bilingual education (preferred strategy)– Teach in their native language then add English instruction

– Critics vs. supporters– Fluency in two language results in:

• Better performance on IQ tests

• More conscious of language structure (written/spoken)

• Notice errors in grammar/meaning better

• More cognitive flexibility and complexity


Industry Versus Inferiority• Ages 6 to 12 • Focus

– Attainment of competence – Meeting the challenges presented by parents, peers,

school, and the other complexities of the modern world

– Industry: Want to know how things are made and how they work

• Encouragement to make, build, and work, increases industry.

– The view of these creations as “making mischief” or “making a mess” increases feelings of inferiority.


The Development of Self-Understanding

• Continue to ask “who am I”?

• View less external/physical, more in terms of internal/psychological traits

• Self definitions: social characteristics.

• Social comparison—what they can do in comparison with others—becomes key


What Are Self-Esteem and Self-Concept?

• Self-esteem - global evaluations of the self– AKA: self-worth or self-image

• Self-concept - domain-specific evaluations of the self

• Evaluations include:– academics, athletics, appearance, etc.

• Increasing self-esteem:– Identify the causes of low self-esteem– Identify domains of competence important to the self– Emotional support and social approval– Achievement


The Influence of Friendships

• Friends are important because:• Information about the world

• Emotional support/Buffer stress

• Manage and control emotions

• Communication with others

• Foster intellectual growth

• Practice relationship skills


Stages of Friendship

• Stages of childhood friendship:– 1. Basing friendship on other’s behavior.

• Age 4-7; friends are children who like you and with whom you share toys and activities.

– 2. Basing friendship on trust. • Age 8-10; focus on mutual trust.

– 3. Basing friendship on psychological closeness.

• Age 11-15; focus on intimacy and loyalty.


Peer Statuses: High vs. Low

• High (popular, possibly controversial):• Tend to have greater access to resources (toys, books,

information, etc)• Interact with other high status students• More likely to form exclusive and desirable cliques • Tend to play with a greater number of children

• Low (rejected/neglected):• Tend to follow the lead of higher status children• More likely to play with younger or less popular children• Form friendships with other lower status children.


Bullying: Characteristics of Victims

• About 160,000 children stay home each day because of bullies

• Loners

• Fairly passive

• Cry easily

• Lack social cues

• Have parents who are intrusive and demanding

• Boys with intensely close relationships with their parents


Characteristics of Bullies• About 15% of children• Half come from abusive homes• Prefer violent TV• Misbehave at home more than other children• When caught—lie and show little remorse• More likely to break laws as adults


Developmental Changes• More able to understand complex emotions

– pride and shame

• One situation more than one emotion

• Tend to take a fuller context of emotional reactions

• Improved suppression/concealment of negative emotions


Emotional Intelligence• Type of social intelligence that involves:

– ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions,

– discriminate among them, – use this information to guide one’s thinking and action.

• Goleman’s view of emotional intelligence involves:– Developing Emotional Self-Awareness– Managing Emotions– Reading Emotions– Handling Relationships


The Transition to Elementary School

• New Role: School Child – New interactions and relationships with new significant

others

– New reference groups

– New standards for judging themselves.

• School provides children with a rich source of new ideas to shape their sense of self.


The Education of Students from Low Socioeconomic

Backgrounds• Poverty can present barriers to learning

• Schools in impoverished areas have fewer resources

• Emphasize rote learning over thinking skills

• Sub-standard learning environments


Ethnicity in Schools• Ethnicity in schools can vary considerably

• School segregation by location

• Issues of:– Inferior educational opportunities

– Low expectations

– Negative stereotypes


Strategies for Improving Relations Between Ethnically Diverse Students

• Encourage positive contact with diverse students

• Encourage perspective taking

• Encourage critical thinking emotional intelligence

• Reduce bias

• View the school and community as a team to help support teaching efforts

• Be a competent cultural mediator

Health & Medicine

Chap9 10