Middle Childhood: Physical

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Chapter 9

• Middle Childhood Physical Cognitive Development

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Growth Patterns in Middle Childhood

• Body weight doubles
• Spend much energy on physical activity and play
• School children eat much more than preschoolers
• Boys slightly heavier taller until 9-10, then
  girls enter adolescence. Boys enter adolescence
  3-4 years after girls
• Boys ? muscle, girls ? fat

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Motor Skills

• Gross Motor
• by 6 Hopping, jumping
• 6-7 climbing, pedaling/balancing on a bike
• 8-10 Better balance, coordination and strength
• Fine Motor
• By 6-7 Tie shoes, hold pencil as adults, fasten
  buttons, zippers, brush teeth, wash themselves,
  coordinate a knife and fork, skill at using
  chopstick greatly improves

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Question

• What is reaction time?

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Cognitive Development

• Remember, Piaget believed that school age
  children (age 7-12 yrs) are in the concrete
  operational stage of development.
• What is meant by Concrete Operations? The
  development of mental operations Cognitive
  actions that can be performed on objects or ideas
  and that consistently yield results.

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Concrete Operational Thinking

• Children show the beginnings of adult logic but
  they generally focus on tangible objects rather
  than abstract ideas this is why they are
  concrete.
• Children begin to understand that events can be
  interpreted in different ways, thus looks can be
  deceiving.
• They have developed reversibility and flexibility
  in thinking.

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Concrete Operational Thinking is Characterized
by

• Less egocentrism (can view the world from another
  persons perspective realize that others may see
  things differently then them)
• Engaging in decentration (they can focus on more
  than one dimension or aspect of a problem at the
  same time)
• Understanding conservation (objects can have
  several properties or dimensions)

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Concrete Operational Thinking is Characterized
by, cont.

• Understanding transitivity If A exceeds B in
  some property (like age or height) and if B
  exceeds C, then A must also exceed C
• Understanding class inclusion Can focus on two
  subclasses (dog/cats) and larger subclasses
  (animals) at the same time. Example with the are
  there more dogs or animals? from last week

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Example of Transitivity
Seriation
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Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

• Focused on the kinds of information children use
  to determine whether a situation is right or
  wrong.
• Emphasized the importance of being able to view
  the moral world from the perspective of another
  person.
• Children and adults arrive at moral judgments
  based on different reasoning skills, which can be
  classified according to certain stages of moral
  development. (according to Kholberg)

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Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development, cont.

• Developmental stages of moral reasoning follow
  the same sequence in all children.
• Children progress at different rates, and not
  everyone reaches the highest stage.

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Intellectual Development vs. Achievement

• Intelligence A measure of a childs underlying
  competence or learning ability. Associated with
  academic success, advancement on the job, and
  appropriate social behavior.
• Achievement Involves a childs acquired
  competencies or performance.

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Theories of Intelligence

• 1. Sternbergs Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
  Believed there are three parts to our
  intelligence.
• Intelligence is defined as using our abilities
  skillfully to achieve our personal goals.
• Instruction is most effective when it is geared
  to a childs strength.

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Theories of Intelligence, cont.

• 2. Garners Theory of Multiple Intelligences
  Believed each intelligence reflects more than
  academic ability.
• Believed each has its neurological basis in
  different parts of the brain.
• Believed each is an inborn talent that must be
  developed through educational experiences if it
  is to be expressed.
• Each intelligence differs in quality.

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Measuring Intellectual Development

• Use of the Weschler tests
• Widely used and most respected
• Yield an Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
• Carefully developed revised over the years
• Used to make educational decisions for
  children/adults
• May be culturally biased

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Know

• No single test should ever be used to determine a
  childs intelligence!

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The Weschler Scales

• Yields a verbal and performance IQ based on
  persons performance on subscales, and an overall
  full IQ score
• Helps reveal a childs strengths and weaknesses
  and provides a measure of their overall
  intellectual functioning
• Specific test given based on the age of the
  person being tested

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Fig. 9-10, p. 183
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What Determines our Intellectual Development?

• 1. Heredity
• Heritability of intelligence is approximately
  40-60
• 2. Environment
• Early enrichment
• Varied experiences
• Preschool (Headstart, etc.)
• Responsive parents