Human Development Chapters 6 and 7

Concrete operational period

• 7 - 11 years of age

• Staples of children in this stage:

• become less egocentric rarely confuse appearances with reality

• can reverse their thinking and perform mental operations

• able to solve perspective taking and grasp conservation

• resist teaching conclusions that are contrary to known facts

Formal operational period

• 11 years to adulthood

• Staples of this stage:

• Can reason abstractly and hypothetically

• Can use deductive reasoning to draw logical conclusions

Memory strategies (7 - 8 years old)

• Use less effective learning and memory strategies (such as rehearsal)

Memory strategies (older children)

• Organization: structuring new info into related categories

• Elaboration: making new info memorable by embellishing it

• Make more use of external aids to memory

Metacognition

• awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes

Cognitive self regulation

• Identifying goals, selecting effective strategies, and monitoring accurately

Meta memory

• Diagnosing memory problems accurately and monitoring their effectiveness

Hierarchy view of intelligence

• Three levels of IQ

• Top: the g factor (general IQ)

• Middle: 8 broad subcategories of IQ

• Lowest: several specific skills associated with each of the 8 subcategories

• Ignores research and theory on cognitive development

Gardner's multiple intelligences

• Nine types of intelligences

• Each has a unique developmental history and is regulated by distinct brain regions

Linguistic intelligence

• skills involved in the production and use of language

Logical-mathematical intelligence

• skills in problem solving and scientific thinking

Spatial intelligence

• potential to recognize and use patterns, picture smart

Musical intelligence

• potential to appreciate, compose, and perform music

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence

• potential to use mind and body to coordinate physical movement

Intrapersonal intelligence

• the ability to understand oneself

Naturalistic intelligence

• the ability to observe, appreciate, and understand the natural world

Existential intelligence

• the ability to ponder large questions about life, death, and existence

Emotional intelligence

• the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

Steinberg theory of successful intelligence

• successful intelligence is using one's abilities skillfully to achieve personal goals

Achieving personal goals

• personal goals are achieved via three abilities

• analytic: generating different solutions

• creative: dealing adaptively with new situations and problems

• practical: knowing which solution will work

Intelligence testing

• no longer use the mental age/chronological age comparison for computation of IQ

• compared to the average IQ scores of children their own age

Do IQ tests work?

• have been shown to predict:

• school grades, achievement test scores, and years of education

• occupational success

• performance or earnings in complex jobs

• predictions are not perfect

Hereditary and environmental factors on IQ

• IQ scores increased during the 20th century

• children have greater IQ scores when:

• parents talk frequently to their children

• provide cognitive challenging materials

• expose children to stimulating experiences outside the home

• poverty contributes to struggling in school because of a lack of development in skills needed for success

Controversies in testing

• studies show differences in IQ scores among ethnic groups

• cultural biases in IQ tests may yield lower scores for economically disadvantaged children from minor ethnic groups

• test taking skills: ethnic groups differ in how much experience they have taking standardized tests

Interpreting test scores

• test scores show a child's adaptation to a particular cultural contest

• most IQ tests predict success in school with middle-class values

• individual difference > ethnic groups difference

Stereotype threat and self affirmation

• stereotype threat:

• self fulfilling prophecy

• anxiety and reduced test performance may result from knowledge about stereotypes concerning one's ability

• self affirmation: reminding the self of important values and why these are important

Gifted children

• giftedness: traditionally defined as an IQ score of 130 or higher

• giftedness today:

• ability substantially above average

• exceptional talent in their areas

• passionate about their subject

• divergent thinking

Children with learning disabilities

• a child with a learning disability:

• has difficult mastering an academic subject

• is of normal intelligence

• must not struggle due to some other condition

Developmental dyslexia

• reading disability

• difficulty in reading individual words

Impaired reading comprehension

• difficulty linking words in a sentence to create coherent meaning

• reflects a limited spoken vocabulary

Developmental dyscalculia

• mathematical disability

• have difficulty learning to count, add, or substract

ADHD

• toughly 6% of all US school age children are diagnosed with ADHD

• boys diagnosed with ADHD outnumber girls 3:1

• symptoms: hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity

• not outgrown in adolescence or adulthood

• treatments: medication and behavioral

Writing

• skill develops gradually due to several factors:

• knowledge about topics

• organizing writing

• skill in revising

Gender difference

• about same size during elementary school

• at ages 11-12: average girl about half an inch taller than average boy

• girls are more likely to enter puberty toward the end of the elementary school years

• girls are better than boys in fine motor skills (ex handwriting) and certain gross motor skills

• boys do better in the other gross motor skills, muscle composition, and preferred activities

Physical fitness

• < 50% of US elementary school children meet national fitness standards

• obesity is epidemic in US children and adolescents

• multiple risk factors for obesity:

• little physical education class time and its poor use

• too much time spent in sedentary activities

Family as a system

• the family structure evolved as a way to protect and nurture young children

• theorists view families from a contextual perspective and believe that families form a system of interacting elements

• the family itself is embedded in other social systems that can affect family dynamics, either directly or indirectly

Dimensions and styles of parenting

• warm and responsive vs hostile and uninvolved