Lifespan Development: Middle Childhood Physical and Cognitive Development

Flashcards covering physical and cognitive milestones, Piagetian stages, information processing, and moral development in children aged 7 to 12.

What age range defines the period of middle childhood?

Ages $7$ to $12$

What is the difference between fine motor skills and gross motor skills?

Fine motor skills involve small movements like grasping or writing with one's hands, while gross motor skills involve larger body movements like swinging or jumping.

According to Table 7.1, what is a typical gross motor milestone for children aged 10–12?

Jumping $3$ feet ($high jump$)

Identify three examples of fine motor skills that continue to develop during middle childhood.

(a) writing, (b) tying one's shoes, and (c) playing an instrument

At what age do children usually lose their front baby teeth?

Around the age of $6$, although it can occur between ages $4$ and $8$

According to Table 7.2, what is the typical range of a child's attention span in middle childhood?

From around $12$ to $36$ minutes depending on the task

How does the use of language by fathers typically differ from that of mothers according to research by Vernon-Feagans et al. (2010)?

Mothers tend to use words familiar to the child, while fathers tend to use a larger variety of words, helping to develop the child's vocabulary.

What is Piaget's stage for children aged approximately 7 to 11 years?

The concrete operational stage

In the concrete operational stage, what type of situation are children typically unable to apply logic to?

Abstract or hypothetical situations

What is the principle of conservation?

The understanding that the quantity of an object (like number, mass, or volume) does not change even if its appearance or arrangement is altered.

Define 'decentration'.

The ability to focus on more than one aspect of a task at a time, such as considering both the height and width of a glass.

What is 'reversibility' in cognitive development?

The awareness that a sequence of events can be reversed to return to the starting point, such as liquid being poured back into its original container.

What is 'seriation'?

The ability to organize things in a series, such as arranging sticks from shortest to longest or sorting objects by size and color.

Define selective attention.

The ability to stay focused on one thing while ignoring irrelevant or distracting information.

What are the three memory strategies frequently used by school-aged children as defined in Table 7.3?

Rehearsal (practicing information), Elaboration (connecting new information to existing knowledge), and Organization (arranging information in an ordered manner).

What is 'metamemory'?

An understanding of how memory works, such as recognizing that short lists are easier to remember than long ones.

How is 'theory of mind' defined?

The awareness of one's own mental states and the understanding that others have thoughts, beliefs, and perspectives different from one's own.

What are the three presentations of ADHD described in Table 7.5?

Predominately inattentive, Predominately hyperactive-impulsive, and Combined presentation

According to Piaget, what is the stage of 'moral realism'?

The first stage of moral development (emerging around age $5$) where behavior is correct if it conforms to authority, rules are absolute, and punishment for wrongdoing is seen as inevitable.

What distinguishes 'autonomous morality' from 'moral realism'?

In autonomous morality (ages $9–11$), children base judgments on intentions rather than the amount of damage and view rules as changeable agreements.

Name the three levels of moral development in Kohlberg's theory.

Preconventional level, Conventional level, and Postconventional level

What is the core idea of 'neuroconstructivism'?

A theory which posits that brain development is a dynamic, experience-dependent process where neural and cognitive networks interact with genes, the body, and the environment.