06 Middle Childhood Development Review

Flashcards covering physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development during middle childhood (ages 6 to 11) based on lecture notes.

Height and Weight in Middle Childhood

Growth slows considerably compared to early childhood, focusing on fine-tuning physical developments, with girls retaining more fatty tissue than boys between ages $6$ and $11$.

Sleep-Disordered Breathing (SDB)

A condition indicated by persistent snoring at least $3$ times a week, linked to behavioral and learning difficulties.

Gray Matter Volume Trajectory

A U-shaped trajectory where volume decreases reflect the pruning of unused dendrites to increase efficiency; volume peaks earlier in girls than in boys.

White Matter

Connections between neurons that thicken and myelinate in the frontal lobes toward the rear, balancing the loss of gray matter.

Rough-and-tumble Play

Play consisting of vigorous activity such as wrestling or chasing, which peaks in middle childhood and accounts for about $10\%$ of schoolchildren’s free play.

Overweight

Defined as having a body mass index (BMI) between the $85^{th}$ and $95^{th}$ percentile.

Obesity

Defined as having a body mass index (BMI) over the $95^{th}$ percentile.

Chronic Medical Conditions

Illnesses or impairments that persist for at least $3$ months, such as asthma or diabetes.

Type I Diabetes

An insulin deficiency occurring when insulin-producing cells in the pancreas are destroyed; it is highly genetic.

Type II Diabetes

A condition characterized by insulin resistance, traditionally found in overweight and older adults but increasingly seen in children.

Concrete Operational Stage

Piagetian stage of cognitive development where children can use mental operations and logical reasoning to solve concrete, real-world problems.

Seriation

The ability to arrange objects in a series according to one or more dimensions such as time, length, or color.

Transitive Inference

Understanding the relationship between two objects by knowing the relationship of each to a third object.

Class Inclusion

The ability to understand the relationship between a whole and its parts, as well as categories within a whole.

Inductive Reasoning

A type of logical thinking that involves making observations and then drawing conclusions about a class as a whole.

Deductive Reasoning

A type of reasoning that starts with a general statement and applies it to particular members of a class; Piaget argued this develops in adolescence.

Conservation

The understanding that a quantity remains the same even if its appearance has been altered, achieved through identity, reversibility, and decenter skills.

Executive Function

The conscious control of thoughts, emotions, and actions to accomplish goals or solve problems.

Metacognition

The awareness of and understanding about one's own mental processes, which helps children plan and use memory strategies.

Mnemonic Device

A strategy used to aid memory by associating information with something easier to remember, such as rehearsal, organization, or elaboration.

Metamemory

Knowledge of and reflection about memory processes, including the understanding that some things are easier to remember than others.

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV)

An individual intelligence test for ages $6$ to $16$ that measures verbal and performance abilities to pinpoint strengths and diagnose problems.

Gardner’s Theory of Intelligence

The theory that there are eight independent kinds of intelligence (linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, etc.) that are distinct from one another.

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

A theory focusing on three elements of intelligence: Componential (analytic), Experiential (creative), and Contextual (practical).

Tacit Knowledge

Information that is not formally taught or openly expressed but is necessary to get ahead in practical situations.

Dynamic Tests

Tests based on Vygotsky's theories that measure learning processes and potential rather than current achievement.

Pragmatics

The social context of language, including the ability to repair communication breakdowns and use appropriate conversational tones.

Decoding

The process of phonetic analysis where a printed word is converted to spoken form before being retrieved from long-term memory.

Whole-Language Approach

A reading instruction method emphasizing visual retrieval and contextual cues, based on the belief that children learn to read and write naturally.

Self-Efficacy

Self-perceived competence that affects motivation; children with high levels are more likely to succeed in school.

Intellectual Disability

A condition indicated by an IQ of about $70$ or less coupled with a deficiency in age-appropriate adaptive behavior appearing before age $18$.

Dyslexia

A learning disability where reading achievement is substantially lower than predicted by IQ or age due to difficulties in processing sensory information.

Representational Systems

The third stage of self-definition characterized by broad, balanced, and integrated assessments of various aspects of the self.

Industry vs. Inferiority

Erikson’s fourth stage of psychosocial development where children must learn productive cultural skills or face feelings of low self-worth.

Coregulation

A transitional stage in behavior control where parents exercise general supervision and children exercise moment-to-moment self-regulation.

Internalizing Behaviors

Behaviors such as anxiety, fearfulness, and depression, where anger or emotional distress is turned inward.

Externalizing Behaviors

Behaviors such as aggression, fighting, disobedience, and hostility, where anger is turned outward.

Sociometric Popularity

A measurement of peer status based on positive nominations (liked most) and negative nominations (liked least).

Hostile Aggression

Aggression intended to hurt another person, which often becomes more verbal than physical during middle childhood.

Relational Aggression

Aggression aimed at damaging another person’s social status or reputations.

Hostile Attribution Bias

The tendency to perceive others as having harmful intent and striking out in retaliation or self-defense.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

A pattern of defiance, disobedience, and hostility toward adult authority figures lasting at least $6$ months.

Conduct Disorder (CD)

A persistent pattern of aggressive and antisocial acts that may lead to antisocial personality disorder in adulthood.