Chapter 11: Physical and Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood

What is the definition of compensation in middle childhood cognitive development?

A mental operation in which a child realizes that changes in one aspect of a problem are compared with and compensated for by changes in another aspect.

What is Piaget’s term for coordinated mental actions that allow children to mentally combine, separate, order, and transform concrete objects and events?

Concrete operations

What is the recognition of the one-to-one correspondence between sets of objects of equal number?

Conservation of number

What is the understanding that the amount of liquid remains unchanged when poured between containers of different dimensions?

Conservation of volume

What is crystallized intelligence?

The intelligence quotient derived from tests involving knowledge-based questions.

What is elaboration in the context of memory strategies?

A memory strategy that involves making connections between two or more things to be remembered.

How is executive function defined?

Higher-level cognitive processes, such as aspects of cognition associated with supervising and controlling lower-level cognitive processes.

What is fluid intelligence?

The intelligence quotient derived from tests involving tasks that require reasoning, but not prior knowledge.

What is the Flynn effect?

The steady increase over the past $100$ years in IQ test performance, an increase believed to support the environmental hypothesis of intelligence.

What is the mental operation of identity?

A mental operation in which a child realizes that a change limited to outward appearance does not change the substances involved.

How is the intelligence quotient $(IQ)$ calculated according to the provided transcript?

$$IQ = (MA/CA)100$$

Which brain structures are included in the limbic system?

The amygdala, hippocampus, basal ganglia, and hypothalamus.

What is the term for the number of randomly presented items that can be repeated immediately after presentation?

Memory span

What is metacognition?

The ability to think about one’s own thought processes.

What is metamemory?

The ability to think about one’s memory processes.

What are organizational strategies?

Memory strategies in which materials to be remembered are mentally grouped into meaningful categories.

What is rehearsal?

The process of repeating to oneself the material that one is trying to remember.

What is reversibility?

A mental operation in which a child realizes that one operation can be negated, or reversed, by the effects of another.

What is spatial intelligence?

The intelligence quotient derived from tests of the ability to mentally rotate objects in order to solve problems.

In the Six-Cs model, what does the 'Cell' level represent?

Biological and genetic characteristics, such as the inheritance of genes that contribute to fat storage.

In the Six-Cs model, what does 'Clan' refer to?

Family characteristics, such as parents’ encouragement to exercise and eat healthy foods, family media use, and whether the child was fed breast or artificial milk.

In the Six-Cs model, what factors are included at the 'Community' level?

School meal programs and vending-machine options, availability of grocery stores, and access to recreational activities.

By the end of middle childhood, how does a child's ability to kick a ball change?

The child is able to take a full swing at the ball while simultaneously moving arms and trunk to provide support and balance.

What benefits do youths highly involved in sports report compared to non-participants?

More positive friends, fewer negative friends, higher self-esteem, lower levels of depression, and a greater sense of belonging at school.

Compare the cortical thickness of children with superior intelligence to others at 7 years of age.

Children with superior intelligence have thinner cortices at $7$ years of age.

What happens to the cortices of children with superior intelligence between ages 7 and 11?

Their cortices thicken dramatically by synaptogenesis.

What occurs to the cortices of children with superior intelligence after age 11?

They begin to thin gradually by synaptic pruning.

According to Piaget's stages, what is the age range for the Sensorimotor stage?

Birth to $2$ years.

What characterizes the Preoperational stage (ages 2 to 6)?

Children use symbols like mental images and words to represent reality but often fail to distinguish their point of view from others.

What is the age range for the Concrete operational stage?

$6$ to $12$ years.

What occurs during the Formal stage (ages 12 to 19)?

Developing persons acquire the ability to think systematically about all logical relations within a problem and demonstrate interest in abstract ideas.

What is decentration?

Children can notice and consider more than one attribute of an object at a time and form categories according to multiple criteria.

What is logical necessity?

The acquired conviction that certain qualities must be conserved despite changes in appearance.

How does egocentrism decline during middle childhood?

Children communicate more effectively about objects a listener cannot see, think about how others perceive them, and understand that feelings and actions can differ.

How do social relations change regarding rules in middle childhood?

Children regulate interactions through rules and begin to play rule-based games.

What determines moral judgment in middle childhood social relations?

Children take intentions into account and believe the punishment must fit the crime.

What are the three specific memory changes characteristic of middle childhood?

Increases in speed and capacity of working memory, increases in knowledge about items to be remembered, and acquisition of more effective strategies.

What did Vurpillot assess using stimuli of house pairs?

The development of visual search strategies.

What was the finding regarding aerobic exercise and math achievement in overweight children?

Aerobic exercise significantly improved children’s math achievement and executive function.

According to Gardner, what is linguistic intelligence?

Special sensitivity to language, allowing one to choose precisely the right word and grasp new meanings easily.

According to Gardner, what is logical-mathematical intelligence?

The ability to engage in abstract reasoning and manipulate symbols.

According to Gardner, what is musical intelligence?

Sensitivity to pitch and tone, allowing one to detect and produce musical structure.

What is personal intelligence in Gardner's theory?

The ability to gain access to one’s own feelings and to understand the motivations of others.

What are the three components of Robert Sternberg’s ‘Triarchic’ Theory of Intelligence?

Analytic, Creative, and Practical.

Define Analytic intelligence in Sternberg's Triarchic Theory.

The abilities we use to analyze, judge, evaluate, compare, and contrast.

Define Practical intelligence in Sternberg's Triarchic Theory.

The abilities we use to apply knowledge by putting it into practice.

Who introduced intelligence tests with Simon to produce an IQ score?

Binet

What brain structure plays an important role in communication between the cortex and the limbic system?

The cingulate gyrus.

What do fourth graders in the toaster study demonstrate about metacognition?

They were significantly more conservative in their knowledge ratings than kindergarteners and downgraded estimates after having to explain the device.

How do memory strategies differ across cultures in middle childhood?

They differ significantly depending on whether children have had schooling.

A mental operation in which a child realizes that changes in one aspect of a problem are compared with and compensated for by changes in another aspect is known as __________.

compensation

Piaget’s term for coordinated mental actions that allow children to mentally combine, separate, order, and transform concrete objects and events is __________ __________ .

concrete operations

__________ __________ __________ is the recognition of the one-to-one correspondence between sets of objects of equal number.

conservation of number

The understanding that the amount of a liquid remains unchanged when poured from one container into another with different dimensions is called __________ __________ __________ .

conservation of volume

The intelligence quotient derived from tests involving knowledge-based questions is called __________ __________ .

crystallized intelligence

__________ is a memory strategy that involves making connections between two or more things to be remembered.

elaboration

Higher-level cognitive processes associated with supervising and controlling lower-level cognitive processes are known as __________ __________ .

executive function

The intelligence quotient derived from tests involving tasks that require reasoning, but not prior knowledge, is called __________ __________ .

fluid intelligence

The __________ __________ refers to the steady increase over the past $100$ years in IQ test performance.

Flynn effect

The mental operation where a child realizes that a change limited to outward appearance does not change the substances involved is __________ .

identity

The formula for calculating the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is $IQ=(MA/CA)100$ where MA is mental age and CA is __________ __________ .

chronological age

The __________ __________ is a group of brain structures including the amygdala, hippocampus, basal ganglia, and hypothalamus.

limbic system

Because its structures are associated more with emotion than reasoning, the limbic system is often described as the " __________ __________ ."

emotion brain

The number of randomly presented items of information that can be repeated immediately after presentation is called the __________ __________ .

memory span

Specific actions used deliberately to enhance remembering are called __________ __________ .

memory strategies

A __________-__________ is a statistical analysis of results collected from multiple scientific studies.

meta-analysis

The ability to think about one's own thought processes is called __________ .

metacognition

The ability to think about one’s memory processes is called __________ .

metamemory

In __________ __________ , materials to be remembered are mentally grouped into meaningful categories.

organizational strategies

The process of repeating to oneself the material one is trying to remember is known as __________ .

rehearsal

__________ is a mental operation in which a child realizes that one operation can be negated by the effects of another.

reversibility

The intelligence quotient derived from tests of the ability to mentally rotate objects to solve problems is called __________ __________ .

spatial intelligence

In the Six-Cs Developmental Ecological Model, the " __________ " level includes biological and genetic characteristics like the inheritance of genes.

Cell

In the Six-Cs Model, the " __________ " level includes family characteristics such as whether a child was fed breast or artificial milk during infancy.

Clan

In the Six-Cs Model, " __________ " refers to cultural and social beliefs, including gender-role expectations concerning eating and activity.

Culture

While height and weight are influenced by genetic factors, environmental factors such as __________ and health also play an important role.

nutrition

During middle childhood, girls tend to be more advanced than boys in strength, agility, and __________ .

balance

In evolutionary terms, the __________ is a fairly recent development associated with the ability to control thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

cortex

Children with superior intelligence have thinner cortices at $7$ years of age, but their cortices thicken dramatically by __________ until age $11$ .

synaptogenesis

After age $11$ , the cortices of children with superior intelligence begin to thin gradually by __________ __________ .

synaptic pruning

The __________ __________ plays an important role in communications between the cortex and the limbic system.

cingulate gyrus

According to Piaget, the Sensorimotor stage occurs from Birth to $2$ years and consists of coordinating sensory perceptions and __________ __________ .

motor behaviors

The Preoperational stage occurs from ages $2$ to $6$ and involves the use of __________ to represent reality.

symbols

The Concrete operational stage occurs from ages $6$ to $12$ and allows children to mentally combine, separate, order, and transform __________ .

objects

In the Formal stage, which occurs from ages $12$ to $19$ , adolescents acquire the ability to think __________ about all logical relations.

systematically

The ability to notice and consider more than one attribute of an object at a time is called __________ .

decentration

The conviction that certain qualities must be conserved despite changes in appearance is called __________ __________ .

logical necessity

When solving the __________ __________ __________ problem, a child must reorder cans one at a time without placing a small can on top of a larger one.

Tower of Hanoi

In a study of toaster knowledge, kindergarteners' ratings increased after hearing an expert, a classic example of __________ .

egocentrism

Information-processing theorists suggest cognitive changes in middle childhood are due to increases in the speed and capacity of __________ __________ .

working memory

Vurpillot used visual search strategies to assess development, finding that children in middle childhood systematically compare house pairs to find __________ __________ .

subtle differences

A study of overweight children found that __________ __________ significantly improved math achievement and executive function.

aerobic exercise

Gardner's __________ intelligence involves special sensitivity to language and the ability to grasp new meanings easily.

linguistic

Gardner's __________-__________ intelligence involves the ability to engage in abstract reasoning and manipulate symbols.

logical-mathematical

Gardner's __________ intelligence involves the ability to represent ideas in movement, characteristic of dancers and mimes.

bodily-kinesthetic

In Robert Sternberg's Triarchic Theory, __________ intelligence involves the abilities used to analyze, judge, evaluate, and contrast.

analytic

In Robert Sternberg's Triarchic Theory, __________ intelligence involves the abilities used to apply knowledge by putting it into practice.

practical

The picture-completion test used by __________ __________ and his colleagues during World War I required recruits to identify what was missing in a picture.

Robert Yerkes

The transition to middle childhood in Nicaragua is often marked by children walking to church for their __________ __________ .

first communion

The Flynn effect supports the __________ __________ of intelligence, which suggests environment influences IQ performance.

environmental hypothesis