Week 7: School age

physical changes

although the changes are more difficult to observe directly, the physical changes in middle childhood are just as impressive as those in early childhood

growth patterns

5cm to 8cm in height and 2.75kg each year

_____ _____ coordination continues to improve, children show _____ in strength and speed, and _____ ___ __________ also gets better

large muscle
increases
hand-eye coordination

Increasingly good _____ makes writing possible as well as drawing, cutting and many other skills

fine motor coordination

myelinization

Steady increase in the myelinization of neural axons across the cerebral cortex with sensory and motor areas affected first which may be linked to the
improvement in fine motor skills and hand eye coordination

_______ _________ _______ increases spatial perception

Right hemisphere Latarization

spatial cognition boys vs girls

boys score better than girls on spatial orientation
(boys early play preferences may enhance this ability)

visual experience

visual experience is important in development of spatial perception

_/_ of overweight children become overweight adults

1/2

overweight and obese children are predisposed to ________ later in life

developing type II diabetes, and cardiovascular disease

BMI

weight /height squared
- universal number to measure obesity

what is the flaw with BMI?

doesn't account for muscle mass - muscle weighs more than fat
- very problematic
- easy to misclassify

why do we still use it then?
- easy, fast and cheap
- accurate about 80% of time

_/_ children fail to meet the recommended daily duration of PA (60 minutes a day or more of moderate to vigorous intensity)

1/4

PA during COVID

decrease in PA (girls more than boys; upper/middle income while no difference in low and middle income families)

increase in screen time (boys more than girls)

__% exceed the sedentary behaviour recommendation (no more than two hours per day of screen time or other passive non-school related activities

37%

concrete operational stage (Piaget)

Increased inductive logic allows child to go from a specific experience to a general principle but deductive logic is still not strong

decentration

thinking that takes multiple variables into account

*perspective is everything

reversibility

understanding that both physical actions and mental operations can be reversed

*things can change

Information-processing skills

memory function continues to improve and processing efficiency increases steadily with age (ability to make efficient use of short-term memory capacity)

Executive functions

cognitive processes that are necessary for cognitive control of behaviours
- selecting and successfully monitoring behaviours that facilitate the attainment of chosen goals
eg.
attentional control cognitive inhibition, inhibitionary control, working memory, cognitive flexibility in information processing and problem solving

executive processes

advancement in information-processing skills
that involves devising and carrying out
strategies for remembering and solving
problems based on knowing how the mind
works (metacognition)

*executive processes are improved with the use of common information processing strategies

rehearsal

mental or vocal repetition

organization

grouping ideas, objects or words into clusters to help in remembering them (i.e. all animals, ingredients for lasagna)- this strategy is more applicable to knowledge you have experience with)

master basic grammar

basic grammar is mastered by 5/6 years and pronunciation in native language

expansion

children learn to maintain the topic of conversation, create unambiguous sentences, and speak politely or persuasively

Literacy

literacy, the ability to read and write, is the focus of
education in the 6-12 year old period

phonological awareness is an important skill

learning about meaningful word parts helps children to
better understand what they read

comprehension strategies are needed- sound-symbol
connection assists writing and spelling, grammar and
writing techniques must be taught (i.e. period and
capitalization)

multiple intelligences - Gardner

1. Linguistic - ability to use language effectively

2. Logical/mathematical - numbers and logical problem solving

3. Musical - ability to appreciate and produce music

4.Spatial - ability to appreciate spatial relationships

5.Bodily/kinesthetic - ability to move in a coordinated way

6. Naturalist - ability to make fine discrimination among flora and fauna or patterns and designs of human artifacts

7. Interpersonal- sensitivity to the behaviour, moods, and needs of others

8. Intrapersonal- ability to understand oneself

Sternberg's 3 components of intelligence

1. Contextual
- knowing the right behaviour for specific situation

2. Experimental
- learning to give specific responses without thinking about them

3. Componential
ability to come up with effective strategies

Why is there no agreement on the measurement of intelligence

fluid - problem solving
crystallized - accumulation of knowledge

__% of the Canadian population may experience learning problems that are a continuation of learning disabilities from early childhood

10%

modified programs and IEPS

exceptional children and children with learning accomodations

Personality

Freud believed challenges in middle childhood were to form emotional bonds with peers
(move beyond those with parents)

The big 5 personality

- the emergence of stable traits in middle childhood are
known to contribute to the development of feelings of
competence

- not only identifiable but also stable in middle childhood

Industry vs inferiority

Erikson - develop a sense of your own competence through mastery of culturally defined learning tasks

Self concept - 2 new components:

from 6-12 kids understanding of themselves improves

by the end of middle childhood children's
self-concepts include two new components:
(1) psychological self
(2) valued self

psychological

- understanding one's stable internal traits
- psychological self becomes increasingly complex and
abstract
- development of self-efficacy

valued

global evaluation of one's self worth

self-esteem is quite stable in the short terms but somewhat less so over periods of several years
(eroding self-esteem)

active listening

empathize
be attentive
show understanding and acceptance
remain neutral
ask open ended questions

open ended questions

Would you tell me more about ___?
Could you help me understand ___?
What are the good things and the less good things
about ___?
What do you think you will lose if you give up ___?

social cognition

Children's ability to understand others is
enhanced by the development of a theory of
mind in early childhood

descriptions of other people move from
concrete to abstract (6/7 yo focus on
physical features in descriptions but 7/8 yo
begin to focus on inner qualities/traits)

family relationships

6-8 year olds rely on their parents' presence, support, and
affections despite spending less time with them

Having meals together is the best predictor of...

- significantly better academic success
- fewer behavioural problems
- better psychological adjustment
-> teen years (less likely to use maladaptive coping strategies)
- better nutrition

friendships

'best friend' becomes part of middle childhood
children are supportive of their friends

aggression

physical aggression becomes less common as children
learn the cultural rules about when and how much it is
acceptable to display anger/aggression

at every age boys show more physical aggression and
more assertiveness than do girls

relational aggression aimed at damaging another's self esteem or peer relationships is more common in girls

TV aggression study

15 year longitudinal study of 6-9 year olds found TV violence leads to high amounts of direct physical aggression in adults of both genders and indirect aggression in females

*recall Bandura's social learning theory - what you see is what you imitate, leading to eventual desensitization

TV violence leads to:

- emotional desensitization regarding violence

- a belief that aggression is a good way to solve problems

- a reduction in pro social behaviour (voluntary behaviour designed to help others)

TV should be considered an _____ ______

educational medium

*positive and negative behaviours can be learned

child resilience in the context of COVID-19

Ontario children faced the largest school closures compared to all other provinces and territories in Canada

Oscillators between in-person and virtual schooling, extracurricular cancellations, and loss of social interactions

children with siblings, pets, and close family members showed higher levels of resilience