MIDDLE CHILDHOOD

6 - 8 Physical

• Slow gain in height & weight

• Primary teeth replaced by permanent teeth

• More detailed, in-depth drawings

• Games with rules more common

6 - 8 Cognitive

• Logical thinking (Piagetian conservation, class inclusion, seriation problems)

• Understanding of spatial concepts (clear detailed directions; draw and read maps)

• Selective, adaptive, and planful attention

• Memory strategies; Rehearsal, organization

• Active mind, capable of transforming info 

• impact of psychological factors, Awareness of memory strategies

6 - 8 Language

• Vocabulary increase rapidly

• Concrete word definitions (functions and appearance)

• Language awareness improves

6 - 8 Emotional/Social

• Self-concept begins to include personality and social comparisons

• Self-esteem becomes hierarchially organized and declines to a realistic level

• Self-conscious of emotions

• Recognizes/realizes multi-emotional experience

• Attends to facial and situational cues in interpreting feelings

• Understands that access to information can create differences in perspective

• More responsible and independent

• Distributive justice leading from equality to merit to benevolence

• More prosocial and physical aggression decline.

5 - 11 Physical

• Growth spurt begins 2 years earlier in girls

• Gross motor skills of running, jumping, catching, kicking, batting, and dribbling are executed more quickly and better coordination

• Improved reaction time

• Representation of depth in drawing expands

5 - 11 Cognitive

• Logical thought remains tied to concrete

• Piagetian tasks continue to be mastered (conservation of liquid, mass, number, seriation, classification)

• More effective rehearsal and organization

• Applies several memory strategies at once

• Long term knowledge grows larger and more organized

• Cognitive self-regulation improves

5 - 11 Language

• Word definitions emphasize synonyms and categorical relations

• Grasps double meaning of words (metaphors and humors)

• Use of complex grammar construction

• Refined conversational strategies

5 - 11 Emotional/Social

• Self-esteem rises

• Distinguishes ability, effort, luck in success and failure

• Adaptive set of strategies for regulating emotion

• Can view the self from other perspective

• Can view the self from a third party perspective

• Appreciation of moral rules and social conventions

• Peer groups emerge

• Friendships based on mutual trust

• Aware of gender stereotypes, personality traits, school subjects, flexible appreciation of what females and males can do

• Sibling rivalry increases