Physical and Cognitive Development (Ages 7–12)

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the physical, neurological, motor, cognitive, health, and linguistic development of children aged 7 to 12 based on Chapter 7 lecture notes.

Physical Growth Pattern (Middle Childhood)

A steady but slower growth pattern during ages 7 to 12 characterized by an average gain of $2\text{--}3\,\text{in/year}$ in height and $5\text{--}7\,\text{lb/year}$ in weight, with boys and girls remaining similar in size until puberty.

Genetic Influence on Height

The biological contribution that accounts for approximately $\sim 80\%$ of individual variations in child height.

Brain Development (Ages 7–8)

The point in development when the brain reaches approximately $95\%$ of adult brain size, accompanied by continued prefrontal cortex growth and ongoing myelination.

Myelination

An ongoing structural brain development process that enhances region-to-region communication, resulting in faster reaction times and more efficient information processing.

Synaptic Pruning

A developmental brain process involving the elimination of unused neural connections alongside the strengthening of frequently used connections.

Gross Motor Development (Milestones)

Large-muscle physical development progressing from skipping at ages 6 to 7, to jumping vertically $8\text{--}10\,\text{in}$ at ages 8 to 9, to jumping $3\,\text{ft}$ high at ages 10 to 12.

Fine Motor Development (Milestones)

Small-muscle coordination advancing from cutting with scissors at ages 6 to 7, to neater handwriting at ages 8 to 9, to drawing detailed images at ages 10 to 12.

Middle Childhood Sleep Requirement

A recommended total of $9\text{--}12\,\text{hrs}$ per night, which faces modern challenges from increasing demands, evening activities, and growing electronic use.

Middle Childhood Caloric Requirement

A recommended daily nutritional intake of $1800\text{--}2200\,\text{cals/day}$, emphasizing protein for growth, calcium for bones, iron for blood/energy, and vitamins.

Childhood Obesity and Overweight Rates

Health indicators showing that $19\%$ of U.S. school-aged children have obesity and an additional $16\%$ are overweight, with rates having doubled overall.

Physical Activity Guidelines

Health recommendations advising $60\,\text{mins}$ of daily moderate to vigorous activity mixing aerobic, muscle, and bone strengthening, currently met by only $33\%$ of children.

Asthma

A chronic inflammatory airway condition affecting $8\%$ of U.S. children, triggered by allergens and air pollution, and recognized as the leading cause of school absence.

Type 2 Diabetes (in Children)

A condition with increasing rates in pediatric populations that is linked directly to obesity and physical inactivity.

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget's stage of cognitive development spanning from age 7 to around 11, marked by logical thinking about tangible/concrete objects and reversible mental actions.

Conservation

The Piagetian understanding that a quantity remains unchanged despite changes in physical appearance, demonstrated across volume, mass, and number.

Decentration

The cognitive ability to focus on multiple aspects of a problem at once, consider more than one perspective, and understand relationships between dimensions.

Classification

A cognitive achievement involving the ability to understand hierarchical relationships, sort items by multiple characteristics, and grasp class inclusion.

Seriation

The ability to order objects along a quantitative dimension or property and understand relationships in a series, including transitive inference (if-then logic).

Decreased Egocentrism

The developmental milestone of understanding others' perspectives, recognizing that others may think differently, and applying this to improve communication.

Information Processing Perspective

A cognitive framework focusing on how children process information, describing quantitative changes and continuous improvements across attention, memory, and executive function.

Selective Attention

The attentional ability to focus on relevant information while actively ignoring irrelevant stimuli, which progressively improves throughout development.

Sustained Attention

The ability to maintain focus over time, which increases from $12\text{--}36\,\text{min}$ with age during middle childhood.

Divided Attention

The cognitive capacity to shift between tasks and manage multiple streams of information, showing gradual improvement with age.

Working Memory

A temporary storage system whose capacity increases with age along with better coordination of component processes.

Rehearsal

A basic memory strategy involving the deliberate repetition of information to keep it active in memory.

Organization (Memory Strategy)

A memory strategy that involves grouping related items or information together to improve encoding and recall.

Elaboration

An advanced memory strategy that involves connecting new information to existing knowledge to make it more meaningful.

Metacognition

Thinking about thinking; awareness of one's own cognitive strengths and weaknesses, combined with knowledge about cognitive processes.

Metamemory

A branch of metacognition involving an understanding of how memory works, recognizing memory limitations, and selecting appropriate memory strategies.

Executive Function

Higher-order cognitive processes necessary for self-regulation of thought and action, including inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and planning/organization.

Theory of Mind

The understanding that others have differing thoughts and feelings, that mental states influence behavior, and the capacity for perspective-taking.

Spearman's g Factor

A construct representing general intelligence that underlies performance on all cognitive tasks and accounts for positive correlations across different mental abilities.

Fluid Intelligence

Cattell's concept of intelligence referring to reasoning and novel problem solving, which develops earlier in childhood.

Crystallized Intelligence

Cattell's concept of intelligence referring to accumulated knowledge and acquired skills, which continues to grow throughout life.

Gardner's Multiple Intelligences

A developmental theory positing distinct intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic.

Sternberg's Triarchic Theory

A theory dividing intelligence into three distinct sub-theories: analytical (academic problem solving), creative (generating novel ideas/solutions), and practical (applying learning to daily life).

IQ Calculation Parameters

The standardized metric for intelligence tests where the average score is defined as $100$ with a standard deviation of $\text{SD} = 15$.

Reliability

A test quality that reflects the consistency of measurement over time and repeated administrations.

Validity

A psychometric property indicating whether an assessment instrument truly measures what it claims to measure.

Dyslexia

A learning disability affecting approximately $\sim 7\%$ of children, characterized by specific reading difficulties and challenges with phonemic awareness.

Dysgraphia

A learning disability characterized by writing difficulties, including challenges with spelling and legible handwriting.

Dyscalculia

A specific learning disability centered on mathematics, characterized by challenges with numbers and basic calculations.

ADHD (Core Symptoms)

A neurodevelopmental condition characterized by three primary symptom clusters: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

ADHD Presentation Types

The clinical subtypes of ADHD categorized as predominantly inattentive, predominantly hyperactive/impulsive, or combined presentation.

ADHD Prevalence and Ratio

Epidemiological parameters indicating ADHD affects approximately $5\%$ of children, presenting at a $3:1$ ratio of boys to girls.

Pygmalion Effect

A psychological phenomenon in educational settings where teacher expectations directly shape and influence student academic performance.

Scaffolding

An instructional technique where temporary support is provided by a more knowledgeable other and gradually removed as the student works within the zone of proximal development (ZPD).

Metalinguistic Awareness

The ability to consciously reflect on the properties of language and recognize structural language patterns.

Pragmatic Language Skills

Social communication abilities that include adapting speech to different contexts, conversational turn-taking, and recognizing nonverbal cues.

Phonics vs. Whole Language

Two contrasting reading approaches: phonics focuses on sound-letter relationships, whereas whole language is meaning-based.

Simultaneous Multilingualism

The acquisition of two or more languages concurrently from birth.

Sequential Multilingualism

The acquisition of a second language learned successively after the first language has already been established.