PSC 140 Midterm #3
Be familiar with symptoms of ADD and ADHD, gender differences, effects on school performance and social skills, and treatment options.
*Attention Deficit Disorder* (or ADD) affects 3-5% of school-age children. Boys are 5 to 10 times more likely to be diagnosed with ADD because they often have ADD combined with hyperactivity (*ADHD*)]. In addition, ADD is likely UNDERDIAGNOSED in females because they don't exhibit the disruptive, acting out behaviors. Symptoms of ADD include great difficulty staying on task, impulsivity (act without thinking), immature behavior, often aggressive, poor social skills & often rejected by peers. -The causes of ADD and ADHD are unknown but can be attributed to the environment, but also biology. In regard to biology, there is a higher concordance in MZ vs. DZ twins, abnormal activity of prefrontal cortex and delayed brain development, particularly in frontal cortex. In addition, the environment may also play a role. Environmental factors such as prenatal exposure to alcohol, drugs, and other teratogens (including bacterial and viral infections) and exposure to lead (for example from lead paint) may also cause ADD/ADHD. New evidence even suggests that the increased parental age may play a role. -In regard to school performance, ADD/ADHD students performed poorly on tasks requiring sustained attention. In addition, students with ADD/ADHD have difficulty planning, reasoning, and problem solving in academic situations. Most continue to have difficulties through adolescence into adulthood. -In regards to treatment for ADD/ADHD, stimulant medication (such as Ritalin) most commonly prescribed. Treating with Ritalin improves academic and social functioning in approximately 70% of cases. Most effective treatments combine drug treatment with cognitive-behavioral interventions
How and why can birth order effect intellectual development?
*Birth order effects intellectual development* because there is evidence that the family environment affects siblings differently based on the timing of their birth. The results of birth order's effects on intelligence have been mixed but depends on the age that the child was tested. There is a significant correlation between birth order and educational achievement found for children over 11-years-old (firstborns outscore later borns). Firstborns most likely outscore later borns because in their earliest years of development, firstborns did NOT have to share parental resources and because firstborn children get an intellectual advantage of being a "tutor" to younger siblings as they grow older.
Be familiar with obesity rates. How do obesity rates vary by social economic status (SES), ethnicity, and race?
*Child obesity rate* has nearly tripled in the past 30 years. Currently, approximately 19% of children are obese in the United States. Obesity is more common if the child also has obese parents. Among youth, the highest obesity rates are in African-American girls (38%), and Mexican-American boys (44%). Obesity is also more common in low SES families. Fortunately, there is some recent evidence that obesity rates in 2 to 5-year-olds is starting to decrease (even though newer evidence may counter this). In short, childhood obesity is a serious problem. -However, there is an 80% chance that obese children stay obese through adulthood and unfortunately, more than 67% of American adults are overweight and more than 30% of adults are obese.
Describe the effects of witnessing marital violence
*Children who repeatedly witness marital violence exhibit many of the same symptoms of those children directly abused* including lower school achievement, internalizing & externalizing problems, poor peer relationships and difficulty in understanding and expressing appropriate emotions.
Do children benefit from watching educational television/media, such as Sesame Street?
*Sesame Street* can teach children about letters, numbers, colors, shapes and social relationships. Watching *educational TV* is correlated with higher performance on vocabulary and basic academic knowledge tests in early grade school. But, despite marketing efforts to low social economic families, educational television is watched more often in higher social economic status homes. Also, educational TV has been criticized for expanding the achievement gap. -Educational tv, videos, computer games and apps for infants is a multi-billion dollar industry and growing. This industry is fueled by parent concerns about giving their baby a competitive edge
Be familiar with Stevenson's studies on comparisons between U.S. versus China & Japan on math performance.What are some key differences in school environments and home environments between Asian and American schools?
*Cross-cultural approaches* involve comparing cultures with and without formal educational training. In cross-cultural comparisons of Americans and Asian students in regard to math, researchers found that American children do not perform as well as Chinese and Japanese students on math tests. Researchers look at differences in Asian vs. American schools and Asian vs. American home environments to see if this accounts for the difference in math skills. - When looking at differences in Asian vs. American schools, asian schools, have 60 more school days per year, and spend approximately 10 hours more per week in school, devote more time to math instruction, spend less time doing rote drills, spend more time in actively discussing problem solving strategies and less time doing "seat work", require more math homework and give more support/training to teachers. These differences in asian vs. american schools may account for difference in student's math skills. -When looking at differences in Asian vs. American home environments, it is noted that asian mothers focus more on effort vs. ability as the key to success, Asian parents are less satisfied with their child's performance and encouraged them to try harder and that Asian families spend more time in academic-type activities outside of school and provide more assistance with homework. These differences in asian vs. american home life may also account for differences in asian vs. American math skills.
Contrast education versus apprenticeship.
*Education* is the deliberate teaching of information and skills with explicit instruction. The first "schools" appeared around 4000 B.C. Apprenticeship is learning by observing and participating and instruction is combined with productive labor. Apprenticeship typically involves implicit instruction.
Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences
*Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences* also supports the idea that intelligence is specific. Gardner states that there are multiple types of intelligence that specialize in different roles. -*Linguistic intelligence* is characterized by a special sensitivity to language, which allows one to choose precisely the right word or turn of phrase and to grasp new meanings easily -*Musical intelligence* is characterized by a sensitivity to pitch and tone, which allows one to detect and produce musical structure -*Logical intelligence* is characterized by the mathematical ability to engage in abstract reasoning and manipulate symbols -*Spatial intelligence* is characterized by the ability to perceive relations among objects, to transform mentally what one sees, and to re-create visual images from memory -*Bodily kinesthetic* intelligence is characterized by the ability to represent ideas in movement; characteristic of great dancers and mimes -*Personal intelligence* is characterized by the ability to gain access to one's own feelings and to understand the motivations of others -*Social intelligence* is characterized by the ability to understand the motives, feelings, and behaviors of other people
What are the three types of mathematical knowledge?
*Mathematics involves 3 types of knowledge*; conceptual knowlege, procedural knowledge and utilization knowledge. *Conceptual knowledge* is knowing what the problem is about. *Procedural knowledge* is knowing how to carry out the appropriate actions and *utilization knowledge* is knowing when to use certain strategies or apply certain procedures.
Describe the biological changes that occur between 5 and 12 years in height & weight, and influences on this development.
*Middle childhood* refers to childhood in between the ages of 5 and 12. The typical starting point of middle childhood is the child's entry into school (in places that have formal schooling) and the end point of middle childhood is characterized by the beginning of adolescence. -There are *biological changes* that occur during middle childhood. Between 5 & 12 years of age, children grow about 15 to 20 inches in height, double in weight (gain about 45-55 lbs.) and girls have pre-puberty growth spurt earlier than boys. Genes, good nutrition and overall health influence growth.
What are some physical and social effects of childhood obesity?
*Obesity is a concern for many reasons*. From a *physical* standpoint, there is an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, Elevated blood pressure levels, Orthopedic problems, Fatty liver disease, Sleep apnea, Stroke, Cardiovascular disease, Early onset of puberty, Asthma, Lowered life expectancy and Mental health issues. In addition, from a *social* standpoint, there is an increased rate of depression, low self-esteem, suicidal ideation and peer rejection.
What are some of the positive effects of Head Start programs?
*Project Head Start* began in 1964 (due to the "War on Poverty") and specially designed preschools for 3-to 5-year-old children from disadvantaged homes. Found that these schools made the children less likely to be assigned to remedial classrooms in grade school, more likely to graduate from high school and less likely to be incarcerated or on welfare in adulthood. However, positive results of Project Head Start are dependent on the actual classroom (can vary by quality too, just as regular daycare). The future of Project Head Start is uncertain due to its high cost of maintenance.
Be familiar with findings from Flavell et al. on children's knowledge about thinking and stream of consciousness.
*Research by Flavell* and colleagues found that during middle childhood, children increasingly see the mind as experiencing a "stream of consciousness" meaning that a person's mind is nearly always experiencing a constant flow of thoughts and ideas. They also found that during middle childhood, children attribute "thinking" to people who are pretending, reading, listening, talking, etc. In addition, Flavell found that during middle childhood, children become aware WHEN people are thinking, WHAT they are thinking about, and WHY they are having these thoughts. Lastly, Flavell found that children can introspect on their own thoughts, or "trains of thought". Note, children younger than 7 years of age have great difficulty with these concepts.
Sternberg's triarchic theory
*Sternberg's triarchic theory* of intelligence (i.e., analytic, creative, practical) believes that intelligence is specific. Sternberg believes that there are 3 types of intelligence; analytic, creative and practical. Analytic is the ability to analyze, compare and judge (and this is what most IQ tests look at [FC]). Creative is the ability to invent, discover and imagine. And lastly, practical is the ability to put knowledge into practice.
What is dyslexia?
*dyslexia* is the most common specific learning disability and is characterized by a high quantitative IQ, low verbal IQ and severe problems in phonological processing. Causes of dyslexia are believed to be due to abnormalities in brain development—especially in the ability to rapidly process sounds; both visual and auditory. Dyslexia can be aided by training and practice- specifically in discrimination of speech sounds in writing and speech.
How did Harter measure self-esteem in children? What are some differences between the self-esteem of younger (4- to 7-year-olds) and older children (8- to 12-year-olds)?
*self esteem* is characterized by a positive evaluation of one's own worth. Research by Harter found that high self esteem is an important index of mental health. High self esteem in childhood predicts satisfaction and happiness in adulthood. In addition, self esteem in related to a general sense of optimism. -Hartner measured self esteem typically though self report questionnaires. With children between 4 and 7, questionnaires with pictures are used to report self esteem. -There are differences in self esteem between younger and older children. For 4 to 7 year olds, the two main categories of self esteem are competence and acceptance. Competence combines athletic and cognitive skills and acceptance combines parental and peer acceptance. For 8 to 12 year olds, there are four main categories of self esteem which are cognitive competence, social competence, physical competence and general self worth. 8 to 12 year olds can rate themselves high in general self worth even though they do not rate themselves high across all three areas of competence. Note, younger children tend to self report higher self esteem than older children adn this may be due to overly positive views about their skills and ability and lower social comparison. -General self-esteem varies by child (in other words, children can have high self worth and only be competent in a few areas, and others can be competent in a few areas but have low self worth). General self esteem is influenced by what dimensions are important to the child (ideal self). In other words it's what they care about. General self esteem can also be influenced by how the child thinks others view them (looking-glass self).
Be familiar with developmental changes in friendships and descriptions of friends. Why is having friends considered important for healthy development?
-*Friendship* is known as a relationship of affection, reciprocity and commitment. There are several developmental functions of friendship- friendship provides context to develop social skills, sources of knowledge/information, companionship/fun, mutual assistance and models of intimate relationships. -There are several developmental changes in the description of friends. Children less than 6 and 7 years of age focus on physical attributes and preferences-- friends are people who are nice to you and who you like to play with. However, children over the age of 7 see friendship as an enduring relationship and focus of issues of loyalty and intimacy. -Friends are important for development (especially healthy development) because children with friends typically develop in adaptive and healthy ways and benefit from higher self-esteem, better adjustment to school and more social support. On the other hand, children without friends are at risk for many problems including delinquency (including criminal records), poor school achievement (including higher drop out rates), difficulty in intimate relationships and mental health problems.
Be familiar with skills needed in reading and with the different approaches to teaching reading (bottom-up versus top-down).
-*Learning to read involves emergent literacy and decoding*. *Emergent literacy* is the basic knowledge about literacy or the knowledge that "words provide the meaning" and letter identification. Emergent literacy is related to exposure to literacy materials in the home (and this varies widely between families). *Decoding* involves analyzing sounds. In English, 26 alphabetic letters are used to create 52 different phonemes and decoding involves analyzing sounds, for example, understanding that the "f" sound can be made by "f" and "ph". Decoding also involves breaking words into syllables & phonemes and having a "*phonological awareness*," which is the ability to do letter to sound translations. -The two approaches to reading are top down and bottom up. *Bottom-up* involves decoding phonemes to combine into words, then sentences, then paragraphs and there is an emphasis on phonemic analysis. Top-down reading is reading for meaning. Top down reading involves interpreting words based on prior knowledge, having an emphasis on comprehension, having an emphasis on visual retrieval of entire words and utilizing the "whole language approach" -Note, emergent reading is often tested by having preschoolers "read" one of their favorite books (before they know how to read conventionally) and young children who have more experience with reading books show a greater understanding that words provide the meaning, a greater understanding of story conventions (such as "once upon a time") and better narrative skills.
Describe risk factors for child abuse on the CHILD, FAMILY, AND COMMUNITY LEVELS. What are some of the effects of child abuse? How are these effects the same/different from the effects of just WITNESSING domestic violence? Is being abused in childhood a RISK FACTOR for abusing one's own children? Do MOST abused children go on to abuse their own children later when they are adults?
-In regard to child abuse, there are more than 3 million cases of child abuse reported to authorities each year. Unfortunately, most abuse remains unreported and approximately 1500 children die each year at the hand of their parent. -Types of abuse include physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect (can be emotional and/or physical) and psychological abuse. -risk factors of abuse can be at the family, community or cultural level. Risk factors at the family level include history of abuse in parent's family of origin (but 70% of parents who were abused DO NOT GO ON TO ABUSE THEIR OWN CHILDREN), premature, sick, or temperamentally difficult child and unmanageable parental stress (such as chronic poverty, marital discord, substance abuse and/or unemployment). Risk factors at the community level include isolation from social support and risk factors at the cultural level include availability of violent images and the acceptance of corporal punishment -The effects of abuse depends on the type of abuse, the age & gender of the child, and how information of the abuse is handled. Common effects of abuse include lower school achievement, internalizing problems (such as anxiety/depression), externalizing problems (such as sggression/acting out), poor peer relationships, low self-esteem, inappropriate sexual behavior AND promiscuity (in cases of sexual abuse).
What are some explanations for increased rate of childhood obesity?
-It is important to note that childhood obesity is characterized by having a body mass index greater than 30 (and BMI equals weight in kg divided by (height in meters)^2). -Unfortunately, there are *rising obesity rates found around the world*, even in developing countries. The rising obesity rates may be linked to increasing adoption of "Western" fast food diet (for example, Ronald McDonald is the 2nd more recognized figure world wide).
Describe the advances in Theory of mind during middle childhood.
-Middle childhood also has advances in Theory of mind. In an interpretive theory of mind task, one character sees a full picture, while the other two characters only see an occluded view. Then the children are asked what they think the characters will see. Understanding this task (meaning the child understands that the characters with the occluded view will not know what the photo is) shows that the child has an awareness of interpretive diversity which means the child understand that different past experiences can interpret the same situation in multiple legitimate ways. Children consistently pass these tasks by 6 to 7 years of age. -There is also evidence for an age-specific overinterpretive mind error, such as forgetting common ground. They get good at theory of mind BUT they begin to forget common ground, meaning the child expects mental diversity when there should be none! The child assumes MORE diversity than there actually is. This forgetting of common ground is most common in 6 and 7 years old and has a U-shaped development (they understand theory of mind, then they overinterpret, then go back to normal). The evidence of this overinterpretation is evident in their predictions, explanations and probability ratings. (think about picture of just the giraffe head, 6 and 7 year olds will assume that the person who has NOT seen the whole photo will not assume photo is of a giraffe because they have not seen the entire photo, even though it is very clearly a giraffe). Also note, this overinterpretation is NOT related to executive function
What are some developmental outcomes of peer rejection?
-Peer rejection and victimization can have long lasting effects such as depression, self-harm, substance abuse, delinquency and suicidal thoughts or actions. -Note, negative effects can be reduced if other children intervene during bullying incidents. -Friends are very important for development because children without friends are at risk for many problems including delinquency (including criminal records), poor school achievement (including higher drop out rates), difficulty in intimate relationships and mental health problems.
What are developmental changes in self-concept during middle childhood?
-Social status influences self concept. For example, rejected/shy children are aware of their social failure and report feeling lonelier and more distressed about their lack of friends. In addition, controversial and neglected children are not overly concerned by their lack of social success (because they often have a few good friends). -changes in self concept consist of a rise in social comparison and increasing use of personality traits. 1.) Rise of social comparison is characterized by defining oneself in relation to the skills/attributes of one's peers. This starts around 7 and 8 years of age. 2.) The increasing use of "personality traits" is another change in self-concept during this time and is when they see their own and other's behaviors as often stable across situations (such as "funny", "smart", "shy", etc.)
What is the percentage of children born outside of marriage to women between 20-30 years of age and how this has changed in recent years? How do the percentages vary by mother's race or ethnicity? How do the percentages vary by maternal education level?
-The *single parent* family includes families where there is a single parent who has either never-married, widowed, and divorced. Most single parent families are headed by women. -In 2012, more than 50% of children born to mothers under age 30 are born outside of marriage. -Single parent families have seen the fastest growth since 1990 in white women with some college (but not a 4-year degree). Single parent families vary by education level because the majority of women with 4-year degrees marry before having children!! -The rate of single parent families also varies by race/ethnicity (since 73% of black children are born outside marriage, compared with 53% of Latinos and 29% of whites).
Describe the short and long term consequences of divorce. How are these effects dependent in part on the gender and age of the child?
-The divorce rate in America is the highest in the world and at any given time, about 25% of American children live in a single parent households. -One of the *consequences of divorce* includes financial hardship. Mother-headed house holds tend to experience a sharp drop in income and unfortunately, three-fourths of mothers get less child support than they should (and about 25% of divorced mothers get nothing). Furthermore, divorce is often characterized by a move to a new household and moving can be disruptive by resulting in less support from family and friends (i.e. moving to different school or state). Also, divorce can result in minimal parenting because they have to deal with the divorce (i.e. meet with lawyers, etc). -It is important to note that the *effects of divorce are dependent on age and gender*. Young children may exhibit separation anxiety, blame themselves and fantasize about their parents reuniting. Older children may respond positively to extra responsibility but exhibit negative behaviors like truancy, delinquency, running away and promiscuity. It is important to note that girls are more likely to exhibit internalizing problems while boys are more likely to exhibit externalizing problems as a result of parent's divorce.
Be familiar with changes in attention, planning, and categorization during middle childhood.
-There are *advances in attention during middle childhood*. In middle childhood, children are able to sustain attention/concentrate for longer periods of time and are better able to ignore distractions. They also exhibit cognitive inhibition which is characterized by controlling thoughts and behavior. In addition, during middle childhood, children are more efficient at visual scanning (and are better at systematically comparing objects) -During middle childhood there are also advances in planning skills and demonstrate a greater ability to plan out a sequence of acts to reach a goal. They also show a basic understanding of subgoals or "small steps" necessary to achieve larger goals -In regard to language and categorization, 6- to 7-year-olds understand approximately 10,000 words but by age 11, the child has a vocabulary of approximately 40,000 words. This increase in language is associated with advancements in categorization skills-- the child is able to solve class inclusion problems and can categorize using multiple criteria (for example, they can categorize stamps by country, price, year, topic, etc.). There is also a better understanding of grammar rules and the child is able to form longer, more complex sentences
What are central predictors of popularity? Of rejection? Does it depend on culture?
-There are several predictors of popularity. Popular kids tend to be physically attractive, have strong social skills (meaning they are good at initiating and maintaining interactions and good at solving conflicts), smart, often athletic, react well to teasing and are friendly. -There are several rejection factors as well. Rejected kids are often aggressive (and this is the BIGGEST factor). Rejected kids also tend to be extremely shy, and have low skills in entering group play (such as disrupting play, calling attention to themselves and using inappropriate behaviors). Rejected kids also tend to overreact to teasing, have problems in perspective taking and are physically unattractive. -Predictors of popularity and rejection are partly dependent on culture. For example, in many cultures, aggression is the largest predictor of peer rejection (including the United States). However, shyness is NOT a predictor of neglected status in many asian cultures, and is actually associated with popularity, which is unlike American culture.
Describe/identify some of the influences of poverty on child development. What percentage of children are living in poverty in U.S.?
40% of children in U.S. live in low-income households and 18% are in poverty. Problems associated with poverty include low quality housing, health care, schools, recreation choices, safety and higher stress levels (from multiple sources). Parents deal with poverty by putting a larger emphasis on obedience (authoritarian parenting), discouraging exploration, being more likely to resort to physical punishment and being less nurturant. Parents raising child in poverty may be ADAPTIVE for the current circumstances but may LIMIT long-term developmental achievements.
What are adults' academic expectations for boys versus girls and how do they relate to children's attitudes?
Adult expectations vary in regard to gender. For boys, criticism from adults focuses on lack of neatness, failure to turn in homework and inattentiveness while praise focuses on intellectual ability and performance. For girls, criticism focuses on intellectual ability and performance while praise focuses on neatness, cooperation. These adult expectations are correlated with children's attitudes-- Girls more often focus on lack of ability when they fail while boys more often focus on lack of effort, bad luck, or bad test. -Research by Eccles also states that parents tend to believe that girls are less competent in mathematics than boys, and value math less for their daughters than their sons. In additions, parents believe that their daughters are good in reading and tend to promote and value that skill. In the end, these parental beliefs influence child motivation and achievement. These beliefs influence the types of activities and experiences adults provide for their children.
Describe the four major types of parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved/neglectful. What types of behaviors/child outcomes are each of these parenting styles associated with? Does this vary by culture/SES? If so, why and how?
Baumrind found that parenting relies on two dimensions, which are *responsiveness/unresponsiveness* and *demanding/undemanding*. In regards to parenting styles, there are four different types of parenting styles that rely on Baumrind's dimensions. The *four different types of parenting styles* are authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved/neglectful 1.) *Authoritarian* (high demand, low responsiveness) parenting leads to child with lower social competence. The child often seeks adult help for peer conflicts and is associated with a higher rates of anger towards authority. Authoritarian correlated with better outcomes for African-American children (especially girls) and especially in low income neighborhoods. In addition, authoritarian parenting also correlated with higher academic achievement in Asian-American families 2.) *Authoritative* (high demand, high responsiveness) parenting leads to a more competent, self-controlled and curious children. Authoritative parenting is also associated with better school performance. It is important to note that authoritative parenting is correlated with better outcomes for European-American and Hispanic-American children. 3.) *Permissive* (low demand and high responsiveness) parenting leads to low self-control and immaturity 4.) *Uninvolved* (low demands and low responsiveness) parenting is the worst. Uninvolved parenting leads to low social competence and poor school performance
What are some changes in how children regulate their social interactions with peers?
Between 6 & 12 years, children spend about 40% of waking hours with their peers. During middle childhood, play group size and complexity of games increases. In addition, *play is regulated* by a rising importance of rules. Rule become more important and become central to many games--children need to learn the rule, negotiate/enforce/monitor adherence to rule, balance personal desires with group desires and deal with disagreement and cheaters.
How do children become friends?
Children become friends in many ways. Some causes of friendship include proximity/closeness, opportunities to play, degree of similarity to each other in age, gender, values, interests (especially if they like to do the same things), skills, etc. Stability of friendship increases with age and is not affected by changes in the environment.
What is the Min strategy? How can a researcher determine if a child is using the Min strategy?
Children use different strategies to solve different problems and over time and experience, less effective strategies are replaced by more sophisticated strategies. More efficient strategies lead to a more rapid solution and more accurate strategies lead to the correct answer. -For example, the *"Min" strategy* in adding involves looking at a math problem like 10 + 2 and realizing it is better to start with larger number and add the smaller number. -*General patterns in problem solving* are that first, children can first attend to one variable, then children can attend to two variables and then, lastly, they can combine their knowledge about two (or more) variables
How stable are sociometric categories (e.g., being rejected) over time?
Children who are rejected means that they are actively disliked and unfortunately, this status tends to remain stable over many years. This is because peers develop biased interpretations of rejected children's actions (views as more negative than objectively true) and children become desensitized to rejected child's feelings over time. Peer rejection and victimization can have long lasting effects such as depression, self-harm, substance abuse, delinquency and suicidal thoughts or actions. -Negative effects can be reduced if other children sometimes intervene during bullying incidents. Note, when a bystander intervenes of the bullying victim's behalf, the bullying episode usually ends. Peer witnesses are present in nearly ALL bullying episodes and other children tend to intervene only 20% of the time. -In short, the rejected status is very stable over time without intervention. Successful intervention strategies include modeling and reinforcement, training of social skills and social problems and training in academic skills.
Cultural differences in memory.
Cross culturally, there is evidence for better memory strategies in children who attend school. In fact, children who attend school have a greater spontaneous use of organizational strategies but no memory differences if objects are presented as part of a story instead of randomly.
Be familiar with Dweck's research on mastery versus helpless orientations & incremental versus entity views of intelligence. (Note: incremental view = "growth mindset;" entity view = "fixed mindset").
Dweck asked "why do some children try harder in the face of failure and others give up" Dweck attributed mastery orientation and helpless orientation to why some children try harder in the face of failure. Children with a *mastery Orientation* persist in the face of failure and have an incremental theory of intelligence (also known as a growth mindset). In other words, children with a mastery orientation focus on effort vs. ability. On the other hand, children with a *helpless orientation* tend to give up in face of failure, or avoid challenges. In addition, children with a helpless orientation have an entity theory of intelligence (also known as fixed mindset) and focus on ability vs. effort. This focus on ability rather than effort is why parents/teachers should praise effort and NOT ability. Helpless Orientation more common in high performing girls vs. boys.
What is "emergent literacy?" What are some things young children know about reading and writing before they enter school and learn to read and write conventionally?
Emergent literacy is the basic knowledge about literacy or the knowledge that "words provide the meaning" and letter identification. Emergent literacy is related to exposure to literacy materials in the home (and this varies widely between families). Decoding involves analyzing sounds. In English, 26 alphabetic letters used to create 52 different phonemes and decoding involves analyzing sounds, for example, understanding that the "f" sound can be made my "f" and "ph". Decoding also involves breaking words into syllables & phonemes and having a "phonological awareness," which is the ability to do letter to sound translations. -
Besides conservation, what are some other indices of concrete operational thought?
Further evidence of "Concrete Operations", other than conservation, include hierarchical classification, seriation and spatial operations. *Hierarchical Classification* means being able to focus on subordinate and superordinate categories at the same time (can solve class inclusion tests [the pig and animal test]). *Seriation* is the ability to order items along a quantitative dimension and understanding "transitive inference" (which is that if A < B and B < C then A must be < C). *Spatial Operations* is characterized by having a better ability to represent spatial layouts, or "cognitive maps", of locations or routes.
What are some developmental effects of having no siblings?
Having *no siblings* is associated with positive outcomes such as having high self-esteem, being achievement-oriented (as much as children with 1 other sibling), having more privacy and having more financial resources. However, having no siblings is also associated with negative outcomes such as increased pressure from parents, more difficulty in social relationships and a lack of sibling relationship.
Describe changes in the prevalence of nuclear families in U.S. households from 1970 to present day. What accounts for the drop in the nuclear family?
Historically, 40% of all U.S. households were nuclear, however, now, 20% of all U.S. households are the "traditional" nuclear family. The decrease in the frequency of the nuclear family is due to higher rates of divorce, higher rates of single parents, higher rates of alternative or postmodern family arrangements, higher rates of people never getting married and delayed childbearing or no children
What was the reason/impetus for developing intelligence tests?
In 1905, Binet & Simon developed intelligence tests to identify "mentally subnormal" children. The index of intelligence is equal to mental age (MA). MA equals the test performance of an average child at a certain age.
be familiar with research on math skills in Brazilian street vendors (children)--how does their math performance change depending upon the context in which it is evaluated?
In regard to *math skills in Brazilian street vendors* (children), they are able to compute math problems in the context of street vending but showed poor understanding when the same problems were presented on paper. This shows, that CONTEXT plays a big roll when it comes to math. For example, a child working as a street vendor can easily charge the right prices and give back the right change, but in a formal environment struggle.
Are there gender differences in motor development (and athletic competencies)? Potential sources?
In regard to *motor development*, middle childhood is characterized by an increase in strength, agility, and balance. Boys tend to be better at force & strength skills (such as running, throwing, catching) while girls tend to be better at balance & coordination skills (such as skipping, cartwheels, jump-rope). However, it is important to note that a source of these gender differences could be do to practice/experience/opportunities during early childhood and/or reinforcement from parents.
Be familiar with social domain theory and children's ability to distinguish between different types of rules.
In regard to *social domain theory*, preschoolers can differentiate between three kinds of rules which are moral, social and personal. *Moral rules* are rules related to justice & welfare, *social rules* or social conventions are rules that are important for coordinating social groups and *personal rules* are areas of personal jurisdiction & control (such as what is private to child). Where the line is drawn between moral and convention rules varies by culture.
Describe boy-girl relationships during middle childhood.
In regard to relationships between boys and girls during middle childhood, children often spend a lot of time in gender-segregated groups. At age 6, 68% of best friends were the SAME gender, and by age 12, this increases to 90%! There is less gender segregated play in neighborhoods vs. schools. -Research by Sroufe states that there are unwritten rules for "maintaining the border" between boys and girls. States that boys and girls make contact if it is accidental, they need something, they are forced by adult, they go in groups or raids, and if the contact is accompanied by an insult or threat.
What is the influence of multiple children on intellectual development and describe the RESOURCE DILUTION MODEL ?
In regard to the relationship between the *number of siblings and intellectual development*, the general consensus in research literature is that children with the FEWEST siblings have the best educational outcomes. This is due to the resource dilution model. The *resource dilution model* states that parental resources become "diluted" with each additional child. Another, less supported idea, is that children with the fewest siblings have better education outcomes because more educated parents tend to have fewer children (therefore smart people have small families).
Be familiar with findings about child chess-experts versus adult non-experts (research by Chi) on memory. How does this reveal the importance of content knowledge for memory?
In regards to knowledge base and the increase in knowledge base during middle childhood, research by Chi found that 10-yr-old chess "experts" had better memory for meaningful arrangements of chess pieces than adult "non-experts". However, adult "non-experts" had larger memory spans for random objects
What are the main conclusions about the influence of nature versus nurture on IQ?
In regards to nature vs. nurture and IQ, researchers argue what makes some people more intelligent that other. Innatist argue that IQ is a result of biology. In short, innatists argue that intelligence differences are a result of innate, immutable differences in natural intelligence; some people are born generally smarter than others, and no amount of training or variation in the environment can alter this fact. Environmentalists believe that one's environment is the key in IQ differences. -General conclusions have found that some differences in performance on IQ tests is actually heritable (but researchers vary in their conclusions about how mich of the variance is due to genes [relationship varies from .4 to .7]). There are also differences between ethnic groups on IQ scores which suggests that nature plays a role. Note that differences between ethnic groups in regard to IQ is NOT due to genetics.
Be familiar with developmental changes in children's problem solving and how it is assessed using the "balance scale" method. How do 5-year-olds versus 9-year-olds compare? What dimension (weight or distance) do 5-year-olds most often focus on?
In the *Balance Scale* method, the child needs to consider weight, distance from fulcrum, combination of weight and distance(weight x distance = torque/downward force), etc. Most 5-year-olds focus on weight alone; except when weights on both sides are equal. By age 9, the child starts to consider both weight and distance at the same time
Has the average # of children per family increased or decreased in the past 50 years? What are some reasons for why?
In the 1950s, the average number of children in the U.S. family was 3.8. Today, the average number of children is 2.1. The reduction of the average number of children is most likely due to greater access to contraception, the higher education level of women, a delay of childbirth, higher divorce rate and because it is becoming more expensive to raise children.
How do you compute an IQ score? What is normal IQ?
Intelligence quotient or IQ equals (Mental Age/Chronological Age) X 100. For example, if MA = 8 and CA = 8 then IQ = (8/8) X 100 = 100 which is normal intelligence. IQ is a good predictor of school performance.
What type(s) of intervention is/are successful? What kinds of new laws are being passed?
It is important to note that *causes of obesity* can be attributed to an altered dietary intake (especially an increase in high-fat, high-sugar foods and increased portion sizes), decreased physical activity, increased t.v. watching and the lower cost & higher availability of junk food. There also could be a genetic factor. -There are a *few intervention strategies.* A lifestyle change in regard to diet & exercise is beneficial, and typically FAMILY BASED intervention works best. -Many states, including CA, are implementing new laws. *Laws designed to counter obesity* include state mandated body mass screenings in schools, new nutritional standards for school lunches, expanded P.E. requirements for schools and new standards for foods and drinks provided in school vending machines. In San Francisco specifically, it was voted to ban toys in children's meals (including happy meals) that don't meet nutritional standards for fat, sugar, & caloric content. In addition, all children's meals must come with fruits and vegetables
Be familiar with Kohlberg's theories on the development of moral reasoning—preconventional, conventional, postconventional.
Kohlberg examined moral reasoning by presenting children with moral dilemmas also known as "Heinz dilemma". Kohlberg states that there are three levels of moral reasoning which are preconventional, conventional and postconventional. *Preconventional* refers to morality based on rewards, punishment and individual needs. *Conventional* refers to morality based on importance of conforming to social rules, loyalty, respect, trust, law and order. *Postconventional* refers to morality based on abstract principles and values.
Contrast mental age versus chronological age.
MA equals the test performance of an average child at a certain age. For example, a 7-year-old with a mental age of 9 would be "precocious"-- answering as a 9-year-old would on a series of questions.
Be familiar with Piaget's theory of moral reasoning—especially shift from heteronomous morality to autonomous morality.
Morality is the understanding of issues of right and wrong (including rules and social obligations). However issues with moral reasoning involve the link between moral reasoning (cognition) and moral behavior (action). Cognitive theories focus of how children's moral development is closely linked to advances in cognitive skills (especially how they think about situations and how many factors or perspectives they can keep in mind). Piaget states that there are two stages of morality which are known as *heteronomous morality* and *autonomous morality*. Stage 1 is known as heteronomous morality and is between 5 and 10 years of age. Heteronomous morality is characterized by rules being handed down by authorities, rules being unchangable and obeyed, "moral realism" (while is the idea that rules should not be questioned), and immanent justice (which is the idea that wrongdoers will be punished). Stage 2 of moral reasoning is known as *autonomous morality* and effects children greater than 9 years of age. Autonomous morality is characterized by socially agreed upon rules (although decision to follow rules in personal), the idea that rules are flexible and revisable and the idea of "moral relativism" (which considers multiple factors when evaluating moral conduct).
Multiple intelligence views
Multiple intelligence views state that different types of intelligence are independent from one another. Theories of multiple intelligence consist of Sternberg's Triarchic theory and Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence,
How can parents influence the development of their children's self-esteem?
Parent's can influence the child's self esteem. Three important parental characteristics include acceptance of children and affection, setting clear limits and respecting the children's individuality and point of view.
What are changes in parental views of their children during middle childhood?
Parental influence plays a role in peer relationships. Secure attachment (between parent and child) is related to positive peer relationships. On the other hand, high negativity are coercive tendencies, in addition to aggressive family interactions is related to aggressiveness with peers and peer rejection. Parents also have some control over when, where and with whom their children play with (especially outside of school hours).
Are their cultural differences in achieving concrete operational thought? If so, what are they?
Piaget argued that concrete operations is UNIVERSAL development, which means that there are no cultural differences in achieving concrete operational thought. Studies found that achieving concrete operational thought appears to be a universal cognitive achievement but there are cultural variations in age achieved.
Know the definition of conservation, standard procedures for conservation tasks, and how "concrete operational children" solve them based on their knowledge about identity, compensation, and reversibility.
Piaget came up with a stage in development called *concrete operational* and this stage is characterized by coordinated, logical mental actions. During the concrete operational phase, the children's thinking becomes more organized, flexible, "reversible" and "double-sided" (meaning they are able to think about more than one aspect of a problem). -The concrete operational phase is also characterized by *conservation* which is the ability to understand that the properties of an object/ substance are not changed by a change in appearance. Between 5 and 8 years, children solve conservation problems by taking into account identity, compensation and reversibility. *Identity* involves realizing that outward changes don't change substances involved. *Compensation* involves realizing that changes in one dimension compensate for changes in another. *Reversibility* involves realizing that one operation can be negated or reversed. Children can solve conservation of number tasks between 5-8 yrs
What are the primary findings concerning the influence of schooling on cognitive development?
School contexts play a central role in both social and cognitive development. Success in school is strongly predictive of adult employment and income outcomes and schooling has political and social implications for society as a whole (children are the future). -Schooling on cognitive development assesses the influence of schools on children's performance on cognitive tests. When looking at a school cut-off approach, it is suggested that parents should not "hold your child back" in school when their birthdate is near the cut-off (at least for academic reasons) because young 1st graders perform better than old kindergarteners. Cross-culturally, children with formal schooling perform better on memory strategy, metacognitive skills and explanations and knowledge base tasks.
Be familiar with the findings from Sherif's Robber's Cave experiment.
Sherif conducted the Robber's Cave experiment. There was a group of 5th grade boys at summer camp and were split into two groups, known as the "Rattlers" and the "Eagles". The two groups have a competition between each other, which lead to solidarity within groups! This rivalry was reduced through engagement in cooperation-based tasks. -The experiment found that children form groups based on common interests and goals. In addition, they found that cohesiveness is formed by common goals and competition with other groups. (In other words, creating an enemy allows group to become cohesive) -Robber's Cave experiment has inspired "cooperative learning" programs in schools. When people have to come together to achieve a common goal brings people together.
Describe sibling rivalry
Siblings act as caretakers, teachers, role models, playmates and companions. However, siblings compete for resources, including attention. Rivalry most common in situations of differential treatment, unstable family circumstances and coercive or hostile parenting. Having a new, younger sibling can be especially difficult for children less than 4 years of age (usually because they have to start competing for attention).
What are specific learning disabilities? How are they diagnosed?
Specific learning disabilities is the failure in particular school subjects despite overall normal or high IQ. Problems with diagnosing learning disabilities are that specific learning disabilities are not easy to identify and typically can't be diagnosed until school age. In addition, there is controversy about specific learning disability's definition/criteria and how it can be distinguished from retardation?
How do siblings and birth order relate to theory of mind development?
Strong evidence that *having siblings is associated with higher performance on theory of mind tests* (such as false belief tasks) in preschool years. It has been found that children with siblings outperform singletons and that having more older siblings (that is, being one of the youngest in the family) appears to be the most beneficial in regard to performance on theory of mind tests. Also, it is important to note that this higher performance is not exclusive to preschool years; it extends into middle childhood as well.
Be familiar with research presented in lecture on gender differences in math achievement and how it links to both child attitudes and parental attitudes.
Suggested that the primary reason why women only represent 25% of the work force in math and science is due to "innate differences", but research does not support this. Gender differences in math are typically small in grammar school and favor females. In high school and college, females perform at the same or higher level as males (based on grades). When research DOES find gender differences favoring males, it typically begins in late high school and the effect size is small (still only about .8 to 1.5% difference). Also found that gender differences are wider in countries with less gender equity and gender differences in math and science majors (college) have changed over time--51% vs. 25% of college math & science majors were female in 2001 vs. 1966. Still, only 20% of math and science Ph.D. Full Professors at top research universities are female. -lack of female representation in math and science fields may be due to environment. For example, lack of representation may be due to negative societal feelings/images about mathematically "smart" girls, different background training (number and type of courses) in boys and girls, different parental and teacher expectations and values, the idea that females are more likely to doubt their abilities when challenged than males, the explicit or implicit discrimination by professors and classmates, male-dominated classroom and work environments and later career vs. family choices that affect women more than men. This stigma effects girls even in the first grade! Girls, as young as 1st graders(!), believe they are less competent in math (even when their performance is better than boys). This effects girls math motivation and participation decisions.
Does the American Academy of Pediatrics believe that children under age 2 should watch television/videos? Does this match parents' opinions/practices?
The *American Academy of Pediatrics* (or AAP) recommends no media for children less than 18 months, aside from video-chatting; but 50% of US public believes that such videos are important for cognitive development in infants and toddlers
Also, is there more variation WITHIN ethnic groups on IQ or BETWEEN ethnic groups on IQ scores?
There are *differences between ethnic groups on IQ scores*. (Asian-American's perform best, then European-American, then Native American and Hispanic then African-American). BUT, there is NO evidence that differences in IQ scores BETWEEN ethnic groups is genetic-- may be caused by differences in overall environment
Be familiar with changes in the brain during middle childhood and their connection to changes in cognition.
The *brain undergoes change during middle childhood*. There is an observed increase in myelination of the frontal cortex, synapses (more connections), alpha activity (indicating active engagement) and EEG coherence (which shows that different parts of the brain are more able to "work together" more effectively). -In addition, there is a *link between brain development and thinking*. Middle childhood is characterized by an increased myelination of the frontal lobe. It is important to note that the *frontal cortex coordinates with other areas of the brain*-- these connections between the frontal lobe and other brain regions are linked to better control of attention, more sophisticated problem solving, better planning skills and increased self-reflection. [note, these relationships are correlational data, and we don't know the direction of the effect]
What can be done about limiting the effects of television/media violence?
The *effects of television/media violence* can be limited by parents taking an active role and monitoring their children's TV viewing habits. It is recommended that the parent and child watch TV together. WE can limit the effects of violence by pushing the media to more accurately report scientific evidence and by pushing researchers to spend more time being public policy advocates.
Be familiar with methods for assessing the influence of schooling on cognitive development: school cut-off approach and cross-cultural approaches.
The *school cut off approach* compares the skills of students who were born a few months AFTER the cut-off date for their class ("old") vs. students who were born a few months BEFORE the cut-off date ("young"). Found that "young" first graders have a better memory (including strategy use), reading & math skills compared to "old kindergarteners" which suggests that you should not "hold your child back" in school when their birthdate is near the cut-off (at least for academic reasons). -*Cross-cultural approaches* involve comparing cultures with and without formal educational training. Found that concrete operational thought is not affected by schooling (if testing is appropriately sensitive). Also found that memory STRATEGIES are better in children with formal schooling. Also found that metacognitive skills & explanations are better in children with formal schooling, therefore, there is evidence that the knowledge base more extensive in children with formal schooling.
Be familiar with historical/societal influences on mandatory schooling.
The Rise of Mandatory Schooling was influenced by the industrial revolution in the 19th century. The two early forms of mandatory education were mass education and liberal education. *"mass education"* was for the working class and involved large group sizes and teaching basic skills. The second form of mandatory education was *"liberal education"* and liberal education was for the elite class. Liberal education consisted of small classes or tutors and involved the teaching of complex subjects. Most contemporary schools provide "liberal education"-- in addition, in many places around the world, children are required by law to attend school from ages of about 5 to 16 and school contexts play a central role in both social and cognitive development. Note, success in school is strongly predictive of adult employment and income outcomes
General intelligence view
The general intelligence view is supported by Spearman and Jensen. - *Spearman's g factor* is a general intelligence view that examines the ability to see relationships among objects, events, and ideas in addition to having a practical sense and initiative. (In essence, Spearman's theory states that an underlying factor of general intelligence exists that forms the foundation out of which all intellectual abilities rise.) -*Jensen* also supported the general intelligence view and believes that neural processing speed is the fundamental faculty that underpins g and results in differences in intelligence
Be able to describe some of the child outcomes associated with teenage motherhood. What helps children of teenage moms remain resilient?
The rate of *teenage motherhood* has decreased from 1990 (59.9/1,000 females aged 15-19 in 1990 to 20.3/1,000 in 2016). Children of teenage moms are often more aggressive and perform more poorly in school compared to other children. However, children born to teenage mothers tend to do better if they live in extended family households. This is because teenage moms don't talk to their babies as much. In addition, teen moms often have limited financial resources (typically live in poverty), often live in social isolation and tend to have a lower education level. In fact, 2/3 of teenage mothers never complete high school. *note, access to pre-contraception has lowered the number of teenage moms. Also, birth rates are NOT equally distributed by races, but there has been a steady drop since the initiation of Obamacare.
What are some qualities of home environments related to school success and school readiness?
The types of activities and experiences adults provide effect a child's school success and readiness. Also the child's motivation and desire for achievement plays a role. Furthermore, because parents tend to believe that girls are less competent in math than boys, and value math less for their daughters than sons, parents believe that their daughters are good in reading and tend to promote and value that skill. These parental beliefs influence child motivation and achievement and also influence the types of activities and experiences adults provide.
What are four factors that make a difference in how children handle divorce? Do most kids whose parents divorce end up doing fine or do they have significant problems?
There are *four factors that make a difference in how children handle divorce*. 1.) Boys that live with their mother post divorce tend to have more difficulty immediately. 2)Children whose relationship with their father continues post divorce, do better. 3)Children whose parents behave well towards each other post divorce do better. 4)Children's whose financial circumstances do not dramatically change post divorce do better. *It is important to note that the majority of children experience no serious negative long-term effects as a result of their parent's divorce*
What are some of the limitations of concrete operational thinking?
There are *limitations of concrete operational thinking*. According to Piaget, logic and reasoning is only applied to concrete, directly perceivable objects, people, or events. In addition, Piaget notes that it is more difficult for children to reason "hypothetically".
What are the several different types of families? What are some risks and protective factors of each?
There are a variety of family types including nuclear, single parents, extended or multigenerational, blended, gay/lesbian and adoptive. Also, when looking at ecological models of development, it is important to note that we need to consider human development IN THE CONTEXT of the multiple systems that influence the child/adult, for example, the microsystem (the influence of religion, school, home life, etc.), the mesosystems, etc. 1.) *Nuclear family* consists of a child and their biological mother and father. Historically, 40% of all U.S. households were nuclear, however, now, only 20% of all U.S. households are the "traditional" nuclear family. The decrease in the frequency of the nuclear family is due to higher rates of divorce, higher rates of single parents, higher rates of alternative or postmodern family arrangements, higher rates of people never getting married and delayed childbearing or no children 2.) *Single parent* households are families where there is a single parent (parent has either never-married, widowed, and divorced). Most single parent families are headed by women. And, as of 2012, more than 50% of children born to mothers under age 30 are born outside of marriage. Single parent families have seen the FASTEST growth since 1990 in white women with some college (but not a 4-year degree). Single parent families vary by education level because the majority of women with 4-year degrees marry before having children!! In addition, the rate of single parent families also varies by race/ethnicity (since 73% of black children are born outside marriage, compared with 53% of Latinos and 29% of whites). 3.) The *extended or multigenerational family* makes up about 10% of families and is when relatives ALL live together. Extended family is most common in African-American and Hispanic families 4.) *Blended family* includes stepparents and/or stepchildren. "Mother-stepfather" is the most common arrangement and in these cases, it is common for the stepfather to be seen as an "intruder". In the "father-stepmother" condition, the adjustment to the blended family is harder for girls at first and it is typically confounded by having severe problems with biological mother. (note that the reasons that dad's get custody is often due to the mother having severe problems, i.e. alcoholism). Protective factors include a strong relationship between the biological parent & stepparent, making sure to "ease" into the parent role by stepparent and family therapy. 5.) *Gay or lesbian* family include having parents who are either gay or lesbian. There have been increasing rates of gay and lesbian families due to easier access to donors and increased custody given by courts. There is no differences in development of children in families with heterosexual parents. The child's development depends on the quality of the parents' relationship, parenting practices (including the parent-child relationship) and social economic status. Issues with gay and lesbian families include the potential for a broken relationship with extended family (due to disapproval, etc.) and concern that children may be stigmatized by peers 6.) The *adoptive family* includes adopted children. Approximately 135,000 children are adopted in the United States each year (most from the foster care system). It is important to note that adopted children tend to have more learning and emotional difficulties compared to non-adopted age mates during childhood and adolescence, however, these difficulties depend on the child's age of adoption. In addition, the child's development of their racial and ethnic identity is affected by practices of adoptive parents
Be familiar with research on differences in boys' versus girls' games.
There are differences in the ways that boys vs. girls play. Piaget argues that boy's games are more complex and rule focused than girls. Levers analyzed boys and girls during play and found that boys are two times more likely to play competitive games in larger groups (such as team sports) while girls are more likely to play in smaller groups and have individual "winners" (such as hopscotch or jumprope). HOWEVER, later research has found that girls' games actually do involve many rules and that girls are no different than boys in social understanding of rules and logical reasoning.
Be familiar with the descriptions for each social status "category" (e.g., popular, neglected, etc.).
There are several categories of social status including popular, rejected, neglected, controversial, victimized and bullies. 1.) Popular social status means person is actively liked 2.) Rejected means actively disliked and unfortunately this status is often stable fro many years. 3.) neglected means ignored 4.) controversial means that person receives both positive and negative nominations 5.) victimized means actively harmed by part of group. Victimized kids are targets of aggressive behavior and often have social difficulties (such as immaturity, difficulty controlling emotions and poor social skills). Note that boys are more likely to be bullied physically, while girls are more likely to be bullied relationally. 6.) bullies act aggressively to dominate the group. Bullies tend to be aggressive without provocation, often have social knowledge but use it "antisocially" and some male bullies are popular among pre-adolescent boys.
What are some cultural issues in development of moral reasoning?
There are several cultural issues in regard to the development of moral reasoning. In short, there are many similarities across cultures in regard to moral reasoning. However, there are differences in cultures in regard to moral rules, especially the boundary between moral rules and social conventions. Many of the controversial findings about differences in moral reasoning have been found in adolescent and adult thinking.
What are some social influences on children's moral development?
There are several influences on children's moral development such as peer interaction, modeling/imitation and parental discipline. Peer interaction states that more popular children are also more morally mature. Modeling and imitation states that children learn by observing other's behaviors and its consequences. Parental discipline involves the use of induction (explanation) correlated with higher levels of moral reasoning (especially in the US).
Are there gender differences in physical growth during middle childhood?
There are slight gender differences in physical growth during middle childhood. Girls have their pre-puberty growth spurt earlier than boys.
Be familiar with approaches to teaching math (bottom-up versus top-down).
There is a bottom up and top down approach to teaching mathematics. The *bottom-up approach to math* has an emphasis on "decoding" numbers and a focus on correct procedures for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. In addition, the bottom up approach to math involves learning through number drills and recitation scripts. On the other hand, the *top down approach to math* involves "math for meaning" and is characterized by a focus on math concepts in relation to "real world problems." The top down math approach has an emphasis on comprehension and the use of math as an important tool.
Is there a correlation between exposure to television/media violence and aggressive behavior?
Violence is also an issue on TV because 60-80% of TV shows contain violence. TV violence is often defended by television networks as "reflecting the real world" but it is important to note that less than .2% of crimes are murders in the "real world" compared to 50% of crimes in the "reel world" (aka the TV world). It has been noted that aggression & violence INCREASES in areas after TV is introduced and that over 1,000 studies point to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior.
What is the estimated cost of a child
When viewing the family, it is important to note that the universal goals of parents are dependent on survival, the economy and culture. For example, cultures vary as to whether the child is an "economic contributor" to the family or an "economic drain". The estimated cost to raise a child (not including daycare, college tuition, or private schools) is $300,000.00 (plus an additional $500,000.00+ in more affluent areas where cost of living is higher).
What are some of the issues surrounding the influence of television/media on child development (e.g., stereotypes, violence, sexual content)?
Young children watch an average of 2-5 hours of t.v. per day (with some estimates as high as 40 hours per week). Problem of T.V. Content include media stereotypes, sexual content and violence. -one *problem of T.V. content include media stereotypes*. The most frequent character on television is the European-American male. Approximately 33% of entertainment shows have ethnic minorities as main characters and only 25-30% of characters are women. It is also important to note that gender & ethnic stereotypes can encourage or maintain negative stereotypes in young children about themselves and other people. It can instill stereotypes such as that men are powerful, problem-solving, aggressive, smart and dominant while women are pretty, young, passive, less intelligent and the object of sexual advances. -Violence is also an issue on TV because 60-80% of TV shows contain violence. TV violence is often defended by television networks as "reflecting the real world" but it is important to note that less than .2% of crimes are murders in the "real world" compared to 50% of crimes in the "reel world" (aka the TV world). It has been noted that aggression & violence INCREASES in areas after TV is introduced and that over 1,000 studies point to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior.
How do speed of processing, knowledge base, strategies, and metamemory influence children's memory and cognition in middle childhood (e.g., know what each of these are, how they develop).
in regard to memory and cognition in middle childhood, there is an observed increase in the speed of processing, knowledge base, effective strategies for remembering and metamemory. -in regard to an increase in *speed of processing*, there is an increase in "memory span"; 4-5 year olds can remember 4 digits, 9-10 year olds can remember 6 and adults can remember 7. In addition, speed of processing is related to the speed at which children can name the items to be remembered (the faster they can remember the items, the less memory decay. Also an increase in age with retrieval of information from long-term memory -An increase in *knowledge base* means being able to store information about objects, people, the world. It is also important to note that expertise improves memory. In fact, research by Chi found that 10-yr-old chess "experts" had better memory for meaningful arrangements of chess pieces than adult "non-experts". However, adult "non-experts" had larger memory spans for random objects -*Memory Strategies* are deliberate actions to increase storage and retrieval of information. Memory strategies require the individual to think about goal and plan how to achieve goal. The three common memory strategies are rehearsal, memory organization and elaboration. Rehearsal involves quietly repeating items or repeating in "head". Memory Organization involves mentally grouping or chunking items into meaningful units. Elaboration involves making connections between 2 or more things. Also, cross culturally, there is evidence for better memory strategies in children who attend school. In fact, children who attend school have a greater spontaneous use of organizational strategies but no memory differences if objects are presented as part of a story instead of randomly. -*Metamemory* is the knowledge about memory processes. It is important to note that 5 year-olds often overestimate how much they can remember and underestimate the effort it takes to remember/the strategies required to remember. Note, Metacognition is the KNOWLEDGE ABOUT thinking and learning
