HP 252: Middle Childhood Development

cancer inchidlren

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in U.S. children 5 to 14 years of age. One in every 330 children in the United States develops cancer before the age of 19. The incidence of cancer in children has increased slightly in recent years (National Cancer Institute, 2018). Childhood cancers mainly attack the white blood cells (leukemia), brain, bone, lymph system, muscles, kidneys, and nervous system. All types of cancer are characterized by an uncontrolled proliferation of abnormal cells (Marcoux & others, 2018). As indicated in Figure 2, the most common cancer in children is leukemia, a cancer in which bone marrow manufactures an abundance of abnormal white blood cells that crowd out normal cells, making the child highly susceptible to bruising and infection (Kato & Manabe, 2018; Shago, 2017).

a severe developmental autism spectrum disorder that has its onset during the first three years of life and includes deficiencies in social relationships, abnormalities in communication, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior.

autistic disorder

intervention programs for overweight children

A combination of diet, exercise, and behavior modification is often recommended to help children lose weight (Insel & Roth, 2018; Martin & others, 2018; Morgan & others, 2016). Intervention programs that emphasize getting parents to engage in healthier lifestyles themselves, as well as to feed their children healthier food and get them to exercise more, can produce weight reduction in overweight and obese children (Stovitz & others, 2014; Yackobovitch-Gavan & others, 2018). For example, one study found that a combination of a child-centered activity program and a parent-centered dietary modification program helped overweight children lose pounds over a two-year period (Collins & others, 2011).

developmental changes in peer relationships

As children enter the elementary school years, reciprocity becomes especially important in peer interchanges. Researchers estimate that the percentage of time spent in social interaction with peers increases from approximately 10 percent at 2 years of age to more than 30 percent in middle and late childhood (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 2006). In an early classic study, a typical day in elementary school included approximately 300 episodes with peers (Barker & Wright, 1951). As children move through middle and late childhood, the size of their peer group increases, and peer interaction is less closely supervised by adults. Until about 12 years of age, children's preference for same-sex peer groups increases.

kids with disabilities and bullying

As kids with disabilities get older, he had some bullying issues because kids want to fit in and they start to notice difference between themselves and others

s a learning disability that involves difficulty in handwriting (Hook & Haynes, 2017). Children with dysgraphia may write very slowly, their writing products may be virtually illegible, and they may make numerous spelling errors because of their inability to match sounds and letters.

dysgraphia

is a category reserved for individuals who have a severe impairment in their ability to read and spell (Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2017).

dyslexia

attachment inf amilies

ou have read about the importance of secure attachment in infancy and the role of sensitive parenting in attachment (Roisman & Cicchetti, 2018; Thompson, 2016). In middle and late childhood, attachment becomes more sophisticated and as children's social worlds expand to include peers, teachers, and others, they typically spend less time with parents. Kathryn Kerns and her colleagues (Brumariu & Kerns, 2013; Brumariu, Kerns, & Seibert, 2012; Kerns & Brumariu, 2016; Kerns & Seibert, 2012, 2016; Movahed Abtahi & Kerns, 2017; Siener & Kerns, 2012) have studied links between attachment to parents and various child outcomes in the middle and late childhood years and found that secure attachment is associated with a lower level of internalized symptoms, anxiety, and depression in children (Brumariu & Kerns, 2010; Kerns & Brumariu, 2016). One study revealed that children who were less securely attached to their mothers reported having more anxiety (Brumariu, Kerns, & Seibert, 2012). Also in this study, secure attachment was linked to a higher level of children's emotion regulation and less difficulty in identifying emotions.

development for children with ADHD

Adjustment and optimal development are difficult for children who have ADHD, so it is important that the diagnosis be accurate (Hechtman & others, 2016; Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2019). Children diagnosed with ADHD have an increased risk of lower academic achievement, problematic peer relations, school dropout, adolescent pregnancy, substance use problems, and antisocial behavior (Machado & others, 2018; Regnart, Truter, & Meyer, 2017). For example, a recent study found that childhood ADHD was associated with long-term underachievement in math and reading (Voigt & others, 2017). Also, a recent research review concluded that in comparison with typically developing girls, girls with ADHD had more problems in friendship, peer interaction, social skills, and peer victimization (Kok & others, 2016). Further, a recent research review concluded that ADHD in childhood was linked to the following long-term outcomes: failure to complete high school, other mental and substance use disorders, criminal activity, and unemployment (Erskine & others, 2016). And a recent study revealed that individuals with ADHD were more likely to become parents at 12 to 16 years of age (Ostergaard & others, 2017).

aerobic exercise

Aerobic exercise also is linked to children's cognitive skills (Best, 2010; Lind & others, 2018; Martin & others, 2018). Researchers have found that aerobic exercise benefits children's processing speed, attention, memory, effortful and goal-directed thinking and behavior, and creativity (Chu & others, 2017; Davis & Cooper, 2011; Davis & others, 2011; Khan & Hillman, 2014; Lind & others, 2018; Ludyga & others, 2018; Monti, Hillman, & Cohen, 2012; Pan & others, 2017). A recent meta-analysis concluded that sustained physical activity programs were linked to improvements in children's attention, executive function, and academic achievement (de Greeff & others, 2018). Also, a recent study found that a 6-week high-intensity exercise program with 7- to 13-year-olds improved their cognitive control and working memory (Moreau, Kirk, & Waldie, 2018). Further, in a recent fMRI study of physically unfit 8- to 11-year-old overweight children, a daily instructor-led aerobic exercise program that lasted eight months was effective in improving the efficiency of neural circuits that support better cognitive functioning (Kraftt & others, 2014).

coping with stress

An important aspect of children's emotional lives is learning how to cope with stress (Almy & Cicchetti, 2018; Masten, 2017; Masten & Kalstabakken, 2018; Narayan & others, 2017). As children get older, they are able to more accurately appraise a stressful situation and determine how much control they have over it. Older children generate more coping alternatives for stressful conditions and use more cognitive coping strategies (Saarni & others, 2006). They are better than younger children at intentionally shifting their thoughts to something that is less stressful and at reframing, or changing their perception of a stressful situation. For example, younger children may be very disappointed that their teacher did not say hello to them when they arrived at school. Older children may reframe this type of situation and think, "She may have been busy with other things and just forgot to say hello." developmental connection Biological Processes In older adults, stress hormones stay elevated in the bloodstream longer, which can accelerate aging and harm immune system functioning. Connect to "Physical Development in Late Adulthood." By 10 years of age, most children are able to use cognitive strategies to cope with stress (Saarni, 1999). However, in families that have not been supportive and are characterized by turmoil or trauma, children may be so overwhelmed by stress that they do not use such strategies. Disasters can especially harm children's development and produce adjustment problems (Masten, 2017; Masten & Kalstabakken, 2018; Narayan & others, 2017). Among the outcomes for children who experience disasters are acute stress reactions, depression, panic disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (Danielson & others, 2017; Lieber, 2017). The likelihood that a child will face these problems following a disaster depends on factors such as the nature and severity of the disaster and the type of support available to the child. In research on disasters/trauma, the term dose-response effects is often used. A widely supported finding in this research area is that the more severe the disaster/trauma (dose), the worse the adaptation and adjustment (response) following the disaster/trauma (Masten, 2017; Masten & Kalstabakken, 2018; Narayan & others, 2017). The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, and hurricanes Katrina and Rita in September 2005 raised special concerns about how to help children cope with such stressful events. What are some effective strategies to help children cope with traumatic events such as the mass shooting in December 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut? ©Stephanie Keith/Polaris/Newscom Children who have developed a number of coping techniques have the best chance of adapting and functioning competently in the face of disasters and traumas (Ungar, 2015). Researchers have offered the following recommendations for parents, teachers, and other adults caring for children after a disaster (Gurwitch & others, 2001, pp. 4-11): Reassure children (numerous times, if necessary) of their safety and security. Allow children to retell events and be patient in listening to them. Encourage children to talk about any disturbing or confusing feelings, reassuring them that such feelings are normal after a stressful event. Protect children from re-exposure to frightening situations and reminders of the trauma—for example, by limiting discussion of the event in front of the children. Help children make sense of what happened, keeping in mind that children may misunderstand what took place. For example, young children "may blame themselves, believe things happened that did not happen, believe that terrorists are in the school, etc. Gently help children develop a realistic understanding of the event" (p. 10). Child and adolescent psychiatrists are among the mental health professionals who help youth cope with stress, including traumatic experiences. To read about a child psychiatrist who treats children and adolescents, see Connecting with Careers. Traumatic events may cause individuals to think about the moral aspects of life. Hopelessness and despair may short-circuit moral development when a child is confronted by the violence of war zones and impoverished inner cities (Nader, 2001). Let's further explore children's moral development.

transitivity

Another aspect of reasoning about the relations between classes is transitivity, which is the ability to logically combine relations to understand certain conclusions. In this case, consider three sticks (A, B, and C) of differing lengths. A is the longest, B is intermediate in length, and C is the shortest. Does the child understand that if A is longer than B and B is longer than C, then A is longer than C? In Piaget's theory, concrete operational thinkers do, while preoperational thinkers do not.

changes in connections in brain

As children develop, some brain areas become more active Page 268while others become less so (Denes, 2016). One shift in activation that occurs as children develop is from diffuse, larger areas to more focal, smaller areas (Turkeltaub & others, 2003). This shift is characterized by synaptic pruning, a process in which areas of the brain that are not being used lose synaptic connections and areas that are used show increased connections. In one study, researchers found less diffusion and more focal activation in the prefrontal cortex from 7 to 30 years of age (Durston & others, 2006). Increases in connectivity between brain regions also occurs as children develop (Faghiri & others, 2018). In a longitudinal study of individuals from 6 to 22 years of age, connectivity between the prefrontal and parietal lobes in childhood was linked to better reasoning ability later in development (Wendelken & others, 2017).

what is ADHD?

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a disability in which children consistently show one or more of the following characteristics over a period of Page 273time: (1) inattention, (2) hyperactivity, and (3) impulsivity. Children who are inattentive have such difficulty focusing on any one thing that they may get bored with a task after only a few minutes—or even seconds. Children who are hyperactive show high levels of physical activity, seeming to be almost constantly in motion. Children who are impulsive have difficulty curbing their reactions; they do not do a good job of thinking before they act. Depending on the characteristics that children with ADHD display, they can be diagnosed as having (1) ADHD with predominantly inattention, (2) ADHD with predominantly hyperactivity/impulsivity, or (3) ADHD with both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity.

what is ASD?

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD), also called pervasive developmental disorders, range from the severe disorder labeled autistic disorder to the milder disorder called Asperger syndrome. Autism spectrum disorders are characterized by problems in social interaction, problems in verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors (Boutot, 2017; Gerenser & Lopez, 2017). Children with these disorders may also show atypical responses to sensory experiences (National Institute of Mental Health, 2018). Intellectual disability is present in some children with autism; others show average or above-average intelligence (Bernier & Dawson, 2016)

cardiovascular disease in children

Cardiovascular disease is uncommon in children. Nonetheless, environmental experiences and behavior during childhood can sow the seeds for cardiovascular disease in adulthood (Schaefer & others, 2017). Many elementary-school-aged children already possess one or more of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as hypertension (high blood pressure) and obesity (Chung, Onuzuruike, & Magge, 2018; Zoller & others, 2017). In a recent study, the combination of a larger waist circumference and a higher body mass index (BMI) placed children at higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease (de Koning & others, 2015). A recent study found that high blood pressure in childhood was linked to high blood pressure and other heart abnormalities in adulthood (Fan & others, 2018). Also in a longitudinal study, high levels of body fat and elevated blood pressure beginning in childhood were linked to premature death from coronary heart disease in adulthood (Berenson & others, 2016). Further, one study found that high blood pressure went undiagnosed in 75 percent of children with the disease (Hansen, Gunn, & Kaelber, 2007).

cerebral cortex

Changes also occur in the thickness of the cerebral cortex (cortical thickness) in middle and late childhood (Thomason & Thompson, 2011). One study used brain scans to assess cortical thickness in 5- to 11-year-old children (Sowell & others, 2004). Cortical thickening across a two-year time period was observed in the temporal and frontal lobe areas that function in language, which may reflect improvements in language abilities such as reading. Figure 6 in "Physical Development in Infancy" shows the locations of the temporal and frontal lobes in the brain.

seriation

Children who have reached the concrete operational stage are also capable of seriation, which is the ability to order stimuli along a quantitative dimension (such as length). To see if students can serialize, a teacher might haphazardly place eight sticks of different lengths on a table. The teacher then asks the students to order the sticks by length. Many young children end up with two or three small groups of "big" sticks or "little" sticks, rather than a correct ordering of all eight sticks. Another mistaken strategy they use is to evenly line up the tops of the sticks but ignore the bottoms. The concrete operational thinker simultaneously understands that each stick must be longer than the one that precedes it and shorter than the one that follows it.

what environment do children with autism benefit from?

Children with autism benefit from a well-structured classroom, individualized teaching, and small-group instruction (Friend, 2018; Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2018). Behavior modification techniques are sometimes effective in helping autistic children learn (Alberto & Troutman, 2017; Zirpoli, 2016).

deficits in autism

Children with autism have deficits in cognitive processing of information (Jones & others, 2018). For example, a recent study found that a lower level of working memory was the executive function most strongly associated with autism spectrum disorders (Ziermans & others, 2017). Children with these disorders may also show atypical responses to sensory experiences (National Institute of Mental Health, 2017). Intellectual disability is present in some children with autism; others show average or above-average intelligence (Volkmar & others, 2014). In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association published the new edition (DSM-V) of its psychiatric classification of disorders. In the new classification, autistic disorder, Asperger's syndrome, and several other autistic variations were consolidated in the overarching category of autism spectrum disorder (Autism Research Institute, 2013). Distinctions are made in terms of the severity of problems based on amount of support needed due to challenges involving social communication, restricted interests Page 276, and repetitive behaviors. Critics argue that the umbrella category proposed for autism spectrum disorder masks the heterogeneity that characterizes the subgroups of autism (Lai & others, 2013).

grade US received for sedentary behaviors

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causes of ADHD

Definitive causes of ADHD have not been found. However, a number of possible causes have been proposed (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2019; Lewis, Wheeler, & Carter, 2017). Some children likely inherit a tendency to develop ADHD from their parents (Hess & others, 2018; Walton & others, 2017). Other children likely develop ADHD because of damage to their brain during prenatal or postnatal development (Bos & others, 2017). Among early possible contributors to ADHD are cigarette and alcohol exposure, as well as a high level of maternal stress during prenatal development and low birth weight (Scheinost & others, 2017). Many children with ADHD show impulsive behavior, such as this boy reaching to pull a girl's hair. How would you handle this situation if you were a teacher and this were to happen in your classroom? ©Nicole Hill/Rubberball/Getty Images As with learning disabilities, advances in brain-imaging technology are facilitating a better understanding of ADHD (Riaz & others, 2018; Sun & others, 2018). One study revealed that peak thickness of the cerebral cortex occurred three years later (at 10.5 years) in children with ADHD than in children without ADHD (at 7.5 years) (Shaw & others, 2007). The delay was more prominent in the prefrontal regions of the brain that are particularly important in attention and planning Page 274(see Figure 5). Another study also found delayed development of the brain's frontal lobes in children with ADHD, likely due to delayed or decreased myelination (Nagel & others, 2011). Researchers also are exploring the roles that various neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and dopamine, might play in ADHD (Auerbach & others, 2017; Baptista & others, 2017).

children's motor skills

During middle and late childhood, children's motor skills become much smoother and more coordinated than they were in early childhood (Hockenberry, Wilson, & Rodgers, 2017). For example, only one child in a thousand can hit a tennis ball over the net at the age of 3, yet by the age of 10 or 11 most children can learn to play the sport. Running, climbing, skipping rope, swimming, bicycle riding, and skating are just a few of the many physical skills elementary school children can master. In gross motor skills involving large muscle activity, boys usually outperform girls.

health concerns for children

Ealth concerns mVA: not because kids are driving but because they are in the car Other injury: riding bikes or skateboards in traffic Safety helmets: important Kids want to use gros sand fine motor skills. They want to get out there and skateboard and stuff Without park, kids were skateboard int traffic and got hit bya car Why is incidence of cancer increasing? We don'tknow how to prevent cancer so is it where kids are living or is it environmental. Could be a bunch of different reasons for that Getting better at diagnosing. Leukemia represents almost forty percent With kids we use a percentile chart for obesity, of BMI is in 95th percentile or above, the kid is ocnsered obese. Food choice. There are differences sociodemographically--jut not same high quality foods are availab.e Physical activity--lack thereof. Standard american diet is high in fat and sugar. Decrease in gym activities at school. If parents cant drive you to sport because they are at work, less activity → overweight. Kids have less physical activity if parents can't be involved. If kids don't live near safe park, parents would rather have them safe and inside and not being active Cancer correlates with obesity ina dulthood not as much in childhood Michelle Obama tried to redo lunch programs ins chools and make them mor ehealth. The school system got rid of junky stuff in lunches. More carrots, less candy bars. Middle childhood: more kids are watching tv and ⅔ of kids not participating in any organized school activity in non-school hours Americans have a D in sedentary behaviors looking at amount of screen time and

understanding others

Earlier we described the advances and limitations of young children's social understanding. In middle and late childhood, perspective taking, the social cognitive process involved in assuming the perspective of others and understanding their thoughts and feelings, improves. Executive function is at work in perspective taking (Galinsky, 2010). Among the executive functions called on when children engage in perspective taking are cognitive inhibition (controlling one's own thoughts to consider the perspective of others) and cognitive flexibility (seeing situations in different ways). Recent research indicates that children and adolescents who do not have good perspective taking skills are more likely to have difficulty in peer relations and engage in more aggressive and oppositional Page 305behavior (Morosan & others, 2017; Nilsen & Basco, 2017; O'Kearney & others, 2017). In Robert Selman's (1980) view, at about 6 to 8 years of age, children begin to understand that others may have a different perspective because some people have more access to information. Then, he says, in the next several years, children begin to realize that each individual is aware of the other's perspective and that putting oneself in the other's place is a way of judging the other person's intentions, purposes, and actions. Perspective taking is thought to be especially important in determining whether children develop prosocial or antisocial attitudes and behavior. In terms of prosocial behavior, taking another's perspective improves children's likelihood of understanding and sympathizing with others when they are distressed or in need. What are some changes in children's understanding of others in middle and late childhood? ©asiseeit/E+/Getty Images In middle and late childhood, children also become more skeptical of others' claims (Heyman, Fu, & Lee, 2013). In a study of 6- to 9-year-old children, older children were less trusting and better at explaining the reasons to doubt sources that might distort claims than were younger children (Mills & Elashi, 2014). Also, more intelligent children and children with better social cognitive skills were more likely to detect and explain distorted claims.

why are peers important?

Having positive relationships with peers is especially important in middle and late childhood (Nesi & others, 2017; Rubin & Barstead, 2018; Vitaro, Boivin, & Poulin, 2018; Witgow, Rickert, & Cullen, 2017). Engaging in positive interactions with peers, resolving conflicts in nonaggressive ways, and maintaining quality friendships not only produce positive outcomes at this time in children's lives, but also are linked to more positive relationships in adolescence and adulthood (Bukowski & Raufelder, 2018; Kindermann & Gest, 2018; Laursen, 2018; Laursen & Adams, 2018; Vitaro, Boivan, & Poulin, 2018). In one longitudinal study, Page 321being popular with peers and engaging in low levels of aggression at 8 years of age were related to higher levels of occupational status at 48 years of age (Huesmann & others, 2006). Another study found that peer competence (a composite measure that included social contact with peers, popularity with peers, friendship, and social skills) in middle and late childhood was linked to having better relationships with coworkers in early adulthood (Collins & van Dulmen, 2006). And another study indicated that low peer status in childhood (low acceptance/likeability) was linked to increased probability of being unemployed and having mental health problems in adulthood (Almquist & Brannstrom, 2014).

self esteem and self concept

High self-esteem and a positive self-concept are important characteristics of children's well-being (Baumeister, 2013; Miller & Cho, 2018; Oberle, 2018). Investigators sometimes use the terms self-esteem and self-concept interchangeably or do not precisely define them, but there is a meaningful difference between them (Harter, 2012, 2016). Self-esteem refers to global evaluations of the self; it is also called self-worth or self-image. For example, a child may perceive that she is not merely a person but a good person. Self-concept refers to domain-specific evaluations of the self. Children can make self-evaluations in many domains of their lives—academic, athletic, appearance, and so on. In sum, self-esteem refers to global self-evaluations, self-concept to domain-specific evaluations. The foundations of self-esteem and self-concept emerge from the quality of parent-child interaction in infancy and early childhood (Miller & Cho, 2018). Thus, if children have low self-esteem in middle and late childhood, they may have experienced neglect or abuse in relationships with their parents earlier in development. Children with high self-esteem are more likely to be securely attached to parents and have parents who engage in sensitive caregiving (Lockhart & others, 2017; Thompson, 2016). Self-esteem reflects perceptions that do not always match reality (Baumeister, 2013; Cramer, 2017). A child's self-esteem might reflect a belief about whether he or she is intelligent and attractive, for example, but that belief is not necessarily accurate. Thus, high self-esteem may refer to accurate, justified perceptions of one's worth as a person and one's successes and accomplishments, but it can also refer to an arrogant, grandiose, unwarranted sense of superiority over others (Gerstenberg & others, 2014). In the same manner, low self-esteem may reflect either an accurate perception of one's shortcomings or a distorted, even pathological insecurity and inferiority. What are the consequences of low self-esteem? Low self-esteem has been implicated in overweight and obesity, anxiety, depression, suicide, and delinquency (Paxton & Damiano, 2017; Rieger & others, 2016; Stadelmann & others, 2017). One study revealed that youths with low self-esteem had lower life satisfaction at 30 years of age (Birkeland & others, 2012). Another study found that low and decreasing self-esteem in adolescence was linked to adult depression two decades later (Steiger & others, 2014). The foundations of self-esteem and self-concept emerge from the quality of parent-child interaction in infancy and childhood. Children with high self-esteem are more likely to be securely attached to their parents and to have parents who engage in sensitive caregiving (Thompson, 2015). And in a longitudinal study, the quality of children's home environment (which involved assessment of parenting quality, cognitive stimulation, and the physical home environment) was linked to their self-esteem in early adulthood (Orth, 2017). Although variations in self-esteem have been linked with many aspects of children's development, much of the research is correlational rather than experimental. Recall that correlation does not equal causation. Thus, if a correlational study finds an association between children's low self-esteem and low academic achievement, low academic achievement could cause the low self-esteem as much as low self-esteem causes low academic achievement. A longitudinal study explored whether self-esteem is a cause or consequence of social support in youth (Marshall & others, 2014). In this study, self-esteem predicted subsequent changes in social support, but social support did not predict subsequent changes in self-esteem. Page 306 connecting development to life Increasing Children's Self-Esteem Ways to improve children's self-esteem include identifying the causes of low self-esteem, providing emotional support and social approval, helping children achieve, and helping children cope (Bednar, Wells, & Peterson, 1995; Harter, 2006, 2012). Identify the causes of low self-esteem. Intervention should target the causes of low self-esteem. Children have the highest self-esteem when they perform competently in domains that are important to them. Therefore, children should be encouraged to identify and value areas of competence. These areas might include academic skills, athletic skills, physical attractiveness, and social acceptance. Provide emotional support and social approval. Some children with low self-esteem come from conflicted families or conditions in which they experienced abuse or neglect—situations in which support was not available. In some cases, alternative sources of support can be arranged either informally through the encouragement of a teacher, a coach, or another significant adult, or more formally through programs such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Help children achieve. Achievement also can improve children's self-esteem. For example, the straightforward teaching of real skills to children often results in increased achievement and, thus, in enhanced self-esteem. Children develop higher self-esteem because they know how to carry out the important tasks that will achieve their goals, and they have performed them or similar behaviors in the past. Help children cope. Self-esteem often increases when children face a problem and try to cope with it, rather than avoid it. If coping rather than avoidance prevails, children face problems realistically, honestly, and nondefensively. This produces favorable self-evaluative thoughts, which lead to the self-generated approval that raises self-esteem. How can parents help children develop higher self-esteem? ©Ariel Skelley/Getty Images Which parenting approach might help accomplish the last goal mentioned here? How? How can parents help children develop higher self-esteem? In fact, there are only moderate correlations between school performance and self-esteem, and these correlations do not suggest that high self-esteem produces better school performance (Baumeister, 2013). Efforts to increase students' self-esteem have not always led to improved school performance (Davies & Brember, 1999). Children with high self-esteem have greater initiative, but this can produce positive or negative outcomes (Baumeister & others, 2003). Children with high self-esteem are prone to both prosocial and antisocial actions (Krueger, Vohs, & Baumeister, 2008). In addition, a current concern is that too many of today's children grow up receiving praise for mediocre or even poor performance and as a consequence have inflated self-esteem (Graham, 2005; Stipek, 2005). They may have difficulty handling competition and criticism. This theme is vividly captured by the title of a book, Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write, or Add (Sykes, 1995). A similar theme—the promise of high self-esteem for students in education, especially those who are impoverished or marginalized—characterized a more recent book, Challenging the Cult of Self-Esteem in Education (Bergeron, 2018). In a series of studies, researchers found that inflated praise, although well intended, may cause children with low self-esteem to avoid important learning experiences, such as tackling challenging tasks (Brummelman & others, 2014). And one study found that narcissistic parents especially overvalue their children's talents (Brummelman & others, 2015). What are some good strategies for effectively increasing children's self-esteem? See the Connecting Development to Life interlude for some answers to this question.

accidents and injuries in children

Injuries are the leading cause of death during middle and late childhood, and the most common cause of severe injury and death in this period is motor vehicle accidents, either as a pedestrian or as a passenger (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017c). For this reason, safety advocates recommend the use of safety-belt restraints and child booster seats in vehicles because they can greatly reduce the severity of motor vehicle injuries (Eberhardt & others, 2016; Shimony-Kanat & others, 2018). For example, one study found that child booster seats reduced the risk for serious injury by 45 percent for 4- to 8-year-old children (Sauber-Schatz & others, 2014). Other serious injuries involve bicycles, skateboards, roller skates, and other sports equipment (Perry & others, 2018).

Kids' emotional developmen

Kids have increased ability to develop complex emotions: I am happy that school is over but sad that I won't see my friends Increased ability to suppress negative emotional reactions: they realize that adults can see inside their heads and if they have an emotional reactions. We socialize kids by saying don't cry that is babyish,e specially for males we shame crying. Kids use self talk or breathing to redirect feelings. Selfpinitiated strategies. In the moment, push down the anger and maybe think about something else. Kids start to realize that they can regulate their emotions and they are not at the mercy of their emotions. Kids realize that they can't just throw tantrums and they have to try to regulate a little bit better

social cognition and scripts

Kids need to know what scripts to follow to make social interaction and make friends Social cognition - implicit requirements about how to be a good friend You have to be kind to each other and follow the rules. There are scripts you have to follow to get other people to get your friends Kids have to have high quality friends to rely on to have good mental and physical health and that starts at this age Dodge realized if kids can't do this. Where does it fall down for them so that we can intervene? Encode social cues. Kids eed to be attentive to social cues. How other kids respond when they enter a group? When you come up to the group, do they frown or smile? Then you have to interpret the social cues - kids learn meaning through experience. We first attend to the social cues then we interpret them. This happens quickly Then we search for a response: we have to decide what the next move is. Make eye contact or smile. Okay I knwo what that means or I can break into that group so i decide what to say like hey whats up and they select the optimal response based on the group Then you enact the response Here we tease apart a social interaction that happens very quickly. Important because if you might iamgine, if a kid doesnt go through all of the steps in the sequence then socially incompeteent behavior results The first response isn't socially competent. Aggressive kids interpet other kids actions ashostile when it was actually ambiguous Kids with aspergers or mild autism are not encoding social cues. They are not being attemptive to social cues and they are not going to interpret them correctly Down syndrome: dont select an optimal response. Thats how brian broke his collar bone. "Hey handsome!" story. Just copying what his mom said to hi

prefrontal cortex

Leading developmental neuroscientist Mark Johnson and his colleagues (2009) proposed that the prefrontal cortex likely orchestrates the functions of many other brain regions during development. As part of this neural leadership role, the prefrontal cortex may provide an advantage to neural networks and connections that include the prefrontal cortex. In their view, the prefrontal cortex coordinates the best neural connections for solving a problem at hand.

emotional and behavioral disorders in children

Most children have minor emotional difficulties at some point during their school years. However, some children have problems so serious and persistent that they are classified as having an emotional or behavioral disorder (Mash & Wolfe, 2019). These problems may include internalized disorders such as depression or externalized disorders such as aggression. What characterizes autism spectrum disorders? ©Rob Crandall/Alamy Emotional and behavioral disorders consist of serious, persistent problems that involve relationships, aggression, depression, and fears associated with personal or school matters, as well as other inappropriate socioemotional characteristics (Lewis, Asbury, & Plomin, 2017; Weersing & others, 2017). Approximately 8 percent of children who have a disability and require an individualized education plan fall into this classification. Boys are three times as likely as girls to have these disorders.

motor development milestones

Motor development becomes more smooth: they play tennis and ride bicycles and skip Recess is important-motor development Kids have greater control over bodies and can sit and attend for a longer period of time. It is all about school at this age so that is good Improved fine motor development as well By age 7, kids prefer pencils to crayons. Because myelination. Better fine motor skills By 8-11, torso and legs in relation to head are starting to approximate. Everything is starting to line up. Havent hti puberty yet where legs get too long and you seem too tall

stepfamilies

Not only has divorce become commonplace in the United States, so has remarriage. It takes time to marry, have children, get divorced, and then remarry. Consequently, stepfamilies include far more elementary and secondary school children than infants or preschool children. The number of remarriages involving children has grown steadily in recent years. Also, divorces occur at a 10 percent higher rate in remarriages than in first marriages (Cherlin & Furstenberg, 1994). About half of all children whose parents divorce will have a stepparent within four years of the separation. Remarried parents face unique tasks (Ganong, Coleman, & Russell, 2015; Papernow, 2018). The couple must define and strengthen their marriage while renegotiating the biological parent-child relationships and establishing stepparent-stepchild and stepsibling relationships. The complex histories and multiple relationships make adjustment difficult (Dodson & Davies, 2014). Only one-third of stepfamily couples stay remarried. How does living in a stepfamily influence a child's development? ©Todd Wright/Blend Images/Getty Images Most stepfamilies are preceded by divorce rather than death of a spouse (Pasley & Moorefield, 2004). Three common types of stepfamily structure are (1) stepfather, (2) stepmother, and (3) blended or complex. In stepfather families, the mother typically had custody of the children and remarried, introducing a stepfather into her children's lives. In stepmother families, the father usually had custody and remarried, introducing a stepmother Page 320into his children's lives. In a blended or complex stepfamily, both parents bring children from previous marriages. In E. Mavis Hetherington's (2006) longitudinal analyses, children and adolescents who had been in a simple stepfamily (stepfather or stepmother) for a number of years were adjusting better than in the early years of the remarried family and were functioning well in comparison with children and adolescents in conflictual nondivorced families and children and adolescents in complex (blended) stepfamilies. More than 75 percent of the adolescents in long-established simple stepfamilies described their relationships with their stepparents as "close" or "very close." Hetherington (2006) concluded that in long-established simple stepfamilies adolescents seem to eventually benefit from the presence of a stepparent and the resources provided by the stepparent. Children often have better relationships with their custodial parents (mothers in stepfather families, fathers in stepmother families) than with stepparents (Antfolk & others, 2017; Santrock, Sitterle, & Warshak, 1988). However, a recent study found that when children have a better parent-child affective relationship with their stepparent, the children have fewer internalizing and externalizing problems (Jensen & others, 2018). Also, children in simple stepfamilies (stepmother, stepfather) often show better adjustment than their counterparts in complex (blended) families (Hetherington & Kelly, 2002). As in divorced families, children in stepfamilies show more adjustment problems than children in nondivorced families (Hetherington & Kelly, 2002)—academic problems and lower self-esteem, for example (Anderson & others, 1999). However, the majority of children in stepfamilies do not have such problems. In one analysis, 25 percent of children from stepfamilies showed adjustment problems compared with 10 percent in intact, never-divorced families (Hetherington & Kelly, 2002). Adolescence is an especially difficult time for the formation of a stepfamily (Gosselin, 2010). This difficulty may occur because becoming part of a stepfamily exacerbates normal adolescent concerns about identity, sexuality, and autonomy.

the scope of disabilities

Of all children in the United States, 12.9 percent from 3 to 21 years of age received special education or related services in 2012-2013, an increase of 3 percent since 1980-1981 (Condition of Education, 2016). Figure 3 shows the five largest groups of students with a disability who were served by federal programs during the 2012-2013 school year (Condition of Education, 2016). As indicated in Figure 3, students with a learning disability were by far the largest group of students with a disability to be given special education, followed by children with speech or hearing impairments, autism, intellectual disability, and emotional disturbance. Note that the U.S. Department of Education includes both students with a learning disability and students with ADHD in the category of learning disability.

self regulation

One of the most important aspects of the self in middle and late childhood is an increased capacity for self-regulation (Blair, 2017; Galinsky & others, 2017; Neuenschwander & Blair, 2017; Schunk & Greene, 2018; Usher & Schunk, 2018; Winne, 2018). This increased capacity is characterized by deliberate efforts to manage one's behavior, emotions, and thoughts, leading to increased social competence and achievement (Blair, 2017; Eisenberg, 2017; McClelland & others, 2017; Schunk & Greene, 2018). In one study, higher levels of self-control assessed at 4 years of age were linked to improvements in the math and reading achievement of early elementary school children living in predominantly rural and low-income contexts (Blair & others, 2015). Another study found that self-control increased from 4 years to 10 years of age and that high self-control was linked to lower levels of deviant behavior (Vazsonyi & Huang, 2010). In this study, parenting characterized by warmth and positive affect predicted the developmental increase in self-control. Also, a study of almost 17,000 3- to 7-year-old children revealed that self-regulation was a protective factor for children growing up in low-socioeconomic-status (SES) conditions (Flouri, Midouhas, & Joshi, 2014). In this study, 7-year-old children with low self-regulation living in low-SES conditions had more emotional problems than their 3-year-old counterparts with higher self-regulation. Thus, low self-regulation was linked to a widening gap in low-SES children's emotional problems over time. Another study revealed that children from low-income families who had a higher level of self-regulation earned better grades in school than their counterparts who had a lower level of self-regulation (Buckner, Mezzacappa, & Beardslee, 2009). The increased capacity for self-regulation is linked to developmental advances in the brain's prefrontal cortex (Bell, Ross, & Patton, 2018; Wendelken & others, 2016). Recall our earlier discussion of the increased focal activation in the prefrontal cortex that is linked to improved cognitive control, which includes self-regulation (Diamond, 2013). Some researchers emphasize the early development of self-regulation in childhood and adolescence as a key contributor to adult health and even longevity (Eisenberg, Spinrad, & Valiente, 2016; Llewellyn & others, 2017). For example, Nancy Eisenberg and her colleagues (2014) concluded that research indicates self-regulation fosters conscientiousness later in life, both directly and through its link to academic motivation/success and internalized compliance with norms. Further, a longitudinal study found that a higher level of self-control in childhood was linked to a slower pace of aging (assessed with 18 biomarkers—cardiovascular and immune system, for example) at 26, 32, and 38 years of age (Belsky & others, 2017). An app for iPads has been developed to help children improve their self-regulation (for more information, go to www.selfregulationstation.com/sr-ipad-app/).

misdiagnosis of ADHD

One study examined the possible misdiagnosis of ADHD (Bruchmiller, Margraf, & Schneider, 2012). In this study, child psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers were given vignettes of children with ADHD. Some vignettes matched the diagnostic criteria for the disorder, while others did not. The child in each vignette was sometimes identified as male and sometimes as female. The researchers assessed whether the mental health professionals gave a diagnosis of ADHD to the child described in the vignette. The professionals overdiagnosed ADHD almost 20 percent of the time, and regardless of the symptoms described, boys were twice as likely as girls to be diagnosed as having ADHD.

factors that lead to exercise or a lack thereof

Parents and schools play important Page 269roles in determining children's exercise levels (Brusseau & others, 2018; de Heer & others, 2017; Lind & others, 2018; Lo & others, 2018; Solomon-Moore & others, 2018). Growing up with parents who exercise regularly provides positive models of exercise for children (Crawford & others, 2010). In addition, a research review found that school-based physical activity was successful in improving children's fitness and lowering their fat levels (Kriemler & others, 2011). Screen time also is linked with low activity, obesity, and worse sleep patterns in children (Tanaka & others, 2017). A recent research review found that a higher level of screen time increased the risk of obesity for low- and high-activity children (Lane, Harrison, & Murphy, 2014). Also, a recent study of 8- to 12-year-olds found that screen time was associated with lower connectivity between brain regions, as well as lower levels of language skills and cognitive control (Horowitz-Kraus & Hutton, 2018). In this study, time spent reading was linked to higher levels of functioning in these areas. Here are some ways to encourage children to exercise more: Offer more physical activity programs run by volunteers at school facilities. Improve physical fitness activities in schools. Have children plan community and school activities that interest them. Encourage families to focus more on physical activity, and encourage parents to exercise more.

parents as managers

Parents can play important roles as managers of children's opportunities, as monitors of their behavior, and as social initiators and arrangers (Clarke-Stewart & Parke, 2014; Longo & others, 2017). Mothers are more likely than fathers to engage in a managerial role in parenting. Family management practices are positively related to students' grades and self-responsibility, and negatively to school-related problems (Eccles, 2007; Taylor & Lopez, 2005). Among the most important are maintaining a structured and organized family environment, such as establishing routines for homework, chores, bedtime, and so on, and effectively monitoring the child's behavior. A research review of the role of family functioning in determining African American students' academic achievement found that when parents monitored their son's academic achievement by ensuring that homework was completed, by restricting time spent on nonproductive distractions (such as video games and TV), and by participating in a consistent, positive dialogue with teachers and school officials, their son's academic achievement benefited (Mandara, 2006).

what is the concrete operational stage?

Piaget proposed that the concrete operational stage lasts from approximately 7 to 11 years of age. In this stage, children can perform concrete operations, and they can reason logically as long as reasoning can be applied to specific or concrete examples. Remember that operations are mental actions that are reversible, and concrete operations are operations that are applied to real, concrete objects

industry vs. inferiority

Recall Erik Erikson's (1968) eight stages of human development. His fourth stage, industry versus inferiority, appears during middle and late childhood. The term industry expresses a dominant theme of this period: Children become interested in how things are made and how they work. When children are encouraged in their efforts to make, build, and work—whether building a model airplane, constructing a tree house, fixing a bicycle, solving an addition problem, or cooking—their sense of industry increases. However, parents who see their children's efforts at making things as "mischief" or "making a mess" encourage children's development of a sense of inferiority. developmental connection Erikson's Theory Initiative versus guilt is Erikson's early childhood stage and identity versus identity confusion is his adolescence stage. Connect to "Introduction." Children's social worlds beyond their families also contribute to a sense of industry. School becomes especially important in this regard. Consider children who are slightly below average in intelligence. They are Page 308too bright to be in special classes but not bright enough to be in gifted classes. They fail frequently in their academic efforts, developing a sense of inferiority. By contrast, consider children whose sense of industry is derogated at home. A series of sensitive and committed teachers may revitalize their sense of industry (Elkind, 1970).

rates of autism

Recent estimates of autism spectrum disorders indicate that they are dramatically increasing in occurrence (or are increasingly being detected). Once thought to affect only 1 in 2,500 children decades ago, they were estimated to be present in about 1 in 150 children in 2002 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007). However, in the most recent survey, the estimated percentage of 8-year-old children with autism spectrum disorders had increased to 1 in 68 (Christensen & others, 2016). In the recent surveys, autism spectrum disorders were identified five times more often in boys than in girls, and 8 percent of individuals aged 3 to 21 with these disorders were receiving special education services (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017a).

treatment for ADHD

Recently, mindfulness training also has been given to children and adolescents with ADHD (Edel & others, 2017; Evans & others, 2018; Sibalis & others, 2018). A recent meta-analysis concluded that mindfulness training significantly improved the attention of children with ADHD (Cairncross & Miller, 2018). Exercise also is being investigated as a possible treatment for children with ADHD (Den Heijer & others, 2017; Grassman & others, 2017; Pan & others, 2018). For example, a recent study confirmed that an 8-week yoga program was effective in improving the sustained attention of children with ADHD (Chou & Huang, 2017). Also, a recent meta-analysis concluded that physical exercise is effective in reducing cognitive symptoms of ADHD in individuals 3 to 25 years of age (Tan, Pooley, & Speelman, 2016). And a second recent meta-analysis concluded that a short-term aerobic exercise program was effective in reducing symptoms such as inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity (Cerillo-Urbina & others, 2015). Also, a third recent meta-analysis indicated that exercise is associated with better executive function in children with ADHD (Vysniauske & others, 2018). Among the reasons that exercise might reduce ADHD symptoms in children are (1) better allocation of attention resources, (2) positive influence on prefrontal cortex functioning, and (3) exercise-induced dopamine release (Chang & others, 2012). How can neurofeedback reduce the symptoms of ADHD in children? ©Jerilee Bennett/KRT/Newscom Despite the encouraging results of Page 275recent studies involving the use of neurofeedback, mindfulness training, and exercise to improve the attention of children with ADHD, it still remains to be determined whether these non-drug therapies are as effective as stimulant drugs and/or whet

learning disabilities

The U.S. government created a definition of learning disabilities in 1997 and then reauthorized the definition with a few minor changes in 2004. Following is a summary of the government's definition of the characteristics that determine whether a child should be classified as having a learning disability. A child with a learning disability has difficulty in learning that involves understanding or using spoken or written language, and the difficulty can appear in listening, thinking, reading, writing, and spelling. A learning disability also may involve difficulty in doing mathematics (McCaskey & others, 2017, 2018). To be classified as a learning disability, the learning problem is not primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; intellectual disability; emotional disorders; or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage (Friend, 2018; Heward, Alber-Morgan, & Konrad, 2017). About three times as many boys as girls are classified as having a learning disability. Among the explanations for this gender difference are a greater biological vulnerability among boys and referral bias. That is, boys are more likely to be referred by teachers for treatment because of troublesome behavior. Approximately 80 percent of children with a learning disability have a reading problem (Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2017). Three types of learning disabilities are dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia:

conservation tasks in concrete operational

The conservation tasks described earlier indicate whether children are capable of concrete operations. For example, recall that in one task involving conservation of matter, the child is presented with two identical balls of clay. The experimenter rolls one ball into a long, thin shape; the other remains in its original ball shape. The child is then asked if there is more clay in the ball or in the long, thin piece of clay. By the time children reach the age of 7 or 8, most answer that the amount of clay is the same. To answer this problem correctly, children have to imagine the clay rolling back into a ball. This type of imagination involves a reversible mental action applied to a real, concrete object. Concrete operations allow the child to consider several characteristics rather than focusing on a single property of an object. In the clay example, the preoperational child is likely to focus on height or width. The concrete operational child coordinates information about both dimensions

brain causes of ADHD

The delays in brain development just described are in areas linked to executive function (Munro & others, 2018). An increasing focus of interest in the study of children with ADHD is their difficulty with tasks involving executive function, such as behavioral inhibition when necessary, use of working memory, and effective planning (Krieger & Amador-Campos, 2018; Toplak, West, & Stanovich, 2017). Researchers also have found deficits in theory of mind in children with ADHD (Maoz & others, 2018; Mary & others, 2016). Stimulant medication such as Ritalin or Adderall (which has fewer side effects than Ritalin) is effective in improving the attention of many children with ADHD, but it usually does not improve their attention to the levels seen in children who do not have ADHD (Wong & Stevens, 2012). A recent research review also concluded that stimulant medications are effective in treating ADHD during the short term but that longer-term benefits of stimulant medications are not clear (Rajeh & others, 2017). A meta-analysis concluded that behavior management treatments are useful in reducing the effects of ADHD (Fabiano & others, 2009). Researchers have often found that a combination of medication (such as Ritalin) and behavior management improves the behavior of some but not all children with ADHD better than medication alone or behavior management alone (Parens & Johnston, 2009). The sheer number of ADHD diagnoses has prompted speculation that psychiatrists, parents, and teachers are in fact labeling normal childhood behavior as psychopathology (Mash & Wolfe, 2019; Molina & Pelham, 2014). One reason for concern about overdiagnosing ADHD is that the form of treatment in well over 80 percent of cases is psychoactive drugs, including stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall (Garfield & others, 2012). Further, there is increasing concern that children who are given stimulant drugs such as Ritalin or Adderall are at risk for developing substance abuse problems, although evidence supporting this concern so far has been mixed (Erskine & others, 2016; Zulauf & others, 2014). Recently, researchers have been exploring the possibility that neurofeedback might improve the attention of children with ADHD (Alegria & others, 2017; Gelade & others, 2018; Jiang, Abiri, & Zhao, 2017; Moreno-Garcia & others, 2018). Neurofeedback trains individuals to become more aware of their physiological responses so they can attain better control over their brain's prefrontal cortex, where executive control primarily occurs. Individuals with ADHD have higher levels of electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities, and neurofeedback produces audiovisual profiles of these abnormal brain waves so that individuals can learn how to achieve normal EEG functioning. In a recent study, 7- to 14-year-olds with ADHD were randomly assigned to either receive a neurofeedback treatment that consisted of 40 sessions or to take Ritalin (Meisel & others, 2013). Both groups showed a lower level of ADHD symptoms 6 months after the treatment, but only the neurofeedback group performed better academically.

consequences of being overweight

The high percentage of overweight children in recent decades is cause for great concern because being overweight raises the risk for many medical and psychological problems (Powers & Dodd, 2017; Schiff, 2019; Song & others, 2018). Diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), and elevated blood cholesterol levels are common in children who are overweight (Chung, Onuzuruike, & Magge, 2018; Martin-Espinosa & others, 2017). Research reviews have concluded that obesity was linked with low self-esteem in children (Gomes & others, 2011; Moharei & others, 2018). And in one study, overweight children were more likely than normal-weight children to report being teased by their peers and family members (McCormack & others, 2011).

causes of overweight in children

What are some of the causes of overweight in children? § §School lunches! §Lunches around the world §

causes of autism

What causes autism spectrum disorders? The current consensus is that autism is a brain dysfunction characterized by abnormalities in brain structure and neurotransmitters (Ecker, 2017; Fernandez, Mollinedo-Gajate, & Penagarikano, 2018; Khundrakpam & others, 2017). Recent interest has focused on a lack of connectivity between brain regions as a key factor in autism (Abbott & others, 2018; Li, Karmath, & Xu, 2017; Nair & others, 2018; Nunes & others, 2018). Genetic factors also are likely to play a role in the development of autism spectrum disorders (Valiente-Palleja & others, 2018; Wang & others, 2017; Yuan & others, 2017). One study revealed that mutations—missing or duplicated pieces of DNA on chromosome 16—can raise a child's risk of developing autism 100-fold (Weiss & others, 2008). There is no evidence that family socialization causes autism.

gender differences

What is the reality behind gender stereotypes? Let's examine some of the similarities and differences between the sexes, keeping in mind that (1) the differences are averages—not all females versus all males; (2) even when differences are reported, there is considerable overlap between the sexes; and (3) the differences may be due primarily to biological factors, Page 315sociocultural factors, or both. First, we will examine physical similarities and differences, and then we will turn to cognitive and socioemotional similarities and differences. Physical Development Women have about twice the body fat of men, most of it concentrated around their breasts and hips. In males, fat is more likely to go to the abdomen. On average, males grow to be 10 percent taller than females. Other physical differences are less obvious. From conception on, females have a longer life expectancy than males, and females are less likely than males to develop physical or mental disorders. Males have twice the risk of coronary disease compared with females. Does gender matter when it comes to brain structure and function? Human brains are much alike, whether the brain belongs to a male or a female (Halpern & others, 2007). However, researchers have found some differences in the brains of males and females (Hofer & others, 2007). Female brains are approximately 10 percent smaller than male brains (Giedd, 2012; Giedd & others, 2012). However, female brains have more folds; the larger folds (called convolutions) allow more surface brain tissue within the skulls of females than males (Luders & others, 2004). An area of the parietal lobe that functions in visuospatial skills is larger in males than females (Frederikse & others, 2000). And the areas of the brain involved in emotional expression show more metabolic activity in females than males (Gur & others, 1995). Although some differences in brain structure and function have been found, many of these differences are small or research results are inconsistent regarding the differences. Also, when sex differences in the brain have been revealed, in many cases they have not been directly linked to psychological differences (Blakemore, Berenbaum, & Liben, 2009). Although research on sex differences in the brain is still in its infancy, it is likely that there are far more similarities than differences in the brains of females and males. A further point is worth noting: Anatomical sex differences in the brain may be due to the biological origins of these differences, behavioral experiences (which underscores the brain's continuing plasticity), or a combination of these factors. Cognitive Development No gender differences in general intelligence have been revealed, but some gender differences have been found in some cognitive areas (Ganley, Vasilyeva, & Dulaney, 2014; Halpern, 2012). Research has shown that in general girls and women have slightly better verbal skills than boys and men, although in some verbal skill areas the differences are substantial (Blakemore, Berenbaum, & Liben, 2009). Are there gender differences in math skills? A very large-scale study of more than 7 million U.S. students in grades 2 through 11 revealed no differences in math test scores for boys and girls (Hyde & others, 2008). Further, in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (2013) there were virtually no gender differences in math scores at the fourth- and eighth-grade levels. And a meta-analysis found no gender differences in math skills for adolescents (Lindberg & others, 2010). A research review concluded that girls have more negative math attitudes and that parents' and teachers' expectancies for children's math competence are often gender-biased in favor of boys (Gunderson & others, 2012). One area of math that has been examined for possible gender differences is visuospatial skills, which include being able to rotate objects mentally and to determine what they would look like when rotated (Halpern, 2012). These types of skills are important in courses such as plane and solid geometry and geography. A research review revealed that boys have better visuospatial skills than girls (Halpern & others, 2007). For example, despite equal participation in the National Geography Bee, in most years all 10 finalists are boys (Liben, 1995). A research review found that having a stronger masculine gender role was linked to better spatial ability in males and females (Reilly & Neumann, 2013). However, some experts argue that the gender difference in visuospatial skills is small (Hyde, 2014; Hyde, 2017) (see Figure 1). FIGURE 1 VISUOSPATIAL SKILLS OF MALES AND FEMALES. Notice that although an average male's visuospatial skills are higher than an average female's, the scores for the two sexes almost entirely overlap. Not all males have better visuospatial skills than all females—the overlap indicates that although the average male score is higher, many females outperform most males on such tasks. Are there gender differences in reading and writing skills? There is strong evidence that females outperform males in reading and writing. In the National Assessment of Educational Progress (2013), girls had higher reading achievement than boys (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2013). Also, an international study in 65 countries found that girls had higher reading achievement than did boys in every country (Reilly, 2012). In this study, the gender difference in reading was stronger in countries with less gender equity and lower economic prosperity. In the United States, girls also consistently have outperformed boys in writing skills in the National Assessment of Educational Progress in fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade assessments. Are there gender differences in school contexts and achievement? With regard to school achievement, girls earn better grades and complete high school at a higher rate, and they are less likely to drop out of school Page 316than boys are (Halpern, 2012). Males are more likely than females to be assigned to special/remedial education classes. Girls are more likely than boys to be engaged with academic material, be attentive in class, put forth more academic effort, and participate more in class (DeZolt & Hull, 2001). Keep in mind that measures of achievement in school or scores on standardized tests may reflect many factors besides cognitive ability. For example, performance in school may in part reflect attempts to conform to gender roles or differences in motivation, self-regulation, or other socioemotional characteristics (Eccles, 2014; Watt & Eccles, 2008). developmental connection Gender The nature and extent of gender differences in communication in relationships is controversial. Connect to "Socioemotional Development in Early Adulthood." Might single-sex education be better for children than coeducation? The argument for single-sex education is that it eliminates distraction from the other sex and reduces sexual harassment. Single-sex public education has increased dramatically in recent years. In 2002, only 12 public schools in the United States provided single-sex education; during the 2011-2012 school year, 116 public schools were single-sex and an additional 390 provided such experiences (NASSPE, 2012). What are some recent changes in single-sex education in the United States? What does research say about whether single-sex education is beneficial? ©Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal/Zumapress.com/Newscom The increase in single-sex education has especially been fueled by its inclusion in the No Child Left Behind legislation as a means of improving the educational experiences and academic achievement of low-income students of color. It appears that many of the public schools offering single-sex education have a high percentage of such youth (Klein, 2012). However, two research reviews concluded that there have been no documented benefits of single-sex education for low-income students of color (Goodkind, 2013; Halpern & others, 2011). One review, titled "The Pseudoscience of Single-Sex Schooling," by Diane Halpern and her colleagues (2011) concluded that single-sex education is highly misguided, misconstrued, and unsupported by any valid scientific evidence. They emphasize that among the many arguments against single-sex education, the strongest is its reduction in the opportunities for boys and girls to work together in a supervised, purposeful environment. There has been a special call for single-sex public education for one group of adolescents—African American boys—because of their historically poor academic achievement and high dropout rate from school (Mitchell & Stewart, 2013). In 2010, Urban Prep Academy for Young Men became the first all-male, all African American public charter school. One hundred percent of its first graduates enrolled in college, despite the school's location in a section of Chicago where poverty, gangs, and crime predominate. Because so few public schools focus solely on educating African American boys, it is too early to tell whether this type of single-sex education can be effective across a wide range of participants. Socioemotional Development Three areas of socioemotional development in which gender similarities and differences have been studied extensively are aggression, emotion, and prosocial behavior. One of the most consistent gender differences found is that boys are more physically aggressive than girls are (Hyde, 2017). The difference occurs in all cultures and appears very early in children's development (Dayton & Malone, 2017). The physical aggression difference is especially pronounced when children are provoked. Both biological and environmental factors have been proposed to account for gender differences in aggression. Biological factors include heredity and hormones. Environmental factors include cultural expectations, adult and peer models, and social agents that reward aggression in boys and punish aggression in girls. Although boys are consistently more physically aggressive than girls, might girls show levels of verbal aggression, such as yelling, that equal or exceed the levels shown by boys? When verbal aggression is considered, gender differences often disappear, although sometimes verbal aggression is more pronounced in girls (Eagly & Steffen, 1986). What gender differences characterize aggression? ©Roy McMahon/Corbis Recently, increased attention has been directed to relational aggression, which involves harming someone by manipulating a relationship. Relational aggression includes such behaviors as spreading malicious rumors about someone in order to make others dislike that person (Casper & Card, 2017; Cooley & Fife, 2016). Relational aggression increases in middle and late childhood (Dishion & Piehler, 2009). Mixed findings have characterized research on Page 317whether girls show more relational aggression than boys, but one consistent finding is that relational aggression comprises a greater percentage of girls' overall aggression than is the case for boys (Putallaz & others, 2007). And a research review revealed that girls engage in more relational aggression than boys in adolescence but not in childhood (Smith, Rose, & Schwartz-Mette, 2010). Further, in a longitudinal study, preschool relational aggression predicted adolescent relational aggression for girls, but not for boys (Nelson & others, 2014). What gender differences characterize children's prosocial behavior? ©Steve Hix/Corbis/Getty Images Gender differences occur in some aspects of emotion (Brody, Hall, & Stokes, 2018; Leaper, 2013, 2015). Females express emotion more than do males, are better at decoding emotion, smile more, cry more, and are happier (Gross, Fredrickson, & Levenson, 1994; LaFrance, Hecht, & Paluck, 2003). Males report experiencing and expressing more anger than females do (Kring, 2000). A meta-analysis found that females are better than males at recognizing nonverbal displays of emotion (Thompson & Voyer, 2014). Another meta-analysis found that girls showed more positive emotions (sympathy, for example) and more internalized emotions (sadness and anxiety, for example); however, in this meta-analysis, overall gender differences in children's emotional expression were small (Chaplin & Aldao, 2013). The gender difference in positive emotions became more pronounced with age as girls more strongly expressed positive emotions than boys in middle and late childhood and in adolescence. In China, females and males are usually socialized to behave, feel, and think differently. The old patriarchal traditions of male supremacy have not been completely uprooted. Chinese women still make considerably less money than Chinese men do, and in rural China (such as here in the Lixian Village of Sichuan) male supremacy still governs many women's lives. ©Diego Azubel/EPA/Newscom developmental connection Community and Culture Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory emphasizes the importance of contexts; in his theory the macrosystem includes cross-cultural comparisons. Connect to "Introduction." An important skill is to be able to regulate and control one's emotions and behavior (Perry & others, 2017; Usher & Schunk, 2018). Boys usually show less self-regulation than girls do (Berke, Reidy, & Zeichner, 2018). This low self-control can translate into behavior problems. Are there gender differences in prosocial behavior? Females view themselves as more prosocial and empathic (Eisenberg & Spinrad, 2016). Across childhood and adolescence, females engage in more prosocial behavior than males do (Hastings, Miller, & Troxel, 2015). The biggest gender difference occurs for kind and considerate behavior, with a smaller difference in sharing.

other skills in cocnrete operational

What other abilities are characteristic of children who have reached the concrete operational stage? One important skill is the ability to classify or divide things into different sets or subsets and to consider Page 278their interrelationships. Consider the family tree of four generations that is shown in Figure 6 (Furth & Wachs, 1975). This family tree suggests that the grandfather (A) has three children (B, C, and D), each of whom has two children (E through J), and that one of these children (J) has three children (K, L, and M). A child who comprehends the classification system can move up and down a level, across a level, and up and down and across within the system. The concrete operational child understands that person J can at the same time be father, brother, and grandson, for example.

peer status

Which children are likely to be popular with their peers and which ones tend to be disliked? Developmentalists address this and similar questions by examining sociometric status, a term that describes the extent to which children are liked or disliked by their peer group (Achterberg & others, 2017; Cillessen & Bukowski, 2018). Sociometric status is typically assessed by asking children to rate how much they like or dislike each of their classmates. Or it may be assessed by asking children to name the children they like the most and those they like the least. What are some statuses that children have with their peers? ©BananaStock Developmentalists have distinguished five peer statuses (Wentzel & Asher, 1995): Popular children are frequently nominated as a best friend and are rarely disliked by their peers. Average children receive an average number of both positive and negative nominations from their peers. Neglected children are infrequently nominated as a best friend but are not disliked by their peers. Rejected children are infrequently nominated as someone's best friend and are actively disliked by their peers. Controversial children are frequently nominated both as someone's best friend and as being disliked. Popular children have many social skills that contribute to their being well liked (McDonald & Asher, 2018). They give out reinforcements, listen carefully, maintain open lines of communication with peers, are happy, control their negative emotions, show enthusiasm and concern for others, and are self-confident without being conceited (Hartup, 1983; Rubin, Bukowski, & Bowker, 2015). Rejected children often have serious adjustment problems (Bukowski & others, 2015; Prinstein & others, 2018). Peer rejection is consistently linked to the development and maintenance of conduct problems (Chen, Drabick, & Burgers, 2015; Prinstein & others, 2018). In a recent study of young adolescents, peer rejection predicted increases in aggressive and rule-breaking behavior (Janssens & others, 2017). John Coie (2004, pp. 252-253) provided three reasons why aggressive, peer-rejected boys have problems in social relationships: "First, the rejected, aggressive boys are more impulsive and have problems sustaining attention. As a result, they are more likely to be disruptive of ongoing activities in the classroom and in focused group play. Second, rejected, aggressive Page 322boys are more emotionally reactive. They are aroused to anger more easily and probably have more difficulty calming down once aroused. Because of this they are more prone to become angry at peers and attack them verbally and physically. . . . Third, rejected children have fewer social skills in making friends and maintaining positive relationships with peers." Not all rejected children are aggressive (Rubin, Bukowski, & Barker, 2015). Although aggression and its related characteristics of impulsiveness and disruptiveness underlie rejection about half the time, approximately 10 to 20 percent of rejected children are shy. Rejected children can be taught to more accurately assess whether the intentions of their peers are negative (Bierman & Powers, 2009). They can engage in role playing or discuss hypothetical situations involving negative encounters with peers, such as when a peer cuts into a line ahead of them. In some programs, children watch videotapes of appropriate peer interaction and are asked to draw lessons from what they have seen (Ladd, Buhs, & Troop, 2004).

evaluating piaget's concrete operational stage

as Piaget's portrait of the concrete operational child withstood the test of research? According to Piaget, various aspects of a stage should emerge at the same time. In fact, however, some concrete operational abilities do not appear in synchrony. For example, children do not learn to conserve at the same time they learn to cross-classify. Furthermore, education and culture exert stronger influences on children's development than Piaget reasoned (Bredekamp, 2017; Feeney, Moravcik, & Nolte, 2019; Follari, 2019; Morrison, 2018). Some preoperational children can be trained to reason at a concrete operational stage. And the age at which children acquire conservation skills is related to how much practice their culture provides in these skills. Thus, although Piaget was a giant in the field of developmental psychology, his conclusions about the concrete operational stage have been challenged. Later, after examining the final stage in his theory of cognitive development, we will further evaluate Piaget's contributions and examine various criticisms of his theory. An outstanding teacher and instruction in the logic of science and mathematics are important cultural experiences that promote the development of operational thought. Might Piaget have underestimated the roles of culture and schooling in children's cognitive development? ©Majority World/Getty Images Neo-Piagetians argue that Piaget got some things right but that his theory needs considerable revision. They give more emphasis to how children use attention, memory, and strategies to process information (Case & Mueller, 2001). They especially believe that a more accurate portrayal of children's thinking requires attention to children's strategies, the speed at which children process information, the particular task involved, and the division of problem solving into smaller, more precise steps (Morra & others, 2008). These are issues addressed by the information-processing approach, and we discuss some of them later in this chapter.

a relatively mild autism spectrum disorder in which the child has relatively good verbal language skills, milder nonverbal language problems, and a restricted range of interests and relationships (Boutot, 2017). Children with Asperger syndrome often engage in obsessive, repetitive routines and preoccupations with a particular subject. For example, a child may be obsessed with baseball scores or specific videos on YouTube

asperger syndrome

social cognition

boy accidentally trips and knocks another boy's soft drink out of his hand. That boy misinterprets the encounter as hostile, which leads him to retaliate aggressively against the boy who tripped. Through repeated encounters of this kind, the aggressive boy's classmates come to perceive him as habitually acting in inappropriate ways. This encounter demonstrates the importance of social cognition—thoughts about social matters, such as the aggressive boy's interpretation of an encounter as hostile and his classmates' perception of his behavior as inappropriate (Carpendale & Lewis, 2015). Children's social cognition about their peers becomes increasingly important for understanding peer relationships in middle and late childhood. Of special interest are the ways in which children process information about peer relations and their social knowledge (Dodge, 2011a, b). Kenneth Dodge (1983, 2011a, b) argues that children go through six steps in processing information about their social world. They (1) selectively attend to social cues, (2) attribute intent by interpreting social cues, (3) establish social goals, (4) access behavioral scripts from memory and generate problem-solving strategies, (5) evaluate the likely effectiveness of strategies and make decisions, and (6) enact behavior. Subsequently, children may evaluate the effectiveness of their response. Boys are less likely to spontaneously engage in this kind of self-evaluation of the outcomes of their behavior, and thus more likely than girls to engage in impulsive and aggressive behavior. Aggressive boys are more likely to perceive another child's actions as hostile when the child's intention is ambiguous. And when aggressive boys search for cues to determine a peer's intention, they respond more rapidly, less efficiently, and less reflectively than do nonaggressive children. These are among the social cognitive factors believed to be involved in children's conflicts. Social knowledge also is involved in children's ability to get along with peers (Carpendale & Lewis, 2015). They need to know what goals to pursue in poorly defined or ambiguous situations, how to initiate and maintain a social bond, and what scripts to follow to get other children to be their friends. For example, as part of the script for getting friends, it helps to know that saying nice things, regardless of what the peer does or says, will make the peer like the child more.

brain growth

brain growthhe development of brain-imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has led to increased research on changes in the brain during middle and late childhood and links between these brain changes and cognitive development (Khundrakpam & others, 2018; Mah, Geeraert, & Lebel, 2017). Total brain volume stabilizes by the end of late childhood, but significant changes in various structures and regions of the brain continue to occur. In particular, the brain pathways and circuitry involving the prefrontal cortex, the highest level in the brain, continue to increase during middle and late childhood (see Figure 1). These advances in the prefrontal cortex are linked to children's improved attention, reasoning, and cognitive control (de Haan & Johnson, 2016; Wendelken & others, 2016, 201

gender stereotypes

ccording to the old ditty, boys are made of "frogs and snails" and girls are made of "sugar and spice and all that is nice." In the past, a well-adjusted boy was supposed to be independent, aggressive, and powerful. A well-adjusted girl was supposed to be dependent, nurturing, and uninterested in power. These notions reflect gender stereotypes, which are broad categories that reflect general impressions and beliefs about females and males. What are little boys made of? Frogs and snails And puppy-dogs' tails. What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice And all that is nice. —J. O. Halliwell English Author, 19th Century Recent research has found that gender stereotypes are, to a great extent, still present in today's world, in the lives of both children and adults (Biernat, 2017; Ellemers, 2018; Hyde, 2017; Leaper, 2015; Liben, 2017). Gender stereotyping continues to change during middle and late childhood and adolescence (Blakemore, Berenbaum, & Liben, 2009; Brannon, 2017). By the time children enter elementary school, they have considerable knowledge about which activities are linked with being male or female. Until about 7 to 8 years of age, gender stereotyping is extensive because young children don't recognize individual variations in masculinity and femininity. By 5 years of age, both boys and girls stereotype boys as powerful and in more negative terms, such as mean, and girls in more positive terms, such as nice (Martin & Ruble, 2010). Across the elementary school years, children become more flexible in their gender attitudes (Trautner & others, 2005). A study of 3- to 10-year-old U.S. children revealed that girls and older children used a higher percentage of gender stereotypes (Miller & others, 2009). In this study, appearance stereotypes were more prevalent on the part of girls while activity (sports, for example) and trait (aggressive, for example) stereotyping was more commonly engaged in by boys. Another study of 6- to 10-year-olds found that both boys and girls indicated math is for boys (Cvencek, Meltzoff, & Greenwald, 2011). Researchers also have found that boys' gender stereotypes are more rigid than girls' (Blakemore, Berenbaum, & Liben, 2009).

also known as developmental arithmetic disorder, is a learning disability that involves difficulty in math computation (McCaskey & others, 2017, 2018; Nelson & Powell, 2018).

dyscalculia

overweight children in middle childhood

eing overweight is an increasingly prevalent health problem in children (Blake, 2017; Donatelle, 2019; Smith & Collene, 2019). Recall that being overweight is defined in terms of body mass index (BMI), which is computed by a formula that takes into account height and weight—children at or above the 97th percentile are included in the obesity category, at or above the 95th percentile in the overweight category, and children at or above the 85th percentile are described as at risk for being overweight (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017b). Over the last three decades, the percentage of U.S. children who are at risk for being overweight has increased dramatically. Recently there has been a decrease in the percentage of 2- to 5-year-old children who are obese, which dropped from 12.1 percent in 2009-2010 to 9.4 percent in 2013-2014 (Ogden & others, 2016). In 2013-2014, 17.4 percent of 6- to 11-year-old U.S. children were classified as obese, essentially the same percentage as in 2009-2010 (Ogden & others, 2016). It is not just in the United States that children are becoming more overweight (Thompson, Manore, & Vaughan, 2017). For example, a study found that general and abdominal obesity in Chinese children increased significantly from 1993 to 2009 (Liang & others, 2012). Further, a recent Chinese study revealed that high blood pressure in 23 percent of boys and 15 percent of girls could be attributed to being overweight or obese (Dong & others, 2015).

developing self-understanding

elf-understanding becomes more complex in middle and late childhood (Carpendale & Lewis, 2015). From 8 to 11 years of age, children increasingly describe themselves in terms of psychological characteristics and traits, in contrast with the more concrete self-descriptions of younger children. For example, older children are more likely to describe themselves using adjectives such as "popular, nice, helpful, mean, smart, and dumb" (Harter, 2006, p. 526). In addition, during the elementary school years, children become more likely to recognize social aspects of the self (Harter, 2012, 2013, 2016). They include references to social groups in their self-descriptions, such as referring to themselves as a Girl Scout, a Catholic, or someone who has two close friends (Livesly & Bromley, 1973). Children's self-understanding in the elementary school years also includes increasing reference to social comparison (Harter, 2012, 2013). At this point in development, children are more likely to distinguish themselves from others in comparative rather than in absolute terms. That is, elementary-school-age children are no longer as likely to think about what they do or do not do, but are more likely to think about what they can do in comparison with others. developmental connection Identity In adolescence, individuals become more introspective and reflective in their self-understanding as they search for an identity. Connect to "Socioemotional Development in Adolescence." Consider a series of studies in which Diane Ruble (1983) investigated children's use of social comparison in their self-evaluations. Children were given a difficult task and then offered feedback on their performance, as well as information about the performances of other children their age. The children were then asked for self-evaluations. Children younger than 7 made virtually no reference to the information about other children's performances. However, many children older than 7 included socially comparative information in their self-descriptions. In sum, in middle and late childhood, self-description increasingly involves psychological and social characteristics, including social comparison.

gender in cotext

ender stereotypes describe people in terms of personality traits such as "aggressive" or "caring." However, the traits people display may vary with the situation (Leaper, 2015; Liben, 2017). Thus, the nature and extent of gender differences may depend on the context. Consider helping behavior. The stereotype is that females are better than males at helping. But it depends on the situation. Females are more likely than males to volunteer their time to help children with personal problems and to engage in caregiving behavior. However, in situations in which males feel a sense of competence and in circumstances that involve danger, males are more likely than females to help (Eagly & Crowley, 1986). For example, a male is more likely than a female to stop and help a person stranded by the roadside with a flat tire. Indeed, one study documented that males are more likely to help when the context is masculine in nature (MacGeorge, 2003). The importance of considering gender in context is nowhere more apparent than when examining what is culturally prescribed behavior for females and males in different countries around the world (Hyde & Else-Quest, 2013; UNICEF, 2016). Although there has been greater acceptance of androgyny and similarities in male and female behavior in the United States in recent years, in many countries gender roles have remained gender-specific. For example, in many Middle Eastern countries, the division of labor between males and females is dramatic. Males are socialized and schooled to work in the public sphere, females in the private world of home and child rearing. Also, in Iran the dominant view is that the man's duty is to provide for his family and the woman's is to care for her family and household. China also has been a male-dominant culture. Although women have made some strides in China, especially in urban areas, the male role is still dominant. Most males in China do not accept androgynous behavior or gender equity. In a recent study of eighth-grade students in 36 countries, in every country girls had more egalitarian attitudes about gender roles than did boys (Dotti Sani & Quaranta, 2015). In this study, girls had more egalitarian gender attitudes in countries with higher levels of societal gender equality. In another recent study of 15- to 19-year-olds in the country of Qatar, males had more negative views of gender equality than did females (Al-Ghanim & Badahdah, 2017).

causes of overweight children

eredity and environmental contexts are related to being overweight in childhood (Insel & Roth, 2018; Yanovski & Yanovski, 2018). Genetic analysis indicates that heredity is an important factor in children becoming overweight (Donatelle, 2019). Overweight parents tend to have overweight children (Pufal & others, 2012). For example, one study found that the greatest risk factor for being overweight at 9 years of age was having an overweight parent Page 270(Agras & others, 2004). Parents and their children often have similar body types, height, body fat composition, and metabolism (Pereira-Lancha & others, 2012). In a 14-year longitudinal study, parental weight change predicted children's weight change (Andriani, Liao, & Kuo, 2015). Environmental factors that influence whether children become overweight include the greater availability of food (especially food high in fat content), energy-saving devices, declining physical activity, parents' eating habits and monitoring of children's eating habits, the context in which a child eats, and heavy screen time (Ren & others, 2017). In a recent Japanese study, the family pattern that was linked to the highest risk of overweight/obesity in children was a combination of irregular mealtimes and the most screen time for both parents (Watanabe & others, 2016). Further, a recent study found that children were less likely to be obese or overweight when they attended schools in states that had a strong policy emphasis on healthy foods and beverages (Datar & Nicosia, 2017). Also, a behavior modification study of overweight and obese children made watching TV contingent on their engagement in exercise (Goldfield, 2012). The intervention markedly increased their exercise and reduced their TV viewing time.

self efficacy

he belief that one can master a Page 307situation and produce favorable outcomes is called self-efficacy. Albert Bandura (2001, 2008, 2010a, 2012) states that self-efficacy is a critical factor in whether or not students achieve. Self-efficacy is the belief that "I can"; helplessness is the belief that "I cannot." Students with high self-efficacy endorse such statements as "I know that I will be able to learn the material in this class" and "I expect to be able to do well at this activity." Dale Schunk (2016) has applied the concept of self-efficacy to many aspects of students' achievement. In his view, self-efficacy influences a student's choice of activities. Students with low self-efficacy for learning may avoid many learning tasks, especially those that are challenging. By contrast, their counterparts with high self-efficacy eagerly work at learning tasks (Schunk, 2016). Students with high self-efficacy are more likely to expend effort and persist longer at a learning task than students with low self-efficacy

emotional developmental changes

ges Developmental changes in emotions during the middle and late childhood years include the following (Denham, Bassett, & Wyatt, 2015; Calkins & Perry, 2016; Kuebli, 1994; Perry & Calkins, 2018; Thompson, 2015): Improved emotional understanding. For example, children in elementary school develop an increased ability to understand such complex emotions as pride and shame. These emotions become less tied to the reactions of other people; they become more self-generated and integrated with a sense of personal responsibility. Also, during middle and late childhood as part of their understanding of emotions, children can engage in "mental time travel," in which they anticipate and recall the cognitive and emotional aspects of events (Hjortsvang & Lagattuta, 2017; Kramer & Lagattuta, 2018; Lagattuta, 2014a, b; Lagattuta & others, 2015). Increased understanding that more than one emotion can be experienced in a particular situation. A third-grader, for example, may realize that achieving something might involve both anxiety and joy. Increased tendency to be aware of the events leading to emotional reactions. A fourth-grader may become aware that her sadness today is influenced by her friend moving to another town last week. Ability to suppress or conceal negative emotional reactions. A fifth-grader has learned to tone down his anger better than he used to when one of his classmates irritates him. The use of self-initiated strategies for redirecting feelings. In the elementary school years, children become more reflective about their emotional lives and increasingly use strategies to control their emotions. They become more effective at cognitively managing their emotions, such as soothing themselves after an upset. A capacity for genuine empathy. For example, a fourth-grader feels sympathy for a distressed person and experiences vicariously the sadness the distressed person is feeling.

percent of children involved in daily physical education programs

has decreased majorly

how many children are diagnosed with ADHD?

he number of children diagnosed and treated for ADHD has increased substantially in recent decades, by some estimates doubling in the 1990s. The American Psychiatric Association (2013) reported in the DSM-V that 5 percent of children have ADHD, although estimates are higher in community samples. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2016) estimates that ADHD has continued to increase in 4- to 17-year-old children from 8 percent in 2003 to 9.5 percent in 2007 and to 11 percent in 2016. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 13.2 percent of U.S. boys and 5.6 of U.S. girls have ever been diagnosed with ADHD. There is controversy, however, about the reasons for the increased diagnosis of ADHD (Friend, 2018; Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2019). Some experts attribute the increase mainly to heightened awareness of the disorder; others are concerned that many children are being incorrectly diagnosed (Watson & others, 2014).

body growth

he period of middle and late childhood involves slow, consistent growth (Hockenberry, Wilson, & Rodgers, 2017). This is a period of calm before the rapid growth spurt of adolescence. During the elementary school years, children grow an average of 2 to 3 inches a year until, at the age of 11, the average girl is 4 feet, 10 inches tall, and the average boy is 4 feet, 9 inches tall. During the middle and late childhood years, children gain about 5 to 7 pounds a year. The weight increase is due mainly to increases in the size of the skeletal and muscular systems, as well as the size of some body organs. developmental connection Brain Development Synaptic pruning is an important aspect of the brain's development, and the pruning varies by brain region across children's development. Connect to "Physical Development in Infancy." Proportional changes are among the most pronounced physical changes in middle and late childhood. Head circumference and waist circumference decrease in relation to body height (Kliegman & others, 2016; Perry & others, 2018). A less noticeable physical change is that bones continue to ossify during middle and late childhood but yield to pressure and pull more than mature bones.

causes and interventions for learning disabilities

he precise causes of learning disabilities have not yet been determined (Friend, 2018). Researchers have used brain-imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging, to explore whether specific regions of the brain might be involved in learning disabilities (Ramus & others, 2018; Shaywitz, Lyon, & Shaywitz, 2006) (see Figure 4). This research indicates that it is unlikely learning disabilities reside in a single, specific brain location. More likely, learning disabilities involve difficulty integrating information from multiple brain regions or subtle impairments in brain structures and functions. FIGURE 4 BRAIN SCANS AND LEARNING DISABILITIES. An increasing number of studies are using MRI brain scans to examine the brain pathways involved in learning disabilities. Shown here is 9-year-old Patrick Price, who has dyslexia. Patrick is going through an MRI scanner disguised by drapes to look like a child-friendly castle. Inside the scanner, children must lie virtually motionless as words and symbols flash on a screen, and they are asked to identify them by clicking different buttons. ©Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Images Interventions with children who have a learning disability often focus on improving reading ability (Cunningham, 2017; Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2017; Temple & others, 2018). Intensive instruction over a period of time by a competent teacher can help many children (Thompson & others, 2017).

bullying

ignificant numbers of students are victimized by bullies (Hall, 2017; Muijs, 2017; Salmivalli & Peets, 2018; Wang & others, 2017; Zarate-Garza & others, 2017). In a survey of 15,000 sixth- through tenth-grade students, nearly one-third said that they had experienced occasional or frequent involvement as a victim or perpetrator in bullying (Nansel & others, 2001). Bullying was defined as verbal or physical behavior intended to disturb someone less powerful. Being belittled about looks or speech was the most frequent type of bullying (see Figure 2). Boys are more likely to be bullies than girls, but gender differences regarding victims of bullies are less clear (Peets, Hodges, & Salmivalli, 2011). In the study boys and younger middle school students were most likely to be bullied (Nansel & others, 2001). Bullied children reported more loneliness and difficulty in making friends, while those who did the bullying were more likely to have low grades and to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol. FIGURE 2 BULLYING BEHAVIORS AMONG U.S. YOUTH. This graph shows the types of bullying most often experienced by U.S. youth. The percentages reflect the extent to which bullied students said that they had experienced a particular type of bullying. In terms of gender, note that when they were bullied, boys were more likely to be hit, slapped, or pushed than girls were. Anxious, socially withdrawn, and aggressive children Page 323are often the victims of bullying (Coplan & others, 2018; Rubin & Barstead, 2018). Anxious and socially withdrawn children may be victimized because they are nonthreatening and unlikely to retaliate if bullied, whereas aggressive children may be the targets of bullying because their behavior is irritating to bullies. Overweight and obese children are often bullied (Bacchini & others, 2017; Gibson & others, 2017). Social contexts such as poverty, family, school, and peer groups also influence bullying (Prinstein & Giletta, 2016; Salmivalli & Peets, 2018; Troop-Gordon, 2017). A meta-analysis indicated that positive parenting behavior (including having good communication, a warm relationship, being involved, and engaging in supervision of their children) and negative parenting behavior (including child maltreatment—physical abuse and neglect), was related to a greater likelihood of becoming either a bully/victim or a victim at school (Lereya, Samara, & Wolke, 2013). Who is likely to be bullied? What are some outcomes of bullying? ©Photodisc/Getty Images The social context of the peer group also plays an important role in bullying (Salmivalli & Peets, 2018; Troop-Gordon, 2017). Seventy to 80 percent of victims and their bullies are in the same classroom (Salmivalli & Peets, 2009). Classmates are often aware of bullying incidents (Barhight & others, 2017). Bullies often torment victims to gain higher status in the peer group and need others to witness their power displays. Many bullies are not rejected by the peer group. A longitudinal study explored the costs and benefits of bullying in the context of the peer group (Reijntjes & others, 2013). Although young bullies were on a developmental trajectory that over the long run was problematic, the shorter-term personal benefits of bullying often outweighed the disadvantages. Frequent bullying was linked to high social status as indexed by perceived popularity in the peer group, and bullies also were characterized by self-perceived personal competence. Peer victimization in the fifth grade has been associated with worse physical and mental health in the tenth grade (Bogart & others, 2014). Children who are bullied are more likely to experience depression, engage in suicidal ideation, and attempt suicide than their counterparts who have not been the victims of bullying (Undheim & Sund, 2013; Yen & others, 2014). Peer victimization during the elementary school years has been linked to stress and suicidal ideation (Kowalski & others, 2014). One study indicated that peer victimization during the elementary school years was a leading indicator of internalizing problems (depression, for example) in adolescence (Schwartz & others, 2015). Also, a longitudinal study found that children who were bullied at 6 years of age were more likely to have excess weight gain when they were 12 to 13 years of age (Sutin & others, 2016). Further, a longitudinal study of 6,000 children found that children who were the victims of peer bullying from 4 to 10 years of age were more likely to engage in suicidal ideation at 11½ years of age (Winsper & others, 2012). And a research analysis concluded that bullying can have long-term effects, including difficulty in forming lasting relationships and problems in the workplace (Wolke & Lereya, 2015). Longitudinal studies have indicated that victims bullied in childhood and adolescence have higher rates of agoraphobia (an abnormal fear of being in public, open, and crowded places), depression, anxiety, panic disorder, and suicidality in their early to mid-twenties compared with those who have not been bullied in childhood and adolescence (Arseneault, 2017; Copeland & others, 2013). In addition, another recent study revealed that being a victim of bullying in childhood was linked to increased use of mental health services by the victims five decades later (Evans-Lacko & others, 2017). An increasing concern is peer bullying and harassment on the Internet (called cyberbullying) (Vollink, Dehue, & McGuckin, 2016; Wolke, Lee, & Guy, 2017). A study involving third- to sixth-graders revealed that engaging in cyber aggression was related to loneliness, lower self-esteem, fewer mutual friendships, and lower peer popularity (Schoffstall & Cohen, 2011). A meta-analysis concluded that being the victim of cyberbullying was linked to stress and suicidal ideation (Kowalski & others, 2014), and another study found it was more strongly associated with suicidal ideation than traditional bullying was (van Geel, Vedder, & Tanilon, 2014). One meta-analysis revealed that cyberbullying occurred twice as much as traditional bullying and that those who engaged in cyberbullying were likely to also have engaged in traditional bullying (Modecki & others, 2014). Further, a longitudinal study found that adolescents experiencing social and emotional difficulties were more likely to be both cyberbullied and traditionally bullied than to be traditionally bullied only (Cross, Lester, & Barnes, 2015). Adolescents targeted in both ways stayed away from school more than their counterparts who were traditionally bullied only. And a recent study revealed that adolescents who were bullied both in a direct way and through Page 324cyberbullying had more behavioral problems and lower self-esteem than adolescents who were only bullied in one of these two ways (Wolke, Lee, & Guy, 2017). Information about preventing cyberbullying can be found at www.stopcyberbullying.org/. Also, an excellent book on the topic is Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying (Hinduja & Patchin, 2015). Increasing interest is being directed to finding ways to prevent and treat bullying and victimization (Gower, Cousin, & Borowsky, 2017; Hall, 2017; Menesini & Salmivalli, 2017; Muijs, 2017; Salmivalli & Peets, 2018). School-based interventions vary greatly, ranging from involving the whole school in an antibullying campaign to providing individualized social skills training (Alsaker & Valanover, 2012). One of the most promising bullying intervention programs has been created by Dan Olweus (2003, 2013). This program focuses on 6- to 15-year-olds with the goal of decreasing opportunities and rewards for bullying. School staff are instructed in ways to improve peer relations and make schools safer. When properly implemented, the program reduces bullying by 30 to 70 percent (Ericson, 2001; Olweus, 2003). Information on how to implement the program can be obtained from the Center for the Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado (www.blueprintsprograms.com). A research review concluded that interventions focused on the whole school, such as Olweus', are more effective than interventions involving classroom curricula or social skills training (Cantone & others, 2015).

types of cancer

leukemia brain lymphoma neuroblastoma bone kidney muscle other

when is autism diagnosed/

lso, in recent surveys, only a minority of parents reported that their child's autistic spectrum disorder was identified prior to 3 years of age and that one-third to one-half of the cases were identified after 6 years of age (Sheldrick, Maye, & Carter, 2017). However, researchers are conducting studies that seek to identify earlier determinants of autism spectrum disorders (Reiersen, 2017).

why is exercise important?

merican children and adolescents are not getting enough exercise (Powers & Dodd, 2017; Powers & Howley, 2018). Increasing children's exercise levels has a number of positive outcomes (Dumuid & others, 2017; Walton-Fisette & Wuest, 2018). What are some good strategies for increasing children's exercise? ©Randy Pench/Zuma Press/Newscom An increasing number of studies document the importance of exercise in children's physical development (Dowda & others, 2017; Martin & others, 2018; Pan & others, 2017; Yan & others, 2018). A recent study of more than 6,000 elementary school children revealed that 55 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily was associated with a lower incidence of obesity (Nemet, 2016). Further, a research review concluded that exercise programs with a frequency of three weekly sessions lasting longer than 60 minutes were effective in lowering both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (Garcia-Hermoso, Saavedra, & Escalante, 2013).

social emotional education programs

n increasing number of social-emotional educational programs have been developed to improve many aspects of children's and adolescents' lives. Two such programs are the Second Step program created by the Committee for Children (2018) and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL, 2018). Many social-emotional education programs only target young children, but Second Step can be implemented in pre-K through eighth grade and CASEL can used with pre-K through twelfth-grade students. Children in a Second Step program. How does this program work to improve children's social and emotional skills? ©Elizabeth D. Herman/The New York Times/Redux Second Step focuses on these aspects of social-emotional learning from pre-K through the eighth grade: (1) pre-K: self-regulation and executive function skills that improve their attention and help them control their behavior; (2) K-grade 5: making friends, self-regulation of emotion, and solving problems; and (3) grades 6-8: communication skills, coping with stress, and decision making to avoid engaging in problem behaviors. CASEL targets five core social and emotional learning Page 309domains: (1) self-awareness (recognizing one's emotions and how they affect behavior, for example); (2) self-management (self-control, coping with stress, and impulse control, for example); (3) social awareness (perspective taking and empathy, for example); (4) relationship skills (developing positive relationships and communicating effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds, for example); and (5) responsible decision making (engaging in ethical behavior, and understanding the consequences of one's actions, for example).

what brain pattern contributes to increase in motor skills?

ncreased myelination of the central nervous system is reflected in the improvement of fine motor skills during middle and late childhood. Children can more adroitly use their hands as tools. Six-year-olds can hammer, paste, tie shoes, and fasten clothes. By 7 years of age, children's hands have become steadier. At this age, children prefer a pencil to a crayon for printing, and reversal of letters is less common. Printing becomes smaller. At 8 to 10 years of age, the hands can be used independently with more ease and precision. Fine motor coordination develops to the point at which children can write rather than print words. Cursive letter size becomes smaller and more even. At 10 to 12 years of age, children begin to show manipulative skills similar to the abilities of adults. They can master the complex, intricate, and rapid movements needed to produce fine-quality crafts or to play a difficult piece on a musical instrument. Girls usually outperform boys in their use of fine motor skills.

overall growth

ontinued change characterizes children's bodies during middle and late childhood, and their motor skills improve. As children move through the elementary school years, they gain greater control over their bodies and can sit and keep their attention focused for longer periods of time. Regular exercise is one key to making these years a time of healthy growth and development.

general health

or the most part, middle and late childhood is a time of excellent health. Disease and death are less prevalent at this time than during other periods in childhood and in adolescence. However, many children in middle and late childhood face health problems that harm their development.

emotional development

reschoolers become more adept at talking about their own and others' emotions. They also show a growing awareness of the need to control and manage their emotions to meet social standards. In middle and late childhood, children further develop their understanding and self-regulation of emotion (Calkins & Perry, 2016; Cole & Hollenstein, 2018; Cole, Lougheed, & Ram, 2018; Morris & others, 2018). In a recent study, a low level of emotion regulation in childhood was especially important in predicting a higher level of externalizing problems in adolescence (Perry & others, 2017).

friends

riendship is an important aspect of children's development (Bagwell & Bukowski, 2018; Rubin & Barstead, 2018; Smetana & Ball, 2018). Like adult friendships, children's friendships are typically characterized by similarity (Prinstein & Giletta, 2016). Throughout childhood, friends are more similar than dissimilar in terms of age, sex, race, and many other factors. Friends often have similar attitudes toward school, similar educational aspirations, and closely aligned achievement orientations. What are some characteristics of children's friendships? ©Design Pics/Don Hammond Willard Hartup (1983, 1996, 2009) has studied peer relations and friendship for more than three decades. He concludes that friends provide cognitive and emotional resources from childhood through old age, such as fostering self-esteem and a sense of well-being. More specifically, children's friendships can serve six functions (Gottman & Parker, 1987): Companionship. Friendship provides children with a familiar partner and playmate, someone who is willing to spend time with them and join in collaborative activities. Stimulation. Friendship provides children with interesting information, excitement, and amusement. Physical support. Friendship provides resources and assistance. Ego support. Friendship provides the expectation of support, encouragement, and feedback, which helps children maintain an impression of themselves as competent, attractive, and worthwhile individuals. Social comparison. Friendship provides information about where the child stands vis-à-vis others and whether the child is doing okay. Affection and intimacy. Friendship provides children with a warm, close, trusting relationship with another individual. Intimacy in friendships is characterized by self-disclosure and the sharing of private thoughts. Research suggests that intimate friendships may not appear until early adolescence (Berndt & Perry, 1990). Although having friends can be a developmental advantage, friendships are not all alike (Bagwell & Bukowski, 2018; de la Haye & others, 2017; Smetana & Ball, 2018; Zhang & others, 2018). People differ in the company they keep—that is, who their friends are. Developmental advantages occur when children have friends who are socially skilled and supportive (Chow, Tan, & Buhrmester, 2015; Laursen, 2018; Kindermann & Gest, 2018; Schneider, 2016). However, it is not developmentally advantageous to have coercive and conflict-ridden friendships (Laursen & Adams, 2018). One study found that students who engaged in classroom aggressive-disruptive behavior were more likely to have aggressive friends (Powers & Bierman, 2013). developmental connection Peers Beginning in early adolescence, teenagers typically prefer to have a smaller number of friendships that are more intense and intimate. Connect to "Socioemotional Development in Adolescence." Friendship also plays an important role in children's emotional well-being and academic success (Ryan & Shin, 2018). Students with friends who are academically oriented are more likely to achieve success in school themselves (Wentzel & Ramani, 2016). Page 325

developmental changes in parent-child relationships

s children move into the middle and late childhood years, parents spend considerably less time with them (Grusec, 2017; Pomerantz & Grolnick, 2017). In one study, parents spent less than half as much time with their children aged 5 to 12 in caregiving, instruction, reading, talking, and playing as they did when the children were younger (Hill & Stafford, 1980). However, parents continue to be extremely important in their children's lives. One analysis concluded: "Parents serve as gatekeepers and provide scaffolding as children assume more responsibility for themselves and . . . regulate their own lives" (Huston & Ripke, 2006, p. 422). Parents especially play an important role in supporting and stimulating children's academic achievement in middle and late childhood (Lansford & others, 2018; Longo & others, 2017). The value parents place on education can determine whether children do well in school. Parents not only influence children's in-school achievement, but they also make decisions about children's out-of-school activities. Whether children participate in sports, music, and other activities is heavily influenced by the extent to which parents sign up children for such activities and encourage their participation (Simpkins, Fredricks, & Eccles, 2015). What are some changes in the focus of parent-child relationships in middle and late childhood? ©Radius Images/Getty Images Elementary school children tend to receive less physical discipline than preschoolers. Instead of spanking or coercive holding, their parents are more likely to use deprivation of privileges, appeals to the child's self-esteem, comments designed to increase the child's sense of guilt, and statements that the child is responsible for his or her actions. During middle and late childhood, some control is transferred from parent to child. A gradual process, it produces coregulation rather than control by either the child or the parent alone. Parents continue to exercise general supervision and control, while children are allowed to engage in moment-to-moment self-regulation. The major shift to autonomy Page 319does not occur until about the age of 12 or later. A key developmental task as children move toward autonomy is learning to relate to adults outside the family on a regular basis—adults such as teachers who interact with children much differently from their parents.

health concerns in middle childhood

§Most common cause of severe injury and death: motor vehicle accidents §Other injury causes: skateboards, roller skates, and other sports Safety helmets, protective eye , shields, padding

who are children with disabilities?

•10% of all children in the U.S. receive special education •Of ALL children with disabilities: •50% learning disability •21% speech or language impairments. •12% intellectual disability •9% serious emotional disturbance. •Three times as many boys as girls are classified as having a learning disability.

rates and stats of obesity and overweight

•18.5 % of children 6-19 are obese •Tripled for children and adolescents in last 20 years. •Obesity= •BMI (kg/m2) > 95th percentile (gender and age growth charts).

exercise inc hildhood

•62% of children ages 9-13 do not participate in any organized physical activity in non-school hours •23% do not engage in any free-time physical activity. •43% of adolescents watch more than 2 hours of television each day.

cancer in middle childhood

•Cancer is the second leading cause of death in children 5-14 years of age. •Currently 1 in every 330 children in the U.S. develops cancer before the age of 19. •Incidence is increasing. •Mainly those of the white blood cells, brain, bone, lymph system, muscles, kidneys, and nervous system.

Dodge's model

•Children go through 5 steps in processing information about their social world •Encode social cues •Interpret social cues •Search for response •Select an optimal response •Enact appropriate response

WHat are learning disabilities?

•Children with a learning disability: •are of normal intelligence or above. •have difficulties in at least one academic area and usually several. •ADHD is considered a learning disability in the school context. •ADHD

Motor development in middle childhood

•Gross Motor: •Smoother, more coordinated. •Fine Motor: • Improved, fine-tuned •Hands used as Tools: •Hammering, pasting, tying shoes, and fastening clothes. •10-12 years: •manipulative skills similar to adults.

Social and emotional development in middle childhood

•Increased ability to understand complex emotions •Increased understanding of multiple emotions in single situation •Increased ability to suppress or conceal negative emotional reactions •Use of self-initiated strategies for redirecting feelings

social cognition in middle childhood

•Involves thoughts about social matters. •Peer relations •Children need to know what scripts to follow to get other children to be their friends.

transition to elementary school

•New role as student •New relationships, new reference groups, and new standards for judging themselves. •Emerging concern: New evidence that early schooling proceeds mainly on the basis of negative feedback. •Vygotsyky: ZPD with scaffolding

risks of being overweight

•Overweight adolescents : 70% chance of overweight in adulthood •Risk of heart disease and high cholesterol •Type 2 diabetes increased dramatically. •Some forms of cancer. •Social consequences