ch 7 physical and cognitive development in middle and late childhood

scope of disabilities

-12.9% from 3-21 years of age received special education or related services in 2012-2013 an increase of 3% since 1980s -students with learning disabilities largest group of students who received special education followed by children with speech or language impairments, autism, intellectual disabilities, and emotional disturbance -US department of education includes both students with a learning disability and students with add in category of learning disability

exercise

-55 min or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily was associated with lower incidence of obesity -aerobic exercise benefits childrens attention, memory, effortful and goal directed thinking and behavior, creativity, and academic success -physical activity programs linked to improvements in childrens attention, executive function, and academic achievement -growing up with parents who exercise regularly provides positive models -school based physical activity was successful in improving childrens fitness and lowering their fat content

concrete operational stage

-7-11 years children can perform concrete operations and they can reason logically as long as reasoning can be applied to specific or concrete operations -ability to classify or divide things into different sets or subsets and to consider interrelationshops

working memory

-Alan Baddeley defines it as a kind of mental "workbench" where individuals manipulate and assemble info when they make decisions, solve problems, and comprehend written and spoken language -more active and powerful in modifying info than short term memory -involves bringing to mind and mental working with or updating it -develops slow by 8 years children can only hold in memory half the items adults can -better working memory are more advanced in language comprehension, math skills, problem solving, and reasoning -linked to acquisition in both first and second language learners of morphology, syntax, and grammar

bilingual education

-ELLs have been taught instruction in english only or a dual language approach that involves instruction in their home language and english -dual lingual strategy criticized because bilingual children have more advanced info processing skills than monolingual children do -takes immigrant children 3-5 years to develop speaking proficiently and 7 years to develop reading proficiency in english -children coming from low socioeconomic backgrounds have more difficulty than those from higher backgrounds -the quality of instruction is more important in determining outcomes than the language in which it is delivered -other experts support combined home language and english approach because 1. children have difficulty learning a subject when it is tight in a language they don't understand and 2. when both languages are integrated in the classroom children learn second language more readily and participate more actively

individualized education plan (IEP) and least restrictive environment (LRE)

-IEP: written statement that spells out a program that is specifically tailored for a student with a disability -LRE: setting that is as similar as possible to the one in which children who do not have a disability are educated -inclusion: educating a child with special educational needs full-time in regular calssroom -2014 61% of students spent more than 80% of school fay in a general classroom

intellectual disability

-a condition of limited mental ability in which an individual has a low IQ usually below 70 and has difficulty adapting to the demands of everyday life -89% fall into mid intellectual with IQs 55-70; most are able to live independently as adults and work variety of jobs -6% classified as having modular intellectual disability with IQs 40-54; may be able to support themselves as adults through some types of labor -3.5% severe category with IQs 29-39; individuals learn to talk and accomplish simple tasks bt require extensive supervision -less than 1% have IQs below 35 they fall into profoundly disabled classification and need constant supervision

intelligence

-ability to solve problems and adapt and learn from experiences, focused on individual differences and assessment -individual differences: stable, consistent ways in which people differ from each other -domain of intelligence that the most attention has ben directed at

creative thinking

-ability to think in novel and unusual ways and to come up with unique solutions to problems -children show more creativity in some domains than others -declne in US from amount of time spent watching tv and playing video games instead of engaging in creative activities, as well as lack of emphasis on creative thinking skills in schools

giftedness

-above average intelligence (130 or higher) or superior talent for something, or both -approximately 6-10% of us students -lewis merman found when he conducted a study of 1500 children with IQ scores above 150 -children in his study were well adjusted, and many went on to become doctors, lawyers, scientists -tend to be more mature, have fewer emotional problems, grow up in positive family climates; children who did have problems were more likely to be internalized (anxiety an depression)

evaluating piagets concrete operational stage

-according to piaget various aspects of a stage should emerge at the same time; however some concrete operational abilities do not appear in synchrony (children do not learn to conserve at same time they can cross-classify) -education and culture exert stronger influence on childrens development than piaget reasoned -non-piagetians argue his theory needs revision; give more emphasis to how children use attention, memory, and strategies to process info, they believe more accurate portrayal of thinking requires attention to childrens strategies, the speed at which children process info, the particular task involved, and the division of problems into smaller more precise steps

group differences

-african americans in US score 10-15 points lower than non latino white american -latino children also score lower -15-25% of african american school children score higher than half of white children do -gap narrows in college where african americans and white students experience more similar environments -binet scales found no differences in overall intellectual ability between non latino white children and african american preschool children when children were matched on age, gender, and parental education level -stereotype threat: anxiety that ones behavior might confirm a negative stereotype about ones group -african american students do more poorly on tests if they percieve they are being evaluated, they perform as well as white students if they think the test doesn't count

the brain

-brain volume stabilizes by the end of late childhood but changes in structures and regions in the brain continue to occur -shift in activation that occurs is from diffuse, larger areas to more focal smaller areas; characterized by synaptic pruning where areas not being used lose synaptic connections -less diffusion and more focal activation in prefrontal cortex from 7-30 years -shift accompanied by increased efficiency in cognitive performance, especially cognitive control which involves more effective control and flexibility in number of areas -prefrontal cortex coordinates which neural connections are most effective for solving a problem at hand -connectivity between brain regions increases as children develop -connection between prefrontal and parietal lobes in childhood linked to better reasoning ability later in development

vocabulary, grammer, and metalinguistic awareness

-categorizing becomes easier as children increase vocab -increases from about 14000 words at age 6 to 40,000 words by 11 -increasingly able to understand and use complex grammar, learn to use language in a more connected way, producing connected discourse; become able to relate sentences to one another to produce descriptions, definitions, and narratives that make sense -must be able to do things orally first

adhd continued

-children may inherit tendency to develop ADHD from parents, others because of damage to their brain during prenatal or postnatal development; exposure to alcohol and cigarettes, and high levels of maternal stress and depression -peak thickness of cerebral cortex occurred 3 years later in children with ADHD ; the delay was more prominent in prefrontal regions (attention and planning), dallied development of frontal lobe due to decreased myelination -delays linked to executive function -ritalin or adderall effective in improving attention of children -combo of meds with behavior management improves behavior of children with ADHD better than meds alone

metacognition

-cognition about cognition, focused on metamemory or knowledge about memory -includes general knowledge about memory and knowledge about ones own memory -several dimensions of executive functioning such as planning and self regulation -involves childrens confidence in their eyewitness judgements 5-6 children know familiar items are easier to learn than unfamilar items, short lists are easier to learn than long, recognition is esier than recall, forgetting is more likely to occur over time -dont understand related items are easier to remember than unrelated ones ad remembering gist of story is easier than remembering info verbatim -understand gist is easier by 5th grade

intervention programs

-combo of diet, exercise, and behavior modification is often recommended to help children lose weight -intervention programs that emphasize getting parents to engage in healthier lifestyles themselves, as well as to offer their children healthier food choices and persuade them to exercise more, can produce weight reduction in overweight and obese children

culture and intelligence

-conceptions of intelligence differ among cultures -western cultures view intelligence in terms of reasoning and thinking skills -eastern cultures see intelligence as a way for members of a community to engage successfully in social roles

strategies

-consist of deliberate mental activities to improve the processing of info 1. guide children to elaborate about info they are to remember: elaboration involves more extensive processing of the info such as thinking of examples or relating info to ones own life and makes info more meaningful 2. encourage children to engage in mental imagery: helps even young school children to remember visuals 3. motivate children to remember material by understanding it rather than memorizing it: rehearsal works well for encoding info to short term memory but less for long term 4. repeat and vary instructional info and link it to other info early and often: improves childrens consolidation and reconsolidation of info they are learning 5. embed memory-relevant language when instructing children: using mnemonic devices

autism continued

-deficits in cognitive processing of info -lower level of working memory was executive function most strongly associated with autism spectrum disorders -intellectual disability present in some children others show average or above average intelligence -autism is a brain dysfunction characterized by abnormalites in brain structure and neurotransmitters -focused on lack of connectivity between brain regions as a key factor in autism -genetic factors play a role but there is no evidence that family socialization causes autism -benefit from well-structured classroom, individualized teaching, and small group intstruction

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

-disability in which children show one of more of these characteristics over time: 1. inattention 2. hyperactivity 3. impulsivity -can be diagnosed as 1. ADHD with predominantly inattention 2. ADHD with predominantly hyperactivity/impulsivety and 3. ADHD with both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity -American Psychiatric Association reported in DSM-V that 5% of children have ADHD -Centers for disease control and prevention state 13.2% of US boys and 5.6% of US girls have been diagnosed -attribute increased diagnosis to be from heightened awareness others believe children might be falsely diagnosed -increased risk of lower academic achievement, problematic peer relations, school dropout, adolescent pregnancy, substance use problems, and antisocial behavior -associated with long term underachievement in math and reading -girls with ADHD had more problems with friendship, peer interaction, social skills, and peer victimization -failure to complete high school, other mental and substance abuse disorders, criminal activity, and unemployment; were more likely to become parents at 12-16 years

types of learning disabilities

-dyslexia: individuals who have a severe impairment in ability to read and spell -dysgraphia: involves difficulty in handwriting, children may write very slowly, their writing may be ineligible, and they may make many spelling errors -dyscalculia: developmental arithmetic disorder involves difficulty in math computation

knowledge and expertise

-extensive knowledge about a particular content area; this knowledge influences what they notice and how they organize, represent, and interpret info -in turn effects ability to remember, reason, and solve problems -when individuals have expertise about a particular subject their memory tends to be good regarding material related to that subject (young chess expert knows more about chess than college student) -older children have more expertise about a subject than younger children which can contribute to their better memory for the subject

learning disabilities

-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; may involve difficulty in doing math -to classify as learning disability the learning problem is not primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; intellectual disability; emotional disorders; or environemental, cultural, or economic disadvantage -3X as many boys as girls -boys more likely than girls to be referred by teachers for treatment because troublesome behavior -approx 80% of children with learning disability have a reading problem -magnetic resonance imaging used to reveal regions of brain affected and indicates learning abilities reside in multiple locations -due to problems integrating info from multiple brain regions or subtle difficulties in brain structures and functions

causes of being overweight during childhood

-heredity and environmental contexts are related to being overweight in childood -overweight parents tend to have overweight children -environmental factors include availability of food, energy saving devices, declining physical activity, parents eating habits and monitoring of childrens eating habits, the context in which a child eats, and have screen tie -japanese study found irregular mealtimes and most screen time for both parents had greatest rate of obesity -children less likely to be obese when they attended schools in states that had a strong policy emphasis on healthy foods and beverages -55min + of daily activity associated with lower incidence of obesity

critical thinking

-involves thinking reflectively and productively and evaluating evidence -Brooks and Brooks view schools spend too much time getting students to give a single correct answer in an imitative way rather than encouraging them to expand their thinking by coming up with new ideas and rethinking earlier conclusions -too often teachers ask students to recite, define, describe, state, and list, rather analyze, infer, connect, synthesize, criticize, create, evaluate, think, and rethink -mindfullness important mental process that children can engage in to improve number of cognitive and socioemtional skills like executive function, focused attention, emotion regulation, and empathy -mindfullness training could be implanted in schools through practices such as using age appropriate activities that increase childrens reflection on moment to moment experiences and result in improved self regulation

metalinguistic awareness

-knowledge about language, such as knowing what a preposition is or being able to discuss sounds of a langauge -allows children to think about their language, understand what words are, and define them -improves during elementary school years

second language learning

-late language learners may learn new vocab more easily than new sounds or new grammer -childrens abilities to pronounce words with native like accent decreases with age with especially sharp drop after 10-12 -adults learn second language faster but level of mastery is not as high as childrens -children less sensitive to feedback, less likely to use explicit strategies and more likely to learn second language from amounts of input -US only nation that does not have national foreign language requirement -children fluent in 2 languages perform better on tests of control of attention, concept formation, analytical reasoning, cognitive flexibility , and cognitive complexity -bilangual children better at theory of mind tasks, more conscious of structure of spoken and written language language and are better at noticing errors of grammar and meaning skills that benefit their reading ability

body growth and change

-middle and late childhood involves slow consistant growth -elementary school years children grow 2-3in a year until 11 average girl 4 10 and boy 4 9 -middle late childhood children gain 5-7lb a year -head and waist circumference decrease in relation to body height -muscle mass and strength gradually increase during these years as baby fat decreases -children double their strength capabilities during these years -boys usually stronger due to greater number of muscle cells

executive function

-most important factors for 4-11 year olds cognitive development and schools success: 1. self control/inhibition: children need to develop self control to allow them to concentrate and persist on learning tasks, to inhibit their tendencies to repeat incorrect responses, and to rest the impulse to do something they'd later regret 2. working memory: children need effective working memory to mentally with work masses of info they encounter 3. flexibility: need to be flexiible in thinking so as to consider different strategies and perspectives -better predictor of school readiness than general IQ -computarized training, aerobic exercise, mindfulness, scaffolding of self regulation, and some types of school curricula improve this

autism spectrum disorders (pervasive development disorders)

-most severe=autistic disorder, mild disorder=asperger syndrome -characterized by problems in social interaction, problems in verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors; may show atypical responses to sensory experiences -detected in children as young as 1-3 years -once thought to affect only 1 in 2,500, then present 1 in 150, 1 in 68 of eight year old children -5X more often in boys than in girls and 8% aged 3-21 were receiving special education services -identified during early or middle childhood

piagets cognitive developmental theory

-preschool childs thought is preoperational -preschool children can form stable concepts and they ave begun to reason but their thinking is flawed by egocentrism and magical belief systems -piaget may have underestimated cognitive skills of preschool children -researchers believe under right conditions young children may display abilites that are characteristic of piagets next stage cognitive development, the stage of concrete operational thought

environmental influences

-reflected in 12-18 point increase in IQ when children are adopted from lower SES to middle SES homes -also involve schooling -biggest effects found when large groups of children have been deprived of formal education for an extended period, resulting in lower intelligence -flynn effect: worldwide increase in intelligence scores

motor development

-running, climbing, skipping rope, swimming, bicycling, and skating -in gross motor schools that involve large muscle activity boys outperform girls -increased myelination of CNS reflected in improvement of fine motor skills during late and middle childhood -6 year olds can hammer, paste, tie shoes, and fasten clothes -7 childrens hands become steadier and children prefer a pencil to a crayon for printing and they reverse letters less often -8-10 can use hands independently with more ease and precision -fine motor coordination develops to the point at which children can write rather than print words -10-12 children show manipulative skills similar to adults; they can master the complex, indicate, and rapid movements needed to produce fine-quality crafts or to play difficult piece on a musial instrument -girls outperform boys in fine motor skills

verbal subscales

-similarites: child must think logically and abstractly to answer a number of questions about how things might be similar (how are lion and tiger alike) -comprehension: sub scale designed to measure an individuals judgement and common sense (what is advantage of keeping money in a bank)

influence of genetics

-some argue heredity plays strong role in intelligence but assertion is difficult to prove because teasing apart the influences of heredity and environment is impossible -most research on heredity and environment does not include environments that differ radically -may be over 1,000 genes that affect intelligence: strong genetic component to intelligence -one strategy compares IQ of identical and fraternal twins (if genetically determined identical twins should have more similar IQ level) -modifications in environment can change IQ scores -genetic endowment may infleunce a persons intellectual ability, environmental influences and opportunites we provide children and adults makes a difference

sternbergs triarchic theory

-states intelligence comes in 3 forms: 1. analytic intelligence: ability to analyze, judge, evaluate, compare, and contrast 2. creative intelligence: consists of ability to create, design, invent, originate, and imagine 3. practical intelligence: involves ability to use, apply, implement, and put ideas into practice -students with high analytic ability favored in conventional schooling, do well under direct instruction, smart students who get good grades, show up in high level trans, do well on traditional tests, and get admitted to competitive colleges -high creative intelligence: not top of class, students may not conform to expectations of how assignments should be done, give unique answers -practically intelligent: do not relate well to demands of school, do well outside classroom, excellent social skills and good common sense, become successful managers, entrepreneurs, or politicians

fuzzy trace theory (brainerd and reyna)

-states memory is best understood by considering two types of memory representation 1. verbatim memory trae and 2. gist -verbatim memory trace: consists of precise details of info -gist: refers to central idea of info -when gist is used fizzy traces are built up -young children store and retrieve verbatim traces -during early elementary school years children use gist more and this contributes to improved memory and reasoning of older children because fuzzy traces are more enduring and less likely to be forgotten

evaluating multiple intelligence approaches

-sternberg and gardners approaches motivated educators to develop programs that instruct students in multiple domains and contributed to interest in assessing intelligence and classroom learning in innovative ways -critics argue a research base to support 3 or 8 intelligences has not yet been emerged (individuals who do well at memorizing lists also likely to be good at solving verbal problems and spatial layout problems -advocates point to its accuracy in predicting school and job success

educational issues

-until 1970s most public schools reused enrollment to children with disabilities or inadequently served them -1975 public law 94-142, the education for all handicapped children act: required all students be given free, appropriate public education -1990 individuals with disabilities education act recast public law, was amended in 1997, and then reauthorized in 2004 and renamed individuals with disabiilities education improvement act -IDEA spells out broad mandates for providing educational services for children with disabilities of all kinds -services include evaluation and eligibility determination, appropriate education and an individualized education plan and education in the least restrictive environment -kauffman advocate a more individualized approach that does not involve full inclusion but allows options such as special education outside the regular classroom with trained professionals

wechsler scales

-used to assess students intelligence, developed by david wechsler -includes wechsler preschool and primary scale of intelligence- fourth edition to test children from 2.5-7.25 years -fifth edition for children and adolescents 6-16 -not only provides overall IQ but yields 5 composite scores to allow examiner to quickly see whether individual is strong or weak in different areas of intelligence -includes 16 verbal and nonverbal subscales

binet tests

-way to identify children who were unable to learn in school to reduce overcrowding by placing students who did not benefit from regular classroom teaching in special schools -called 1905 scale consisted of 30 questions on topics ranging from ability to touch ones ears to drawing designs from memory -developed concept of mental age: individuals level of mental development relative to others -intelligence quotient (IQ): william stern, personals mental age divided by chronological age and multiplied by 100; mental age is above chronological age than IQ is more than 100 -stanford binet tests: revised to analyze indivduals response in 5 context areas: fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual spatial reasoning, and working memory -normal distribution: symmetrical with majority of scores falling in middle of possible range of scores and a few appearing toward extremities

training exercises reducing ADHD

1. neurofeedback: improves attention, trains individuals to become more aware of physiological responses so they can attain better control over prefrontal cortex 2. mindfulness training: decreases symptoms and improves attention (yoga programs) 3. physical exercise: reduces cognitive symptoms in individuals 3-25, associated with better executive function in children with ADHD -aerobic exercise reduced symptoms such as inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity

ella winner categories of gifted children

1. precocity: children are precocious, master an area earlier than their peers, learning is effortless, precocious because they have inborn high ability in particular domain or domains 2. marching to a different drummer: learn in a qualitatively different way, need minimal help or scaffolding from adults to learn, make discoveries on their own and solve problems in unique ways 3. passion to master: driven to understand the domain in which they have high ability, display intense, obsessive interest and an ability to focus 4. information processing skills: learn at a faster pace, process info more rapidly, better at reasoning, use superior strategies, and monitor their understaning better

gardner eight frames of mind

1. verbal: think is words and use language (authors, journalists, speakers) 2. mathematical: ability to carry out math operations (scientists, engineers, accountants) 3. spatial: think 3 dimensionally (architects, artists, sailors) 4. bodily kinesthetic: manipulate objects and be physically adept (surgeons, craftspeople, dancers, athletes) 5. musical: sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm, and tone (composers, muscians, sensitive listeners) 6. interpersonal: understand and interact effectively with others (teachers, mental health professionals) 7. intrapersonal: understand oneself (theoligians, psychologists) 8. naturalist: observe patterns in nature and understand natural and human made systems (farmers, botanists, ecologists, landscapers)

transitivity

ability to logically combine relations to understand certain conclusions (consider 3 sticks differing in length concrete operational thinker understands if A is longer than B and B is longer than C than A is longer than C)

seriation

ability to order stimuli along a quantitative dimension (organizing sticks by length young children up with different groups of similar length sticks, concrete operational thinker knows each stick must be longer than the one that precedes it and shorter than the one that follows) -children who reached concrete operational stage capable of this

nonverbal subscales

block design: child must assemble a set of multicolored blocks to match designs that the examiner shows , visual motor coordination, perceptual organization, and ability to visualize spatially are assessed (use four blocks on left to make pattern on the right)

organic intellectual disability

caused by genetic disorder or by brain damage; word organic refers to tissues or organs of body indicating physical damage -IQs range between 0-50

phonics approach

emphasizes that reading instruction should teach basic rules for translating written symbols into sounds -only after children have learned correspondence rules that relate spoken phonemes to the alphabet letters that are used to represent them should they be given complex reading materials -instruction in phonics needs to be emphasized -increasing number of experts in field of reading conclude that direct instruction in phonics is a key aspect of learning to read

thinking

involves manipulating and transforming info in memory, two important aspects include being able to think critically and creatively

cultural familial intellectual disability

mental deficit in which no evidence o brain damage can be found, can result from normal aviation that distributes people along the range of intelligence scores combined with growing up in a below average intellectual environment -IQs range from 50-70

asperger syndrome

relatively mild autism spectrum disorder in which child has relatively good verbal language skills, milder nonverbal language problems, and a restricted range of interests and relationships -often engage in obsessive, repetitive routines an preoccupations with a particular subject

long term memory

relatively permanent and unlimited type of memory, increases with age during middle and late childhood -improvements in memory reflect childrens increased knowledge and their increased use of strategies

autistic disorder

severe developmental autism spectrum disorder that has its onset during first 3 years of life and includes deficiencies in social relationships; abnormalities in communication; and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior

whole language approach

stresses reading instruction should parallel childrens natural language learning -beginning readers taught to recognize while words or entire sentences and to use context of what they are reading to guess at the meaning of words -reading should be integrated with other skills and subjects such as science and social studies and should focus on real world material

culture fair tests

tests of intelligence that are intended to be free of cultural bias: 1. includes items that are familiar to children from all socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds or items that at least are familiar to children taking the test 2. has no verbal questions -most tests tend to reflect what the dominant culture thinks is important -time limits bias the test against groups not concerned with time -langauges differ, the same words might have different meanings to some -pictures can produce bias because some cultures have less experience with drawings and photographs -sternberg concludes there are only culture-reduced tests