Chapter 7: Middle childhood

How does growth proceed in middle childhood?

What are the negative effects of both malnutrition and obesity on development? What are the main causes of obesity in developed countries?

How can childhood obesity be prevented?

What is the pattern of gross motor vs. fine motor development in middle childhood?

What illnesses and injuries are most common in developed countries?

According to Piaget, what stage are children in while ages 7-11? What are the major cognitive advances that occur during this stage? Describe what children can do, and the limitations of this stage.

What is “selective attention”? How does it change during middle childhood?

Identify the characteristics of children who have ADHD and the risk factors for developing ADHD.

What are three changes that happen to memory? Name and give examples of three kinds of mnemonics that children start using.

What is the mainstream definition of intelligence? What do intelligence tests examine? What is the WISC? What are its components?

Describe the normal distribution of intelligence: what is the average score? What percentage is within one standard deviation? What is the criterion for being called “gifted”? For having “intellectual disability”?

Describe how intelligence results from the combination of genes and environment. Explain what reaction range means. Why does the environment have a stronger effect in lower-income families?

Compare and contrast Gardner’s and Sternberg’s approaches to conceptualizing intelligence. (What is “intelligence” in each theory?)

How do vocabulary, grammar, and pragmatics develop during middle childhood?

How does growing up bilingual affect mastery of language? What are three benefits of being bilingual? What is the rate of bilingualism in Fairfax Co. elementary students?

How/why is emotional self-regulation changing? How does children’s understanding of their own and others’ emotions and displays change?

Explain how different ways of thinking about the self are rooted in cultural beliefs. Describe Kenneth and Mamie Clark’s research on self-concepts of African-American children and how this was used in Brown vs. Board of Education.

Define “self concept” and “self esteem.” How do they change in middle childhood? What did the Clarks’ research teach us about children’s self-perceptions related to race?

Describe how beliefs and behavior regarding gender change in middle childhood. Explain how school subjects and professions become associated with gender and how that affects behavior.

Why is parental divorce an issue during middle childhood? What are the consequences of parental divorce?

What is the main basis of friendships in middle childhood? How does it change through this period?

Name and describe the four categories of peer social status.

What is bullying? Describe the two kinds of bullies and the dynamics between bullies and victims.

Describe Erickson’s stage for this age group.

Describe the positive and negative effects of television, especially the hazards related to TV violence.

Important terms to know/understand

concrete operations

seriation

selective attention

attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

intelligence

intelligence quotient (IQ)

normal distribution

intellectual disability

gifted

bilingual

self-concept

self-esteem

social status

bullying