CC-BY-SA 3.0 Powerpoint on Middle Childhood by Laura Overstreet from Lifespan Psychology: http://opencourselibrary.org/econ-201/

1. Middle Childhood

2. Middle Childhood
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

3. The Healthiest Time
 Growth slows
 Gain 5-7 pounds and 2 inches per year
 Slim down
 Muscle strength and lung capacity
 Motor skills improve

4. Children and Sports
 Sports are best when parents stay
home
 College Sports Excesses Seep Into High
School

5. Childhood Obesity
 16-33 percent
American children
obese
 Doubled since 1980s
 Orthopedic, self-esteem
problems
 Pediatric type II
diabetes on the rise

6. School Lunches

7. Nutrients for the Day

8. Middle Childhood
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

9. Concrete Operational
Stage
 Classification
 Identity: 5 is always 5
 Reversibility: 2+3=5 and 5-3=2
 Reciprocity: 4x6=2x12

10. Information Processing
Theory
 Sensory register
 Working memory
 Knowledge base
 Processing speed improves
 Metacognition: strategize

11. Language Development
 Vocabulary growth at 20 words per day
 5th graders know about 40,000 words
 New understanding of words
 Grammar more easily learned

12. Kohlberg’s Moral
Development
 Preconventional based on reward and
punishment
 Conventional based on what other
people think
 Postconventional based on the welfare
of others rather than self

13. Developmental Problems
Consequences of labeling
Self-fulfilling prophecy

14. Autism Spectrum Disorders
 Autism or “selfism”
 Poor language skills
 Sensitive to touch, sound, detail
 Fear change and prefer repetition
 Lack social awareness or social
emotions
 Asperger’s syndrome

15. Learning Disability:
“A measured discrepancy between
expected learning and actual
accomplishment in a particular
academic area” (Berger, p. 282)

16. Learning Difficulties
 Specific to academic skills (not
retardation)
 Dyslexia (reading)
 Dyscalcula (math)
 Attention deficit disorder (attention)
 Numerous causes

17. Assessment of Intellectual
Skills
 Achievement tests are designed to
measure what kids have learned
 Aptitude tests are designed to measure
potential to learn
 IQ tests are a type of aptitude test

18. Gardner’s Domains of
Intelligence
 Logical-mathematical
 Linguistic
 Spatial
 Bodily-kinesthetic
 Musical
 Intrapersonal
 Interpersonal
 Naturalistic
 Existential

19. Sternberg’s Triarchic
Theory of Intelligence
 Academic (Componential)
 Creative (experiential)
 Practical (contextual)

20. The World of School
 Parental involvement
 Family capital
 Student perspectives
 McLaren
 Student state (298 minutes)
 Street corner state (66)
 Home state
 Sanctity state

21. Cultural Influences
 Hidden curriculum
 What lessons do children learn that are
not part of the stated curriculum?

22. Psychosocial Development

23. The Society of Children
 A living laboratory for social skills
 Popular-prosocial children
 Popular-antisocial children
 Withdrawn-rejected children
 Aggressive-rejected children

24. Self-Concept
 Where do the comparisons come from?
http://www.bratz.com/
Industry vs. Inferiority

25. False Self-Training:
Being a child but being held to
external, adult standards; having
developmental needs denied

26. Child Sexual Abuse
 Sexual act with a child performed by an
adult or an older child
 Disregard for child’s developmental
immaturity and inability to understand
the sexual behavior (Steele)

27. Consequences of Abuse
 Traumatic Sexualization
 Betrayal
 Powerlessness
 Stigmatization

28. Family Tasks
 Food, clothing, shelter
 Encourage learning
 Developing self-esteem
 Nurturing friendships
 Providing harmony/stability

29. Divorce’s Impact Depends on:
 Degree of conflict prior to divorce
 Amount of financial hardship
 Actions of divorcing couple
 Adjustment of custodial parent

30. Short Term Consequences
(First Year)
 Grieving over loss
 Reduced standard of living
 Adjusting to transitions
 Relief from conflict

31. Long Term Negative
Consequences
 Greater anxiety about marriage
 Unrealistically high expectations for a
partner
 Economic/Occupational impact (tied to
financial hardship rather than divorce)

32. Positive Consequences:
Beyond the Deficit Model
 Most lead happy, well-adjusted lives
 Better relationship with custodial parent
 More communication with mothers
 More democratic parenting
 Freedom to escape negative role
models
 Greater emotional independence in sons

33. How to Take Care of Yourself
During Divorce
 Take care of your own mental health
 Allow children to grieve
 Try to have a conflict-free relationship
with ex
 Comfortable, healthy environment

34. Impact of Repartnering
 Remarriage more difficult than divorce
 Changes in parenting
 Disagreement over roles

35. Impact of Repartnering
 Impact on parental involvement
 Greatest involvement when neither partner
has remarried
 Least involvement when father has
remarried and mother has not

36. Impact of Repartnering
 Dating concerns
 Cohabitation and severed ties

37. Stepfamilies/Blended Families
 As common today as in the 1700-1800s
 From divorce rather than death
 “Incomplete institution” (Cherlin)
 Do children in stepfamilies have more
difficulties than those in single-parent
families?

38. Characteristics of Stepfamilies
 More complex
 Born of loss
 Love not assumed
 Unclear roles
 Sexual attractions

39. Ten Commandments for
Step parenting
 Neutral territory
 No preconceived roles
 Set limits
 Past loyalties
 Neutral responses
 No instant love

40. Developmental Stages of
Stepfamilies
 A 7 year process
 Early stages
 Fantasy, immersion, and awareness
 Middle stages
 Mobilization and action
 Later stages
 Contact and resolution