Lifespan Development Module 9: Middle Childhood–Physical and Cognitive Changes

Key terms:

 Selective attention: the ability to focus cognitive activity on the important elements of a

problem or situation

 Association areas: parts of the brain where sensory, motor, and intellectual functions are

linked

 Spatial perception: the ability to identify and act on relationships between objects in

space

 Relative right–left orientation: the ability to identify right and left from multiple

perspectives

 Spatial cognition: the ability to infer rules from and make predictions about the

movement of objects in space

 Traumatic brain injury (TBI) : an injury to the head that results in diminished brain

function such as a loss of consciousness, confusion, or drowsiness

 Asthma: a chronic lung disease, characterized by sudden, potentially fatal attacks of

breathing difficulty

 Excessive weight gain: a pattern in which children gain more weight in a year than is

appropriate for their age and height

 BMI-for-age: comparison of an individual child’s BMI against established norms for his

or her age group and sex

 Obese: a child whose BMI-for-age is at or above the 95th percentile

 Severely obese: a child whose BMI-for-age is at or above the 99th percentile

 Overweight: a child whose BMI-for-age is between the 85th and 95th percentiles
 Concrete operational stage: Piaget’s third stage of cognitive development, during which

children construct schemes that enable them to think logically about objects and events in

the real world

 Decentration: thinking that takes multiple variables into account

 Reversibility: the understanding that both physical actions and mental operations can be

reversed

 Inductive logic: a type of reasoning in which general principles are inferred from

specific experiences

 Deductive logic: a type of reasoning, based on hypothetical premises, that requires

predicting a specific outcome from a general principle

 Class inclusion: the understanding that subordinate classes are included in larger,

superordinate classes

 Processing efficiency: the ability to make efficient use of short-term memory capacity

 Automaticity: the ability to recall information from long-term memory without using

short-term memory capacity

 Executive processes: information-processing skills that involve devising and carrying

out strategies for remembering and solving problems

 Memory strategies: learned methods for remembering information

 Systematic and explicit phonics: planned, specific instruction in sound–letter

correspondences

 Balanced approach: reading instruction that combines explicit phonics instruction with

other strategies for helping children acquire literacy

 Bilingual education: an approach to second-language education in which children

receive instruction in two different languages

 English-as-a-second-language (ESL) program: an approach to second-language

education in which children attend English classes for part of the day and receive most of

their academic instruction in English

 Achievement test a test: designed to assess specific information learned in school

 Analytical style: a tendency to focus on the details of a task

 Relational style: a tendency to ignore the details of a task in order to focus on the “big

picture”

 Learning disability: a disorder in which a child has difficulty mastering a specific

academic skill, even though she possesses normal intelligence and no physical or sensory

disabilities

 Dyslexia: problems in reading or the inability to read

 Inclusive education: general term for education programs in which children with

disabilities are taught in classrooms with nondisabled children.

 Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) : a mental disorder that causes

children to have difficulty attending to and completing tasks

I) Physical Changes

a) Growth and Motor Development

 Each year between ages 6 and 12, children grow 2 to 3 inches and add about 6

pounds.

b) The Brain and Nervous System

 Two major growth spurts happen in the brain during middle childhood. In most

healthy children the first takes place between ages 6 and 8, and the second between

ages 10 and 12.

 During the first spurt, the primary sites of brain growth are the sensory and motor

areas.

 During the second spurt, the frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex become the focus of

developmental processes.

 Selective attention: the ability to focus cognitive activity on the important elements

of a problem or situation.

 Association areas: parts of the brain where sensory, motor, and intellectual functions

are linked.

 Spatial perception: the ability to identify and act on relationships between objects in

space.

 Relative right–left orientation: the ability to identify right and left from multiple

perspectives.

 Spatial cognition: the ability to infer rules from and make predictions about the

movement of objects in space.

c) Health and Wellness

  Traumatic brain injury (TBI) : an injury to the head that results in diminished brain

function such as a loss of consciousness, confusion, or drowsiness.

 Asthma: a chronic lung disease, characterized by sudden, potentially fatal attacks of

breathing difficulty.

 Excessive weight gain: a pattern in which children gain more weight in a year than is

appropriate for their age and height.

 BMI-for-age: comparison of an individual child’s BMI against established norms for

his or her age group and sex.

 Obese: a child whose BMI-for-age is at or above the 95th percentile.

 Severely obese: a child whose BMI-for-age is at or above the 99th percentile.

 Overweight: a child whose BMI-for-age is between the 85th and 95th percentiles.

II) Cognitive Changes

a) Language

 By age 5 or 6, virtually all children have mastered the basic grammar and

pronunciation of their first language.

b) Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage

 Concrete operational stage: Piaget’s third stage of cognitive development, during

which children construct schemes that enable them to think logically about objects

and events in the real world.

 Decentration: thinking that takes multiple variables into account.

 Reversibility: the understanding that both physical actions and mental operations can

be reversed.
  Inductive logic: a type of reasoning in which general principles are inferred from

specific experiences.

 Deductive logic: a type of reasoning, based on hypothetical premises, that requires

predicting a specific outcome from a general principle.

c) Direct Tests of Piaget’s Views

 Horizontal decalage: the phenomenon that it takes children some years to apply their

new cognitive skills to all kinds of problems.

 Class inclusion: the understanding that subordinate classes are included in larger,

superordinate classes.

d) Advances in Information-Processing Skills

 Processing efficiency: the ability to make efficient use of short-term memory

capacity.

 Automaticity: the ability to recall information from long-term memory without using

short-term memory capacity.

 Executive processes: information-processing skills that involve devising and

carrying out strategies for remembering and solving problems.

 Memory strategies: learned methods for remembering information.

III) Schooling

a) Literacy

 Systematic and explicit phonics: planned, specific instruction in sound–letter

correspondences.

 Balanced approach: reading instruction that combines explicit phonics instruction

with other strategies for helping children acquire literacy.

b) Second-Language Learners

 Bilingual education: an approach to second-language education in which children

receive instruction in two different languages.

 English-as-a-second-language (ESL) program: an approach to second-language

education in which children attend English classes for part of the day and receive

most of their academic instruction in English.

c) Achievement and Intelligence Tests

 Achievement test: a test designed to assess specific information learned in school.

 Gardener’s theory of multiple intelligences:

(1) Linguistic—the ability to use language effectively

(2) Logical/mathematical—facility with numbers and logical problem solving

(3) Musical—the ability to appreciate and produce music

(4) Spatial—the ability to appreciate spatial relationships

(5) Bodily kinesthetic—the ability to move in a coordinated way, combined with a

sense of one’s body in space

(6) Naturalist—the ability to make fine discriminations among the plants and animals

of the natural world or the patterns and designs of human artifacts

(7) Interpersonal—sensitivity to the behavior, moods, and needs of others

(8) Intrapersonal—the ability to understand oneself

d) Group Differences in Achievement

 Analytical style: a tendency to focus on the details of a task.

 Relational style: a tendency to ignore the details of a task in order to focus on the

“big picture.”
IV) Children with Special Needs

a) Learning Disabilities

 Learning disability: a disorder in which a child has difficulty mastering a specific

academic skill, even though she possesses normal intelligence and no physical or

sensory disabilities.

 Dyslexia: problems in reading or the inability to read.

 Inclusive education: general term for education programs in which children with

disabilities are taught in classrooms with nondisabled children.

b) Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

 Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) : a mental disorder that causes

children to have difficulty attending to and completing tasks.