Middle Childhood

• Boys : more upper body strength (throw ball farther/ faster)

  • Girls : more agile (flexibility for dancing or other activities
• Brain Development

  Increase in myelination and lateralization
• rough-and-tumble play Vigorous play involving wrestling, hitting, and chasing, often accompanied by laughing and screaming
• Children’s brains needs recess • Children 8-9 year old getting over 15 minutes/day recess
• In the stage of concrete operations, children have a better understanding than preoperational. Children also improves in spatial concepts, causality, categorization, inductive and deductive reasoning, conservation, and number
• spatial thinking


  danielle can use a map to help her search for hidden object
• cause and effect


  douglas know which physical attributes of objects on each side of a scale will affect the result
• categorization


  elene can sort objects into categories, she knows subclass
• seriation 


  catherine can arrange a group of sticks in order from the shortest to the longest and can insert an intermediate size stick into the proper place
• conservation


  a clayy balled is rolled into a sausage, it still contains the same amount
• number and mathematics


  kevin can count, add and do simple story problems
• Seriation - Ability to order items along a dimension
• • Transitive Inferences- Understanding the relationship between two objects by knowing the relationship of the third object
• Computational estimation - ex. estimating the sum in an addition problem
• numerosity estimation - ex. estimating the number of candies in a jar
• measurement estimation- ex. estimating the length of a line
• Information processing approach


  Executive function - conscious control of thoughts, emotions, and actions to accomplish goals or solve problems
• Development of prefrontal cortex- planning, judgment, decision making, working memory, self-regulation.
• Selective Attention - the ability to deliberately direct one’s attention and shut out distractions - may hinge on the executive skills of inhibitory control, the voluntary suppression of unwanted responses
• theory of multiple intelligences Gardner’s theory that each person has several distinct forms of intelligence
• culture-free tests - Intelligence tests that, if they were possible to design, would have no culturally linked conten
• culture-fair tests - Intelligence tests that deal with experiences common to various cultures, in an attempt to avoid cultural bias
• linguistic


  ability to use and understand words and nuances of meaning
• logical-mathematical


  ability to manipulate numbers and solve logical problems
• spatial


  ability to find one's way around in an environment and judge relationship between objects in space
• musical


  ability to perceive and create patterns of pitch and rhythm
• bodily-kinesthetic


  ability to move with precision
• interpersonal


  ability to understand and communicate with others
• intrapersonal


  ability to understand the self
• naturalist


  ability to distinguish species and their characteristics
• The componential element is the analytic aspect of intelligence; it determines how efficiently people process information. It helps people solve problems, monitor solutions, and evaluate the results. Some people are more effective information processors than others
• The experiential element is insightful or creative; it determines how people approach novel or familiar tasks. It enables people to compare new information with what they already know and to come up with new ways of putting facts together—in other words, to think originally.
• The contextual element is practical; it helps people deal with their environment. It is the ability to size up a situation and decide what to do. What actions are most appropriate for a given situation depend on the context; a person might decide to adapt to a situation, change it, or get out of it
• According to Sternberg, everyone has these three abilities to a greater or lesser extent. A person may be strong in one, two, or all three
• Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test (STAT) (multiple-choice and essay questions). Three domains of intelligence are assessed: verbal, quantitative, and figural (or spatial)
• Tacit knowledge - Sternberg’s term for information that is not formally taught or openly expressed but is necessary to get ahead
• Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC-II) Nontraditional individual intelligence test designed to provide fair assessments of minority children and children with disabilities.
• Dynamic tests Tests based on Vygotsky’s theory that emphasize potential rather than past learning
• influences on school achievement

  • Self- Efficacy Beliefs • Gender • Parenting Practices • Socioeconomic Status • Peer Acceptance • Class size
• Intellectual disability is significantly subnormal cognitive functioning. It is indicated by an IQ of about 70 or less, coupled with a deficiency in age appropriate adaptive behavior (such as communication, social skills, and selfcare)