1. HG&D: Chapter 11

2. 1. The biggest influence on development from age 7 to 11 is the changing social context.

3. A Healthy Time
(pgs 267 – 271)

4. 2. Compared with biosocial development during other periods of the life span, biosocial development during this time, known as middle childhood, is relatively smooth. For example, disease and death during these years are rarer than during any other period.

5. 3. Children grow more slowly during middle childhood than they did earlier or than they will in adolescence. The typical child gains 5-7 pounds and at least 2 inches per year.

6. Other features of physical development during the school years: -become slimmer -muscles stronger -increased lung capacity

7. 4. Variations in growth during middle childhood are caused by differences in genes, gender, and nutrition.

8. 5. Children are said to be overweight when their body weights are 20% above ideal weight for their age and height; obese when their body weights are 30% above their ideal weights. Experts estimate that nearly 1/3 of North American children are obese.

9. 6. Childhood obesity, which is increasing in the United States, is hazardous to children’s health because it reduces exercise and increases blood pressure, both of which are associated with serious health problems in middle childhood.

10. Obese children who do not lose weight in adolescence are more likely to experience physical and psychological health problems, especially depression. Too much pressure, however, may contribute to the development of an eating disorder, such as bulimia or anorexia nervosa.

11. Adopted children are more often overweight when their biological parents are obese. What does this suggest?
Environmental factors are the main reason for the recent increase in childhood obesity. The most significant of these is lack of exercise.

12. 8. Compared to the past, middle childhood is now a healthier time in every nation of the world.

13. 9. During middle childhood, children are more aware of one another’s, or their own, physical imperfections.

14. A chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways is called asthma
A chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways is called asthma. This disorder is more common today than in the past.
Why do you think it is?

15. The causes or triggers of asthma include genes, infections, and exposure to allergens such as pet hair.

16. The use of injections, inhalers and pills to treat asthma is an example of tertiary prevention. Less than half of the asthmatic children in the United States benefit from this type of treatment. The best approach to treating childhood diseases is primary prevention, which in the case of asthma includes:
-proper ventilation of homes and schools
decreased pollution
eradication of cockroaches
safe outdoor play spaces

17. Brain Development
(pgs 271 – 276)

18. 13. The brain reaches adult size at about age 7
13. The brain reaches adult size at about age 7. Advances in brain development during middle childhood enable the control over emotional outbursts, preseveration, inattention, and insistance on routines. Ongoing maturation of the prefrontal cortex allows children to analyze the consequences of their behaviors before engaging in them.

19. 14. Two other advances in brain function at this time include the ability to pay special heed to one source of information among many, called selective attention, and the automatization of thoughts and actions that are repeated in sequence.

20. 15. The length of time it takes a person to respond to a particular stimulus is called reaction time.

21. Other important abilities that continue to develop during the school years are hand-eye coordination, balance, and judgment of movement.

22. 17. Motor habits that rely on coordinating both sides of the body improve because the corpus callosum between the brain’s hemispheres continues to mature. Animal research also demonstrates that brain development is stimulated through play.

23. In addition, rough and tumble play may help boys overcome their genetic tendencies toward hyperactivity and learning disabilities because it helps with regulation and coordination in the frontal lobes of the brain.

24. Along with brain maturation, culture, practice, and heredity are important factors in the development of motor skills. Approximately 6% of all children have a motor coordination disability serious enough to interfere with school achievement.

25. 19. The potential to learn a particular skill or body of knowledge is a person’s aptitude. The most commonly used tests of this type are IQ tests. In the original version of the most commonly used test of this type, a person’s score was calculated as a quotient (the child’s mental age divided by the child’s chronological age and multiplied by 100 to determine his or her IQ).

26. 20. Tests that are designed to measure what a child has learned are called achievement tests. Tests that are designed to measure learning potential are called aptitude tests.

27. Two highly regarded IQ tests are the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) and the Stanford-Binet.
IQ tests are quite reliable in predicting school achievement.

28. 23. IQ testing is controversial in part because no test can measure aptitude without also measuring achievement or without reflecting the culture. Another reason is that a child’s intellectual potential changes over time.

29. Robert Steinberg believes that there are three distinct types of intelligence:
-academic
-creative
-practical
Similarly, Howard Gardner describes 8 distinct intelligences.

30. Children with Special Needs
(pgs 276 – 286)

31. 25. Among the conditions that give rise to “special needs” are aggression, anxiety, autism, and many more…

32. Down syndrome and other conditions that give rise to “special needs” begin with a biological anomaly.
What is it?

33. The process of formally identifying a child with special needs usually begins with a teacher referral, which may ultimately lead to agreement on an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for the child.
HCP = Adjusted Education Plan (AEP)

34. The field of study that is concerned with childhood psychological disorders is developmental psychopathology. This perspective has provided several lessons that apply to all children. Three of these are that:
-abnormality is normal
-disability changes over time
-adolescence and adulthood may be better or worse

35. 29. This perspective also has made diagnosticians much more aware of the social context of childhood problems. This awareness is reflected in the official diagnostic guide of the American Psychiatric Association, which is the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders.

36. The most severe disturbance of early childhood is autism, which is used to describe children who are self-absorbed. Autism is an example of pervasive developmental disorder.
Autism is more common in boys.
Why?

37. 32. Children who have autistic symptoms that are less severe than those in the classic syndrome are sometimes diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, also called high-functioning autism.

38. In early childhood autism, severe deficiencies appear in three areas:
-communication ability
-social skills
-imaginative play

39. 34. Some autistic children engage in a type of speech called echolalia, in which they repeat word for word, things they have heard.

40. 35. The unusual play patterns of autistic children are characterized by repetitive movements or compulsive play.

41. 36. As children with pervasive development disorders grow older their strongest cognitive skills tend to be in the area of abstract reasoning, and their weakest, in the area of social cognition.

42. 37. A disability that manifests itself in a difficulty in concentrating for more than a few moments is called attention-deficit disorder (ADD). The most common type of this disorder, which includes a need to be active, often accompanied by excitability and impulsivity, is called attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD).

43. Children suffering from this disorder can be inattentive, impulsive, and overactive. The crucial problem in these conditions seems to be a neurological difficulty in paying attention.

44. 38. Researchers have identified several factors that may contribute to AD/HD. These include genetic vulnerability, prenatal damage from teratogens, and postnatal damage, such as from lead poisoning.

45. 39. Children who have difficulty in school that is not attributable to an overall intellectual slowness, a physical handicap, or a severely stressful situation are said to have a learning disability. The crucial factor is a measured discrepancy between expected learning and actual accomplishment.

46. 40. A disability in reading is called dyslexia
40. A disability in reading is called dyslexia. Other specific academic subjects that may show a learning disability are math, spelling, and handwriting.

47. 41. In childhood, the most effective forms of treatment for AD/HD are medication, psychological therapy, and changes in the family and school environment.

48. 42. Certain drugs that stimulate adults, such as amphetamines and methylphenidate (Ritalin), have a reverse effect on many hyperactive children.