Chapter Eleven The School Years: Biosocial Development

A Healthy Time Middle childhood children usually healthy and self-reliant

Typical Size and Shape Contributing Factors to Variations in physique –Nutrition –genetic factors –gender

Childhood Obesity Overweight Obese

Causes of Childhood Obesity Genetic Differences Environmental Factors -cultural values -lack of exercise -poor quality food -watching TV/video

Chronic Illness: The Case of Asthma Chronic illness is least common Asthma is the most common medical problem that causes absences from school

Causes of Asthma Asthma —chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways; affects between 10% and 20% of school-age children in North America Possible Causes –genes on chromosomes 2, 11, 12, 13, and 21 –exposure to allergens

Prevention of Asthma Primary prevention: proper ventilation; decreased pollution; eradication of cockroaches; safe outdoor play spaces Secondary prevention: ridding house of allergens; breast- feeding, if genetic history is known Tertiary prevention: care after ailment is recognized; in doctor’s office, hospital

Brain Development Brain reaches adult size at age 7 Hemispheric specialization makes brain more efficient overall

Advances in Middle Childhood Changes become apparent in both motor and cognitive development Rapid growth rate of school-age children leads them to be better able to control their bodies and emotions

Attention and Automatization Selective attention Automatization

Motor Skills Brain maturation is a key factor in decrease of reaction time Child’s motor habits benefit from connections formed in brain

Brain and Intelligence Cognition is improved

Tests of Ability Intellectual skills -Aptitude -IQ test -Achievement

Two highly regarded IQ tests –Stanford-Binet –Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children

Criticisms of IQ Testing –difficult to measure potential without achievement –does not consider rate of development, culture, family, school, genes –Standard IQ tests measure only linguistic and logical- mathematical ability

Sternberg (1996) suggests 3 types of intelligence –academic –creative –practical

Gardner describes 8 distinct intelligences –linguistic –logical-mathematical –musical –spatial –bodily-kinesthetic –interpersonal –intrapersonal –naturalistic

Children with Special Needs Some children, because of a physical or mental disability, require special help in order to learn –individual education plan (IEP)

Developmental Psychopathology Field in which knowledge of normal development is applied to the study and treatment of psychological disorders Offers 4 lessons applicable to all children –abnormality is normal –disability changes over time –adulthood may be better or worse than present –diagnosis depends on social context

Pervasive Developmental Disorders Severe problems that affect many aspects of psychological growth

Incidence Autism –extreme self-absorption, inability to learn normal speech –quite rare; occurs in about 1 of every 2,000 children

Possible Causes Particular genes Childhood immunizations Other theories are under investigation

Changes over Time Asperger syndrome—less severe autism –good communication, poor social perceptions Early Pervasive Developmental Disorder In later childhood and beyond

Attention-Deficit Disorders ADD—Attention-Deficit Disorder AD/HD—Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Possible Causes –neurological –genetic vulnerability –postnatal damage

Learning Disabilities Half of all ADD children also have learning disability Learning-disabled —having a marked delay in a particular area of learning not associated with any physical handicap, overall mental retardation, or unusually stressful home environment

Dyslexia—unusual difficulty with reading Indications of learning disabilities –may be advanced in comprehension through use of contextual clues, but behind in ability to match letters to sounds –discrepancy between aptitude and achievement scores on intelligence tests

Treatment of Attention-Deficit Disorders Help for children with ADHD –drugs with reverse effect –ongoing changes at home and school –psychological therapy for child and family –structure of classroom

Educating Children with Special Needs Mainstreaming Least restrictive environment (LRE) Resource room Inclusion

Conclusion Parents should be taught specific ways to encourage their children to show appropriate behavior If problem undiagnosed, intervention may not begin when it should and may also be less effective Both home and school context make a difference