COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE CHILDHOOD

PIAGET’S CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE During this stage thought is logical, flexible, and organized in it’s application of concrete information. The capacity for abstract thinking is not yet present. The ability to execute conservation tasks is a clear indicator of this stage: Decentration and Reversibility. –Decentration-The ability to focus on several aspects of a problem at once and relate them –Reversibility-The ability to mentally go through a series of steps in a problem and then reverse the direction, returning to the starting point.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE Seriation—the ability to order items along a quantitative dimension, such as length or width. Transitive Inference—the ability to seriate or order items along a quantitative dimension— mentally. Spatial Reasoning—By age 8 to 10, children can give well organized directions to important places.

Horizontal Decalage Piaget’s attempt at explaining the variations at which the concrete operations occur during Middle Childhood.

INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY Alternative view of cognitive theory Proposes that practice creates well organized cognitive schemes. Consequently, they demand less attention, become more automatic, and working memory is freed up (Berk, 1999; Case, 1998). This theory focuses on the dimensions of memory, attention, and thinking

INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY DIVIDES THE MIND INTO: Sensory Register: The area of the mental system in which sights and sounds are held briefly before they decay or are transformed into working or short-term memory. Short-Term Memory: The conscious part of a mental system where we active work on a limited amount of information to ensure it is retained. Long-Term Memory: The part that contains our permanent knowledge base. Knowledge base is limitless.

Mental Strategies In information processing, procedures that operate on and transform information, thereby increasing the efficiency and flexibility of thinking and the chances that information will be retained –Organization. Memory strategy of grouping together related items. Taking notes –Elaboration. Mental strategy of creating a relation between two or more items that are not members of the same category –Rehearsal. Memory strategy for repeating information

Mental Strategies Cont. By continuing these mental strategies, you develop greater organization of information and significantly increase knowledge retention. Failure to apply appropriate mental strategies reduces the amount of knowledge retained

Middle Childhood and Information Processing An increase in information-processing capacity. Most likely due to synaptic pruning and mylenization. Gains in inhibition. Due in part to brain maturation, middle schoolers develop increased ability to control external influences that may inhibit concentration. Attention improves sharply between ages 6 and 9.

ADHD 5% of school age children are diagnosed with ADHD. Boys tend to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls. Children who are ADHD tend to be cognitively delayed on measures. Their ease of distractibility results in –Forgetfulness –Poor Planning, reasoning, and problem-solving –Poor impulse control

Cognitive Self-Regulation The process of continuously monitoring progress toward a goal, checking outcomes, and redirecting unsuccessful efforts. Metacognition

Intelligence Nature or Nurture? –In the past, general assumptions were in support of genetic predisposition and stability over time. –Today, there is increasing evidence to suggest that intelligence is equally impacted by genetics and the environment. Stability of Intelligence? –In general, studies of DQs in infants do not correlate to later expectations of IQ. However, there is some evidence of predictability from age 4 throughout adolescence. –Other studies purport extreme fluctuations by as much as 20 pts.

Multidimensional Views of Intelligence Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence –Componential: Highly intelligent individuals apply appropriate strategy application, knowledge acquisition, metacognition, and self-regulation. –Experiential: Highly intelligent individuals process information more skillfully in novel situations. –Contextual: Highly intelligent people skillfully adapt their information-processing skills to fit to a situation, they try to shape, or change it to meet their needs

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Linguistic. Sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms, and meanings of words and the different functions of language. (Poet, journalist). Logico-mathematical. Sensitivity to and capacity to detect logical or numerical patterns; ability to handle long chains of logical reasoning. (Mathematician)

Musicial. Ability to produce and appreciate pitch, rhythm (or melody), and aesthetic sounding tones; understanding of the forms of musical expressiveness. (Violinist, composer). Spatial. Ability to perceive the visual- spatial world accurately, to perform transformations on those perceptions, and to re-create aspects of visual experience in the absence of relevant stimuli.

Bodily-kinesthetic. Ability to use the body skillfull for expressive as well as goal-directed purposes; ability to handle objects skillfully. (Dancer, athlete) Naturalist. Ability to recognize and classify all varieties of animals, minerals, and plants. (Biologist).

Interpersonal. Ability to detect and respond appropriately to the moods, temperaments, motivations, and intentions of others. (Therapist, salesperson). Intrapersonal. Ability to discriminate complex inner feelings and to use them to guide one’s own behavior; knowledge of one’s own strenghts, weaknesses, desires, and intellingence.