HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT UNIT 5: CHAPTER 8 MIDDLE CHILDHOOD: AGES 6-12 YEARS “So did you hear about the colt with a cold? He’s a little horse.” “It’s not always easy being a kid, but I bet it’s even harder being an adult,” Julie, age 11.

Welcome  Microphone check  Unit 4 Project  If technical issues close out seminar, my students for this section should meet in the classroom chat room.  Tonight: middle childhood from a multidimensional framework (three field trips)

The Biophysical Dimension

Motor Development  Coordination, smoothness, and agility improve, which in turn fosters an interest in sports  Differences arise by sex in motor skills  Boys’ gross motor development exceeds that of girls, which may partially explain why they are more interested in physical activity  Girls are better than boys at fine motor skills  There are also differences by sex in body composition with girls retaining more fatty tissue than boys.  Both sexes develop more muscle during this age.

Physical Development  Older children are gaining weight and becoming increasingly sedentary  As attention spans improve, there is greater interest in sit down games and activities  Some children lose interest in sports teams due to their competitive nature and academic demands  Children are fixated on video games and television  Children lack knowledge about the benefits of exercise  Parents and PE teachers have failed to instill a lifelong exercise ethic in children  What are the implications of this for a child’s social development?  What role do poverty, nutrition, sleep, and opportunities to learn play in children’s development?

The Psychological Dimension

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development  Sensorimotor stage  Preoperational stage  Concrete operational stage  Thinking is limited to real objects, deductive reasoning not yet possible  The child is becoming less egocentric  Vast improvements are made in conservation of masses  Reversibility is now possible  Field Trip:  Field Trip: ed ed  Formal operational stage

IQ: Intelligence Quotient  IQ is calculated by comparing the child’s mental age with his or her chronological age.  Since their inception, intelligence tests have been controversial. Why?  The Stanford-Binet  The Weschler  The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K- ABC)

EQ: Emotional Intelligence  EQ describes qualities such as understanding one’s own feelings, empathy for feelings of others & regulating emotions in ways that enhance life  Delayed gratification and supporting research  Visible emotional skills that are easily recognizable are “people skills” such as empathy, graciousness, & the ability to read a social situation  Do you know someone who wasn’t the best student but has turned out hugely successful? Or, do you know someone who was a very good student but has otherwise struggled?

Communication  Which precedes the other, thought or language?  Metalinguistic awareness: understanding that words can have multiple meanings  Stuttering affects more boys than girls  Bilingual education improves  IQ scores  Performance on Piagetian conservation tasks  Language use  Metalinguistic awareness  Selective attention

Self-Concept  Industry vs. Inferiority (Erikson): children measure themselves against their peers to establish a sense of who they are (personal, social, and cognitive competence).  The Self Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985)  Scholastic competence  Behavioral conduct  Physical appearance  Social acceptance  Athletic competence  Interpersonal awareness (Selman, 1980, 2003): how a child conceives his interpersonal relationships

ADHD  Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder characterized by a combination of attention problems and hyperactivity.  It is associated with many psychosocial difficulties such as  family problems  poor school achievement  difficulties with peers  Low self-worth

The Social Dimension

Discipline & Behavior Modification  Example (Hoffman, 1970):  Power-assertive strategy Physical punishment Physical control Threats  Love withdrawal Verbal discounting Ignoring the child  Induction Explanation and rationality  Example:  Behavior specialist develops a treatment plan to increase positive behaviors.  Each time the child displays the desired action, the parents are instructed to praise the child Discipline Behavior Modification

Peer Relationships  Sexual socialization cannot take place in the absence of peer interaction.  Poor peer relations are associated with discomfort, anxiety, and a general unwillingness to engage in the environment.  Children who are rejected by their peers are at a greater risk for delinquency, school dropout, and mental health problems.  School phobias, which typically begin around ages 11 and 12, can develop due to issues with peers as well as concerns about performance in school.  The neighborhood is perhaps most critical to the middle child in molding experiences and shaping adjustment to the social world.

Disabilities  US Public Law  Established the right to a free, appropriate public education for all “handicapped” children  Was amended and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1990  Has been referred to as the “bill of rights for the handicapped”  The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)  Guarantees children the right to special education and related services  Includes social work services and rehabilitative counseling  Provides transition services (services that promote students’ movement from the school environment to post school activities)

Disabilities  The Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act  The IEP team must include:  the student's parent(s) or guardian(s) (who may invite professionals who have worked with the child  a special education teacher and at least one regular teacher  a representative of the school or district who is knowledgeable about the availability of school resources  an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of the child's evaluation results (such as a social worker or the school psychologist  Other professionals as mandated by state law

Gender and Racial Identity  Gender identity is the developmental process by which culturally assigned values and behaviors are considered appropriate for members of that sex. Gender roles become important during middle childhood.  Racial identity also begins to form by middle childhood  Peer groups play a significant role in a child’s racial identity  Parents and teachers can help children develop a positive racial identity by providing them with a sense of belonging and reassurance about their differences  Rites-of passage and mentoring programs have grown in the United States to assist young African American men in their fight against stereotypes

Bullying  Field trip:  Bullying typically occurs most frequently between sixth and eighth grade  Both bullies and their victims have difficulty adjusting to their environment and have difficulty making friends  Both bullies and their victims have a higher incidence than their peers of depression and anxiety  ¾ of school shooters felt bullied, threatened or attacked in some way  Trying to identify bullies has been ineffective as has group intervention if bully is part of the group  Peer mediation can be successful if there is equal power

Divorce  Divorce is especially hard on children because it dissolves the family structure they depend on for secure development.  5 factors that can help smooth the aftermath of a divorce for children (Sigelman & Rider, 2003):  Emotional support from the noncustodial parent  Adequate parenting from the custodial parent  Additional social support  Adequate financial support  A minimum of additional stressors

Closing  Tonight: middle childhood from a multidimensional framework (three field trips)  Any questions?  Next week:  Unit 6: Chapter 9  Adolescence  Quiz Ashford, J.B., LeCroy, C.W., & Lortie, K.L. (2009). The social environment and human behavior. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.