1. Chapter Eleven The School Years: Biosocial Development

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

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

4. Childhood Obesity Overweight Obese

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

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

7. 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

8. 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

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

10. 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

11. Attention and Automatization Selective attention Automatization

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

13. Brain and Intelligence Cognition is improved

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

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

16. 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

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

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

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

20. 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

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

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

23. Possible Causes Particular genes Childhood immunizations Other theories are under investigation

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

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

26. Possible Causes –neurological –genetic vulnerability –postnatal damage

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

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

31. 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