Physical and Cognitive

Development in Middle
Childhood

Body Growth
- girls are slightly shorter than boys:
girls have slightly more:
lowest portion of body growing the fastest
during this time frame
between 6 and 12 years:

Physical Development
9 10-year-olds:
11-year-olds:
Growth is influenced by activity level,
exercise, nutrition, gender, and genetic
factors

Health Problems

common vision problem-myopia-nearsightedness

nearly:
Myopia is affected by heredity and experience
less ear infections-Eustachian tube becomes
longer and narrower
malnutrition-prolonged affects can cause:

Bedwetting

Nocturnal enuresis:

most cases cause is failure of muscular

responses that inhibit urination or hormonal
imbalance that permits too much urine to
accumulate during the night
treatment-urine alarm; special pants
(underwear)

Obesity
Is defined as body weight that is more than:

15% of children:
70% of children who are obese at ages 10 to 13 will
continue to be seriously overweight as adults.
Obesity can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes, and other
medical problems

Causes of Obesity
Genetic Factors: a child with one obese
parent has a
of becoming obese,
and the proportion leaps to:

Causes for Obesity

Environmental Factors:
The proportion of obesity has risen:

Reasons:

Obesity
children that are obese have lower selfesteem, report feeling more depressed and
display more behavioral problems than their
peers
There is an increase in:

Treatment for obesity should be a family

program and focus on changing behaviors

(Nutrition and physical

development during
middle childhood, continued)
Despite growing rates of obesity, American society
places a strong emphasis on thinness.
Concern about weight increasingly borders on
obsession in the United States (especially for girls)

Research indicates that a substantial

number of 6 year old girls:

Life expectancy affected?

Obesity
Hypertension, heart disease, diabetes
Stress
Too much pressure on children-school,
sports, activities?
Lack of sleep
Children should get about:

Illnesses

higher range of illnesses during the first 2 years of

elementary school; exposure to more sick children
and immune system is still developing
Asthma:

boys, African American children and children

that were low birth weight, smoking parents,
parents that have had asthma and children that
live in poverty have the greatest risk

Injuries
Common in middle childhood
auto and bicycle accidents very common
school-based safety programs are a must at
this age
be careful of toy related injuries i.e.,
skateboards, bicycles

Health during middle childhood:

Psychological Disorders
~ It is important that psychological disorders not be
ignored in school age children (which often
occurs because symptoms are different than
those of adults)
~ Childhood:
~ 2-5% of school age children:
~ For 1 % depression is:

Health during middle childhood: Psychological

Disorders

All kids are sad sometimes. This is different

than depression (depth of sadness, length
distinguish)
Childhood depression is also characterized by
the expression of exaggerated fears, clinginess,
or avoidance of everyday activities.
In older children it may produce sulking, school
problems, and acts of delinquency.

Children with Special Needs

Auditory impairments are sometimes accompanied by

SPEECH IMPAIRMENTS, speech that is impaired
when it deviates so much from the speech of others
that it calls attention to itself, interferes with
communication, or produces maladjustments in the
speaker.

3 to 5 %of school-age children:

STUTTERING, a substantial disruption in the

rhythm and fluency of speech is the most common
speech impairment.

(Children with Special Needs, continued)

Some 2.3 million school-age children in the

U.S. are officially labeled as having:

Some suffer from dyslexia, a reading disability

that can result in the reversal of letters during
reading and writing, confusion between left
and right, and difficulties in spelling

Approaches to treating childhood depression

Drugs
Controversial

About 200,000 Prozac prescriptions

Criticisms: not approved for use with children and teens;

lack of long term effectiveness of the drug; consequences
to developing brains; lead in for further drug use

SSRIs and suicide

ADHD

Diagnostic Criteria for inattentive type:

Often does not give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in
schoolwork, work, or other activities.
Often has trouble keeping attention on tasks or play activities.
Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
Often does not follow instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or
duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to
understand instructions).
Often has trouble organizing activities.
Often avoids, dislikes, or doesn't want to do things that take a lot of mental
effort for a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).
Often loses things needed for tasks and activities (e.g. toys, school
assignments, pencils, books, or tools).
Is often easily distracted.
Is often forgetful in daily activities.
Six or more of the following symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity
have been present for at least 6 months to an extent that is disruptive
and inappropriate for developmental level:

ADHD

Diagnostic Criteria for Hyperactive type:

Hyperactivity
Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat.
Often gets up from seat when remaining in seat is
expected.
Often runs about or climbs when and where it is not
appropriate (adolescents or adults may feel very restless).
Often has trouble playing or enjoying leisure activities
quietly.
Is often "on the go" or often acts as if "driven by a motor".
Often talks excessively.

Impulsivity
Often blurts out answers before questions have been
finished.
Often has trouble waiting one's turn.
Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into
conversations or games).
Some symptoms that cause impairment were present
before age 7 years.
Some impairment from the symptoms is present in two or
more settings (e.g. at school/work and at home).
There must be clear evidence of significant impairment
in social, school, or work functioning.
The symptoms do not happen only during the course of a
Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Schizophrenia, or
other Psychotic Disorder. The symptoms are not better
accounted for by another mental disorder (e.g. Mood
Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Dissociative Disorder, or a
Personality Disorder).

Treatments for ADHD

Drug therapy:
Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta, Strattera
About 1 out of every 8 children may take
some form of stimulant

Behavior therapy:

Overprescribing Ritalin?

U.S. doctors prescribe Ritalin for ADHD more frequently. Some

experts argue the drug is overprescribed.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

Diagnostic Criteria
A pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant behavior
lasting at least 6 months, during which four (or more) of
the following are present:
often loses temper
often argues with adults
often actively defies or refuses to comply with adults'
requests or rules
often deliberately annoys people
often blames others for his or her mistakes or
misbehavior
is often touchy or easily annoyed by others
is often angry and resentful
is often spiteful or vindictive

Treatments for ODD

Drug therapy:
Ritalin appears to work well with those
who have also been diagnosed with
ADHD
Strattera-non-stimulant ADHD med
Divalproex (mood stabilizer for those
who are prone to violence)
Omega-3 and Vitamin E combo
research is a bit iffy on this

Treatment for ODD

Behavior therapy:
Parent management
Give effective timeouts
Avoid power struggles
Remain calm and unemotional in the face of opposition
Recognize and praise your child's good behaviors and
positive characteristics
Offer acceptable choices to your child, giving him or
her a certain amount of control
Establish a schedule for the family that includes specific
meals that will be eaten at home together, and specific
activities one or both parents will do with the child
Limit consequences to those that can be consistently
reinforced and if possible, last for a limited amount of
time

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Piagets Concrete Operational Stage
From:
thought process is more logical, flexible and
organized that in early childhood
Able to see:
Less:
Can see cause and effect relationships

Conservation

children can conserve at this stage-one of the most

important developments
clear evidence of operations-mental actions that
obey logical rules
Decentration-focus on several aspects of problem
at once and relate to them
Reversibility-the ability to mentally go through
the series of steps in a problem and then reverse
the direction returning to the starting point

Decentering &
Reversibility

Child achieves conservation of:

Number
Mass
Length
Area

At the beginning of the concrete operational stage,

kids reason that the 2 cars on these routes are
traveling the same speed even though they arrive
at the same time. Later, they realize the correct
relationship between speed & distance.

Hierarchical Classification
now can group objects into hierarchies of
classes and subclasses
collections are common in middle
childhood
Seriation:

Transitive inference:

Spatial Reasoning
7 to 8 years-mental rotations-align selfs
frame to match that of a person in a
different orientation; identity left and right
for positions that they do not occupy
8 to 10 years-can give clear, well-organized
directions for how to get from one place to
another using mental walk strategies.

Limitations of Concrete
Operational Thought
Children still need concrete information for
the most part
abstract concepts:

Horizontal decalage:

Information Processing in Middle Childhood

During middle childhood, short-term memory

capacity improves significantly.
META-MEMORY, an understanding about the
processes that underlie memory emerge and
improve during middle childhood.
Children use control strategies, conscious,
intentionally used tactics to improve cognitive
functioning.
Children can be trained to use control
strategies and improve memory.

Language Development
During Middle Childhood

Vocabulary continues to increase during the

school years.
School-age children's mastery of grammar
improves.
Children's understanding of syntax, the rules that
indicate how words and phrases can be combined
to form sentences, grows during childhood.
Certain phonemes, units of sound, remain
troublesome (j, v, h, zh).
One of the most significant improvements
metalinguistic awareness

Early on, children may be talking to each

other, but not about the same subject

Later, they develop the ability to actually

communicate with another child that has
meaning

Reading
Stage:
0 recognize letters/sounds
1 sound out words
2 reading becomes easier, but there is not as
much understanding of the meaning
3 reading becomes:
4 can understand:

When are kids ready for school?

Recent research suggests that age is
not a critical indicator of when children
should start school.
Some research suggests that delaying
childrens entrance into school based
on age may actually be harmful!
~Developmental readiness is a better
measure (family support, etc.)