Middle Childhood 6-11Slide 2Slide 3EriksonThe Nature of the ChildBrain Development middle childhoodBrain DevelopmentCognitive Development middle childhoodCognitive DevelopmentPiagetBuilding on Theory: PiagetVygotsky and School-Age ChildrenInformation ProcessingSlide 14MemoryAdvances in MemoryMetacognitionUnderstanding metaphorsLanguage, reading, math skillsLanguagePowerPoint PresentationSlide 22Slide 23Learning disordersGender differences in school performanceDifferences in Learning x SESMiddle Childhood 6-11Healthiest yearsLeast likely to have an accidentLeast likely to dieBecome strongerHearts, lungsRun fasterMiddle Childhood 6-11-Become more capable and independent-E.g., can brush teeth, get dressed etc on own-Immersed in play and school and peers-can do chores, feed the dog-can do a homework assignment from school-try to conform to peers (clothing, language, things they collect)-can tell parents what they want/like and be more included in decision makingMiddle Childhood 6-11-Appreciation of cooperation and fair play-Improved problem-solving abilities-Feeling productive very important-Erikson : ‘industry’ : focused on skills and tasksEriksonIndustry versus inferiorityFourth of Erikson's eight psychosocial ‘crises’Characterized by tension between productivity and incompetenceChildren attempt to master culturally valued skills develop a sense of themselves as either industrious or inferior, competent or incompetent.The Nature of the ChildSelf-concept developing furtherDeveloping ideas about self that (personality, abilities, gender, and ethnic background) gradually becoming more specific and logicalMore influence from peer and society are incorporated nowBrain Development middle childhoodComplex tasks slowly mastered with brain maturation (prefrontal cortex).Variety of social skillsControl impulsesPlanning for futureAnalyze consequencesReading•increasingly interconnected brain by age 7 or 8 years.Brain DevelopmentSpeed of thought•Reaction time faster: Time it takes to respond to a stimulus, either physically (with a reflexive movement such as an eye blink) or cognitively (with a thought).Attention•Selective attention is better: Ability to concentrate on some stimuli while ignoring others: focus on most important elements in environmentAutomaticity•Automatization occuring more: Process in which repetition of a sequence of thoughts and actions makes the sequence routine, so that it no longer requires conscious thought.Cognitive Development middle childhoodPiagetConcrete operational thought•-Ability to reason logically about direct experiences and perceptions.•-Can apply their new reasoning skills to concrete situations.Cognitive Development•What develops now is ability to use mental categories and subcategories flexibly, inductively, and simultaneously.PiagetHierarchy of categoriesClassificationOrganization of things into groups (or categories or classes) according to some characteristic they have in commonBy age 8, most children can classifyBuilding on Theory: PiagetOther logical conceptsTransitive inferenceIs ability to figure out the unspoken link between one fact and anotherLinked to maturation of hippocampus which reaches critical point around age 7SeriationIncludes knowledge that things can be arranged in logical series.Vygotsky and School-Age Childrenknowledge is acquired from social context.Guiding each child through zone of proximal development is crucial.Children are apprentices in learning.Language is integral as a mediator for understanding and learning.Information ProcessingInformation-processing theoryCompares human thinking processesto computer analysis of dataLike computers, people sense and perceive large amounts of informationSeek specific units of information (as a search engine doesAnalyze (as software programs do)Express their conclusions so another person can understand (as a networked computer or a printout might do)Information ProcessingLearning the number system (Siegler)Number understanding accrues graduallyNew and better strategies for calculation are tried, ignored, half-used, abandoned, and finally adoptedMemoryWorking memory improves steadily and significantly. Capacity of long-term memory is virtually limitless by the end of middle childhood. Memory storage expands over childhood, but more important is retrieval.As the prefrontal cortex matures, children are better able to use strategies.Advances in MemoryMetacognition"Thinking about your own thinking’Ability to analyze and evaluate a cognitive task to determine how best to accomplish it, and then can monitor and adjust one's performance on that taskImproves with age and experienceUnderstanding metaphorsSchool-age children comprehend and enjoy puns, unexpected answers to normal questions, and metaphors.New cognitive flexibility and social awareness make these funny.Language, reading, math skillsLanguageVocabulary-Know basic vocabulary of their first language by age 6-Learn as many as 20 new words a day and apply grammar rules they did not use before-Become more flexible and logicalLearning disordersDyslexiaUnusual difficulty with reading; thought to be the result of some neurological underdevelopmentDyscalculiaUnusual difficulty with math, probably originating from a distinct part of the brainGender differences in school performanceGirls ahead of boys in verbal skills in every nationBoys ahead of girls in math and scienceGender differences in math narrowed or disappeared (Gender-similarities hypothesis)Classroom Girls have higher grades overall; grades dip at pubertyDifferences in Learning x SESFamily povertyStrong correlation between academic achievement and socioeconomic statusCausal factors of low achievement in middle childhoodLimited early exposure to wordsTeachers’ and parents’