Chapter 18
Intellectual Development from 7 to
12
Chapter Objectives
 Identify 4 signs of intellectual development in children ages 7 to
12
 Explain 4 thinking skills that build a foundation for mastering
schoolwork
 Describe 3 learning methods that are effective for children ages
7 to 12
 Identify characteristics of the middle school experience that
make it well suited to preteen learning
 Compare and contrast 3 types of standardized tests
Chapter 18.1
The Developing Brain from 7 to 12
Signs of Increased Intellectual
Growth
 Intellectual development improves steadily as children
become capable of new ways of thinking
 Emotional and intellectual needs of preteens differ from
those of younger and older children
 Educators created middle or junior high schools in an
effort to address these special needs
 4 signs of intellectual development for this age occur in
memory, awareness, idealism, and attention span
Memory
 People use both short-term
and long-term memory
 Improvements in the way the
brain functions allows older
children and preteens to learn
more and to use their
knowledge more efficiently
 EXAMPLE:
We don’t count on our fingers. We
are able to recall and apply
basic mathematical functions
Awareness and Curiosity
 More intense awareness of
themselves and those around
them
 Better at understanding their abilities
and those of others
 8 years or older, children can begin to
see another persons point-of-view
 More concern about what people think
of them
 We begin to think of ourselves in
terms of qualities we have versus
our appearance
 Strive to achieve goals
 At school:
 Increasingly independent in their
learning
 Develop their own learning styles
 Develop interest that can last a lifetime
Idealism and Abstract Thinking
 Young children judge whether
 Cannot analyze their ideas to
something is right or wrong by
how much pleasure or pain it
involves
 Older children and teens adopt
moral standards that authority
figures will approve of
 Preteens can recognize
complex social problems such
as prejudice and crime
see if they are realistic
 Parents can encourage
preteens to be involved in the
community through volunteer
work
 Do not understand why the
problem is difficult to solve
Attention Span
 For reasons that are not yet
understood, children around
age 12 loose their longer
attention spans
 They learn less, because they
cannot concentrate as long
 Test scores and grades may
drop at school
Theories About How Children
Learn- Piaget’s Theory

Concrete Operations Stage: (7 to 11)
 Thinking works effectively on
concrete, or actual, objects and
tasks
 Generalize from their own
experiences
 Cannot understand abstract ideas
 During this stage children develop
several important thinking skills
 Classifying objects
 Placing objects in series
 Extending relationships
 Conservation

Placing Objects in a Series:



Extending Relationships



Arrange objects in ascending or
descending order
Requires the ability to compare
objects mentally and to make logical
connections between what they
know and what they are learning
Transitivity is the concept that a
relative relationship between two
objects can extend to a third object
EX: If 3 is greater than 2 and 2 is
greater than 1, than 3 is greater than
1
Conservation

An object has the same
characteristics even if there is a
change in the way it looks
Theories About How Children
Learn- Piaget’s Theory
 Formal Operations Stage:
 Starts at about age 11
 Develop the ability to think
abstractly and to see different
sides of an issue
 A preteen will use these
abstract ways of thinking
selectively at first
 As they gain more
experience they will begin
to use abstract thinking
more
 Abstract Thinking:
 Imagining hypothetical
situations
 Solving problems by
anticipating and preparing for
different situations
 Debating issues
 Using “if….then” formulas
 Recognizing societal problems
and understand the complex
reasons for them
Theories About How Children
Learn- Vygotsky’s Theory
 Biological development and
 Peer and small group activities
cultural experiences both
influence the child’s ability to
learn
 Children learn best from one
another
 Children ages 7 to 11 are
learning to evaluate
themselves and others
are vital in the classroom
 Social activities like clubs,
sports teams, and other events
are essential
Theories About How Children
Learn- Montessori’s Theory
 Montessori’s theory stresses the importance of self-directed
learning
 Teachers should:
 Provide the needed tools
 Intrude on learning as little as possible
 In a Montessori classroom, 7 to 12 year olds, might offer a
combination of language, history geography, the sciences, and
the arts
 Group lessons are kept at a minimum as teachers allow children
to explore learning in their own way
 Real-life experiences are stressed
Theories About How Children
Learn: Gardner’s Theory
 Believes learning is multifaceted or many-sided
 Educators who have supported Gardner’s way of thinking see
their students learning and thinking in different ways every day
 The more students develop their own intelligences, the greater
their skills and knowledge will become
 What are some ways you could help students learn from each
intelligence?
 Verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, musical,
bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist
Theories About How Children
Learn- Sternberg’s Theory
 Sternberg’s research suggests an answer to why some
students who did well in school do not excel in the working
world or vise versa
 The theory proposes that people have varying degrees of
analytical, creative, and practical intelligence
 When parents or caregivers encourage all three kinds of
intelligences, then all children can show their talents
Sternberg’s Theory
Analytical Intelligence
 Abilities to recall, recognize,
analyze, compare and
contrast, evaluate, and explain
problem-solving strategies
 High analytical children are
often considered to be smart
because they are good at
those types of activities and
tests
Creative Intelligence
 Schools that are too focused on




improving student knowledge
can hinder creativity
Is required when children
imagine, pretend, invent, and
design
May not follow directions well
and score lower on tests
Allow children plenty of free
play time
Encourage children to be
creative
Sternberg’s Theory
Practical Intelligence
 “Street Smarts”
 Quickly assess a problem and
the available resources
 They can figure out the fastest
and most practical way to solve
a problem
 Might not be top performers at
school but they have the
potential to become tomorrows
leaders, businesspeople, and
politicians
 Encourage those to volunteer in
the community, lead a group
project, etc.
Chapter 18.2
Learning from 7 to 12
Learning Methods
 A learning method is a way to learn
 In order to meet different needs of children, teachers use a
variety of learning methods
 The 3 most common learning methods are
 Direct
 Peer
 Independent
Direct Learning
 Language-based, or direct learning, is a common learning
method for older children
 Children capable of direct learning can get facts and ideas
from listening and reading
 Must learn to take notes and read their textbooks on their
own
 Progress in mastering these skills are gradual
 Can be measured through tests, quizzes, and essays
Peer Learning
 Peer learning is a learning method in which students
interact with one another
 Work together in pairs, small groups, or as a class
 One advantage to peer learning is that it provides an
environment in which students may feel less awkward
about asking questions or expressing confusion
 Working on group projects helps students learn to work
together cooperatively, to communicate, and to build
time- and resource-management skills
Independent Learning
 Independent learning allows students to work on their
own
 Lets them use information they gather in a variety of ways
 Prepares them for long-term assignments common in high
school, college, or the working world
Middle School- A Time of
Transition
 A 4th and 9th grader are not at all alike
 A 4th grader works best in small classroom settings with one
teacher who is almost like a parent
 Leads them through most of their class work and gives them
personal, individual care, and guidance
 Know all their classmates and are familiar with their
surroundings
 High school students rotate from class to class all day,
changing teachers and classmates
 Learning environment is more impersonal and more
independent work
Middle School- New
Independence and Social Skills
Summarize the paragraph into once sentence. Write below.
Middle School- Effective Middle
Schools
 Read the paragraph and summarize in one sentence. Write
below.
The Importance of Parent
Involvement
 Meet the Staff
 Talk to the teachers personally
 Read messages sent by the school
 Review the child’s homework
 Help out with school activities
 Join the parent’s group
 Talk to the child
Intellectual Development
Schools often rely on tests to evaluate how well students are
developing intellectually and how much knowledge they are
gaining.
Schools periodically may give standardized tests, which is a test
that lets educators see how students are performing compared
to thousands of other students who have taken the same tests.
What is your feeling or belief of standardized tests? Why?
Creating Standardized Tests
 Teams of scientists and educators design standardized tests for
schools
 Instructions for giving and scoring tests too
 Before they are used with the masses, they are tested on
students and revised.
 Validity
 It measures what it is supposed to measure
 Reliability
 Tests must be consistent, given to the same age group, again and
again with similar results
 Practicality
 Cannot be difficult to give, easy to score, affordable
Types of Standardized School
Tests
 There are 3 types given to 7 – 12 year olds to measure how
well they can learn, how much they have already learned,
and what they might have a special ability or interest in
learning
 These types include:
 Learning Ability Test
 Achievement Tests
 Aptitude Interest Tests
Learning Ability Tests
 Designed to help educators predict how well as student
might do in a particular learning situation
 All students take the same tests, tests are scored, then
results compared
 Go by several names
 Intelligence tests, mental ability tests, scholastic aptitude
tests (SAT), academic aptitude test
 More tests require students to read and write
Achievement Tests
 Used to help measure what students have actually learned
about a particular topic or subject
 SAT are the most common prevalent standardized tests in
schools
 Given once per school year
 Helps lessen anxiety when taking the test for real
 A certain score on these types of tests may be required for
graduation
Aptitude and Interest Tests
 Offer important measures of people’s talents and preferences
 A student who scores high in mathematical aptitude might
want to become an engineer or a scientist
 Another tests is an interest test which take an interest
inventory
 Students select what they like best from different groups or ideas
 Patterns in their answers are analyzed to see where their interests
are strongest
 May give a student an idea of what to go into professionally