Chapter 11: The School Years
Biosocial Development
Dr. M. Davis-Brantley
Context Changes
• Major influence on development during
this time is the change in social context
• Also there is a higher self-reliance in that
the child no longer needs the parent for
self-care such as dressing, eating
• Independence is a large part of this
aspect of the child’s development
The School Years:
Health
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•
Children during middle childhood (ages 7 to 11) are at their healthiest
However, childhood obesity has become a deadly trend throughout
recent years
– Almost 1/3 of American children are obese
• Obese means having a body weight composed of >30% of fat
– Obesity is likely to decrease the chance a child will exercise, thus
increasing the child’s body weight
– Obesity increases the risk of other serious health problems in adulthood
such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes
– Also psychological problems may result
•
Genetics could play a significant role in obesity
– Adopted children whose biological parents were obese are more often
overweight than other adoptees
•
Cultural implications include:
– Dictates type of food likely to be consumed by a member of said culture
– American food is causing obesity in other cultures
•
What are schools doing about the problem?
Brain Development
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•
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By age 7, the basic areas of the sensory and motor cortexes as well as the
more complex language, logic, memory, and spatial areas
Emotional regulation, theory of mind, left-right coordination, the executive
portion of the brain also are all becoming more efficient overall
However there are many advances during this time
– The prefrontal cortex allows the child to analyze consequences before lashing
out, throwing a tantrum, etc…
– There is an advanced ability to attend to information from many areas at once
and pay special attention to the most important elements of a situation
• This is referred to as selective attention—Ex: Paying attention to teacher and taking
notes or watch a ball, run in the direction of the ball, and watch where the other
teammates are running
– Automatization is also a significant advancement in the brain
– Automatization is a process by which thoughts and actions are repeated in
sequences so often that they become automatic, or routine, and no longer
require much conscious thought
• After many repetitions of the same behavior (with neurons firing together with a
particular sequence), then less neuronal effort is needed, because firing one neuron
leads to a chain reaction that fires an entire sequence
Developmental
Psychopathology
•
•
•
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Child with special needs is a child who requires extra help in order to
learn due to a physical or mental disability
Individual Education Plan a legally required document specifying a
series of educational goals for a child with special needs
Developmental Psychopathology is a field in which knowledge about
normal development is applied to the study and treatment of various
disorders
Based on a variety of research, developmental psychopathologists have
come up with 4 major lessons
1.
2.
3.
4.
Abnormality is normal
Disability changes over time
Adolescence and adulthood may be better or worse
Diagnosis depends on the social context
Pervasive Developmental
Disorders
• Pervasive Developmental Disorders—Severe problems such as
autism, that affect many aspects of a young child’s psychological
growth
• Autism—is a PDD marked by an inability to relate to others in an
ordinary way, by extreme self-absorption, and by an inability to
learn normal speech
– “…inability to relate in an ordinary way to people…and extreme
aloneness that, whenever possible, disregards, ignores, shuts out
anything that comes to the child from the outside” (Kanner, 1943)
– Interesting Video on Autism and alleged low-functioning autistic--“A
voice all her own”
– Genetics of Autism
• Teratogens are the primary known cause of Pervasive
Developmental Disorders
Attention-Deficit
Disorders
• Attention-Deficit Disorder(ADD)—A condition in which a
child has great difficulty concentrating
• Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)—A
condition in which a child has great difficulty
concentrating for more than a few moments at a time
and, as a result, is inattentive, impulsive, and overactive
– There is a need for distraction and diversion is accompanied by
excitability and impulsivity
• Can be a result of neurological deficits, genetic
vulnerability, prenatal teratogens, anoxia, postnatal
damage, etc…
Learning Disabilities
• Learning Disabled—Having a marked delay in a
particular area of learning that is not associated with
any obvious physical handicap, overall mental
retardation, or unusually stressful environment
• Review Educating Children with Special Needs
– Mainstreaming
– Least Restrictive Environment
– Inclusion