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Summarize Intelligence
Math Achievement
Self
Gender and Gender boundaries
Peer Relationships
Friendships
Developing group Norms
Sherif & Sherif Robber’s Cave Experiment
Moral Development
Family
Parenting Styles
Violence, Conflict, Divorce
Sibling Relationships
Schools
Achievement and Adjustment
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
What IQ Scores Can Predict
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In general, IQ tests are fairly good
predictors of success in school.
Childhood IQ may predict long-term
success in occupations that require
abstract thought.
Adult IQ scores are good predictors of
success in job-training programs but not
of actual job performance.
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In most parts of the world, children start
formal education between ages 5-7.
The transition to formal education is not
always easy.
Many have difficulty applying their
informal knowledge to more formal
classroom tasks.
Decontextualized thought:
A cognitive skill needed to solve problems
that are abstract, self-contained, and
removed from any immediate context.
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Cultural Mismatch
The format of social interaction expected at school may be
unfamiliar to children from different backgrounds.
 White middle-class preschoolers are accustomed to being
asked questions at home, test questions to which the
adult knows the answers (“What color is that?” “What do
cows say?”).
 A study found that black lower-class preschoolers heard
more functional questions at home:
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analogy questions (“What’s that like?”)
story-starter questions (“What happened to him yesterday?”)
accusation questions (“What’s that all over your face?)
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Cultural Differences in Math Achievement
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United States children do worse than
children in many other countries on math
& science measures.
No one suggests American children have
learning deficiencies compared to
children in other countries.
Researchers and teachers assume
cultural differences in values & classroom
practices must be the cause.
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Latency period:
Freud’s term for
middle childhood, the
period in which
sexual urges lie
relatively dormant.
Industry vs. inferiority:
Erikson’s term for the
crisis of middle
childhood, when the
major challenge is to
start mastering adult
skills & feelings
fostered by success
& failure.
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Sense of industry:
In Erikson’s theory, the basic belief in one’s own
competence, coupled with a tendency to initiate
activities, seek out learning experiences, and
work hard to accomplish goals.
Middle childhood is marked by:
 forming a coherent self-concept
 major developments in peer relations
 growing understanding of emotions
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The Emergence of the Psychological Self
Psychological self:
A concept of the self that is made up of
psychological characteristics, such as mental
abilities and customary ways of feeling.
Metatheory of the self:
Children understanding of the nature of selves
in general.
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The Development of the Social Self
Social self:
An awareness that the self is intimately
tied to other people.
Social comparison:
The tendency to use others as a source
of information in evaluating the self.
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The Development of the Social Self
Use of social comparison in evaluating the
self depends on several things:
 decline in centration
 normative understanding of ability
 cultural context
Source of photo: Microsoft Design Gallery.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
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9-year-old: My name is Bruce. I have brown eyes. I have brown
hair. I love sports. I have seven people in my family. I have
great eye sight. I have lots of friends. I have an uncle who is
almost 7 feet tall. My teacher is Mrs. V. I play hockey. I’m
almost the smartest boy in the class. I love food. I love school.
11½-year-old: My name is Anne. I’m a human being…a girl… a
truthful person. I’m not pretty. I do so-so in my studies. I’m a
very good cellist. I’m a little tall for my age. I like several boys.
I am a good swimmer. I try to be helpful. Mostly I’m good, but I
lose my temper. I’m not well liked by some girls and boys. I
don’t know if boys like me.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Piaget’s Theory ofMoral Development
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Young children judge on consequence
Older children judge on intent
In middle childhood standards can be
very rigid
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The Developing Sense of Gender
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Knowledge of gender stereotypes
influences perceptions & memories.
Elementary school children apply gender
stereotypes to themselves more than
preschoolers do.
In general, boys are more strongly sextyped than girls.
Socialization factors (mother’s SES, etc.)
influence the flexibility of gender-related
thinking.
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Personal Effectiveness and
Self-Management
Also developing in middle childhood is
children’s belief that:
 they can master and prevail in challenging
circumstances, and
 their successes come from resources
within.
As children develop a sense of personal
effectiveness, they also develop capacities
to cope with stress and emotional
challenges.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Peer groups are important
for several reasons:
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sheer amount of time spent with peers
unique learning experiences
challenging youngsters to develop
interaction skills
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Advances That Enable More
Complex Peer Relations:
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greater ability to understanding others’
perspectives, needs, & feelings
ability to grasp more complex rules
regarding interpersonal behavior
growing ability to communicate feelings
& wishes
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Elementary school children can now
communicate displeasure verbally.
They (especially girls) are more likely to hurl
verbal insults.
Girls display less physical aggression than
boys, but more relational aggression.
Relational aggression:
Aggression that includes attempts to
 exclude peers from activities
 damage their reputations
 gossip about their negative characteristics
or behavior
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
5 Major Developments in Peer Relations
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Children start to expect more from friends,
including loyalty & understanding.
They start forming networks of friends.
They learn to coordinate allegiance to individual
friends with their functioning in a group.
Adhering to peer group norms becomes
increasingly important.
Clear boundaries for interaction with opposite
sex develop.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Forming Loyal Friendships
In middle childhood:
 relationships involve more reciprocal support &
loyalty
 deepening of peer relations relates to advances
in children’s thinking
 they come to understand conflict is part of
friendship and may even strengthen it
 they behave differently with friends than with
mere acquaintances
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Forming Peer Groups
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Friendship networks are the hallmark of
middle childhood.
They tend to play with relatively stable
clusters of friends.
Boys often engage in joint building
activities & competitions.
Boys vie to be the leader or winner.
Girls’ groups are more cohesive.
Girls orient more toward accord & intimacy.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Coordinating Friendship and
Group Interaction
Typically, friendship and group interaction
supplement each other:
 Friendships promote integration into a
group.
 Functioning in the group is a rich context
for sharing between friends.
 Some pairs of friends steer away from
groups.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Adhering to Peer Group Norms
Peer group norms:
Informal rules governing the conduct of
children within a peer group.
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Strict adherence to peer group norms is
common at this age.
Peer group norms help maintain group
harmony & cohesiveness.
They are important for promoting moral
development.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Maintaining Gender Boundaries
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Elementary school children are diligent in their efforts to
ensure children do not stray too far across gender lines.
Some cultures impose gender boundaries, like having the
boys live in a separate village.
A great deal of contact occurs, but within the limits of
peer group rules.
Children who routinely fail to maintain gender boundaries
are less popular and are rated as less socially competent.
Border work:
Rituals of teasing & ostracism with which elementary
school children maintain the boundary between
gender-segregated peer groups.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Status & Acceptance in the Peer Group
Sociometrics:
A research technique used to measure peer status.
Sociometric techniques involve asking children to
name others they especially like or don’t like to
play with.
 Accepted children are frequently named as liked.
 Those consistently named as disliked are
characterized by researchers as rejected.
 Others who are rarely named as either liked or
disliked are characterized as neglected.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Sociogram
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Ask children to name who they like and
who they dislike.
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Popular
Rejected
Neglected
Controversial
Peer Acceptance
high
low
low
high
Peer Rejection
low
high
low
high
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Unpopular children’s feelings about their
low peer status depend on multiple factors.
Intense loneliness depends
on a combination of:
 isolation from the group
 friendlessness
 low peer acceptance
 not any one of these
factors alone
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Aggressive children are more likely to be
rejected.
Combined aggression and rejection is
strongly associated with maladjustment.
Aggressive children who are not rejected
are better adjusted.
Rejected children spent the most time
isolated from others or engage in
negative behavior like aggression.
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During elementary school, a child’s
popularity with peers becomes quite
stable.
It has implications for current and future
mental health.
Researchers have explored ways to
improve a child’s status, but how long
the effects of such interventions last is
not yet known.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
What was the purpose?
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Muzafer and his wife, Carolyn, conducted a
study on the origin of prejudice.
The experiment focused heavily on the
concept of a ‘group’ and what a perception of
belonging to a group can actually do to the
relationships of members within it and their
relationships with people outside their group.
Who was involved?
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Muzafer Sherif and Carolyn Sherifpsychologists that came up with the
experiment.
22 boys between the ages of 11 and 12.
Researchers were disguised as camp
leaders.
What happened in this experiment?
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There were 3 phases of this
experiment.
1. In-Group Formation
 2. Friction Phase
 3. Integration Phase.
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Phase 1. (In-group Formation)
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Twenty-two eleven year-old boys of middle-class socioeconomic
standing, and who are not school or social failures and who have
similar educational level.
These boys were taken into a summer camp in Robbers Cave
State Park in Oklahoma where they were divided into two groups
of eleven.
The two groups created national flags creating a sense of
belonging. They also bonded with each other and created group
names.
The groups must not be aware of the existence of the other group
If the groups had met before, it would alter the results because
they would likely be less hostile towards the other group later on
in the experiment.
Phase 2. Friction Phase
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During this phase, the two groups were allowed to find out about the
existence of the other group.
Teams were forced to compete against each other in a number of
camp activities. Such as, canoeing, camp fire building, and wood
chopping, etc.
The winning team, scoring the highest overall number of points, won
a trophy.
Greatly increased the antagonism between the two groups.
Later on, name calling and fighting started and the singing of
offending songs were also observed.
After refusal of being in the same room, the researchers decided to
end the second phase before further outbursts occurred.
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Raided one another’s cabins
Stole and burned one another’s flags
Came to view one another as “stinkers” “smartalecks” and “sneaks”
Verbal prejudice became apparent, spiraling
downward towards aggressive territorial
violence
The groups eventually had to be separated
How to create prosocial attitudes
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Propaganda: No
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Contact: No
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Positive propaganda about one group directed to the other by
the experimenters did not help
Doing non-competitive activities together (e.g., watching
movies) did not help
Cooperative action: Yes
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Experimenters arranged for camp truck to break down
Both groups needed to pull it uphill
Intergroup friendships began to
Phase 3- Integration Phase.
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This stage constitutes the most crucial and significant aspect
of the study.
The researchers forced groups together to cooperate and
achieve a common goal.
Both groups were taken to a new location and were told to fix
their drinking water supply which had been damaged by
“vandals”.
The two teams worked together because a water supply
shortage affected both groups immensely.
The second activity the boys were told to watch a movie
together. They successfully agreed upon one, and later ate
dinner together without dispute.
What was discovered?
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During the first phase, the researchers discovered that when you
place a group of strangers together, they take on specific roles
within the group. Such as leaders, followers, etc. They bond
together and become close friends (like a family).
Second Phase- because of the bonding in group one, they had a
sense of pride towards that team. When forced to fight against
each other they found themselves in a battle. Each group believed
their group was superior in all aspects.
Third Phase- When two conflicting groups are brought together to
achieve a goal that can only be accomplished by both groups
working together. They work together flawlessly.
Emotional
Development in
Middle Childhood
The Changing Understanding of Emotion
During middle childhood, children:
 become increasingly able to understand the
complexity of emotion-arousing situations
 take particular situations into account when
determining an appropriate emotional response
 know a great deal about display rules for
emotions
These changes seem related to increases in true
empathy for others.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Emotional, Social, & Cognitive
Bases of Moral Development
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Advances in children’s thinking support
deepening of moral concerns and greater
understanding of moral issues.
Consideration for other people’s feelings
is a major factor in moral growth.
The particular moral principles children
adopt are largely a product of their
culture.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Contexts of
Development in
Middle Childhood
The Family
Parent-child relationships change markedly
during this time.
 Parents give children more responsibilities.
 Parents no longer explicitly, continuously direct
children.
 The hallmark of effective parenting is keeping
track of children’s whereabouts and providing
supervision & direction when needed.
 Parents influence by how they supervise.
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Parenting Styles
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Baumrind
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Authoritative
Authoritarian
Permissive
Maccoby and Martin
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Frequency of conflict over goals
Balance of resolution
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Parenting Styles & Child Development
Authoritative parents rely on discipline techniques
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based on reasoning.
Their children score higher on agency.
Agency:
The tendency to take initiative, rise to
challenges, and try to influence events.
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Girls high on agency tend to have
argumentative interactions with parents,
especially fathers.
Argumentative interactions are not associated
with increased agency for boys.
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Several factors encourage harmonious parentchild relationships:
 understanding legitimacy of parents’ authority
 grasping that parents have more experience
 grasping parents’ decisions are usually
intended for children’s own good
 empathy shown by caring, responsive parents
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Family Violence, Conflict, & Divorce
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Harsh physical abuse relates to later
negative behavior in children.
Other violence in the family is associated
with child problems including aggression
and withdrawal.
Ending parental conflict moderates
negative consequences of divorce.
Negative impact of divorce on girls may
be more delayed.
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Family Violence, Conflict, & Divorce
Factors that promote good outcomes for
children after divorce:
 ongoing contact with both parents
 an end to parental conflict
 cooperation between parents regarding
child care
 custodial parent’s emotional well-being
 good relationships in any stepfamilies
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Sibling Relationships
Sibling and peer relationships differ in
important ways:
 There is usually a greater age disparity
between friends.
 One of the siblings tends to get more
power and privileges.
 In middle childhood, friendships rarely
cross gender boundaries.
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Sibling Relationships
Emotional Qualities of Sibling Relationships
 Competition for parents’ attention and
approval is common.
 Sibling strife based on social comparison
intensifies after about age 8.
 Rate of conflict is higher with siblings
than with peers.
 Younger siblings see older ones as
controllers and facilitators.
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Sibling Relationships
Factors influencing quality of sibling
relationships:
 closeness in age
 gender composition
 stress
 personalities
 preferential treatment by parents
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Sibling Relationships
Emotional ambivalence common among
siblings offers important learning:
 When siblings fight, they cannot simply
end their relationship.
 They can provide mutual support.
 Older siblings may be assigned the role
of caring for younger siblings.
 Adopting role of boss may help older
siblings practice leadership skills.
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The School
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School provides important context for
socialization in cultural values.
Family & school factors affect school
achievement & adjustment.
School achievement & adjustment
predict later mental health.
After-care arrangements are important,
with impact depending to some extent
on socioeconomic status.
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The Coherence of Development
in Middle School
Development in middle childhood is
coherent for three reasons:
1.
coherent sets of influences
2.
coherence of individual adaptations
3.
coherence of development over time
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.