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:
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Physical Development
9 – 10-year-olds:
11-year-olds:
Growth is influenced by activity level,
exercise, nutrition, gender, and genetic
factors
Health Problems
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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
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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)
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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:
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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:
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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)
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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:
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Illnesses
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higher range of illnesses during the first 2 years of
elementary school; exposure to more sick children
and immune system is still developing
Asthma:
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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)
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Some 2.3 million school-age children in the
U.S. are officially labeled as having:
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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…
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Drugs
 Controversial
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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Drug therapy:
 Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta, Strattera
 About 1 out of every 8 children may take
some form of stimulant
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Behavior therapy:
Overprescribing Ritalin?
U.S. doctors prescribe Ritalin for ADHD more frequently. Some
experts argue the drug is overprescribed.
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
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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
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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
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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
Piaget’s 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
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Conservation
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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
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Child achieves conservation of:
Number –
 Mass –
 Length –
 Area –
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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:
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Transitive inference:
Spatial Reasoning
7 to 8 years-mental rotations-align self’s
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.
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Limitations of Concrete
Operational Thought
Children still need concrete information for
the most part
 abstract concepts:
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Horizontal decalage:
Information Processing in Middle Childhood
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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
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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
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Early on, children may be talking to each
other, but not about the same subject
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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:
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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
children’s entrance into school based on
age may actually be harmful!
~Developmental readiness is a better
measure (family support, etc.)
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