CHAPTER 9
PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
IN MIDDLE CHILDHOOD
Summary Outline
I.
II.
Physical development
A. Nutrition
1.
Eating habits
2.
Obesity
B. Physical changes in middle childhood
1.
Height and weight
2.
Body proportion
3.
Arms, legs, and trunk size
C. Motor skills
1.
Motor skill increases
2.
Sex differences
3.
Balance improves
4.
Fine motor skills improve
Cognitive development
A. Piaget and concrete operations
1.
Accomplishments of the concrete operational period
a.
Conservation
b.
Seriation
c.
Classification
d.
Reversibility
e.
Numeration
2.
Features of concrete operational thinking
a.
Reverse operations that involve concrete objects
3.
Piaget’s legacy
a.
Deeper understanding of children’s cognitive development
b.
Awareness of the need for greater comprehension of how children think
c.
Children are not just passive recipients, but are cognitively active
d.
Piaget offered explanations, not just descriptions of children’s thinking
4.
Revisiting concerns about Piaget’s theory
B. New ways of looking at intelligence
1.
Gardener and multiple intelligences
a.
Linguistic intelligence
b.
Musical intelligence
c.
Logical-mathematical intelligence
d.
Spatial intelligence
e.
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence
f.
Interpersonal intelligence
g.
Intrapersonal intelligence
h.
Naturalist intelligence
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Sternberg’s triarchic model of intelligence
a.
The components of intelligence
(1) Metacomponents
(2) Performance components
(3) Knowledge-acquisition components
b.
Experience and intelligence
c.
The context of intelligence
(1) Adapting to existing environments
III. Thinking and problem solving
A. Children and thinking skills
1.
A thinking skills taxonomy
a.
Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives
(1) What do we know about children?
(2) What is the nature of the subject matter that can help to shape
objectives?
(3) Can a sequence of objectives be adopted?
2.
Using questions to improve thinking skills
a.
Critical issues in framing thoughtful questions
(1) How to ask questions
(2) Obtaining good answers
(3) Following-up the responses
B. Problem-solving strategies
1.
Characteristics of good problems solvers
a.
Positive attitude
b.
Look for the facts
c.
Shut out distractions and concentrate
d.
Develop memory strategies
2.
Improving children’s problem-solving strategies
a.
Adaptive strategy choice model
3.
What kinds of mistakes do children make?
a.
Failure to observe and use all the relevant facts of a problem
b.
Failure to adopt systematic procedures
c.
Failure to perceive vital relationships
d.
Frequent use of sloppy techniques
C. The DUPE model
1.
Determine
2.
Understand
3.
Plan your solution
4.
Evaluate your plan
IV. Moral development
A. Three issues
1.
How do children think about moral development?
2.
How do children feel about moral development?
3.
How do children behave in moral situations?
B. The path of moral development
2.
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V.
1.
Parents and moral development
2.
Learning truth and deception
3.
Influence of siblings, schoolmates, and friends
C. Piaget’s explanation
1.
Children conform to rules
2.
Theory
a.
Birth–4 years old: rules are meaningless
b.
4–6 years old: rules are fixed and unchangeable (heteronymous morality)
c.
7–11 years old: social rules are formed by individuals and can be changed
(autonomous morality)
D. Kohlberg’s theory
1.
Preconventional level (about 4–10 years)
a.
Punishment and obedience
b.
Naive instrumental behaviorism
2.
Conventional level (about 10–13 years)
a.
“Good boy–good girl” mentality
b.
Law-and-order mentality
3.
Postconventional level (13 years and over)
a.
Legalistic or contractual moral decisions
b.
Internalized standards and an informed conscience
E. Gilligan’s In a different voice
1.
Women’s moral decisions are based on an ethics of caring
2.
Gilligan’s developmental sequence based on connections and relationships
Language development
A. Changes in usage
1.
Increase in pragmatic sophistication
B. The importance of reading
1.
Automaticity is a key element
2.
Stage and nonstage models of reading acquisition
a.
Stage theorists state abilities change qualitatively over time
(1) 6–7 years: Learn the relationship between letters and sounds
(2) 7–8 years: Improved decoding skills
(3) 9–13 years: Reading is a tool to acquire knowledge
b.
Nonstage theorists agree reading unfolds naturally
(1) Emergent readers
(2) Developing readers
(3) Independent readers
c.
Reading comprehension
3.
Capacity for attention
C. Strategies of maturing readers
1.
Cues identified by Booth
a.
Pragmatic cues
b.
Semantic cues
c.
Syntactic cues
d.
Phonological cues
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2.
Levels of reading ability identified by Booth
a.
Emergent readers
b.
Developing readers
c.
Independent readers
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, the student should be able to complete the following goals:
1.
Summarize nutritional issues for children between the ages of 7 and 12.
2.
Characterize the changes in physical development and motor skills of girls and boys in
middle childhood.
3.
Examine the features of concrete operational thinking.
4.
Discuss the contributions of Piaget and the criticisms of his theoretical approach to
children’s cognitive development.
5.
Summarize Binet’s view of intelligence and Wechsler’s tools to measure intelligence.
6.
List and describe Gardner’s multiple intelligences.
7.
Identify and describe the components of Sternberg’s triarchic model of intelligence.
8.
Examine the issue of equity in testing for multicultural children.
9.
Discuss Bloom’s taxonomy and how it relates to children and their thinking skills.
10.
Identify the critical issues in framing questions.
11.
Present the characteristics of good problem solvers and ways to improve children’s
problem-solving strategies.
12.
Identify the kinds of mistakes children make in problem solving.
13.
Examine problem-solving skills, including the use of the DUPE model.
14.
Examine the main issues of children’s moral development and the role parents play.
15.
Identify Piaget’s stages of how children conform to rules and describe Piaget’s stages of
moral development.
16.
State Kohlberg’s six stages of moral reasoning and give an example of reasoning at each
level.
17.
Discuss Gilligan’s criticisms of Kohlberg’s stages and summarize her theory of moral
development.
18.
Identify changes in language usage during middle childhood.
19.
Compare the stage and nonstage theorists’ explanation of the acquisition of reading skills.
20.
Identify strategies of maturing readers and identify Booth’s levels of reading ability.
Key Terms
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adaptive strategy choice model
classification
concrete operational period
conservation
decentering
decoding
developing readers
DUPE
emergent readers
independent readers
knowledge-acquisition components
metacomponents
moral dilemma
multiple intelligences
numeration
performance components
phonological cues
pragmatic cues
reversibility
semantic cues
seriation
syntactic cues
triarchic model of intelligence
Lecture Suggestions
1.
Issues with Intelligence Testing
James Flynn recognized in 1984 that average intelligence quotient (IQ) scores were increasing in
industrialized nations. Since then, psychologists such as Ulrich Neissen (1997) and William
Dickens, with Flynn (2001), have attempted to determine why. Present this issue of the Flynn
Effect to students. Then review the characteristics of good problem solvers. Discuss methods to
improve critical thinking skills and to facilitate problem solving. Incorporating what students
know about Wechsler’s and Binet’s intelligence assessment tools, examine the possibility that
classroom exercises in problem solving may contribute to the rise in IQ scores.
2.
Sternberg’s Personal Experience with Intelligence
Before explaining Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence, share Sternberg’s personal
experience with intelligence, and ask students to share their experiences, both positive and
negative. Also, ask students how they would define intelligence.
“I really stunk on IQ tests. I was just terrible,” recalls Sternberg. “In elementary school I had
severe test anxiety. I’d hear other people starting to turn the page and I’d still be on the second
item. I’d utterly freeze.” (Trotter, 1986, p. 56)
After doing so poorly on an IQ test in sixth grade, Sternberg had to retake it with the fifthgraders. This helped him get over his test anxiety, and he did well on the test. In a seventh-grade
science project, he designed and administered his own test of mental abilities. After high school,
he worked summers as a research assistant at the Psychological Corporation in New York, then at
the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey. He took a graduate course at Stanford
from Lee J. Cronbach, a leader in the field, who said that the psychometric approach had run its
course and new intelligence research efforts were needed.
About the same time, an educational publishing firm asked Sternberg to write a book on how to
prepare for the Miller Analogies Test. Sternberg seized the opportunity because he wanted to
study intelligence and thought analogies were a major part of most IQ tests. This work eventually
led to his dissertation and a book based on it. At this stage, Sternberg was analyzing the cognitive
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processes people use to solve IQ test items, such as analogies, syllogism, and series. His research
accounted for mental processing and also seemed to account for individual differences in IQ test
performance. From this work, Sternberg published a paper in 1980 of his “componential” theory
of intelligence.
But from his teaching and working with graduate students at Yale, Sternberg came to believe that
there was much more to intelligence than what his componential theory was describing. He found
that one student had high test scores and excellent analytical scores. Another student didn’t have
the best test scores but was a creative thinker who demonstrated insight. And yet another student
was street-smart, coming out on top in almost any context because the student learned to play the
game and how to manipulate the environment. His componential theory had only explained one
aspect of intelligence.
Sternberg’s personal experience with IQ tests was the impetus for his involvement with
intelligence testing, which led to his triarchic theory of intelligence. Sternberg, IBM Professor of
Psychology and Education at Yale University, did his undergraduate work at Yale and then got
his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1975. His three-part theory of intelligence has a dimension
of practicality that is appealing to many. His practical bent toward intelligence is seen in his
efforts to teach people to better understand and increase their intellectual skills.
Reference:
Trotter, R. (1986). Three heads are better than one. Psychology Today, 20, 56–62.
Instructor’s CD-ROM Resource Activities
1.
Chapter 11 Physical and Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood
A.
Identifying Obesity Risk Factors
B.
Test Anxiety: A Visit with Teachers
C.
A Discussion with Teachers on Bullying
D.
The Homework Blues
E.
Sports and Children: Interview with a Pediatrician
Classroom or Student Activities
1.
Piagetian Tasks in Middle Childhood
As a continuation of an activity described in Chapter 5 of this manual, invite a child in middle
childhood to your classroom to participate in several Piagetian tasks. According to Piaget,
children in this age group are in the concrete operational stage of cognitive development. They
are able to combine, order, separate, and transform objects in their mind, but they still are unable
to manipulate objects mentally unless they are present. At this stage, though, children understand
that the world is more predictable and their thinking is more flexible.
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Have students design Piagetian tasks to demonstrate conservation (including identity,
compensation, and negation) and decentration. Conduct the tasks with the child invited to class.
Ask students to compare their observations with children at different ages in middle childhood
and with children in the preoperational stage of cognitive development.
2.
Kohlberg’s Moral Dilemma
Kohlberg devised the moral dilemma, a conflict causing subjects to justify the morality of their
choices. He used moral dilemmas to determine an individual’s stage of moral development.
In order to critically evaluate Kohlberg’s stages of moral development, divide students into six
different groups, each group corresponding to one of Kohlberg’s six stages of development.
Provide students with a copy of the Heinz dilemma. Have each group work together to decide
how an individual at their designated stage of moral development would respond. Remind
students that what is important is the reasoning behind the answer that determines the particular
stage, not whether or not the husband should steal the drug. Have each group present its
reasoning stage of morality to the class.
3.
Career-Related Activity
Imagine you’re a nurse working in a pediatrician’s office. The doctor asks you to create a onepage handout for her patients describing the milestones of cognitive and problem-solving
development during the middle childhood years.
Questions for Review and Discussion
1.
Describe the physical changes in middle childhood, and explain motor skill development
during these years.
2.
Define concrete operational thinking, and provide examples of how children might
demonstrate concrete operational thinking.
3.
Discuss Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, and explain how it helps theorists
understand middle childhood.
4.
Explain Sternberg’s triarchic model of intelligence, and discuss how it relates to the
developing cognitive competence of the middle childhood youngster.
5.
Explain the interaction between children’s developing memory skills and their problemsolving skills.
6.
Discuss characteristics of good problem solvers and contrast these with the kinds of
mistakes children make when approaching a problem.
7.
What is the DUPE method? List and explain its components.
8.
Describe Carol Gilligan’s stages of moral development for women. How does Gilligan’s
theory reflect a cultural-contextual view of development?
9.
How is language development related to moral reasoning?
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Web Site Resources
Child Development
www.srcd.org
Developmental Psychology
www.apa.org/journals/dev.html
Jean Piaget
www.education.Indiana.edu/~p540/webcourse/
develop.html
Jean Piaget
www.psy.pdx.edu/PsiCafe/KeyTheorists/Piaget
.htm
The Gardner School
www.gardnerschool.org
KidSource On Line
www.kidsource.com/
America Reads
www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/kids.html
Kohlberg and Gilligan
www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/09_15_99/page_21.ht
ml
Video Resources
1.
Memory: Fabric of Mind, 28 minutes, color
2.
Cognitive Development, 60 minutes, color
3.
The Study of Memory, 74 minutes, color
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