Chapter 12
Social and Emotional Development in Middle Childhood
Learning Objectives
When students have studied the material in this chapter, they will be able to answer the following:
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Introduction
1. What are some major social and emotional developments in middle childhood?
2. How are social, emotional, and cognitive development related in middle childhood?
3. What are the contributions of family and peers to school-aged children's development?
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The inner world of the self
4. How does a child's concept of the self change from early to middle childhood?
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Peer relationships in middle childhood
5. Summarize the developmental advances that allow increasingly complex peer relations in middle
childhood.
6. What major developments occur in peer relations during middle childhood?
7. What is known about peer status and acceptance in middle childhood?
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Emotional development in middle childhood
8. How does children's understanding of emotions change during middle childhood?
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Contexts of development in middle childhood
9. How do parent-child relationships change during middle childhood?
10. How does parenting style affect children's behavior and development?
11. How do family violence, conflict, and divorce affect children's development?
12. What roles do sibling relationships play in development in middle childhood?
13. How do schools affect children's development?
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The coherence of development in middle childhood
14. Explain how coherence of development is demonstrated in middle childhood.
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Chapter Summary Outline
Note: Terms in bold print are chapter vocabulary words.
Introduction
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Freud labeled middle childhood the latency period when he believed sexual urges are
dormant, awaiting the great reawakening of adolescence.
Erikson saw the major developmental task of this stage as a sense of industry. It is a basic
belief in one’s own competence, coupled with a tendency to initiate activities, to seek out
learning experiences, and to work hard to accomplish goals. Repeated failure to master new
skills leaves a child with feelings of incompetence and inferiority.
Another task of middle childhood: forming a coherent self-concept by pulling together various
experiences.
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Major developments in peer relations.
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Growing understanding of emotions.
The Inner World of the Self
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The Emergence of the Psychological Self
1. Preschoolers think of the self in physical terms, but elementary school children describe
themselves in terms of a psychological self—psychological traits, thoughts, and
feelings, an overall view called a metatheory of the self. Children must consider multiple
situations in order to know their own traits or the traits of others. Can coordinate various
self-representations.
2. Children of this age also possess an understanding that others have hidden thoughts and
feelings and, further, that people's inner psychological experiences do not always
coincide with their external words and actions.
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The Development of the Social Self
1. Elementary school children develop a social self by defining themselves in terms of
social group membership and traits exhibited in dealings with others.
2. Closely linked to the inclination to define the self in terms of relationships with others is
the tendency to use others as a source of information in evaluating the self through
social comparison. This depends on:
 A decline in centration – can consider their own performance and someone else’s at
the same time.
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
Normative understanding of ability – the capacity to think about ability partly in terms
of what most children do.

Cultural context – in some cultural contexts, social comparisons are encouraged, in
some it is not.
The Developing Sense of Gender
1. Gender-role concepts continue to evolve during middle childhood because of both
changes in children's abilities to think about themselves and the influence of peers and
parents.
2. Younger elementary school children have rigid gender-role ideas (boys are instrumental
and girls are expressive), which become more flexible as they grow older.
3. Boys are more strongly sex-typed than girls are.
4. Parents continue to model and reinforce gender role behavior, and they have different
expectations and supervision levels for sons and daughters.
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Personal Effectiveness and Self-Management
1. Preschoolers believe their physical and cognitive accomplishments are due to their own
efforts, but not until school age do they believe social success depends on their own
actions.
2. Although the capacity for self-management improves with age for almost everyone,
children with a sense of personal effectiveness do particularly well on measures of selfcontrol (delay of gratification) and coping with stress.
3. The changes described above are referred to as changes in executive functioning,
because they involve changes in the ability to plan and organize behavior.
Peer Relationships in Middle Childhood
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During middle childhood, peer relationships provide an important setting for learning rules of
social behavior and developing self-esteem. Because of the time children spend with peers,
they provide unique learning experiences (principles of fairness and sharing guide relations of
equal status), and peer groups challenge youngsters to develop interaction skills (must work
to make peers grasp what one is thinking or feeling).
Advances That Enable More Complex Peer Relations
1. By age 8 or 9, children's peer relationships become significantly more complex. This is
due to several advances:
 A greater ability to understand the perspectives, needs, and feelings of others;

The ability to grasp more complex rules regarding interpersonal behavior and to know
that different situations require different behavior toward others;

A growing ability to communicate feelings and wishes with words rather than actions.
2. Girls become especially likely to use verbal aggression. They display less physical
aggression than boys but more relational aggression, which includes attempts to
exclude peers from activities, to damage their reputation, and to gossip about their
negative characteristics or behaviors.
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Five Major Developments in Peer Relations
1. Forming Loyal Friendships
 By the end of the elementary school years most children are involved in "chumships"
– very close and personal friendships between two peers.

The appearance of this new type of relationship is related to cognitive advances
(evaluation in terms of personal traits).

An emphasis on fairness, equity, and reciprocity is typical of elementary schoolers'
friendships. Children of this age come to understand that conflict is a part of
friendship and may even strengthen it. Whether cooperating or competing, what most
distinguishes friends' interactions is a deeper involvement with each other. They stay
connected in emotionally arousing situations.
2. Forming Peer Groups
 Relatively stable friendship networks are the hallmark of middle childhood peer
relations. Children this age have a well-defined sense of “groupness,” with an usthem understanding, partly due to their social experiences in clubs and group
memberships.

School-age children tend to play with relatively stable clusters of friends, with girls'
networks generally smaller than boys' networks. Girls emphasize intimacy and
sharing of confidences with girls.

Boys are more likely to engage in competitions and joint building activities. Girls
focus on accord and verbal and emotional intimacy.
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3. Coordinating Friendship and Group Interaction
 Trust and reciprocity are the lessons of close friendships. Cooperation, coordination
of activities, and adherence to rules/norms are the primary lessons of peer groups.

Both close friendships and acceptance by peer groups are related to feelings of selfworth and lack of loneliness in children. Friendships promote integration into a group,
and functioning in the group is a rich context for sharing between friends.
4. Adhering to Peer Group Norms
 Elementary school children are very conscious of peer group norms, and they often
interpret rules rigidly and literally.

Norms include fairness, equity, and sharing.

Good arena for promoting moral development.
5. Maintaining Gender Boundaries
The peer group is a major agent of socialization, particularly for gender roles. Genderrole learning is facilitated by border work, in which children define and defend the
borders of their gender-segregated groups by reacting negatively toward children who
stray too far across gender lines. Must follow unwritten rules of contact between the
sexes (see Table 12.1).
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Status and Acceptance in the Peer Group
1. A research technique called sociometrics is used to measure children’s peer status—
the extent to which they are accepted by their peers. This technique involves asking
children to name others they especially like or don’t like to play with.
2. Status and acceptance in children's peer groups are related to personal characteristics
that are instrumental for achieving group goals. Unpopular children may be either
rejected or neglected. Aggressive children are more likely to be rejected. The
combination of aggression and rejection is strongly associated with maladjustment.
3. Peer status tends to become more firm in middle childhood. Popular and unpopular
children's behaviors tend to reinforce peer attitudes toward them and help to perpetuate
their status within the group.
4. Peer acceptance is a good predictor of adjustment in adolescence and mental health in
adulthood. Intervention strategies have been examined. Close friendships in middle
childhood seem to forecast positive adult relationships.
Emotional Development in Middle Childhood
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During middle childhood, children go beyond simply experiencing emotions such as guilt and
pride to understanding these emotions and their causes.
The Changing Understanding of Emotion
1. During middle childhood one major advance in understanding emotions is the ability to
understand the complexity of emotion-arousing situations. More differentiation is shown.
2. School-age children can take into account the particular situation when determining an
appropriate emotional response.
3. School-age children know a great deal about display rules for emotions.
4. These changes are related to increases in true empathy for others.
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Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Bases of Moral Development
1. Cognitive advances, social relationships, and emotions all work together to foster moral
development. School-age children's more mature moral thinking is due not only to their
cognitive ability to understand other people's feelings but also to their emotional
experiences in friendships and their commitment to them.
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Social and Emotional Development in Middle Childhood
2. Will experience feelings of guilt when standards are not met and this prompts them to try
to justify their behavior or compensate for what they have done.
3. The combined influences of all of the factors were explored by Keller and Edelstein
(1993) in a series of studies with 7- and 12-year-olds.
4. Moral principles adopted depend largely on one’s culture.
Contexts of Development in Middle Childhood
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The Family
1. Parents and siblings are powerful influences on children’s behavior.
2. Parent-Child Relationships
 Partly due to advancing cognitive abilities, children's relationships with parents
change markedly during middle childhood, moving toward coregulation. Parents
begin to give their children more responsibilities; they are less inclined to use
physical coercion and more likely to use reasoning in order to get their children to do
what they should. The parents' role as monitors of behavior remains critically
important.

Parents model behavior and influence by how they supervise and what they expect
of them, which is different for boys vs. girls.
3. Parenting Styles and Child Development
 Parental characteristics that show warmth, support, and a reasoning approach to
discipline is consistently associated with child characteristics like cooperativeness,
effective coping, low levels of behavior problems, and a high sense of personal
responsibility.

In contrast, absence of warmth and reliance on power-assertive discipline are
associated with aggression, noncompliance, and projecting blame for negative
outcomes.

The connection between parenting style and child development is not a cause-effect
relationship.

It is important to look at clusters of parenting characteristics rather than isolated
traits.

As discussed in Chapter 10, authoritative parenting, as contrasted with either
authoritarian or permissive parenting, tends to be associated with positive outcomes
in middle childhood, including a higher degree of agency (tendency to take initiative,
rise to challenges, and try to influence events).

There are positive developmental outcomes in families where parent-child conflicts
over goals are infrequent and are resolved in a balanced way. This style of parenting
seems to be based in parents' earlier responsiveness to infant needs and the
development of positive expectations on both sides.

Factors that encourage harmonious parent-child relationships include cognitive
advances that allow for an understanding of the legitimacy of parents’ authority and
empathy or caring shown by the parents.
4. Family Violence, Conflict, and Divorce
 Harsh physical abuse is related to later negative behavior in children, even when it is
not directed specifically at them.

Family conflict, divorce, and separation from parents also have a variety of effects.
Effects of divorce vary, depending on age and sex of the children. Long-term
outcomes for children of divorce can be positive, especially if conflict decreases after
the divorce and the children maintain positive relationships with both parents.
5. Sibling Relationships
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
Sibling relationships resemble parent-child relationships in some ways and peer
relations in other ways.

Sibling relationships provide a setting for learning to deal with conflict within a
relationship. Children also learn various social skills from the roles they play as older
and younger siblings, and these relationships often cross gender boundaries.
a. Emotional qualities of sibling relationships. Competition for parents’ attention and
approval is common.
 Sibling strife based on social comparisons intensifies around age 8. By late
middle childhood, children feel that they have more conflicts with their
siblings than with their friends.
b.
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
Siblings can be seen as facilitators, helpers.

Quality of sibling relationships varies greatly from case to case, influenced by
closeness in age, gender composition, stress experienced by the siblings,
personalities, and preferential treatment by parents.
The importance of sibling relationships. Teaches how to deal with anger and
aggression in an ongoing relationship. Must work things out to continue to live
with each other.
 Important because of mutual support they can provide.

Other benefits depend on the ages—caretaking; boss roles.

Maladjustment can result from exceptionally conflictual sibling relationships.
See the sibling amplifier model for child aggressiveness.
The School
1. Formal schooling begins and changes children’s lives dramatically. Must meet societal
expectations for knowledge acquisition and performance.
2. Socialization in the Classroom
 In addition to the regular curriculum, school also provides opportunities for children to
learn many kinds of social behavior and to acquire mainstream cultural values and
norms, including gender roles (such as the differences noted in classroom behavior
between girls and boys, and how teachers respond to these differences. The
atmosphere is often not female friendly, especially for high achieving females).

Influences on School Achievement and Adjustment. The specific school environment
has an impact on children's behavior and achievement, and children's own
personalities and abilities also contribute to their school adjustment and success.
3. Influences on School Achievement and Adjustment
 The quality of schools, including classroom climate, warmth and supportiveness of
staff, praise for children’s efforts, stress on academic lessons, and efficient
organization, is a critical factor.
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
Association with well-adjusted, academically motivated peers, support from parents,
and a well-organized home environment helps adjustment.

Starting school a year late or repeating a grade does not benefit achievement and
adjustment.
After-School Care
1. Approximately 75 percent of American households are either single-parent or two-career
families.
2. Researchers are especially concerned about latchkey children, particularly those living in
poverty since significant time in after-school self-care is associated with academic and
behavioral problems.
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The Coherence of Development in Middle Childhood
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Development in middle childhood is coherent in the same three ways as in early childhood:
1. Coherent set of influences.
2. Coherence of individual adaptation.
3. Coherence of development over time.
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Coherent Sets of Influences
Family, peers, and school are an interacting set of agents of socialization during middle
childhood. Because they affect one another, the influences they exert on the child tend to be
similar in certain ways.
 For instance, social competence is related to peer and sibling competence, which
can influence parent-child interactions.
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School adjustment affects adjustments in other contexts as well.
The Coherence of Individual Adaptations
The distinctive characteristics of children—their individual patterns of adaptations—are also
coherent.
The Coherence of Development over Time
1. There is also coherence in how clusters of characteristics develop over time. Socially
competent toddlers who are securely attached to their caregivers tend to become
preschoolers who are competent with peers, and they, in turn, tend to go on to be popular
and well-adjusted during the elementary school years. With age, a child's current
characteristics become increasingly predictable from his or her past characteristics.
2. Factors within the child—skills, experiences, personal beliefs, and social expectations
formed early in life and carried forward into middle childhood—also enter the picture.
3. Feelings of self-worth and positive expectations move the child toward closer and more
complex relationships. These are what Bowlby called internal working models (Chapter
6).
 These models are reflected in children’s stories and drawings.

Connections between internal working models and behavior are illustrated in the
behavior of aggressive children, via their perceptions of others’ actions as being
hostile (especially in ambiguous situations).
Lecture Topics
The following are lecture topic suggestions to complement Chapter 12 reading material.
Topic 1: Contextual Influences on School Adjustment in Sixth Graders
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Research Questions: How is school adjustment influenced by the contexts of school, family, and
peers? Is an ecological perspective useful in understanding sources of academic success and
failure?
Sixth graders, on the cusp of early adolescence, spend most of their time with family members and
peers (Larson & Richards, 1991). Previous research (e.g., Capaldi & Patterson, 1991) has
documented relations between the number of parenting transitions (e.g., divorce or remarriage) and
academic achievement among fourth grade boys. In addition, Kindermann (1993) found that children
tend to affiliate with classmates who share a similar motivational orientation toward school. In light of
these earlier findings, Kurdek, Fine, and Sinclair (1995) hypothesized that sixth graders' adjustment to
the school context would be influenced by factors from both the family context and the peer context.
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Because children entering early adolescence "disengage and distance themselves from their parents
while simultaneously increasing their time with peers" (p. 432), Kurdek et al. hypothesized that the
family context would influence school adjustment more than the peer context would.
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Research Literature:
1. Baker, A. K., Barthelemy, K. J., & Kurdek, L. A. (1993). The relation between fifth and sixth
graders' peer-rated classroom social status and their perceptions of family and neighborhood
factors. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 14, 547-556.
2. Capaldi, D. R., & Patterson, G. R. (1991). Relation of parental transitions to boys' adjustment
problems: I. A linear hypothesis. II. Mothers at risk for transitions and unskilled parenting.
Developmental Psychology, 27, 489-504.
3. Kindermann, T. A. (1993). Natural peer groups as contexts for individual development: The case
of children's motivation in school. Developmental Psychology, 29, 970-977.
4. Kurdek, L. A., Fine, M. A., & Sinclair, R. J. (1995). School adjustment in sixth graders: Parenting
transitions, family climate, and peer norm effects. Child Development, 66, 430-445.
5. Larson, R., & Richards, M. H. (1991). Daily companionship in late childhood and early
adolescence: Changing developmental contexts. Child Development, 62, 284-300.
6. Wentzel, K. R. (1991). Relations between social competence and academic achievement in early
adolescence. Child Development, 62, 1066-1078.
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Methods and Results: Kurdek et al. (1995) examined whether sixth graders' adjustment to the
school context was affected by factors from both the family context and the peer context. Adjustment
was assessed by grades, achievement scores, and disruptive behavior. The family context was
measured by students' reports of the number of parenting transitions experienced as well as current
levels of supervision, acceptance, autonomy granting, and conflict in the family. The peer
environment was represented by students' perceptions of peer norms supporting academic
excellence.
1. Parenting transitions, family climate and school adjustment. Compared with students who
experienced no parenting transitions (i.e., living continuously with both biological parents), those
who experienced multiple parenting transitions (e.g., living with a single divorced parent or with a
stepparent) had lower grades, lower achievement scores, and more disruptive behavior. Students
who had experienced multiple parenting transitions reported a more negative family climate (e.g.,
greater conflict, lower levels of supervision, lower levels of acceptance and autonomy granting)
than students who had experienced no parenting transitions.
2. High grade point averages were associated with moderate rather than low or high levels of
parental supervision. Kurdek et al. suggest that moderate levels of supervision reinforce students'
beliefs about the personal control they have over their academic performance. Moderate levels of
supervision "may not only provide students with sufficient amount of structure and guidance but
also concurrently facilitate the development of the belief that good academic outcomes are
caused by one's own actions" (p. 442).
3. Achievement test scores and parental supervision were positively related only at low levels of
autonomy granting. Kurdek et al. hypothesize that a family low in granting autonomy may provide
"an optimal setting in which adults' close monitoring of academic activities would result in
students' acquiring the cognitive abilities needed for high levels of academic achievement"
(p. 442).
4. Peer norms and adjustment. Peer norms and grade point average were positively related only at
high levels of parental acceptance. Kurdek et al. speculate that family acceptance may provide
"the context in which children acquire the interpersonal—as well as the cognitive—skills needed
for entry into and stable membership in peer groups that espouse a strong commitment to
academic success" (p. 442).
5. Taken together, these findings suggest that an ecological perspective is helpful in understanding
the influence of family and peer contexts on school adjustment.
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Discussion Questions: Kurdek et al. relied on students' self-reports, which were collected at one
point in time only. What are the limitations of this type of data? How might these potential problems
be addressed in future research? Kurdek et al. used gender and race as control variables in their
analyses. How important might these "contexts" be on sixth graders' school adjustment?
Topic 2: Social Isolation and Social Skills Training
(Note: Most of the research that has been done on social skills training has involved elementary-schoolaged children, but this material could also be presented in connection with the section on social
competence in Chapter 10.)
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Research Questions: Why do some elementary school children lack friends? Can anything be done
to help these children develop and maintain friendships with their peers?
In most sociometric studies, between 5 and 10 percent of elementary-school children are named as
friends by no one in their school class. These children are sometimes referred to as social isolates,
and researchers have been very interested in finding out what factors result in their lack of friends.
Children may be without friends for a variety of reasons, including such physical characteristics as
appearance and race, but most recent research has concentrated on deficits in their repertoire of
social skills.
Research Literature:
1. Asher, S. R., & Coie, J. D. (Eds.) (1990). Peer rejection in childhood. NY: Cambridge University
Press.
2. Bullock, J. R. (1992). Children without friends: Who are they and how can teachers help?
Childhood Education, Winter, 92-96.
3. Boulton, M. J., & Smith, P. K. (1994). Bully/victim problems in middle-school children: Stability,
self-perceived competence, peer perceptions and peer acceptance. British Journal of
Developmental Psychology, 12, 315-330.
4. Coie, J. D., & Koeppl, G. K. (1990). Adapting intervention to the problems of aggressive and
disruptive rejected children. In Asher, S. R., & Coie, J. D. (Eds.), Peer rejection in childhood. New
York: Cambridge University Press.
5. Fitzgerald, P. D., & Asher, S. R. (1995, March). Attributions of aggressive, prosocial, and lowaccepted children in ambiguous provocation situations. Poster presented at the biennial meeting
of the Society for Research in Child Development, Indianapolis, IN.
6. Hymel, S., Rubin, K. H., Rowden, L., & LeMare, L. (1990). Children's peer relationships:
Longitudinal prediction of internalizing and externalizing problems from middle to late childhood.
Child Development, 61, 2004-2021.
7. Mize, J., & Ladd, G. W. (1990). Toward the development of successful social skills training for
preschool children. In S. R. Asher & J. D. Coie (Eds.), Peer rejection in childhood. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
8. Olweus, D. (1991). Bully/victim problems among school children: Basic facts and effects of a
school-based intervention program. In D. Pepler & K. Rubin (Eds.), The development and
treatment of childhood aggression. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
9. Olweus, D. (1993). Victimization by peers: Antecedents and long-term outcomes. In K. H. Rubin
& A. Asendorpf (Eds.), Social withdrawal, inhibition, and shyness in childhood. Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum.
10. Patterson, C. J., Kupersmidt, J. B., & Griesler, P. C. (1990). Children's perceptions of self and of
relationships with others as a function of sociometric status. Child Development, 61, 1335-1349.
11. Renshaw, P. D., & Brown, P. J. (1993). Loneliness in middle childhood: Concurrent and
longitudinal predictors. Child Development, 64, 1271-1284.
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12. Schwartz, D., Dodge, K. A., & Coie, J. D. (1993). The emergence of chronic peer victimization in
boys' play groups. Child Development, 64, 1755-1772.
13. Symposium on Social Competence and Peer Status (1983). Child Development, 54, 1383-1434.
14. Wentzel, K. R., & Asher, S. R. (1995). The academic lives of neglected, rejected, popular, and
controversial children. Child Development, 66, 754-763.
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Methods and Results:
1. Rejected and neglected children. Children without friends in their school classes fall into two
categories—socially neglected children and socially rejected children. The neglected children are
not mentioned as friends by their classmates, but the children also do not mention them as being
particularly disliked. Their classmates seem to perceive them as quiet and nontalkative. In
contrast, the rejected children are singled out as being disliked, and their classmates perceive
them as aversive. The particular social skill deficits of these two groups of children appear to
differ considerably. (Wentzel and Asher (1995) have identified controversial children—children
who are frequently nominated both as someone's best friend and as being actively disliked.
Wentzel and Asher also subdivided rejected children into aggressive-rejected and submissiverejected groups. Their (1995) study showed that aggressive-rejected but not submissive-rejected
children have problematic academic profiles.)
2. Sociometric measures. A distinction can also be made between the number of friendships
children have and their level of acceptability to their classmates. Some items on sociometric
surveys ask children to list a limited number of other children they like best, while others ask them
to rate how much they like each child in the class. Some children may be listed infrequently as
friends by others in the class, but receive high acceptability ratings. Others score low on both
measures—they have few friends and receive low acceptability ratings. The children who score
low on both measures generally have poorer social skills than those who are accepted by their
peers but lack friends; both of these groups of children, however, seem less socially skilled than
those who score high on both measures.
3. Social skills that promote positive peer relationships. What are the social skills that seem
important for group acceptance and friendship formation? They include the strategies used in:
initiating social interactions and relationships—making new friends, joining a group of children in
an activity; maintaining social interactions and relationships—keeping up a conversation, helping
a friend in need, playing cooperatively; and managing conflict.
4. Social skills of popular and unpopular children. The strategies used by popular and unpopular
children in these situations differ considerably. Unpopular children are more likely to suggest and
use unique strategies that are not necessarily appropriate to the situation and that strike other
children as odd. Unpopular children are also more likely to use negative, aggressive strategies,
while popular children are more likely to use positive, prosocial strategies. Unpopular children are
also more likely to appeal to authority figures for assistance.
5. Researchers are also interested in bullies and in children who are chronically victimized by their
peers (by most estimates, approximately 10 to 20 percent of children fall into each of these
categories). A number of studies (e.g., Boulton & Smith, 1994) have documented stability in both
bully and victim status among school-age children. Schwartz, Dodge, and Coie (1993) studied
unacquainted 6- and 8-year-old boys who interacted on 5 consecutive days. They observed that
boys who came to be chronically victimized by their play group peers demonstrated lower rates of
assertive behaviors, such as persuasion attempts and social conversation initiatives, and higher
rates of nonassertive behaviors, such as submissions to peers' social initiatives. Because
chronically victimized children are at high risk for later maladjustment (Olweus, 1991, 1993),
these findings may help in the development of social skills interventions.
6. Social skills training. If low sociometric status results from lack of social skills, then training in
such skills should be a way to improve children's popularity. Early studies of social skills training
measured success by changes in children's behavior rather than in sociometric status. Verbal
instruction and modeling have been successful in reducing children's dominating and aggressive
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Social and Emotional Development in Middle Childhood
behaviors and increasing their rates of interaction with other children. More recent studies have
used changes in sociometric status as measures of success. In these studies, individual coaching
in such social skills as cooperation, communication, taking a listener's role, and making friends
has produced long-term improvements in sociometric status. Some researchers have also
reported success from pairing children with peers to practice social skills in which they were
deficient.
7. It is thought that training in social skills leads to increased peer acceptance in two ways. First, it
produces changes in children's behavior toward peers. Second, it produces changes in cognitive
processes involved in peer interaction. Children who have been coached in social skills may gain
knowledge of both general interaction principles and specific behaviors that are useful in
interacting with peers. They may also learn to define their goals in interpersonal situations
differently—recognizing that the goal in a game can be for both players to have a good time as
well as for one of them to win. Finally, by learning to reflect on their behavior in social situations,
children may become more able to recognize the impact they are having on other people.
8. The greatest obstacle to the success of social skills training is often the need to change peers'
perceptions of socially rejected children. Children who behave in aversive ways toward peers
generally develop negative reputations that can be very difficult to shake. Even when such
children are taught new social skills, their peers may initially be suspicious of their changed
behavior. As Renshaw and Brown (1993) note, friendless children "may become locked within a
cycle in which social inhibition leads to negative self-perceptions of social competence and peer
rejection, which in turn lead to further social withdrawal" (p. 1281). Social skills training may have
an increased chance of success, therefore, if it is combined with some sort of intervention with
the child's peers or if it occurs right before a child enters a new social situation, such as a new
school or a new school year.
•
Discussion Questions: What gender differences might you expect to find in studies of popular and
unpopular elementary school children? Would social skills training need to be different for unpopular
boys and girls? (In what ways and why?) Because children's social reputations appear to be well
established by the elementary school years, it might be valuable to intervene with social skills training
at an earlier age. What age would be best for this kind of preventive intervention and how might it
differ from interventions with older children?
Topic 3: Emotional Lives of Boys
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•
Background: Don’t be a sissy! How many times have boys been told to stop crying or they would get
something to cry about, or told that big boys don’t cry? How has our socialization of male children
been harmful to the social-emotional development of boys? Statistics reveal a nation of boys who are
emotionally in trouble—boys are at a high risk for many violent and unhealthy behaviors such as
suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, homicide, and loneliness. These issues are important to everyone
who has a male child in their lives and to society as a whole since the increases in violent crimes
committed by boys and male adolescents have been receiving a great deal of media attention.
In response to the cries for help from the boys and society, several books have recently been
published on the topic of how to help boys become emotionally healthy. Each one offers research and
clinical perspectives, from years of private practice with boys and their families, on how to raise our
sons more effectively to face the emotional challenges of life. The authors of the books are males and
thus offer a personal perspective on the challenges of growing up male in our society.
1. Kindlon and Thompson (1999) emphasize emotional literacy. Boys suffer, they believe, from a
too-narrow definition of what it means to be male. There is a “culture of cruelty” among boys and
a “tyranny of toughness” in our culture regarding boys. The last chapter, What Boys Need, is a
synopsis of the book with a helpful list of seven points that may help parents, etc. transform the
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methods used to nurture and protect the emotional life of boys. The points are well elaborated
upon after each one is made. The points are:
 Give boys permission to have an internal life, approval for a full range of human emotions,
and help in developing an emotional vocabulary so that they may better understand
themselves and communicate more effectively with others.

Recognize and accept the high activity level of boys and give them safe boy places to
express it.

Talk to boys in their language—in a way that honors their pride and their masculinity. Be
direct with them; use them as consultants and problem solvers.

Teach boys that emotional courage is courage, and that courage and empathy are the
sources for real strength in life.

Use discipline to build character and conscience, not enemies.

Model a manhood of emotional attachment.

Teach boys that there are many ways to be a man.
2. Gurian (1997) – Biological and neurological differences between boys and girls need to be
accounted for and fostered so that we can raise healthy boys. His stance is that it is not the boy
culture that is flawed but how we manage it. By quashing natural tendencies, based on hormonal
properties underlying behavior of boys, the boys are left having to find negative outlets as a
result. Boys do best when they are part of a tribe: birth (or adopted) family; extended family of
peers, teachers, mentors; and the “family” of outside culture, media, community figures. The
author offers advice on how to build strong relationships (father-son, mother-son) and stresses
the importance of healthy discipline and methods of teaching our sons.
3. Pollack (1999) – Boys manifest their social and emotional disconnection through anger and
violence. We cut boys off from their mothers’ comfort too soon—when they enter school and from
both parents when they reach adolescence and must “sink or swim.” The unspoken code of boy
behavior teaches boys how to act and to cover up their emotions. The boy code is “everything’s
fine;” we are tough, silent, and totally independent. And we will shame you if you are not. Pollack
suggests that boys are lonely, suffering with lower self-esteem, depressed, and at risk; they need
to be understood and listened to. They can be empathetic and sensitive he believes. He
discusses the fact that we operate under a number of myths regarding boys, and he tries to bring
to light the reality of these myths: that testosterone controls a boy’s behavior; that boys should fit
into a gender stereotype of masculinity; and that boys are toxic and “psychologically unaware,
emotionally unsocialized creatures.” He offers advice to educators and to parents on how to talk
with sons, read their moods and emotions, and help them to become confident men.
•
Literature:
1. Blum, D. (1994). Sex on the brain: The biological differences between men and women. NY:
Varlig.
2. Kindlon, D. J., & Thompson, M. (1999). Raising Cain: Protecting the emotional life of boys.
3. Gurian, M. (1997). The wonder of boys: What parents, mentors, and educators can do to shape
boys into exceptional men. J. P. Tarcher.
4. Pollack, W. S. (1999). Real boys: Rescuing our sons from the myths of boyhood.
•
Discussion Questions: Can your students identify with the Boy Code? What examples can they list
of this code? Do they feel we are doing our sons a disservice in the ways they are raised? In what
ways? For the males, in what ways would boyhood have been better for them, socially and
emotionally? How can we make changes for future sons? What applications do the notions of these
authors have for our educational system? Are their points valid?
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Classroom Discussion Topics and Activities
1. Obesity in Childhood: Physical ability is an essential component to self-concept in middle childhood
(along with academic competence and social competence). Have students reflect on how important
physicality was in their peer groups. Do they remember attributes of the children who were not
chosen for teams or were chosen last? One of the features your students will likely mention is
obesity. Children who are obese are not likely to be chosen for group activities involving team sports.
Have students discuss the social-emotional issues involved in childhood obesity. A great deal of
information on definition of, problems of, treatment of, and prevention of childhood obesity is available
at http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/obesity.html that could enhance this discussion.
Students can read about childhood obesity and self-esteem at
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/105/1/e15.pdf.
2. The Impact of Trauma on Childhood: Have students discuss how traumatic experiences in childhood
may impact adolescence and adulthood. There is a new video titled “Significant Event Childhood
Trauma” (2002, 29 min., Insight Media) that explores “such significant events as parental divorce,
violence, natural disasters, and the death of a parent or sibling can cause trauma in the life of a child.
Updated to include footage from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, this video discusses the
typical effects of trauma (the alarm state, re-experiencing, emotional memory, avoidance, and
dissociation) and effective intervention techniques, including openness and honesty, nurturance, and
frank discussion of details.” Another video could be shown as well. It is Dr. Stanley Greenspan:
Talking to Children about a Dangerous World (2002, 21 min., Films for the Humanities and Sciences).
“How can parents and teachers convey to children the dangers of today’s world without instilling in
them an undue sense of fear? In this program, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel talks with Dr. Stanley
Greenspan, child psychiatrist, clinical professor at George Washington University Medical School,
and author of the book The Secure Child: Helping Children Feel Safe and Confident in a Changing
World. Dr. Greenspan counsels parents on how to talk to their children without overreacting to the
unfortunate events that prompt such discussions.” There also is a helpful and rich database of
information on trauma and its impacts on children, at http://www.trauma-pages.com/.
3. Media Messages: Video games are growing in popularity with middle-childhood-aged children.
However, parents and educator have concerns about the content of many video games. After reading
articles at the following Web sites, have students comment on their own concerns about messages
children are receiving. If students are willing and able, they might check out some videos that are
popular with children and adolescents.
 “Most of the top-selling video games (89%) contained violent content, almost half of which was
serious in nature.” More on this at http://www.childrennow.org/media/video-games/2001/.
 “Female characters were severely underrepresented in video games, accounting for only 16% of
all characters. Male characters were most likely to be portrayed as competitors (47%), while
female characters were most likely to be portrayed as props or bystanders (50%).” More on this
at http://www.childrennow.org/media/video-games/2001/ and related information at
http://www.childrennow.org/newsroom/news-03/cam-ra-01-02-03.htm.
 “White characters were the majority in the video game population (56%) and were the only
human characters in children's games. There were no Latino characters or Native American male
characters in any of the games. Nearly all heroes were white while African Americans and Latinos
were typically athletes and Asian/Pacific Islanders were usually wrestlers or fighters. African
American characters were the least likely to show harm when they were victimized (61%), while
nearly all Latino victims demonstrated harm and pain (83%).” More on these issues at
http://www.childrennow.org/media/video-games/2001/.
4. Panel Discussion with Parents and Teachers on Discipline: Have students interview parents and
teachers (this could be done as a classroom interview). See what strategies parents use to discipline.
See what strategies teachers use. Describe similarities and differences. What have parents found to
be ineffective for controlling children’s behavior? What have teachers found to be ineffective for
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controlling students’ behavior? Do the strategies used and advice offered by parents and teachers
mesh positively with the textbook’s presentation of parenting and classroom socialization?
5. Sibling Relationships Interview: Interview children in middle childhood about their siblings. Find out
what they believe the best and worst characteristics are of their siblings. What is good about having
siblings? What is not so good? Find out what they disagree about, and how often. Have students
consider their own sibling relationships. How do the students believe birth order impacted their sibling
relationships? When was the relationship(s) most difficult? Have they seen changes across time in
the nature of their relationships with their sibling(s)?
6. Interview Possibility or Discussion: Information below was obtained in an article in Time magazine for
July 5, 1999 on pages 56-58. The issues raised in this article, based on data from a new poll (of
1,172 children ages 6 to 14) by Nickelodeon and Time, are interesting and point out that children are
happy to be children and they do not perceive the world to be as frightening a place as their parents
believe it to be. In this article are some summary points from the poll. For instance, when children are
asked the following question, “What is bad about being a kid?”, they responded: getting bossed
around (17%), school/homework (15%), can’t do everything I want (11%), chores (9%), being
grounded (9%). In contrast, when their parents were asked the same question, they responded: crime
(26%), youth violence/guns (13%), peer pressure (13%), drugs (5%), homework/chores (4%).
Another question asked of the children ages 9 to 11 was: “What are the most important things that
kids at your school use to decide who fits in?” Their responses were: being a good friend (45%),
being good at sports (35%), popularity (31%), being funny (31%).
•
•
Have students answer the questions that were posed to the children. See how well their answers
match those of the children (or the adults). Have them relate the “fits in” answers to information in
Chapter 12 on social competence with peers, popularity issues, and understanding of friendship.
If your students have access to children in middle childhood, have them ask the above mentioned
questions and then compare the responses your students obtain with the data listed. Other
questions asked in this poll: would you like to be president of the U.S.? (Yes – 36%, No – 62%);
of all the people you know or know about, who are the top three you look up to most? (parents –
79%, grandparents – 19%, athletes – 13%); do you spend more time with your mom, dad, or both
about the same? (mom – 47%, dad – 11%, the same – 41%).
7. Bullies: An article on “Teaching children not to be – or be victims of – bullies” is available at the
following Web site: http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content3/bullies.parenting.p.k12.4.html.
There is a list of bullet points regarding how to teach children assertiveness skills, which is a key
component to promoting positive interactions among children. Have students comment on their
experiences with bullies and what they believe would be helpful for minimizing victimization of
children by bullies. What do they think is important for intervention strategies with bullies, who are
most likely to be rejected by their peers? As part of this discussion, teachers could be interviewed
about what types of bullying they see and what impact it has on the educational experience of the
children and teachers.
 Explore the similarities and differences in the types of aggression displayed by female vs. males.
Read about relational aggression at
http://education.umn.edu/research/ResearchWorks/Crick.html.
8. Self-Esteem Building: Have your students consider the question: what can parents and teachers do to
enhance children's self-esteem during middle childhood? Parents and teachers can play important
roles in strengthening self-esteem in children by treating them respectfully, taking their views and
opinions seriously, and expressing appreciation to them. Other points on strengthening children’s
self-esteem are listed in an article by Lilian Katz on “How Can We Strengthen Children’s Self-Esteem”
which is available at http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/strengthen_children_self.html. The
video Self-Esteem in School Age Children (1990, 25 min., Insight Media) may be appropriate to show
in conjunction with this discussion.
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9. Divorce: What are the practical implications of the research that has been done on the effects of
divorce on children? What types of divorce settlements and custody arrangements would you predict
would be most beneficial for the children involved? Would your recommendations be different for
boys than for girls? Why or why not?
10. Video: In class, have students watch Life’s Lessons (video 5) from the Childhood Series that is
available from Ambrose Video. In this video there is an examination within a multi-cultural setting of
influences of the family and society on middle childhood development. Have students examine the
video for discussions of parent-child relations, the impact of education on development, peer
relations, and sibling relations. Have them note cultural similarities and differences in the lives of
families with young children.
11. Four Children: From the vignettes about Malcolm, Mikey, Maggie, and Meryl at the beginning of the
middle childhood section of the text, have your students note evidence of social-emotional
development. What examples of Erikson’s Industry can be noted? What kinds of parenting changes
are necessary to enhance social-emotional development during the middle childhood years? Are the
three families working toward successful navigation of these tasks? How do the problems/conflicts or
the strengths of the adults in their lives influence the concept of self and the child’s behavior in
important domains—with family, with peers, and at school? How does the larger context of each
child’s life influence him/her—where they live for instance or having to move away from friends?
12. Self-Concept Interview with a Grade-Schooler: If students have grade-school-aged family members
with whom they could conduct an interview, have them investigate the following: What does the child
understand about their self-concepts? Have the children describe themselves. Have the students
note how cognitive functioning underlies their self-descriptions (e.g., organized, lack of egocentrism,
use of trait labels). Have students note whether children are doing a lot of social comparison (another
cognitive advance) in their self-description, resulting in a more balanced self-concept over that of
early childhood. Have students comment on how cognitive advances (concrete operations) can lead
to the child not feeling good about his/her abilities in comparison to others. Use scaffolding to bring
out the child’s self-description if at first the child is hesitant. Bring the self-description and analysis to
class for discussion.
13. Peer Relations Interview with a Grade-Schooler: If “subjects” in middle childhood are available to
some of your class members, have them explore via an informal interview the importance of peer
relations in middle childhood. Ask about how the child knows who is popular or not popular. What
qualities do these children possess to place them in categories? Ask them about friends with the
opposite sex. Do they see a lot of teasing between the sexes (gender boundaries noted in border
work)? Perhaps your students could share Table 12-1 on “Knowing the Rules.” Comment on the
underlying changes in cognition that can affect the way children conceptualize peer relations.
14. Friendship Interview with a Grade-Schooler: If “subjects” in middle childhood are available to
students, have them explore via an informal interview how friendships are conceptualized. The
following questions about friendship demonstrate developmental trends in concepts of friendship:
How many friends do you have? What are their names? What makes a friend different from someone
you just know? What do you and your friends do together? Do you ever fight with your friends? What
do you fight about? When you have a fight with a friend, is that person still your friend later? What do
you do to settle a fight with a friend? Are your friends popular? Why or why not? [Some questions
adapted from Schwanenflugel, P. J. (1987). An interview method for teaching adolescent psychology,
Teaching of Psychology, 14, 167-168.]
 Students can write up the results of their interviews either individually or in groups, relating what
they found to research findings presented in the textbook. The results can also be discussed in
class and possibly used as the starting point for a lecture on children's friendships.
 If students have available “subjects” have them interview a child in early childhood as well for a
comparison of answers. Explore the differences in answers provided. Have students comment on
the cognitive underpinnings of the understanding of friendship.
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Films, Videos, and Internet Resources
Films and Videos:
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Brothers and Sisters: Love and Hate (1994, 20 min., Insight Media). This video explores the complex
interactions between siblings. It discusses what behavior patterns one can expect from the first child
upon arrival of the second and addresses the challenges of living together that the child will face.
Brothers and Sisters: Sibling Relationships (1997, 55 min., Films for the Humanities and Sciences).
Having analyzed thousands of people from history, Frank Sulloway—MIT professor and author of
Birth Order Study and the best-selling Born to Rebel—concluded that birth order has more of an
effect on personality than gender, race, nationality, or social class. This probing documentary, based
on Brothers and Sisters by Joan Sauers, explores the emotional dynamics of the sibling bond. Set in
Australia, groups of siblings divulge their love-hate feelings for each other as Dr. Sulloway comments
on topics including siblicide in nature, competition, characteristic birth order differences, and
environmental influences. For balance, an only child describes his experiences as well.
The Development of Self (1991, 60 min., Insight Media). Self-concept, self-esteem, and self-worth are
the subjects of this program that explores the Perceived Competence Scale for Children, designed to
assess self-concept in the areas of scholastic performance, athletic competence, popularity,
behavioral conduct, and physical appearance. The video examines how feelings of self-worth are
affected by developmental factors, such as puberty. It also covers functional and clinical disorders
associated with low self-worth.
Dr. Stanley Greenspan: Talking to Children about a Dangerous World (2002, 21 min., Films for the
Humanities and Sciences). How can parents and teachers convey to children the dangers of today’s
world without instilling in them an undue sense of fear? In this program, ABC News anchor Ted
Koppel talks with Dr. Stanley Greenspan, child psychiatrist, clinical professor at George Washington
University Medical School, and author of the book The Secure Child: Helping Children Feel Safe and
Confident in a Changing World. Dr. Greenspan counsels parents on how to talk to their children
without overreacting to the unfortunate events that prompt such discussions.
Emerging Personality (1994, 30 min., Insight Media). This program surveys the components of
personality and the influences that shape it. Four major theories of personality development are
discussed: Freud, Erikson, social-learning, and Mahler.
Emotional Intelligence: The Key to Social Skills (1997, 29 min., Films for the Humanities and
Sciences). There was a time when parents were expected to teach their children social skills, such as
how to listen, share, and be kind. Today, that job, and the nurturing of the emotional intelligence
necessary to learn those skills, has been turned over to schools. This program from The Doctor Is In
looks at innovative teaching techniques that are helping students to develop emotional intelligence
and the social skills that will help them lead happier lives. Psychologist Daniel Goleman discusses the
nature of emotional intelligence and how it develops; child psychologist Maurice Elias explains the
concept of emotional literacy. A Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center production.
Family Influences (1992, 30 min., Insight Media). This program illustrates how family background
influences the way people view themselves and others. It defines four types of parenting—
authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved, and compares the characteristics of children
raised by each. How parents can promote a sense of responsibility in children is discussed, and the
role of siblings in a child’s development is explored. The program examines the role of older siblings
and presents opposing views on the influence of birth order on personality. It also considers
nontraditional families and discusses recent findings on the effects of divorce on children.
Friendship, Gender, and Morality (1992, 30 min., Insight Media). Explores the functions of friendship
in moral development and gender differences.
Gender Socialization (1993, 60 min., Insight Media). This video looks at interactions between gender,
race, and class and their effects on self-esteem, emotions, behavior, and world view.
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Social and Emotional Development in Middle Childhood
•
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•
The House of Tomorrow (1991, 57 min., Ambrose Video). Childhood Series (video 7). Features the
ways various cultures celebrate the passage from childhood to adolescence. Includes Baka boys
from Camaroon and a young girl in Brazil.
Life's Lessons (1991, 57 min., Ambrose Video). Childhood Series (video 5). Shows children of
different cultures between the ages of 5 and 7 as they shift to new abilities and behaviors. This is the
time when children move away from the intimacy of home and family to enter the wider arena of work
and school. Features children starting school from Moscow, Japan, and America.
Me and My Friends (1992, 30 min., Insight Media). Noted psychologists consider how children during
the middle years prove their competence and how they develop durable, vital friendships. The
program discusses children’s perceptions of competence and identifies two patterns of how children
deal with failure: the helpless pattern and the mastery pattern. What makes a child popular in his or
her peer group and why certain children are rejected is examined.
Middle Childhood: Social and Emotional Development (1997, 28 min., Insight Media). This program
examines how children develop a sense of self and looks at the growth in social cognition. It
discusses how changes in family structure affect social development, explores the influence of the
peer group, and probes the role of the school in social and emotional development.
Mind Games (2002, 47 min., Films for the Humanities and Sciences). From childhood, we are told
that lies are bad, but without them, human relationships would fall apart. With a wide variety of
children to demonstrate key developmental stages, this program presents the story of how we all
learn to read and manipulate each other’s minds. Observed behavior and classic child psychology
experiments show this progression in an entertaining way, from learning the boundaries of the body
and the mind, through the birth of the imagination, to the ability to lie for good as well as bad—lying
as a subtle expression of human empathy. A Discovery Channel Production.
Moral Development (1997, 28 min., Insight Media). This video explains the concept of morality and
defines such terms as moral code, moral judgment, and moral intelligence. It presents key values that
are fundamental to most moral codes and examines the principal theories of moral development,
including psychoanalytic, sociobiological, social learning, and cognitive learning.
Peer Culture (1992, 30 min., Insight Media). Examines conflicts as children move into greater
involvement with their peers. Features Los Abandonados (Guatemalan street children) in an analysis
of the peer group as a microsociety.
Self-Esteem in School Age Children (1990, 25 min., Insight Media). Self-esteem affects mental
health, motivation, and behavior. This video explores the components of the self: self-concept, selfcontrol, and self-esteem. It outlines five criteria for self-perception and relates the way an individual
ranks these five criteria to the individual’s feelings of self-worth. It concludes with an exploration of
how adults can enhance self-esteem in children.
Student-Directed Learning in the Alpha Program: A Middle School Approach that Works (1993, 44
min.). Documents the Alpha Program in a multi-age junior high school classroom in Shelburne,
Vermont, based on collaboration and peer mentoring. Students determine their own learning goals,
either as individuals, in small groups, or in whole class meetings, while teachers act as facilitators.
7up in the Soviet Union (1989, 70 min., Shanachie Entertainment). Part of the 7up Around the World
project—where children from many countries are revisited every 7 years to document their growth
and development. The film 7up in the Soviet Union presents an intimate portrait of 20 children.
7up in South Africa (1993, 80 min., Shanachie Entertainment). Part of the 7up Around the World
project. Shows 19 children responding to basic questions regarding their present lives and future
aspirations.
A-V Resource List Information:
•
List of providers for most of the videos listed above:
1. Ambrose Video at www.ambrosevideo.com or 800-526-4663
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2. Davidson Films at www.davidsonfilms.com or 888-437-4200.
3. Films for the Humanities and Sciences at www.films.com or 800-257-5126.
4. Insight Media at www.insight-media.com or 212-721-6316.
5. Public Broadcasting Service at 1-800-949-8670 or www.shop.pbs.org
6. Shanachie Entertainment at 201-579-7763.
7. Yale University Films at 203-432-0148.
Additional Internet Resource Options for Chapter 12:
http://www.mhhe.com/dehart5
A variety of teaching tools for this textbook are available from the Web site for McGraw-Hill
http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/overview.html
Site presents a discussion of Piaget and Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. The domain theory
advanced by Turiel and Carol Gilligan’s morality of care are also discussed. Links to additional sites for
further reference are available.
http://childparenting.miningco.com/library/blesteem.htm
This site links to a myriad of articles for parents and educators dealing with four aspects of self-esteem
building. The four aspects are building a sense of connectiveness, uniqueness, power, and models.
Expectations needed to develop each model and strategies to encourage the development of said
expectations are included.
http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/aotm/fosterin.htm
Site contains a lengthy article on fostering moral development in children. The article contains
background information on the topic and discussions on altruism, conscience, empathy, and moral
reasoning in children.
http://www.girlsinitiativenetwork.org/allies.html
The Girls’ Initiative Network recognizes the relational aggression that leads more than 160,000 girls,
nationwide, to report missing school on a daily basis. These girls avoid going to school out of fear of
social alienation and hostility at the hands of other girls. Girl-to-girl relational aggression manifests as
social exclusion, rumors, backstabbing, intimidating glares, and sometimes physical violence.
http://www.opheliaproject.org/issues/issues_RA_research.shtml
Researching relational aggression.
http://www.kidshealth.org
Kids Health. This site, from Nemours Foundation, offers extensive articles on childhood illness and health
issues, and provides information to parents, children, and even professionals. The articles are well-written
and annotated.
http://www.cdipage.com/contents.htm
This site provides access to public, private, and government resources related to child development and
child psychology, including professional search engines, links to other sites, and a complete index of the
Child Development Institute’s pages.
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