EXAM 2 LECTURE DISCUSSION

CHAPTERS 5, 6, 7 8

CHAPTER 5 LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT

Physical and Cognitive Development in Early

Childhood

• How does the Italian city of Reggio Emilio approach educating young children ?

• Extra credit opportunity to use in GEC activity.

What are some physical changes occurring in early childhood?

• Physical growth is most obvious • Percentage of increase in height and weight

decrease with each passing year• By end of preschool years, lose top-heavy

appearance of toddlers• Body fat percentage decreases

What are features of brain development during preschool years?• Continuing development of brain and nervous

system• Changes -• begin to plan actions, pay attention more

effectively• Improve language and ability

• Dramatic anatomical changes in • amount of brain cells in some areas of the

brain and • not others• Early childhood increases in prefrontal area of

brain-

• responsible for • a)planning and organizing new actions

• b)maintaining and sustaining attention

• Continuing 2 changes:• A)increase in number and size of dendrites

• B)myelination – covering of fat cells • results in increased speed and efficiency of

information processing

What are features of motor development in early childhood?• Gross motor skills become more automatic

• By age 3, hopping, jumping, running and exploring

• By age 4-5, more adventurous and exploratory

• Fine motor skills: • age 3, can pick up very small objects

• age 4, fine motor coordination increases, more precise

• age 5, interest in building actual structures such as churches and houses

Describe features of developing handedness in early childhood

• Begin to show preferences for using right or left hand

• Genetic influence on preference

• Implications of handedness preferences: • Left preference results in • a)more reading problems; • 2)better visual-spatial skills, • 3)more common in mathematicians, artists

and musicians

What are important aspects of nutrition in early childhood?

• Obesity in children: • categories developed for childhood and

adolescence

• Defined in terms of body mass index (BMI)

• Obesity becoming more serious problem

How can parents prevent or remedy obesity in preschool children?

• must view food as way to satisfy hunger and nutritional needs

• avoid using food as proof of love or reward for good behavior

What are some consequences of malnutrition in early childhood?

• Poor nutrition mostly affects children from low-income families

• Link to cognitive deficiencies, physical growth and complex thinking skills

• associated with hyperactivity and aggressive behavior

What are some issues associated with illness and death among preschool children?

• In US, accidents leading cause of death in young children

• Also cancer and cardiovascular

• Parents smoking is additional health hazard for children

Discuss cognitive changes occurring in early childhood

• Piaget’s preoperational stage (ages 2-7)

• Begin to represent the world in words, images, and drawings

• Develop understanding and use of stable concepts or abstract ideas

• Use reasoning skills

• Egocentrism and magical beliefs

• In preoperational stage, do not yet use operations or reversible mental actions

• 2 sub-stages in preoperational stage

• Symbolic function (2-4 years)

• ability to represent objects not physically present

• limitations:• egocentrism – unable to distinguish your

perspective from that of someone else

• animism – believing inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and are capable of action

• intuitive thought:• use primitive reasoning• want to know answers to questions• emerging interest in reasoning and problem

solving• intuitive – child seems sure about knowledge

and unaware how they know

• Centration and limits of preoperational thought

• pay more attention to a single obvious feature of a situation and ignore others

• evidence of not understanding conservation • awareness that changing appearance of

objects does not change other qualities or properties, such as number, volume or mass

• failure at liquid and beaker task indicates

• thinking at preoperational level (unable to reverse action mentally) and

• centration (focus on single obvious feature)

• What is Vygotsky’s social constructivist approach?

• may be completed for extra credit as part of the GEC bonus activity

• Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development:• range of tasks too difficult for child to master

alone

• can be learned with guidance of adults and more skilled children

• zpd:• lower level can be achieved by working

independently• upper level - achieved with guidance and

skilled assistance

• scaffolding (part of Vygotsky’s approach):

• changing level of support

• adjusting guidance to fit current performance

Describe developing use of language and thinking in early childhood

• child begins to -• use speech to solve problems and complete

tasks• use speech to plan, guide and monitor actions, • use private speech for self-regulation

• use language to communicate with others before focusing inward with inner speech

• communicate externally as practice before transition to internal speech (form of thinking

• What are 5 teaching strategies based on Vygotsky’s theory?

• How would you evaluate Vygotsky’s theory, comparing and contrasting it with Piaget’s approach?

• may be completed for extra credit as part of GEC bonus activity

Information Processing

• Attention – focusing cognitive resources

• 2 ways to develop attention skills

• 1)salient (obvious, easy to perceive) and relevant (important to solve problem or complete a task) dimensions

• 2)Planfulness – how systematic or haphazard a child is when completing a complex task

• child’s ability to control attention related to level of

• -achievement skills and • -social skills

• Memory – • encoding information• retaining information over time• retrieving information when needed

• can distinguish implicit and explicit memory

• implicit – automatic and intuitive

• explicit – conscious and purposeful

• Short-term memory• remembering information (5-9 items; 20-30

seconds without rehearsal)• short-term memory span increases during

early childhood --

• how do we increase short-term memory skills in early childhood?

• rehearsal

• increased speed and efficiency of thought

• increased accuracy of short-term memory• what influences on increased accuracy of

short-term memory in early hood?

• type of post-event information and guidance• misleading or incorrect information can affect

preschool child’s short-term memory

Describe preschool child’s theory of mind

• awareness of one’s own mental processes and those of others

• changes occur at identifiable age levels:• 2-3• 4-5• 5+

• 2-3 years

• beginning to understand 3 mental states -

• 1)perceptions – realizes that another person sees what is in front of her and not necessarily what the child sees (Piaget’s mountain task)

• 2)emotions – can distinguish between positive and negative emotions

• 3)desires – understands if someone wants something, he will try to get it; usually refer to desires earlier than cognitive states

• 4-5 years• begin to understand mind can represent

objects, actions and events accurately or inaccurately

• realize people can have false beliefs develops at about 5 years

• 5+ years• increasing appreciation of mind itself• mid- to late childhood – begin to see mind as

active constructor of knowledge• Show belief that same event can be

interpreted in different ways

Children see – Children do

Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

What are features of language development in early childhood?• Understanding phonology and morphology• phonology – sound system of language,

sounds used and how combined

• morphology – units of meaning involved in forming words

• preschool children begin

• using plural and possessive language forms

• using prepositions, articles and different verb forms

may be completed for extra credit as part of GEC bonus activity

• Jean Berko’s famous study of how a child begins to understand morphological rules

• What was Dr. Berko’s research approach?• What were Dr. Berko’s results?• What conclusions did Dr. Berko make as a

result of her research?

• What did Dr. Berko’s research demonstrate?

• - children rely on rules, abstracted from what they hear and applied to new situations

• example of wugs

• Changes in syntax and semantics

• syntax – rules about how words are combined to form acceptable phrases and sentences

• semantics – meaning of words and sentences

• syntax example: • to use wh- questions, child must know 2

important differences between wh- questions and affirmative statements

• 1)wh- word must be added at beginning of sentences

• 2) auxiliary (helping) verb position must be inverted or exchanged with that of subject

• Semantics changes – dramatic development in vocabulary during preschool years

• Pragmatics changes – appropriate language use in different situations,

• such as increasing ability to talk about events, experiences or objects not at present location and at present time

• What could an effective literacy program (increasing reading, writing and other language skills) for preschool children include?

• may use for extra credit as part of GEC bonus activity

Describe 3 variations in early childhood education

• 1) Child-centered kindergarten:• nurturing is key aspect• emphasize education of whole child• instruction organized around child’s needs,

interests and learning styles• emphasize learning process rather than

content

• honor 3 principles:• a)child’s unique developmental pattern• b)young children learn best by first-hand

experience• c)play is important in total development

• 2) Montessori approach:• children given freedom and allowed

spontaneity in choosing activities• child allowed to move from one activity to

another spontaneously• teachers act as guides• teachers demonstrate ways to explore

curriculum materials

• teachers show how to perform intellectual activities

• teachers offer help on request

• What are some criticisms of the Montessori approach?

• may be completed for extra credit as part of the GEC bonus activity

• 3) Education for children from low-income families:

• example – Project Head Start• compensatory program• designed to provide children opportunity to

develop skills and experiences necessary for school success

• studies show varying quality of Head Start programs

• What do evaluations, comparisons and contrasts of different Head Start programs show?

• may be completed for extra credit as part of GEC bonus activity

What are 2 cross-cultural variations in approaching early childhood education?

• 1) Japanese kindergartens – • specific aims such as early musical training

• use Montessori education methods

• less emphasis on academic instruction than in US

• 2)early childhood education in developing countries –

• examples from Jamaica, China, Thailand and Kenya

• lack emphasis on educating whole child

• teacher-centered approach rather than child-centered

• structured settings allowing few choices

• Are there any questions about Chapter 5?

• Read Chapter 6 for our discussion next time

CHAPTER 6 – LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT

SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

1. Describe Craig Lesley’s complicated early emotional and social life

• May be completed for extra credit as part of the GEC bonus

2. What is the initiative versus guilt psychosocial stage proposed by Erik Erikson?

• Child understands she is a person of her own• Identifies with parents• Uses perceptual, motor, cognitive and

language skills to make things happen -

• High levels of energy permitting easily forgetting failures

• Conscience controls initiative

• Consequences of conscience can lead to feelings of guilt and low self-esteem

3. How do self-understanding and understanding others develop in early childhood?

• Self-understanding = self-representation and content of self-concept

• Preschoolers can distinguish themselves from others on basis of physical and material characteristics (what I look like and objects I have)

• Preschoolers describe themselves in terms of activities (what I do) -

• Hear others’ descriptions including psychological traits and emotional terms

• Example: “I’m not scared, I’m always happy.”

• Expressions may be unrealistically positive because lack distinction between desired competence and actual competence

• Individual differences in social understanding link to conversations with caregivers and opportunities to observe others talking about feelings

4. What are self-conscious emotions?

• Emotional experiences in which child refers to himself

• Shows awareness of himself as different from others

• Examples: pride, shame, embarrassment

5. How do young children use emotion language and understand emotion?

• 2-4 years – child shows increase in number of terms used to describe emotion

• Begin to learn about causes and consequences of feelings

• 4-5 years: show increased ability to reflect on emotions

• Begin to understand that different people can feel differently about same event or experience

• Show more awareness of need to manage own emotions to meet prevailing social standards

6. What are emotion-coaching and emotion-dismissing experiences?• Parents can use emotion-coaching or

emotion-dismissing language and actions• Difference relates to how parents (or

caregivers) talk to children or act toward children concerning emotions, especially negative emotions

• Emotion coaching:• associated with monitoring child’s emotions• Use negative emotional experiences as

teaching opportunities• Help to label emotions• Coach in dealing effectively with (negative)

emotions

• Emotional coaching:• More nurturing• Use more scaffolding and praise• Children who receive it are better able to

soothe their own negative emotions• Interactions reflect less rejecting behavior

• Emotion dismissing:• Deny emotions• Ignore emotions• Attempt to change emotions

7. What is moral development?

• Developing thoughts, feelings and actions about rules and conventions concerning what people should do interactions with other people

• Developing decision-making skills about whether some choice is right or wrong

8. What are moral feelings, moral reasoning and moral behavior?

• Moral feelings: associated with how you feel about choices and actions related to the difference between right and wrong

• Young children have limited capacity for empathy

• Empathy develops after age 2

• Empathy requires perspective-taking• 2-4 year old child begins to learn how to

identify a wide range or emotional states in others

• 2-4 year olds learn to anticipate actions and their consequences

• Experience more advanced moral development (-what would mommy or daddy say about bouncing on the bed?)

• Moral reasoning:• How you think about moral choices

• Piaget’s conclusions:• 4-7 years: stage 1 (heteronomous morality)• Justice and rules are unchangeable world

properties, uncontrollable by people• 7-10 years: stage 2 (autonomous morality)• Transition stage; show characteristics of both

stage 1 and stage 2

• 10 years and older: stage 2; (autonomous morality)

• Show awareness that rules and laws are created by people

• When judging an action can consider a person’s intentions as well as the consequences of the action

• Believe punishment occurs only if there is a witness to the action and even then is not inevitable

• Younger children usually show stage 1 thinking, judging actions by consequences

• Believe rules are unchangeable and determined by powerful authorities

• Believe in immanent justice - idea that if a rule is broken, punishment will follow immediately

• How does transition between stage 1 and stage 2 occur?

• Piaget proposed we become more sophisticated in social thinking as we get older

• Social understanding develops from mutual give and take in peer interaction

• In groups interacting with peers -power and status are similar

• Plans are negotiated and coordinated• Disagreements settled using reasoning

• In parent-child interactions:• Parents have more power and status than

children• Rules likely communicated in an authoritarian

(or possibly authoritative) way

• Lawrence Kohlberg followed Piaget’s ideas• Emphasized moral reasoning with give and

take in peer relationships• Concluded children begin as heteronomous

thinkers and moralists,• Deciding choice is right or wrong based on

consequences • More on Kohlberg’s ideas in chapter 8

• Moral behavior• Based on behavioral and social cognitive

approach• Reinforcement, punishment and imitation

influence moral behavior

• If child is rewarded for behavior, likely to repeat behavior

• Children likely to imitate models of moral behavior

• If child is punished for inappropriate behavior, behavior is likely reduced or eliminated

• Ability to resist temptation is tied to developing self-control and delaying gratification

• Believe punishment occurs only if there is a witness to the action and even then is not inevitable

• Younger children usually show stage 1 thinking, judging actions by consequences

• Gender

• Gender identity - sense of being male or female

• Gender role- sets of expectations prescribing how females and males think, act and feel

• Social influences• What are 3 main social theories of gender?• (may be used for extra credit in GEC bonus)

• Parental influences• Mother’s socialization strategies-

emphasize daughters obedience more so than sons

• Place more restrictions on daughter’s independence of thought and behavior

• Father’s socialization strategies:• More attention to son’s activities than

daughter’s• Engage in more activities with sons than

daughters• Show more effort to promote son’s

intellectual development

• Peer influences:• Extensively reward and punish gender

behavior• Emphasis on whether child behaves in sex-

appropriate way• Greater pressure for males to act in sex-

appropriate way

• How does gender influence peer relationships?

• Gender composition- by age 3 begin to prefer same-sex playmates

• Increases in age range 4-12• Group size - from 5+ boys tend to associate

in larger clusters than girls and participate in more organized activities

• Interaction with same-sex groups:• Boys more likely to engage in rough play than

girls (competition, conflict)• Girls more likely to use collaboration and

cooperation

• What is gender schema theory and how does it explain gender development?

• May be used for extra credit as part of GEC bonus?

Families

• What are 4 parenting styles?• Authoritarian- • Restrictive and punishing• Children expected to follow directions and

respect parents• Firm limits and controls on child behavior• Little verbal exchange -

• Authoritarian - continued• May spank frequently• Enforce rules strictly without explanation• Demonstrate anger openly

• Authoritative-• Encourage independence in children while

placing firm and flexible limits• Extensive verbal give and take• Show pleasure and support in response to

child’s constructive behavior• Expect independent , age-appropriate

behavior

• Authoritative – continued -• Children likely cheerful, self-controlled and

self-reliant

• Neglectful -• Uninvolved in child’s life• Children develop sense that other aspects of

parents’ lives more important• Child tends to be socially incompetent• May have poor self-control and not handle

independence well

• Neglectful – continued -• Children frequently show low self-esteem and

immature behavior• Children may be alienated from family• Adolescent children may show truancy and

delinquency

• Indulgent parenting -• Parents highly involved in children’s lives• Place few demands or controls• Children rarely learn respect for others• Show difficulty controlling behavior

• Punishment-• Corporal (physical): spanking• Associated with -• higher levels of compliance• Increased aggression• Lower level of moral internalization• Lower level mental health

• Reasons for not spanking-• Parents who spank or yell at children

demonstrate out-of-control behavior model• Physical punishment can result in fear, rage or

avoidance

• Punishment tells what not to do• Punishment can be abusive• Using time-out as alternative briefly removes

child from setting and offers positive reinforcement

• Co-parenting -• Support offered in jointly raising a child• Lack of effective co-parenting puts child at risk

for future problems:• Poor coordination between parents, • undermining other parent,

• lack of cooperation and warmth, • disconnection by one parent

• Maltreating children-• 4 main types:• Physical abuse – inflicting physical injury

resulting from punching, beating, kicking, biting, burning shaking

• Child neglect –• failure to provide for child’s basic needs; • can be physical (abandonment), • educational (allowing truancy), • emotional (lack of attention to basic needs)

• Sexual abuse –• Fondling genitals• Intercourse• Incest,• Rape• Sodomy• Exhibitionism• Commercial exploitation

• Emotional abuse-• Includes psychological or verbal abuse and

mental injury• Acts or omissions causing serious behavioral

cognitive or emotional problems

• Context of abuse – • Combination of factors:• Culture• Family• Developmental characteristics• Contribute to child maltreatment

• Extensive violence in American culture reflected in family violence

• Contrast in Chinese culture• Physical punishment rarely used and incidence

of child abuse is low• Family key part of abuse context• Includes all family members

Developmental consequences of abuse

• Poor emotional control and regulation• Attachment problems• Peer relationship difficulties• Problems adjusting to school• Depression and delinquency• Difficulty establishing and maintaining healthy

adult relationships

Preventing child abuse

• Home visitation – • Emphasizing improved parenting• Coping with stress• Increased support for mother

• Parent-infant psychotherapy – • Focuses on improving maternal-infant

attachment

Sibling relationships and birth order

• What parents do when siblings have verbal or physical confrontation

• Intervene and try to resolve conflict• Admonish or threaten• Do nothing• If siblings 2-5, most likely do nothing

• Other sibling interactions – • Helping, • playing • sharing• teaching

3 important characteristics of sibling relationships

• Emotional quality – intensive positive or negative emotions expressed

• Familiarity and intimacy – provide support or tease and undermine each other

• Variation – some more positive than others

How birth order affects development in 2-5 year age range• First born more likely to be adult-oriented,

helpful, conforming and self-controlled• Excel academically and professionally• Feels more guilt, anxiety and difficulty coping

with stress• Only-children often achievement-oriented and

have desirable personality traits

How parent employment affects development

• Can produce positive and negative effects• Nature of employment important• If poor working conditions (long hours, stress,

lack of autonomy) -• Parents likely more irritable and show less

effective parenting

Effect of divorce on children in early childhood

• If parents divorce, children likely show poorer adjustment

• More likely to show academic problems• More likely to act out, show delinquent

behavior, experience anxiety and depression

Effects of divorce - continued

• Less socially responsive• Less competent in intimate social

relationships• More likely to be sexually active at earlier age• More likely to use recreational drugs• Show low self-esteem

Effects of divorce - continued

• Divorce can help if disruptive parental relationship interferes with child’s well-being

• Divorce can hurt if decreased resources and incompetent parenting results

Factors influencing individual child’s response to divorce

• Adjustment level before divorce• Personality characteristics• Temperament• Gender• Custody situation• Better adjustment if socially mature and

responsible with easy temperament

Role of socioeconomic status in effects of divorce

• Income loss affects custodial mothers more negatively than custodial fathers

• Increased workload, • Increased job instability• Move to less desirable neighborhood

5 guidelines for communicating with children about divorce

• Explain the separation• Emphasize separation is not child’s fault• Explain may take time to feel better• Keep door open for future discussion• Provide as much continuity as possible

Gay and lesbian parents

• Very greatly as to whether single or have partners

• Many children of GL parents born from heterosexual relationships that ended in divorce

• Some children born as result of donor insemination, surrogates or adoption

• Research indicates few differences when comparing children of GL parents and heterosexual parents

What do cross-cultural studies show about developmental trends in early childhood development?

• Extra credit opportunity associated with GEC bonus

Role of ethnicity and socioeconomic status in developmental differences in early childhood

• Extra credit opportunity associated with GEC bonus

Role of play in early childhood development

• Functions of play – • Psychodynamic view emphasizes mastering

anxiety and conflicts• Play therapy allows working out frustration,

analyzing conflict and developing new ways to cope

• Piaget’s view: play advances cognitive development;

• cognitive level can restrict how child plays• Play provides setting to practice using

cognitive structures (schemas)

• Vygotsky’s view:• Play provides effective setting for cognitive

development• Believed symbolic and make-believe play

advances creative thinking

• Berlyne’s view – • Play can be pleasurable and exciting in itself• Play satisfies exploratory and curiosity drives• Play allows safe exploration and seeking new

information

5 types of play

• (1)Sensorimotor and practice play – • Sensorimotor usually limited to infancy• Gives pleasure through exercising

sensorimotor schemes• Begins at 4-6 months

• Practice play continues throughout life• Repetition of behavior after new skills learned • Supports physical or mental mastery and

coordinated skills required for games and sports

• (2)Pretend and symbolic play – • Transforms physical environment into symbols• Appears between 9 and 30 months• Substitute certain objects for others• Act as if substituted objects are the actual or

real objects

• (3)Social play – • Involves interaction with peers

• (4)Constructive play – • Combines sensorimotor and practice play with

symbolic representation• Self-regulated• Creates a product or a solution• Appears sometime in preschool years

• (5)Games – • Activities that give pleasure and have rules• May involve competition• May be social and involve reciprocity and

taking turns

Effects of television on early childhood development

• Extra credit (GEC bonus) opportunity

CHAPTER 7LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT

PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE AND LATE CHILDHOOD

Body Growth and Change during Middle and Late Childhood

• Slow consistent growth• Grow 2-3 inches per year• Gain 5-7 lbs per year• Weigh gain mainly because of increased size

of skeletal and muscle systems• Muscle mass and strength gradually increase

BRAIN DEVELOPMENT IN ML CHILDHOOD

• Total brain volume stabilizes• Significant changes in brain structures and

regions• Especially nerves involving attention,

reasoning, and cognitive control

• Thickening of cerebral cortex in temporal and frontal lobes, associated with language

• Shift from diffuse, large areas to focal smaller areas

• Increased efficiency in cognitive control affecting attention

• Reducing interfering thoughts• Inhibiting some muscle responses

• Increased cognitive flexibility in switching between mental and physical choices

MOTOR DEVELOPMENT IN ML CHILDHOOD

• Muscle skills smoother and more coordinated• Especially running, climbing, swimming,

bicycle riding• Increased myelination continues, resulting in

better fine muscle coordination• By age 10-12, manipulative skills similar to

those in adulthood

EXERCISE IN ML CHILDHOOD

• Need to be active• Increased fatigue by sitting compared to

running, jumping and climbing• Physical action necessary for refining muscle

skills

• Practical ways to increase exercise level:• Improve school activities• Offer more physical activity coordinated by

volunteers• Have children plan school and community

activities interesting to them• Encourage families to focus on shared physical

activities

ACCIDENTS AND INJURIES DURING ML CHILDHOOD

• Injuries leading cause of death in MLC• Most common: motor vehicle accidents• Also injuries involving use of bicycles,

skateboards, and other sports equipment• Most injuries occur near home or school• Prevention: teach children about safe use of

equipment and hazards of taking risks

CANCER DURING ML CHILDHOOD

• Second leading cause of death in MLC• Mainly affect: • white blood cells, • brain, bones, • kidneys, • lymph system, • muscles and • nervous system

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE IN ML CHILDHOOD

• Uncommon in children• Risk factors in childhood can lead to problems

in adult life

OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY IN ML CHILDHOOD

• Defined in terms of BMI (body mass index)• Includes relative proportion of fat tissue to

lean muscle tissue• Obesity diagnosed if child is at 95th percentile

or higher• At risk for obesity if at 85th percentile

• Girls more likely to be overweight than boys• Obesity increases risk for medical and

psychological problems• Causes of obesity: • increased intake of high calorie, low nutrient

foods combined with • Low level exercise• Genetic factors also contribute

CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

• Learning disabilities:• Definition- minimum IQ level• Significant difficulty in school-related area• Exclusion of severe emotional disorders, second-

language related background, sensory disabilities and/or specific neurological problems

• More boys than girls diagnosed with learning disabilities

• Explanation:• Biological vulnerability• Referral bias associated with troublesome

behavior

• Common problem in learning disability:• Reading difficulty• Also often difficulty with handwriting, spelling

or composition problems

• Dyslexia: characteristic of children with severe impairment with reading and spelling

• Possible causes: • Families with one or both parent having a

disability• Environmental factors

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

• Symptoms:• Inattention – difficulty focusing on any one

activity• Hyperactivity – high levels of activity• Impulsivity – inability to inhibit behavior when

requested to do so

• Different diagnoses:• ADHD with predominantly inattention• ADHD with predominantly

hyperactivity/impulsivity• ADHD with both inattention and

hyperactivity/impulsivity

• No definite causes identified• Possible causes:• Low levels of certain neurotransmitters• Prenatal and postnatal abnormalities• Hereditary factors

• Treatment:• Stimulant medication (Ritalin or Adderall)

which improves attention• Combination of medication and behavioral

management• Exercise may also help

• Educational issues:• 1975- Public law 94-142 Education for All

Handicapped Children Act• Required all students with disabilities be given

free, appropriate public education

• 1990- PL 94-142 changed to Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA)

• IDEA- mandatory services for students with all disabilities:

• Evaluation and eligibility determination• Appropriate education• Individualized education plan (IEP)-

• IEP:• Written statement describing program

specifically tailored for student with disabilities

• Associated with least restrictive environment (LRE):

• Educational setting as similar as possible to one used for students without disabilities

Cognitive changes in ML childhood

• Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory:• Concrete operational stage-• Approximately 7-11 years of age• Can perform concrete operations• Ability to reason logically if applied to speicif

or concrete examples

• Operations- mental actions that are reversible

• Concrete operations- operations applied to real objects and situations

• Conservation tasks (chapter 5) demonstrate ability to complete concrete operations

• Example- conservation of volume using beakers with liquid task

• By age 7-8, usually can see volume does not change in beakers with liquid task

• Requires being able to mentally pour liquid back into original container

• Concrete operations allow children to consider several characteristics of a problem rather than a single, obvious property

• Concrete operational thinking shows person has ability to classify or group things or people into different sets or subsets

• Family tree example (page 204)

• Other conservation-related beliefs:• Seriation-ability to order objects along a

quantitative dimension such as length

• Transivity- ability to logically combine relations and understand specific conclusions, such as having 3 sticks of different lengths (A,B,C)

• Does child understand if A>B and B>C, then A>C?

EVALUATING PIAGET’S THEORY

• GEC ITEM POSSIBILITY

INFORMATION PROCESSING

• Memory-• Short term memory does not improve much in

MLC• Long term memory does increase in MLC,

reflecting increased knowledge and increased use of cognitive strategies

• Knowledge and expertise-• Most research compares expert and novice

performance• Expert: extensive knowledge about particular

content area(s)• Knowledge influences what person notices

and how organize, represent and interpret information

• Level of expertise affects ability to remember, reason and solve problems

• Novices: low level of expertise in a particular area

• Expertise in particular content area associated with improved memory in that area

• Cognitive strategies- deliberate mental activities to improve information processing

• Long term memory depends on mental processes used when acquiring and remembering information

• 2 important strategies-• Creating mental imagery:• Mental imagery can help young school

children remember pictures• Using mental imagery to improve memory for

verbal information more successful with older students

• Elaborating on information-• Involves more extensive processing of

information• Makes information more meaningful• Use changes developmentally such that

adolescents more likely to use elaboration spontaneously

• Fuzzy trace theory:• GEC possibility• Memory best understood considering 2 types

of memory representations-• Verbatim memory trace – specific details• Gist – central idea of information

THINKING

• Manipulating and transforming information in memory

• 2 types: critical and creative• Critical thinking- • Evaluating evidence• Contributes to deep understanding of

concepts and ability to rethink previously held ideas

• Schools may overemphasize finding one correct answer, compared to finding new ideas

• Perhaps-• Too much reciting, defining, describing,

stating, listing

• Not enough inferring, connecting, synthesizing, criticizing, creating, evaluating, thinking and rethinking

• Creative thinking-• Think in novel and unusual ways• Find unique solutions to problems• Distinguishes convergent and divergent

thinking• Convergent produces one correct answer• Divergent produces many different answers

any or all of which may be correct

• Strategies for increasing children’s creative thinking-

• Provide children with environment that stimulates creativity

• Provide exercises and activities encouraging to find insightful solutions

• Avoid excessive controlling, such as evaluations requiring one correct answer

• Allow children to select their own interests• Encourage internal motivation• Remember that excessive use of prizes and

gold stars can inhibit creative thinking• Avoid undermining intrinsic pleasure in

activities• Introduce children to creative people

• Invite creative guests to describe what helps them be creative

• Ask children to engage in brainstorming, a problem solving technique in which children generate creative ideas in a group without criticizing

• Metacognition-• Awareness of you or others know• Increased focus on metamemory or

knowledge about memory

• Metamemory:• Includes • general knowledge (recognition easier than

recall)• Personal knowledge (knowing about own

memory)

• Young school children know about memory:• Familiar items easier to learn than unfamiliar• Short lists easier than long lists• Recognition easier than recall• Forgetting likely occurs over time

• Young school children’s memory limitations:• Don’t realize related items easier to

remember than unrelated ones• May not know remembering gist is easier than

remembering verbatim details• May have inflated beliefs about personal

memory

• Knowledge about cognitive strategies:• Skilled thinkers routinely use strategies and

effective planning in learning• Know when and where to use strategies

INTELLIGENCE

• Involves problem solving skills• Requires ability to learn from and adapt to life

experiences• Research often focuses on individual

differences (stable and consistent ways people are different and

• assessment

• Binet tests-• Binet and associates devised way to identify

children needing special help in school• Developed concept of mental age (MA) or

level of mental development relative to others your age

• William Stern developed concept of IQ-• Mental age/chronological age x 100• American version of Binet test – Stanford

Binet incorporated idea of IQ

• Wechsler Scales -• Developed in 1940’s• Provide overall IQ, verbal IQ and performance

IQ• Allow creating profile describing cognitive

strengths and weaknesses• Example items page 211

Types of intelligence-

• Sternberg’s triarchic theory:• Intelligence in 3 forms• Analytical intelligence – analyze, judge,

evaluate• Creative intelligence – create, design, invent,

originate novel ideas• Practical intelligence – using, applying

implementing ideas

• Children with different triarchic patterns have different levels of success in school

• Those with high analytic intelligence often perform better on many school tasks

• Gardner’s eight frames of mind or types of intelligence

• Verbal – thinking in words and use language to express meaning

• Mathematical – carry out math operations• Spatial – think 3-dimensionally• Body-kinesthetic – manipulate objects and be

physically adept

• Musical – sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm and tone

• Interpersonal – understand and interact effectively with other people

• Intrapersonal – understand oneself and your limitations and strengths

• Naturalist - observe patterns in nature and understand natural and human-made systems

• Evaluating multiple intelligence approach – GEC possibility

• Culture and intelligence – GEC possibility

• Interpreting differences in intelligence-• Genetics:• Heritability: part of variation in population

attributed to genetic factors• Heritability index expressed using correlation

techniques• High heritability = .70+

• Flaws in using heritability index – GEC possibility

• Environmental influences-• Difference in how parents in welfare-level and

middle-income families communicate with young children (ML>WL parents)

• School influence on intelligence:• Strongest influence when large groups of

children deprived of education for long periods of time, resulting in lower level of measured intelligence

• Rapid increase in average IQ comparing test scores from early 20th century to late 20th century

• Higher average IQ scores in later part of 20th century

• Why? • Possibly because of higher average education

level and higher exposure to information

• Concern for improving early environment of children at risk for lower level intelligence

• Many low-income families have problems providing intellectually stimulating experiences for their children

• Research conclusions-• High quality child care center based

interventions result in higher level measured intelligence

• Intervention most successful with children from families with low income and low level education

• Positive benefits continue into adolescence• Programs continuing into MLC have most

success

• Group differences in intelligence – GEC possibility

• Culture-fair tests of intelligence – GEC possibility

• Using intelligence-• Avoid stereotyping and expectations• Consider IQ scores a measure of current

performance• Realize IQ is not ultimate human value• Use caution in interpreting overall IQ score• Usually best to consider intelligence as several

domains rather than one general ability

• Extremes of intelligence-• Mental retardation = limited mental activity

associated with low IQ (<70) with difficulties in adaptive living skills

• Several categories:• Mild – can live independently and work at

variety of jobs• Moderate – attain 2nd grade skill level and

perform labor-type jobs• Severe – can learn to talk and accomplish

simple tasks• Profound – require constant supervision

• Causes of mental retardation-• Organic retardation caused by genetic

disorder or brain damage• Cultural/familial retardation – no evidence of

organic brain damage or disease; often history of growing up in a background of below average intellectual environment

• Giftedness-• Above average IQ test performance and/or

show superior talent in some area(s)

• 3 criteria for giftedness:• Precocity – master area of content or skill

earlier than those their age• March to own drummer – learn in

qualitatively different way; need minimum assistance or scaffolding

• Passion to master – motivated to understand domain of high ability; intense obsessive interest and ability to focus

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

• Children in MLC begin to categorize vocabulary in terms of parts of speech – younger say “eat…lunch”; older children say “eat…drink”

• Advances in grammar – improves with increased logical reasoning and analytical skills

• Use and understand more complex language sentence constructions-

• Use language in more connected way• Relating sentences to produce definitions and

descriptions• Metalinguistic awareness – knowledge about

language, such as what a preposition is or how to discuss different sounds

• Allows improvement in pragmatics, using language in culturally appropriate way

• Reading -• Requires using language to talk about things

not present• Recognize sounds and talk about them• Helps to have strong vocabulary skills• 2 approaches to teaching reading-

• Whole-language approach – • Stresses instruction should parallel natural

language learning• Children taught to recognize whole words and

sometimes whole sentences• Use context to guess meaning• Reading connected to listening and writing

skills

• Phonics approach – • Reading instruction emphasizes basic rules• Early phonics uses simplified materials• After learning rules of language, then given

more complex materials

BILINGUALISM AND SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING

• Children learn second language easier than adolescents and adults

• Ability to speak language with native accent decreases significantly after age 10-12

• If fluent in 2 languages, perform better in tasks:

• Controlling attention• Forming concepts• Analytical reasoning• Cognitive flexibility• Cognitive complexity

• What are issues associated with bilingual education?

• GEC possibility