PSYCH 140 – Module 5 with Problem Set 1, and 2
This is link for the video below:
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Physical and Cognitive Development in Middle
Childhoood
Middle childhood is a remarkable time of physical growth, cognitive gains, and expanded social
networks. We will discuss aspects of each in this module. Middle childhood is a period of life that
picks up where early childhood left off, and continues until adolescence.
A. Physical Patterns
During middle childhood, children grow, on average, 2-3 inches per year. They typically gain 5-7 lbs
per year. Physical features change subtly as well, as baby fat decreases and muscle mass
increases.
Patterns of growth discussed in Module 3 are still at play, although in middle childhood we see the
progression of these types of growth. For example, the cephalocaudal pattern, which begins with the
head, has now resulted in head circumference becoming more in proportion with total body height.
The proximodistal pattern, which began with the trunk, has now progressed to the limbs, and fine
motor skills of many sorts can be learned and honed. Interestingly, some gender differences can be
observed in motor development at this point. Boys typically show greater gains in gross motor skills,
while girls are more advanced in fine motor skills. These differences may be due to both nature and
nurture. That is, boys’ tendency toward movement and motion may result in more attention given to
activities emphasizing gross motor skills, while girls tend to (or be encouraged to) sit still and focus
on fine motor control, such as coloring.
B. Child Obesity
A current problem in middle childhood (as well as other age groups) today is child obesity. Obesity
has doubled since the late 1970’s for children in the United States. The causes of childhood obesity
include genetics, socioeconomic status (likely lack of education of healthy behaviors + stress), poor
behavioral patterns, and less physical activity.
While obesity is largely a physical problem, there are psychological and social consequences as well
(Polivy & Herman, 2002). These include low self-esteem, depression, and social exclusion. The
recommended treatment for child obesity is behavioral. That is, unhealthy behaviors need to be
changed, and positive reinforcement given for successes. Ideally, the entire family should be
involved in the changes, partly since obesity is often a family problem.
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/causes.html. Note the consequences and reasons for
childhood obesity, then click on the additional link, https://www.healthiergeneration.org/takeaction/out-of-school-time
C. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Another growing problem, in terms of increased diagnoses, in middle childhood is ADHD. While
young children may show signs of ADHD, more substantial difficulties may arise during the school
years since children are required to sit still and pay attention in the classroom. Children who have
ADHD can be impulsive, hyperactive, and/or inattentive. Boys are over twice as likely to be
diagnosed with ADHD. Read through this article, which gives an overview of
ADHD: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorderadhd/index.shtml
As indicated in the article, a combination treatment of medication and behavioral therapy is
recommended. However, many believe that all-too-commonly, the go-to treatment for children is
stimulant medication (such as Ritalin) without the behavioral interventions necessary for curbing
problem behaviors. While medication can greatly aid the child’s ability to focus and pay attention,
many children with ADHD require specific targeting of impulsive or hyperactive behaviors.
D. Piaget’s Cognitive Theory: Concrete Operations
Watch the video below as you study the material in this module. {I’ll Upload the video in some
minute}.
You have already learned about the Sensorimotor and Preoperational Stages. Much of the
Preoperational stage had to do with the errors in thinking that young children make. However, you
may be happy to know that the next stage, the Concrete Operational Stage, is full of exciting gains
that children make in their thinking!
For example, most children in middle childhood can now perform conservation (review Module 4 if
necessary). In addition, they can do seriation, which entails ordering objects in a row. Thirdly,
children can use logic to solve problems. Thus, Piaget felt that children in this stage truly engaged
in operations, or mental activities.
Page 2
Problem Set 1
1. Compare and contrast physical growth in Early and Middle Childhood.
Answer #1:
2. Self-reflection: What are your views of why ADHD diagnoses and rates of childhood obesity have
increased? What are the solutions?
Answer #2:
3. What is the recommended treatment for ADHD?
Answer #3:
4. According to Piaget, what cognitive gains are made during the Concrete Operational stage?
Answer #4:
Page 3
Socioemotional Development in Middle Childhood
In this section, we will discuss three aspects of socioemotional development: peer relations, family
relations, and moral development in middle childhood.
A. Peer Relations
During middle childhood, children typically become increasingly oriented toward their peers. Children
now tend to base friendships on similarities and start associating with a specific set of friends.
Around third grade, however, relational aggression increases, especially for girls.
Various researchers have investigated peer acceptance by having children vote for classmates
whom they like and admire the most. Based on this research design, four peer statuses are
frequently described (Hartup, 1983; Ladd, 1999; Wentzel & Asher, 1995). Approximately 2/3 of
elementary school students fit these categories, according to Coie, Dodge, & Coppotelli (1982).
•
Popular children receive the most positive votes. That is, other students view them
favorably. There are two types of popular children, however. Some antisocial popular
children engage in relational aggression (gossip, use of humiliation) in order to cement their
popularity. Essentially, they use their social skills for harm. But, prosocial popular children
are often very socially skilled and are good listeners and communicators (Hartup, 1983)
without the relational aggression.
•
Rejected children are actively disliked. Other children rarely name these children as friends.
On the contrary, they often are nominated as classmates who are disliked. This status,
perhaps more so than any other, is associated with risk for a variety of problems in the
future, such as drug use, aggression, and delinquency. While bullying research indicates that
some rejected children invite negative attention due to hyperactive or aggressive behaviors,
other rejected children are simply shy or unskilled socially. It is important to note that not all
rejected children will show future problems.
•
Neglected children are largely ignored by their peers. In research studies, they rarely
receive positive or negative votes. A surprising finding is that neglected children tend to not
show the poor outcomes observed with rejected children. Many of them may choose to keep
to themselves, and they do not report feeling unhappy when doing so. While personality may
play a role in who is and who is not a neglected child, children in this category tend to be
fairly socially skilled.
•
Controversial children receive both positive and negative votes. Outcomes for these
children tend to be mixed.
B. Family Relations: Divorce
Divorce is a complex problem that includes immediate consequences and long-term effects for the
families involved.
Immediate consequences of divorce include the following:
a. Sharp drop in income. This is particularly likely in mother-headed households. According to the
Children’s Defense Fund (2005), the majority of families headed by a single mother live in poverty.
b. Increase in family conflict as family members each cope with stress in their own ways.
c. Changes in parenting styles. It is typical for both the custodial and noncustodial parents to alter
their parenting styles during this time…and to do so in ways that may not be appropriate to the
child’s needs at this time. For example, a noncustodial parent might become more permissive, or a
custodial parent more authoritarian as the parent tries to cope with the new family roles.
How the child responds to the divorce depends on a number of factors, including
a. The child’s age. Young children may not grasp the true reasons for the divorce and may blame
themselves. They may also regress to behave in babyish ways, such as by whining and clinging.
Older children may have more understanding, but may act out in different ways. Children of divorce
have an increased risk for running away, engaging in early sexual activity, delinquency, and poor
school performance. On the other hand, divorce may force children to take on more responsible,
adult-like roles in the household.
b. Gender. Girls are more likely to internalize their problems, resulting in crying behaviors and
withdrawing from others. Boys are more likely to act out behaviorally and engage in the more risky
types of behaviors. Interestingly, girls tend to act out (may engage in sulking behaviors and
rebellion) more after a parent remarries, while boys have more detrimental consequences if they
grow up in a single-parent family. Recent research has focused on the critical role that a father plays
in mediating (that is, altering in one way or another) the effects of divorce.
An additional possible consequence for any child or teen whose parents have divorced is that they
themselves may be more likely to someday get divorced as well, compared to someone whose
parents did not divorce. The module video explains some reasons for this.
Research indicates that it takes approximately two years for families to adjust to the divorce, both
economically and emotionally. Adjustment largely depends on the custodial parent (some key
strategies include effective parenting practices, and maximizing warm paternal interactions) and the
temperament of the child.
C. Moral Development: Kohlberg’s theory
How do children change in their understanding of moral responsibilities? What types of patterns can
be observed in moral reasoning throughout childhood? Various researchers sought to answer these
questions, but Lawrence Kohlberg, in building upon a moral developmental theory that Piaget had
developed, created one of the most well-known stages of moral development.
To do this, he used an interviewing procedure. He gave children and adolescents moral dilemmas
and asked them what the main actor should do. The most famous was the Heinz dilemma:
“In Europe, a woman was near death from a special type of cancer. There was one drug that the
doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had
recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what
the drug cost him to make. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the
drug. The sick woman’s husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he
could only get together $1,000, which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was
dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said, ‘No, I discovered
the drug, and I am going to make money from it.’ So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man’s
store to steal the drug for his wife” (Kohlberg, 1969, p. 379).
Following each dilemma, Kohlberg interviewed children about the dilemma. For example, in the
Heinz dilemma, children were asked whether Heinz should have stolen the drug. Primarily, however,
Kohlberg was interested in knowing why the children answered as they did. So, he would question
children further to know the “why” behind their answers.
Stop and think. Do you think Heinz should have stolen the drug? Why or why not?
Based on this interview process, Kohlberg created three levels of moral reasoning, each with
substages. He categorized children’s thinking according to these stages and levels. The levels are
arranged from externally controlled reasoning to internally controlled. The idea is that children’s
moral reasoning starts out as being based on external controls and then develops toward more
internal regulation of moral behavior. The three levels are Preconventional, Conventional, and
Postconventional.
Preconventional reasoning emphasizes external control of moral behavior; for example, punishment
and reward. To a young child, wrong behavior is behavior that will get you in trouble! Good behavior
should result in a reward! This level of reasoning is pretty self-focused.
Conventional reasoning focuses on social and societal rules governing behavior. Obeying parents
and authority figures is what is right. Kindness and justice become key concerns at this level of
reasoning. Being kind and considerate to others is what is right. Children and teens may increasingly
focus on fair behavior in their peer relationships. They may also believe strongly in following the
rules, and become upset when rules aren’t followed (“That’s not fair!” is a very conventional-level
cry!). This level of reasoning is very focused on other people—friends, families, neighbors,
communities.
Postconventional emphasizes internal control of moral behavior, such as obeying one’s conscience.
This level of reasoning might also advocate breaking the rules in certain situations, as when an
overriding principle is more important than the rule. For example, lying to hide Jewish neighbors is
permitted when trying to save their lives during the Holocaust. This level of reasoning requires that
the individual draw his or her own conclusions, based on conscience, culture, and the situation.
Thus, it is focused on something higher than individuals or even groups.
Please read the following information about Kohlberg’s theory. As discussed in this article, there are
three levels (Preconventional, Conventional, Postconventional) in the theory and two stages within
each level: https://www.verywellmind.com/kohlbergs-theory-of-moral-developmet-2795071
Current research on Kohlberg’s theory validates that children do move through the first levels and
stages in sequential order (for instance, Dawson, 2002). Thus, the preconventional and conventional
levels can be observed much as Kohlberg described them.
However, the post-conventional level is somewhat problematic in terms of classification, especially
cross-culturally. Kohlberg’s classification process may result in some responses being labeled at a
lower level than they perhaps warrant. For example, moral reasoning that appealed to a deity would
likely be categorized as “pre-conventional” (based on the idea that good behavior is rewarded by
God while bad behavior is punished). However, if the interviewer probed for more detail, he might
find that the respondent also believes that God has established the human conscience to guide
moral behavior, and that certain values are universally true. Thus, this type of reasoning might be
categorized at the post-conventional level. As a result, Kohlberg’s theory has been criticized for
being culturally biased against religious and nonwestern individuals. As is always the case in
research, findings are largely dependent on how the researchers and interviewers ran the study.
Page 4
Problem Set 2
1) Describe the four peer statuses and potential outcomes in adolescence and adulthood pertaining
to each.
Answer #1:
2) What are some immediate consequences of divorce?
Answer #2:
3) How does a child’s response to divorce vary according to age and gender?
Answer #3:
4) Describe all three levels of Kohlberg’s moral development theory.
Answer #4:
Below are:
Answers to Problem Sets
Problem Set 1
1. In the cephalocaudal pattern of growth, we see development beginning with the head in infancy
and early childhood. By middle childhood, major growth can be seen in additional areas; namely,
height and weight. The child becomes more proportional in terms of head to full body ratio. In the
proximodistal pattern of growth, gross motor skill development occurs in early childhood, while fine
motor skills are more readily gained in middle childhood.
2. Answers will vary.
3. Medication + Behavioral therapy.
4. Conservation, seriation, and logical thinking.
Problem Set 2
1) Popular children tend to be well-liked by their peers and are often socially skilled. These skills
often continue into adulthood. Rejected children are actively disliked and some may engage in
behaviors that encourage this dislike. Rejected children are at risk for a variety of problems in the
future, such as drug use, aggression, and delinquency. Neglected children are largely ignored by
their peers, but they may in fact be socially skilled. They seem to have similar outcomes as average
children. Controversial children receive both positive and negative votes, and outcomes for these
children tend to be mixed (some positive, some negative, depending on the child).
2) Sharp drop in income (particularly in mother-headed households), increase in family conflict, and
changes in parenting styles, among other consequences.
3) Younger children may blame themselves for the divorce or act immaturely, while older children
may act out in different ways, either through externalizing problems (rebellion, school problems, etc.)
or internalizing problems (depression, anxiety, etc.). Girls are particularly likely to act out when a
parent remarries, while boys are at risk for externalizing problems if they are raised in a motherheaded household.
4) Preconventional reasoning emphasizes external control of moral behavior; for example,
punishment and reward.
Conventional reasoning focuses on social and societal rules governing behavior. Obeying parents
and authority figures is what is right. Kindness and justice become key concerns at this level of
reasoning.
Postconventional emphasizes internal control of moral behavior, such as obeying one’s conscience.
This level of reasoning might also advocate breaking the rules in certain situations, as when an
overriding principle is more important than the rule.
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