This document provides an overview of physical, cognitive, and social development during middle childhood (ages 6-11). Some key points include: - Children experience lower death rates and better overall health during this period due to factors like immunizations and improved medical care. However, issues like childhood obesity are on the rise. - Cognitively, children progress from concrete to more abstract thought capabilities. Language skills, executive function, and math understanding all continue advancing. Schooling approaches like bilingual education become more common. - Socially and culturally, children learn through interactions with peers, family, school, and their broader community/culture. Gender differences in certain subjects emerge. International test scores show variation across

1. Middle Childhood:
Body and Mind
chapter seven
Invitation to the Life Span
Kathleen Stassen Berger | Fourth edition
1
Middle Childhood
Middle childhood
Period between early childhood and early adolescence,
approximately from ages 6 to 11
Safeguarded by genetic and environmental factors
Evolutionary perspective
Genes protect children who have already survived the hazards
of birth and early childhood
A Healthy Time (part 1)
Lower death rates
Immunizations
Less lethal accidents and fatal illnesses
Fewer chronic conditions
Better diagnostic and preventive medical care
Less secondhand smoke
Better health habits
Specialized programs
Improved oral health

2. Rates continue to rise with age, up to 13,674 for those aged 85
and older, so this figure cannot portray the entire life span.
Details are remarkable as well. Not only are fatal diseases rare,
thanks to immunization, but accidents and homicide also dip
during middle childhood — and rise rapidly thereafter.
3
A Healthy Time (part 2)
Growth and healthy habits
Average child gains about 2 inches and 5 pounds per year.
Maintenance of good health related to adult instruction and
regular medical care.
Camps for children with special health needs are beneficial.
A Healthy Time (part 3)
Physical activity
Benefits of physical activity can last a lifetime.
Advances in physical, emotional, and mental health
Academic achievement improvement
Concerns
Harm from sports
Brain injury and other impact-related injury
Better cerebral blood flow and more neurotransmitters
Better mood and energy
Embodied cognition aided
5
A Healthy Time (part 4)
Need for movement
Indoor activities often replace outdoor play.

3. Economic barriers and disabilities may limit participation in
league, club and other after school activities.
When academic instruction replaces physical education; less
physical activity may cause less learning.
Modern life challenges neighborhood play.
Time for school physical activities and recess is reduced in
many schools
6
A Healthy Time (part 5)
Brain development
With physical activity
Cerebral blood flow and neurotransmitters and better moods
Embedded cognition
Connection between body movement and thinking
A Healthy Time (part 6)
Health problems: Childhood obesity
Paying attention
Neurological advances allow children to pay special notice to
most important environmental elements
Executive control
Selective attention
Reaction time
Improves with physical play and maturation
Reaction time: Time it takes to respond to a stimulus, either
physically ( thought).
8

4. A Healthy Time (part 7)
Health problems: Childhood obesity
Many 6- to 11-year-olds eat too much, exercise too little, and
become overweight or obese as a result.
18 percent of U.S. 6- to 11-year-olds were obese.
Excessive weight contributes to future health risk increases,
average achievement decreases, self-esteem failures, and
loneliness.
Since 2000, U.S. rates have leveled off, even declining in
preschool children, but increases continue in most other nations,
including the most populous two, China and India.
9
A Healthy Time (part 8)
Health problems: Childhood obesity
Recent, dramatic increases found in developing nations as food
becomes more plentiful; parents no longer worry that their
children might starve.
Childhood overweight correlates with asthma, high blood
pressure, elevated cholesterol, and loneliness.
As weight builds, school achievement decreases, self-esteem
falls, and loneliness rises.
A Healthy Time (part 9)
Health problems: Childhood obesity
Genetic influences
Dozen of genes affect weight by influencing activity level,
hunger, food preference, body type, and metabolism.
Social context is crucial.
Parenting practices linked to obesity
Infants—No breast feeding and solid foods before 4 months

5. Preschoolers—Bedroom TV watching and soda consumption
Schoolagers—Insufficient sleep, extensive screen time, little
active play
Ads and Obesity
Nations differ in children’s exposure to televised ads for
unhealthy food.
The amount of this advertising continues to correlate with
childhood obesity (e.g., Hewer, 2014). Parents can reduce
overweight by limiting screen time and playing outside with
their children. The community matters as well: When
neighborhoods have no safe places to play, rates of obesity soar.
12
Differences in Prevalence of Obesity
Figure 7.1
13
Health Problems: Asthma
Asthma
Definition
Incidence
Signs and symptoms
Hygiene hypothesis

6. In some city schools, asthma is so common that using an inhaler
is a sign of pride, as suggested by the facial expressions of
these two boys.
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways that
makes breathing difficult.
Sufferers have periodic attacks, sometimes rushing to the
hospital emergency room.
In the U.S., childhood asthma rates have tripled since 1980 (see
Figure 7.2). U.S. parents report that 15 percent of their 5- to 11-
year-olds have been diagnosed with asthma at some time, and
almost 11 percent still suffer from it (National Center for
Health Statistics, 2014).
14
Cognition (part 1)
Piaget and middle childhood
Concrete operational thought
Piaget's term for the ability to reason logically about direct
experiences and perceptions.
Classification
Logical principle that things can be organized into groups (or
categories or classes) according to some characteristic they
have in common.
Seriation
Things can be arranged in a series. Seriation is crucial for
understanding the number sequence and logical series.
In middle childhood, children develop the ability to use mental
categories and subcategories flexibly, inductively, and
simultaneously.
By age 11, children use mental categories and subcategories
flexibly, inductively, and simultaneously, unlike at age 7.

7. 15
Inside the Brain
Coordination and Capacity
Piaget recognized that connections allow logical ideas to be
applied to many specifics.
Today brain scans can demonstrate maturation and classification
proposed by Piaget.
Hubs, especially near corpus callosum; damage and brain
dysfunctions
Links between hypothalamus and amygdala; stress and early
maltreatment
Neurological pathways from general to particular and back
again; maturation
Cognition (part 2)
Vygotsky and culture
Education occurs everywhere and knowledge is acquired from
social context.
Instruction is essential.
Guiding each child using scaffolding through the zone of
proximal development is crucial.
Language is integral as a mediator, a vehicle for understanding
and learning.
17
Cognition (part 3)
Vygotsky
Play with peers, screen time, dinner with families,

8. neighborhood play — every experience, from birth on, teaches a
child
Girls Can’t Do It
As Vygotsky recognized, children learn whatever their culture
teaches. Fifty years ago, girls were in cooking and sewing
classes. No longer. This 2012 photo shows 10-year-olds Kamrin
and Caitlin in a Kentucky school, preparing for a future quite
different from that of their grandmothers.
18
Cognition (part 4)
Information-processing perspective
Compares human thinking processes, by analogy, to computer
analysis of data, looking at sensory input, connections, stored
memories, and output.
Select relevant units of information
Analyze and connect
Express conclusions in understanding ways
Supports the notion that brain connections and pathways are
forged from repeated experiences in day-to-day learning
Cognition (part 5)
Children’s cognition in math
Children do not suddenly grasp the logic of number system
(Piaget).
Math knowledge accrues gradually (Siegler).
Some early math achievements (i.e., counting) do not correlate
with later math achievements (information-processing theory).
Information Processing and the Brain

9. (part 1)
Extensive knowledge base makes it easier to master new, related
information.
Factors influencing knowledge base
Experience
Current opportunity
Personal motivation
Control processes
Emotional regulation
Selective attention
What this child sees is dependent on her knowledge base and
personal experiences.
21
Information Processing and the Brain
(part 2)
Control processes (Executive processes)
Involve neurological mechanisms that combine memory,
processing speed, and knowledge base
Require brain to organize, prioritize, and direct mental
operations
Develop spontaneously with prefrontal cortex maturation but
still Influenced by maturation and experience
Control processes allow a person to step back from the specifics
to consider more general goals and cognitive strategies
22

10. Information Processing and the Brain
(part 3)
Cognitive control
Metacognition
Metamemory
Executive functions
Ability to use executive processes
23
Cognition (part 6)
Language
Every aspect of language — vocabulary, comprehension,
communication skill, and code-switching — advances each year
from age 6 to 11.
Vocabulary
Understanding of prefixes, suffixes, compound words, phrases,
and metaphors builds.
Cognition (part 7)
Language context adjustment
Pragmatics
Ability to use words and devices to communicate in various
contexts
Allow children to change formal, informal, and linguistic codes
to fit audience

11. 25
Cognition (part 8)
Bilingual education
Strategy in which school subjects are taught in both the
learner’s original language and the second (majority) language
ELLs (English Language Learners)
ESLs (English as a Second Language)
Immersion
Bilingual education: A strategy in which school subjects are
taught in both the learner’s original language and the second
(majority) language
ELLs (English Language Learners): Children in the U.S. whose
proficiency in English is low—usually below a cutoff score on
an oral or written test. Many children who speak a non-English
language at home are also capable in English; they are not
ELLs.
Immersion: A strategy in which instruction in all school
subjects occurs in the second (usually the majority) language
that a child is learning.
ESL (English as a second language): An approach to teaching
English in which all children who do not speak English are
placed together in an intensive course to learn basic English so
that they can be educated with native English speakers.
26
Bilingual Education
More children in the United States are now bilingual and more
of them speak English well, from about 40 percent of the

12. bilingual children in 1980 to 82 percent in 2011.
Hurray for Teachers? More children in the U.S. are bilingual
and most of them now speak English well, growing from about
40 percent in 1980 to 82 percent in 2011.
In the U.S., almost 1 school-age child in 4 speaks a language
other than English at home.
27
Cognition (part 9)
Poverty and language
SES affects cognitive development.
Poor and slower language mastery
Smaller vocabularies and impaired grammar than those from
higher-SES families
School learning slowdown in every subject
SES affects brain development.
Hippocampus development impact
Less language heard early in life
28
Teaching and Learning
Hidden curriculum
Unofficial, unstated, or implicit patterns within a school that
influence what children learn; not formally prescribed, but
instructive to the children
Physical surroundings
Teacher ethnicity
Teacher expectations

13. Hidden curriculum—The unofficial, unstated, or implicit rules
and priorities that influence the academic curriculum and every
other aspect of learning in a school.
Variation is greater in hidden curriculum
Course offerings
Schedules and tracking
Teacher characteristics
Discipline and teaching methods
Sports competition
Extracurricular activities
Student government
Physical setting
Literacy and numeracy: Valued everywhere
Geography, music, and art: Not essential in all places
29
Learning in School
International testing
International Achievement Test Scores
Trends in Math and Science Study (TIMSS)
Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)
Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)
See Tables 7-1 and 7-2 for additional information
Although the TIMSS is very useful, different countries' scores
are not always comparable because sample selection, test
administration, and content validity are hard to keep uniform.
Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)
Inaugurated in 2001, a planned five-year cycle of international
trend studies in the reading ability of fourth-graders
Found gender difference

14. Trends in Math and Science Study (TIMSS)
International assessment of the math and science skills of
fourth- and eighth-graders
Higher achievement related to teacher education, autonomy
within classroom, buildings designed to foster collaboration
(Finnish study)
Found gender differences
Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)
Measures the ability to apply learning to everyday issues. East
Asian nations always rank high, and scores of more than a
dozen nations (some in Europe, most in Asia) surpassed the
United States
30
Lifelong Learning
Shown here are PISA scores for 15-year-olds. Finland is among
the highest-scoring nations, and the United States is middling
(just slightly below the overall average).
Thirty nations are below the United States and 30 nations are
higher.
For comparison, this graph also shows the highest-scoring
(Singapore) and lowest scoring (Dominican Republic) nations.
Finnish elementary school students do not score much better or
worse than their United States peers on the TIMSS or PIRLS,
but educators in Finland do not believe that tests
in childhood are the best measure of learning. Instead they
prefer to focus on using knowledge later on, as measured by a
test further described in Chapter 15 , the PISA.
31
Teaching and Learning (part 1)
International schooling has marked national, ethnic, and

15. economic differences.
Creating equally valid questions for everyone is impossible.
Cultures differ in what they value.
Educational practices differ within and across cultures.
Variation is greater in hidden curriculum.
Elaborate and extensive measures are in place to make the
PIRLS, TIMSS, and PISA valid. Test items are designed to be
fair and culture-free, and participating children represent the
diversity (economic, ethnic, etc.) of each nation’s child
population. Thousands of experts work to ensure validity and
reliability. Consequently, most social scientists respect the data
gathered from these tests.
32
Teaching and Learning (part 2)
Gender differences in school performances
PIRLS: Girls ahead of boys in reading in every nation.
TIMSS: Gender differences among fourth-grader math have
narrowed or disappeared.
Girls have higher report card grades, including math and
science.
What accounts for this finding?
How do you know?
33
Teaching and Learning (part 3)
Schooling in the U.S.
Increases in international tests scores
Largest disparities between incomes and ethnic group test

16. scores
National Standards
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
An ongoing and nationally representative measure of U.S.
children’s achievement in reading, mathematics, and other
subjects over time; nicknamed “the Nation’s Report Card.”
Disparities between national and state scores; Latino and
African and European American 4th grade reading and math
scores; high school graduation
What are the causes of these disparities?
Teaching and Learning (part 4)
Issues within U.S. education today
Should public schools be well-supported by public funds?
Should tuition vouchers be given for private schools?
Should more charter schools open or close?
Does home schooling meet children’s needs?
Should public schools be free of religion?
Should the arts be part of the curriculum?
Should children learn a second language in primary school?
Can computers advance education?
Are there too many students in each class?
Should teachers nurture soft skills as part of the curriculum?
Who decides how these questions will be answered?
Children with Special Brains and Bodies (part 1)
Developmental psychopathology links usual with unusual
development, especially when the unusual results in special
needs.
Four general principles
Abnormality is normal.
Disability changes year by year.

17. Life may get better or worse.
Diagnosis and treatment reflect the social context.
Children with Special Brains and Bodies (part 2)
Measuring the mind
Aptitude
Achievement tests
Multiple intelligences
IQ tests
g
IQ of 100 was exactly average, because when mental age was
the same as chronological age
Flynn effect
Aptitude: The potential to master a specific skill or to learn a
certain body of knowledge
Achievement test: A measure of mastery or proficiency in
reading, mathematics, writing, science, or some other subject.
Multiple intelligences: The idea that human intelligence is
comprised of a varied set of abilities rather than a single, all -
encompassing one
37
Children with Special Brains and Bodies (part 3)
Multiple intelligences: Gardner
Seven intelligences: linguistic, logical mathematical, musical,
spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal,
naturalistic, and existential
Eighth (naturalistic) and ninth (spiritual/existential) added later
Each associated with a region of the brain
In education: Gardner
Schools often are too narrow, teaching only some aspects of

18. intelligence and thus stunting children’s learning
Schools, cultures, and families dampen or expand particular
intelligences
38
Children with Special Brains and Bodies (part 4)
Neuroscientists and psychologists agree on four generalities
Brain development depends on experiences.
Dendrites form and myelination changes throughout life.
Children with disorders often have unusual brain patterns, and
training may change those patterns.
Each brain functions in a particular way (neurodiversity).
Scanning the brain
Brain scans are not accurate in diagnosing cognitive disorders
in childhood
39
Children with Special Brains and Bodies (part 5)
Special needs in middle childhood
Two basic principles of developmental psychopathology
complicate diagnosis and treatment.
Multifinality
Equifinality
Some suggest that childhood psychopathology was under-
diagnosed in early DSM editions and over-diagnosed in DSM-5.

19. Multifinality: One cause can have many (multiple) final
manifestations.
Equifinality: One symptom can have many causes.
Comorbidity: Presence of two or more disease conditions at the
same time can occur in the same person.
As a reference, we use DSM-5 (the fifth edition of the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
published by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013).
The DSM-5 is only one set of criteria — the World Health
Organization has another (ICD-11), some experts are using a
third (RDoC) for research, and psychiatrists are already
discussing DSM-6
40
Children with Special Brains and Bodies (part 6)
Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Potential problems in three areas
Inattention, impulsiveness, and activity
No biological marker; some suggestion of relationship with
brain regulation: often comorbid
DSM-5 recognizes learning disorders
Dyslexia (reading)
Dyscalculia (math)
Dysgraphia (penmanship)
Increasing incidence concerns
Misdiagnosis
Drug abuse
Normal behavior considered pathological
41

20. Children with Special Brains and Bodies (part 7)
Specific learning disorder
Marked deficit in a particular area of learning that is not caused
by an apparent physical disability or by an unusually stressful
home environment
Dyslexia
Unusual difficulty with reading; thought to be the result of
some neurological underdevelopment
Dyscalculia
Unusual difficulty with math, probably originating from a
distinct part of the brain
The DSM-5 diagnosis of specific learning disorder now includes
disabilities in both perception and processing of information,
evident in unexpected low achievement in reading, math, or
writing (including spelling). Children with specific learning
disorders have difficulty mastering skills that most children
acquire easily.
Those large prism glasses keep the letters from jumping around
on the page, a boon for this 8-year-old French boy.
Unfortunately, each child with dyslexia needs individualized
treatment: These glasses help some, but not most, children who
find reading difficult
42
Children with Special Brains and Bodies (part 8)
Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD)
Any of several disorders characterized by poor social
understanding, impaired language, and unusual patterns of play
Cause and treatment disputed
Equifinality applies
Most diagnosis at age 4 or later
Gender and ethnic differences in rates

21. Three categories: Mild, moderate, severe
Equifinality certainly applies to ASD: A child can have
symptoms for many reasons; no single gene causes the disorder.
That makes treatment difficult; an intervention that helps one
child is worthless for another.
It is known that biology is crucial (genes, copy number
abnormalities, birth complications, prenatal injury, perhaps
chemicals during fetal or infant development) and that family
nurture does not cause ASD but may modify it.
Social and language engagement of the child early in life seems
the most promising treatment.
43
Children with Special Brains and Bodies (part 9)
Special education
Labels, laws, and learning
1975 Education of All Handicapped Children Act
Inclusion class; general classroom (LRE)
Appropriate aids and services
Other strategies
Response to intervention (RTI)
Individual education plans (IEP)
Children with Special Brains and Bodies (part 10)
Nature or Nurture
Communities have always had some children with special needs,
with physical, emotional, and neurological disorders of many
kinds. In some eras, and even today in
some nations, the education of such children was neglected.

22. Indeed, many children were excluded from normal life. Now in
the United States every child is entitled to school. As you see,
the specific label for such children has changed over the past
decades, because of nurture, not nature. Thus teratogens before
and after birth,
coupled with changing parental and community practice,
probably caused the rise in autism spectrum disorder and
developmental delay, the decrease in intellectual disability, and
the fluctuation in learning disorders apparent here.
45
Children with Special Brains and Bodies (part 11)
Gifted and talented
High-IQ, unusually talented, and unusually creative children
may require special education.
Needs of unusually gifted children not covered by U.S. federal
laws.
Each state selects and implements own system.
Controversy about which system to use
46
MHW-632: Parenting Influence Worksheet
As a mental health worker, it is essential to identify the

23. determinants of parenting and the impact of those determinants
on children’s outcomes. This assignment will help you learn
this concept.
Citing two to four scholarly sources, answer the following:
Topic 3: Parental Influence on Children’s Trajectories
Explain what is meant by nature and nurture in regards to
parenting. (50-75 words)
Explain what is meant by parent-child attachment. (50-75
words)
Describe one example of each:
Secure attachment style:
Preoccupied attachment style:
Dismissing attachment style:
Fearful attachment style:
Parenting Styles
Explain what is meant by parental establishment of trajectories.
(50-75 words)
Describe some of the trajectories that were present in your
home as a child. How did these influence your development?
(75-100 words)
Explain how parental decision-making promotes and establishes
trajectories. (100-150 words)
List four of the determinants listed in the textbook:
1.
2.
3.
4.

24. Select two of the four listed. Explain how they interrelate. ( 50-
75 words)
References:
© 2017. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.
Middle Childhood:
The Social World
chapter eight
Invitation to the Life Span
Kathleen Stassen Berger | Fourth edition
1
The Nature of the Child (part 1)
Drive for independence from parents expands the social world.
Learn to care for themselves
Learn from each other
The Nature of the Child (part 2)
Erikson’s insights
Industry versus inferiority
Fourth of Erikson's eight psychosocial crises
Characterized by tension between productivity and
incompetence
Children

25. Attempt to master culturally valued skills and develop a sense
of themselves as either industrious or inferior, competent or
incompetent.
Signs of Psychosocial Maturation over the Years of Middle
Childhood
Responsibly perform specific chores
Manage a weekly allowance and activities
Complete homework
Attempt to conform to peers
Express preferences for after-school hours
Accept some responsibility for pets, younger children
Strive for independence from parents
See chart on page 283 for additional information.
4
The Nature of the Child (part 3)
Parental reactions
Shift from care provision to engagement in dialogue,
discussion, and shared activities.
Various levels of release from parental supervision and
provision of more autonomy
Decrease in time with parents; increase in time alone and with
parents
5

26. The Nature of the Child (part 4)
Self-concept
Development of more specific and logical ideas about personal
intelligence, personality abilities, gender, and ethnic
background
Measurement of self to others in relation to own abilities, social
status, and other attributes
Formulation of a more reality-grounded view of self; rise in
self-criticism and self-consciousness
The Nature of the Child (part 5)
Children who affirm pride in their gender and ethnicity are
likely to develop healthy self- esteem.
Some face social prejudice related to their minority or religious
group membership.
Developing a sense of pride is more effective for self-
confidence than directly preparing children for prejudice.
The Nature of the Child (part 6)
Culture and self-esteem
Cultures and families differ in which attitudes and
accomplishments they value.
Emerging self-perception benefits academic and social
competence.
Praise for process—not static qualities—encourages growth.
Notice and value of material possessions increases
Same Situation, Far Apart: Play Ball
8

27. The Nature of the Child (part 7)
Resilience
Capacity to adapt well to significant adversity and to overcome
serious stress
Important components
Resilience is dynamic, not a stable trait.
Resilience is a positive adaptation to stress.
Adversity must be significant.
See Table 8.1 for dominant ideas about resilience from 1965 to
present day.
Resilience is dynamic - a person may be resilient at some
periods but not at others.
Resilience is a positive adaptation to stress - if rejection by a
parent leads a child to establish a closer relationship with
another adult, that child is resilient.
Adversity must be significant - Resilient children overcome
conditions that overwhelm many of their peers.
Accumulated stresses over time, including minor ones, are more
devastating than an isolated major stress.
9
The Nature of the Child (part 8)
Cumulative stress
Stress accumulates over time.
Daily hassles can be more detrimental than isolated major
stress.
Social context is imperative.
Child soldiers
Homeless children
Separation after natural disaster

28. Cognitive Coping
Cognitive coping: Factors contributing to resilience
Child's interpretation of events
Support of family and community
Personal strengths such as creativity and intelligence
Avoidance of parentification
Child's interpretation of a family situation (poverty, divorce,
etc.) impacts how that situation affects him or her.
Parentification: When a child acts more like a parent than a
child. This may occur if the actual parents do not act as
caregivers, making a child feel responsible for the family.
11
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 1)
Shared and nonshared environments
Most personality traits and intellectual characteristics traced to
genes and nonshared environment
Influence of shared environment shrinks with age.
Effect of nonshared environment increases.
12
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 2)
Remember!
Recent findings reassert parent power.

29. Children raised in the same households by the same parents do
not necessarily share the same home environment.
Changes in the family affect every family member differently,
depending on age and/or gender.
Most parents respond to each of their children differently.
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 3)
Family structure
Legal and genetic relationships among relatives living in the
same home, includes nuclear family, extended family,
stepfamily, and others.
Genetic connections
Legal connections
14
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 4)
Family function
The way a family works to meet the needs of its members
Function is more important than structure, but harder to
measure.
During middle childhood, families help children by
Providing basic material necessities.
Encouraging learning.
Helping them develop self-respect.
Nurturing friendships.
Fostering harmony and stability.

30. 15
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 5)
Needs of children in middle childhood
Physical necessities
Learning
Self-respect
Peer relationships
Harmony and stability
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 6)
Family function is more important than structure.
Children value safety and stability.
Stability is difficult in military families. Caregivers are
discouraged from making changes.
Children displaced because of storms, fire, war may suffer
psychologically.
17
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 7)
Various family structures
Two-Parent Families
Nuclear family
Stepparent family
Adoptive family

31. Grandparents alone
Two same-sex parents
Nuclear family: A family that consists of a father, a mother, and
their biological children under age 18
18
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 8)
Various family structures
Single-Parent Families
Single mother or father (never married)
Single mother or father (divorced, separated, or widowed)
Grandparent alone
More Than Two Adults
Extended family
Polygamous family
Single-parent family: A family that consists of only one parent
and his or her children
Extended family: A family of three or more generations living
in one household
Polygamous family: A family consisting of one man, more than
one wife, and their children
19
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 9)

32. Cohort changes
More single- parent households, more divorces and remarriages,
and fewer children per family than in the past
Proportions differ, but problems within non- nuclear families
are similar worldwide
U.S. has more single parents than other developed nations, yet
almost two- thirds of all U.S. school- age children live with two
parents
Possible Problems
As the text makes clear, structure does not determine function,
but raising children is more difficult as a single parent, in part
because income is lower. African American families have at
least one asset, however. They are more likely to have
grandparents who are actively helping with child care.
20
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 10)
Family changes
Only one parent and his or her children under age 18
31 percent of all U.S. school-age children; rates of structure
changes depend on age of child
More than half of U.S. children in a single-parent home for at
least a year
Have children who fare worse in school and in adult life than
most other children.
Are often low-income and unstable, move more often and add
new adults more often in single-mother households

33. 21
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 11)
Two-parent family
Work best on average; children learn better in school; few
psychological problems
Education, earning potential, and emotional maturity increase
the rate of marriage and parenthood and decrease the rate of
divorce.
Major predictor of their children’s well- being was not the
parents’ sexual orientation but their income and stability;
contact increases affection and care
Shared parenting decreases child maltreatment risk
Didn’t Want to Marry
This couple was happily cohabiting and strongly committed to
each other but didn’t wed until they learned that her health
insurance would not cover them unless they were legally
married. Twenty months after marriage, their son was born.
For all children, having two parents around every day makes it
more likely that someone will read to them, check their
homework, invite their friends over, buy them new clothes, and
save for their education. Of course, having two married parents
does not guarantee good care
22
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 12)
Single fathers and stepfathers
Generally, fathers who do not live with their children become
less involved every year.

34. Single-parent fathers experience same problems as single
mothers.
Remarried adults tend to spend less on step-children;
sometimes reject them; change residence; disrupt harmony and
stability.
Step-children may experience constellation shifts, differential
discipline strategies, anger, sadness or destructive behaviors
23
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 13)
Single families in cultural context
On average, single-parent structure functions less well --
generalities
Less income, time, stability
Emotional and academic support reduction
Culture is always influential.
24
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 14)
Extended family
Family consisting of parents, their children, and other relatives
living in one household
10 percent of U.S. school-age children
Family type distinction based on who lives in same household

35. Opposing Perspectives
Why is this an “opposing perspective?”
Aren’t extended families always great?
It depends on intergenerational attitudes and income.
Multiple generation habitation is often accompanied by stress
on all members.
Potential for family conflict is evident worldwide.
Extended families are often poor and conflicted, the two
conditions known to harm children no matter what the family
structure
Every family structure is sometimes good and sometimes not.
26
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 15)
Family trouble
Two factors increase the likelihood of dysfunction in every
structure, ethnic group, and nation.
Low income or poverty
High conflict
Many families experience both!
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 16)
Poverty: Family-stress model
Any risk factor damages a family only if it increases the stress
on that family.
Adults' stressful reaction to poverty is crucial in determining
the effect on the children.

36. Wealth
Generally more income correlates with better family
functioning.
Score gap between schools with high- and low- income children
is larger in the United States than in other nations.
Reaction to wealth may cause difficulty; parental reaction is
key.
Effects of poverty are cumulative.
Both family function and family structure are affected by
poverty.
28
Families During Middle Childhood
(part 17)
Conflict
Family conflict harms children, especially when adults fight
about child rearing.
Fights are more common in stepfamilies, divorced families, and
extended families.
Although genes have some effect, conflict itself is often the
main influence on the child's well-being.
Researchers found that, although genes had some influence,
witnessing conflict was crucial, causing externalizing problems
in boys and internalizing problems in girls.
Quiet disagreements did little harm, but open conflict (such as
yelling when children could hear) and divorce did.
29
Families and Schools

37. This graph shows the score gap in fourth- grade science on the
2015 TIMSS between children in schools where more than 25
percent of the children are from affluent homes compared to
children in schools where more than 25 percent are poor.
Generally, the nations with the largest gaps are also the nations
with the most schools at one or the other end of the spectrum
and fewest in between. For example, 23 percent of the children
in the United States attended schools that were neither rich nor
poor, but 37 of the Japanese children did.
30
The Peer Group (part 1)
Culture of children
Each group of children has games, sayings, clothing styles, and
superstitions that are not common among adults, just as every
culture has distinct values, behaviors, and beliefs.
Customs, rules, rituals
Appearance
Independence from adults
No Toys
Boys in middle childhood are happiest playing outside with
equipment designed for work. This wheelbarrow is perfect,
especially because at any moment the pusher might tip it.
31
The Peer Group (part 2)
Friendship
School-age children value personal friendship more than peer
acceptance.
Intense and intimate friendships improve with advances in

38. social cognition and effortful control.
By the end of middle childhood, close friendships are almost
always between children of the same sex, age, ethnicity, and
socioeconomic status.
Boys: Better at joint excitement
Girls: Sympathetic reassurance
Children help each other learn academic and social skills and
feel happier when they have friends.
32
The Peer Group (part 3)
Popular and unpopular children
Particular qualities that make a child liked or disliked depend
on culture, cohort, and sometimes the local region or school.
Popular children in U.S.
Friendly and cooperative
Aggressive
33
The Peer Group (part 4)
Unpopular children in the U.S.
Neglected, not rejected children
Neglected by peers, but not actively rejected
Do not enjoy school; but psychologically unharmed
Aggressive-rejected children
Disliked by peers because of antagonistic, confrontational
behavior; may become bully-victims
Withdrawn-rejected children
Disliked by peers because of their timid, withdrawn, and
anxious behavior

39. The Peer Group (part 5)
Bullying
Repeated, systematic efforts to inflict harm through on a weaker
person
Who Suffers More?
Physical bullying is typically the target of antibullying laws and
policies, because it is easier to spot than relational bullying. But
being rejected from the group, especially with gossip and lies,
may be more devastating to the victim and harder to stop. It
may be easier for the boy to overcome victimization than for the
girl.
35
The Peer Group (part 6)
Types of bullying
Physical (hitting, pinching, or kicking)
Verbal (teasing, taunting, or name-calling)
Relational (destroying peer acceptance and friendship)
Cyberbullying (using electronic means to harm another)
The Peer Group (part 7)
Victims
Victims of bullying endure repeated shameful experiences with
no defense.
They tend to be cautious, sensitive, quiet, and friendless.
Providing psychological defense against loss of self-respect is
crucial.
Selection for bullying is based on emotional vulnerability and

40. social isolation, not appearance.
In pervasive bullying, almost any trait can develop into an
excuse to exclude and harass a vulnerable child.
The Peer Group (part 8)
Bullies
Popular, proud, socially dominant
Increasingly skilled at avoiding adult awareness, picking
victims, and using nonphysical methods to avoid adult
punishment
Boys typically attack smaller, weaker boys; girls use words and
relational aggression to demean shyer girls.
Gay boys become targets, especially at end of middle childhood.
The Peer Group (part 9)
Causes of bullying
Early childhood: Chaotic home life, ineffectual discipline,
hostile siblings, insecure attachment
Middle childhood: Attempt to gain status and power
Consequences of bullying
Serious psychological disorders by age 18
Impaired social understanding, lower school achievement,
relationship difficulties, higher adult mental illness rates
The Peer Group (part 10)
Successful efforts to eliminate bullying
Personally finding ways to halt ongoing bullying by ignoring,
retaliating, defusing, or avoiding
Involving the whole school, not just the identified bullies
(Convivencia)

41. Engaging bystanders
Encouraging multicultural sensitivity
The Peer Group (part 11)
Children's morality
Children show a variety of skills
Making moral judgments.
Differentiating universal principles from conventional norms.
Influences on moral development in middle childhood
Peer culture
Personal experience
Empathy
The Peer Group (part 12)
Moral rules of child culture
Children align themselves with peers when adult morality
clashes with child culture
Three moral imperatives of child culture in middle childhood
Defend your friends.
Don’t tell adults about children’s misbehavior.
Conform to peer standards of dress, talk, and behavior
The Peer Group (part 13)
Empathy
Empathy is understanding of the basic humanity of other people.
School-age children can think and act morally, but do not
always do so due to hidden curriculum or adult values.
The Peer Group (part 14)
Kohlberg's levels of moral thought

42. Stages of morality stem from three levels of moral reasoning
with two stages at each level
Preconventional moral reasoning
Conventional moral reasoning
Postconventional moral reasoning
See Table 8.3 for additional informtion about Kohlberg’s Three
Levels and Six Stages of Moral Reasonng.
Kohlberg judged moral development not by the answers but by
the reasons for the answers.
Preconventional moral reasoning: Emphasizes rewards and
punishments
Conventional moral reasoning: Emphasizes social rules
Postconventional moral reasoning: Emphasizes moral principles
44
The Peer Group (part 15)
Criticisms of Kohlberg
Pros
Child’s use of intellectual abilities to justify moral actions was
correct.
Cons
Culture and gender difference ignored.
Exclusive boy sample
Differences between child and adult morality not addressed.
Rational principles values more than individual needs
Kohlberg's levels could be labeled personal (preconventional),
communal (conventional), and worldwide (postconventional)
45
Sharing What Is Mine

43. Sharing What Is Mine
Children chose ten stickers for themselves and then were asked
to voluntarily and privately give some to an another child,
whom they did not see or know. Some children — especially the
younger ones, were quite stingy, giving only a few away, and
some, especially the older ones, were quite generous, giving
away more than half. Generosity was measured by how many of
the ten stickers were donated. In every nation, as children grew
older they became more generous. It also was apparent that
national wealth had a greater impact than ideology: Children
were more generous in the richer nations (Canada, United
States, and China) than in the poorer ones (Turkey and South
Africa
46
The Peer Group (part 16)
Teaching morality
Once children understand moral equity, they may be more
ethical than adults
Morality can be scaffolded with mentors using moral dilemmas
to advance moral understanding, empathy, and moral regulation.