Chapter 11 Socioemotional Development in Middle and Late Childhood

Comprehension mid Application Essay Questions

 

We recommend that you follow either our guidelines for "Answering Essay and Critical Thinking Questions," or those provided by your instructor, when preparing your response to these questions. Your answers to these kinds of questions demonstrate an ability to comprehend and apply ideas discussed in this chapter.

 

1. Describe physical growth and changes in gross and fine motor skills during middle/late childhood.

2. Imagine that you are a parent of children who want to compete in sports. Explain how you would evaluate the pros and cons of their participation in high pressure sports.

3. Define and distinguish between cognitive and sociocultural influences on stress. Also indicate what kinds of factors serve to buffer stress.

4. Provide at least three examples of handicapping conditions among children, and explain why middle/late childhood is an especially difficult time for a handicapped child.

5. What is mainstreaming? Also discuss its pros and cons.

6. What is an attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder? Also discuss its causes and treatments.

7. Explain the four characteristics of concrete operational thought according to Piaget.

8. Discuss at least three findings that challenge Piaget's theory about cognitive development.

9. Explain why and how information processing psychologists distinguish among control processes, and learner characteristics.

10. Compare and contrast metacognitive knowledge, cognitive monitoring, and critical thinking? Also explain how these ideas relate to education and everyday life?

11. Compare and contrast Binet's and Sternberg's views of intelligence.

12. Explain why developmentalists try to create culture-fair tests, and evaluate their success to date.

13. Explain why and how retardation, giftedness, and creativity reflect the extremes of intelligence.

14. What is bilingual education? What is known about bilingualism? How successful have bilingual education programs been?

15. What is achievement motivation? Also explain how the ideas of the helpless and mastery orientations relate to the idea of achievement.

Chapter 11 Socioemotional Development in Middle and Late Childhood

Summary

 

1.0 Images of Life-Span Development: Children's Perceptions of Morals on the Make-Believe Planet of Pax

 

In make-believe situations that entail conflict, socioeconomic inequality, and issues of civil-political rights, children recognize injustice and produce sensible solutions requiring equitable sharing and prohibiting aggression.

 

2.0 Families

 

Parent-Child Issues. Parents spend less time with children during middle and late childhood. Parents remain important socializing agents, and confront new parent-child issues and changing forms of discipline. These issues include modesty, bedtime, temper, fighting, eating, autonomy in dressing, and attention seeking. During the elementary school years, new issues such as chores, self-entertainment, and monitoring arise. In middle and late childhood, school-related matters take on central importance. Discipline changes during elementary school as it becomes easier to reason with children. Physical punishment gives way to deprivation of privileges, and appeals to self-esteem and guilt. Parents begin to transfer some control to children, although control is coregulatory rather than unilateral. Both children and parents increasingly label one another and make attributions about each other's motives. Both children and parents mature.

 

Societal Changes in Families. Two important societal changes in families include stepfamilies and latchkey children. Remarriage after divorce occurs often and can result in many different kinds of families, each with its own complications and conflicts. Relationships within the stepfamily are often conflict ridden, strained, and distant. Over time, preadolescent boys seem to improve more than do girls in stepfather families. Adolescence is an especially difficult time to enter and adjust to a stepfamily. Latchkey children, who spend much time alone and undersupervised after school, may be vulnerable to problems; however, the degree of developmental risk is unknown.

 

3.0 Peer Relations

 

Peer Popularity, Rejection, and Neglect. Peer interaction increases during elementary school. By 7 to 11 years of age, children spend 40 percent of their time with peers. Peer popularity in school is related to reinforcing others' behavior, listening carefully to peers' conversations, being happy, showing enthusiasm and concern for others, and having self-confidence without conceit. Neglected children are not actively disliked, but have no friends; rejected children are disliked by their peers. To improve the peer relations of neglected and rejected children the former are taught how to gain attention in positive ways and the latter are taught not to dominate peer interactions.

 

Social Cognition. Social information-processing skills can affect peer relations. For example, misinterpreting another's intention or motive can lead some children to respond aggressively. Social knowledge, or availability of scripts for developing friendships, also affect a child's ability to develop peer relations.

 

Friends. Friendships are specific attachments to a peer and serve six functions: companionship, stimulation, physical support, ego support, social comparison, and intimacy/affection. The important aspects of friendship include intimacy and similarity. Harry Stack Sullivan, an influential theorist, argued that during adolescence there is a dramatic increase in the psychological importance and intimacy of close friends.

 

4.0 Schools

 

By the time that they graduate from high school, children have spent more than 10,000 hours in school as members of a small society.

 

The Transition to Schools. Going from a home-child to a school-child requires new roles. One concern is that schooling proceeds mainly on the basis of negative feedback to children, a factor that may impair self-esteem. It is desirable to have an integrated elementary school curriculum.

 

Teachers. Teachers have important influence during middle and late childhood. Positive teacher traits are enthusiasm, planning ability, poise, adaptability, and awareness of individual differences. Erikson believes that good teachers have the ability to produce a sense of industry rather than inferiority in their students. Teacher characteristics and style and student aptitude interact. Some teachers are more comfortable with a flexible curriculum that others and some students profit more from a highly structured classroom than do other children—the aptitude-treatment interaction.

 

Social Class and Ethnicity in Schools. School authorities are predominantly white and middle-class and manifest stronger middle-class than lower-class values. Teachers may have lower academic expectations for children who are lower class or non-white, an example of institutional racism. Teachers with lower-class origins appear to perceive their lower-class students more positively than do middle-class teachers. William Comer's model calls for a school governance team composed of everyone with a stake in the school.

 

5.0 The Self

 

The Development of Self-Understanding. In middle and late childhood, the child's ability to understand how he or she is viewed by others increases, a dimension of self-concept. Children shift away from defining themselves in terms of external characteristic toward defining themselves in terms of social characteristics and social comparison.

 

The Role of Perspective Taking in Self-Understanding. Perspective taking is the ability to assume another's point of view and understand his or her thoughts and feelings. Robert Selman described a five stage theory of perspective taking. At age 3, children are egocentric; however, by adolescence they can take another's perspective.

 

Self-Esteem. Whereas self-understanding entails a cognitive representation of oneself, self-esteem that develops during this time encompassed an evaluative or affective self-appraisal. The terms self-concept, self-worth, and self-image are interchangeable. A recent trend is to move from describing self-esteem in global terms to evaluating its domain specificity. Harter's Perceived Competence Scale for Children, a measure with four components, has been replaced with The Self-Perception Profile for Children that assesses five specific domains. Coopersmith's study showed parental attributes associated with children's self-esteem include parental acceptance and allowing children freedom within well-prescribed limits.

Henry Tajfel's social identify theory indicates that individuals perceive their group as an in-group to have a positive self-image. Individuals can improve their self-image by improving either their personal or social images. Group identity often leads to competition and conflict. Ethnocentrism is closely related to group identity and self-esteem and its negative side of prejudice. There is an interest in the self-esteem of ethnic minority children. Improving children's self-esteem requires:

(a) identifying the causes, (b) providing emotional support and social approval, (c) encouraging achievement, and (d) promoting coping.

 

Industry Versus Inferiority. Industry versus inferiority, the fourth stage, is the developmental task of middle and late childhood according to Erikson. Children become interested in making and doing, and they master many skills.

 

6.0 Gender

 

Gender-Role Stereotyping. Gender stereotypes reflect broad impressions about males and females. Most stereotypes are so general that they are ambiguous; however, stereotypes are found throughout the world. Gender role stereotyping changes developmentally.

 

Gender Similarities and Differences. Research indicates that differences between the sexes have been exaggerated. Moreover, all differences are averages, much overlap exists, differences may result from biological, social, or both influences. There are a number of physical differences between the sexes; however, cognitive differences are either small or nonexistent. Males are more active and aggressive than females, but females display more helping behavior. Females and males are alike in emotional experience; however, they are more likely to differ in contexts that entail social roles and relationships. Overall, there are more similarities than differences between females and males.

 

Gender-Role Classification. In the past, masculine traits were more valued by society, and sexism was widespread. Alternatives to traditional views of masculinity and femininity emerged in the 1970s that centered on instrumental and expressive traits. The concept of androgyny challenges the view that well-adjusted children behave in sex-appropriate ways, and suggests that masculinity and femininity are independent dimensions rather than polar opposites. Gender role measures now classify individuals as masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated. One alternative to androgyny is gender-role transcendence, but it also diverts attention from the imbalance of power between males and females.

 

Ethnicity and Gender. Many similarities between females of different ethnic groups and between males of different ethnic groups exist, but small differences can be noteworthy. Researchers have begun to focus on the positive aspects of minority females and males. Many ethnic-minority females have experienced the double jeopardy of racism and sexism. In many instances, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American females have lived in patriarchal families, although gender roles have become less stereotyped in recent years. Ethnic minority males also have experienced considerable discrimination and had to develop coping strategies in the face of adversity.

 

7.0 Moral Development

 

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development. Kohlberg's theory of moral development entails three levels of moral reasoning, with two stages at each level. At the preconventional level, a child's reasoning about moral issues is based on punishments or rewards expected from the standards of other people, the parents, or from the rules of religion or society. At the postconventional level, the individual reasons about moral issues are based upon an internal moral code. Kohlberg found that higher levels of moral reasoning appear with age; however Stage 6 reasoning is rare.

 

Kohlberg's Critics. Kohlberg's theory has been criticized on several grounds. First, moral thought is not the same as moral behavior, and some argue that Kohlberg has placed too much emphasis on reasoning, and thereby neglected moral action. Thus, moral reasons can be a shelter for moral behavior. Second, Kohlberg's view has been criticized biased because it is individualistic and culture specific. It is argued that morality should be construed as a matter of an individual's accommodation to the values and requirements of society. Third, Gilligan has criticized Kohlberg for interviewing only males in developing his theory, and also has suggested that his view focuses on a justice perspective and omits a concern for caring relationships as a key ingredient in moral reasoning. Although gender differences in Kohlberg's stages have not been found, support exists for Gilligan's contention that the moral reasoning of males and females centers around different concerns.

 

Altruism. Altruism is an unselfish interest to help someone else. William Damon indicates that altruism develops in an orderly way. Up to 3 years of age, sharing occurs for nonempathic reasons. At about age 4, children begin to share as a results of empathic awareness and adult encouragement. Elementary school children begin to show an objective sense of fairness, and understand the principle of equality. By middle to late childhood, the principles of merit and benevolence are understood.

 

8.0 Contemporary Concerns

 

Life-Span Practical Knowledge 11.1: Strengthening Your Stepfamily. This book by Elizabeth Einstein and Linda Albert encompasses a variety of stepfamilies. The authors' recommendations range from daily routines to holiday celebrations.

 

Life-Span Practical Knowledge 11.2: Tales out of School. This book is a provocative presentation of revolutionary ideas about revamping American schools written by Author Fernandez. Recommendations concern school-based management and satellite schools.

 

Sociocutlural Worlds of Development 11.1: The Jigsaw Classroom. The jigsaw classroom may reduce racial tension by promoting cooperation among members of different ethnic groups. Each member of the group must contribute one part of the learning puzzle. Jigsaw classrooms are associated with various positive outcomes, but also entail special problems of their own.

 

Sociocultural Worlds of Development 11.2: Gender Roles in Egypt and China. Although females and males have become increasingly similar (i.e., androgynous), gender roles are well-defined in Egypt. In China, females have made considerable strides toward equality; however, complete equality remains to be achieved.

 

Perspectives on Parenting and Education 11.1: Parenting and Children in Stepfamilies. William Gladden has identified frequent problems in stepfamilies and suggests a variety of strategies for building a strong, positive stepfamily.

 

Life-Span Health and Well-Being: A Model School Health Program: Heart Smart. A study of 8,000 children in Bogalusa, Louisiana indicates that the precursors of heart disease begin at a young age. Heart Smart is an intervention program designed to improve the cardiovascular health of children.

                                                                              

Key Terms

 

1 .0 Images of Life-Span Development: Children's Perceptions of Morals on the Make-Believe Planet of Pax

 

2.0 Families

  coregulation

  step-family

  latchkey children (дети с ключом на шее)

 

3.0 Peer Relations

neglected children

rejected children

social cognition

intimacy in friendships

integrated learning

aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI)

 

4.0 Schools

institutional racism

school-governance team

 

5.0 The Self                                                                                                           

self-understanding

social aspects of the self

social comparison

perspective taking

self-esteem

Perceived Competence Scale for Children

The Self-Perception Profile for Children

social identity theory

ethnoсentrism.

prejudice

industry versus inferiority

 

6.0 Gender

gender role stereotypes

instrumental-achievement

expressive-affiliation

feminine

masculine

sexism

androgyny

undifferentiated

gender role transcendence

 

7.0 Moral Development

moral reasoning

internalization

preconventional reasoning

punishment and obedience orientation

individualism and purpose

conventional reasoning

interpersonal norms

social system morality

post conventional reasoning

community rights versus individual rights

universal ethical principles

justice perspective

care perspective

altruism

equality

merit

benevolence

 

 

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