Middle Childhood PDF

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Week 6: Middle Childhood

Emotional Regulation  The process of initiating, inhibiting, or modulating emotions  Different aspects of emotions include: I. Internal feeling states – subjective feelings II. Physiological processes – heart rate, breathing, sweating (e.g. trying to calm down, turtle method, deep breaths) III. Cognitions – thoughts and interpretation of the situation (e.g. re-interpreting the situation in a less emotional way) IV. Behaviors – actions/facial expressions; related to “display rules” and sociocultural norms (e.g. inhibiting showing emotions or disappointing gift task) A. Self-Regulation  Initially caregivers help infants and young children regulate their emotions by soothing distressed infant, distracting infant with toy  6 months, begin to avert gaze to reduce distress and self-soothing (e.g. repetitive rubbing, stroking, sucking thumb) – focus on feelings  Gradually rely less on parents as gain better control over thoughts and behavior to regulate emotions during preschool years B. Strategies for Self-Regulation  Delay of Gratification: putting off until a later time possessing or doing something that gives one immediate pleasure (e.g. classic marshmallow test > time waited related to better academic/social outcomes)  Successful strategies: looking away, distraction, covering treat  Unsuccessful strategies: tempting themselves

Cognitive Development >> Piaget’s Concrete Operations (7-11)  No longer egocentric, no longer confuse appearances w/ reality and can reverse their thinking due to…  Mental operations – cognitive actions that can be performed on objects or ideas

A. Limitations  Thinking is “concrete”, the here and now or tangible  Have trouble with abstract thinking & deductive thinking  Pendulum task: attachments with different weights, lengths and heights; what influences the speed at which the pendulum swings?  Children lack hypothetical-deductive reasoning – process of systematically testing possible solutions to a problem to arrive at an answer 

Information-Processing Theories  Believe that cognitive development proceeds by increases in efficiency with which children process information  Most human thought is in working memory – small number of items are briefly stored and lost unless they are transferred into…  Long term memory – permanent and unlimited storehouse of knowledge A. Memory Strategies I. Rehearsal – first strategy starting at 6-7 years old; repetitively naming information that is to be remembered II. Organization – structuring information to be remembered so that related information is placed together III. Elaboration – embellishing information to be remembered to make it more memorable (e.g. remembering spelling of rehearsal by remembering that it is like re-hear-ing) IV. External aids – more likely to use notes, calendars, etc. as they get older B. Metacognition  Memory strategies aren’t good unless children know when to use them (e.g. repetition is good for phone numbers but not a book plot)  Children gradually become more skilled at selecting appropriate strategies but even high school students aren’t always effective; it is important to monitor the effectiveness of the strategy and reevaluate if needed  Elementary school kids identify material that they don’t know yet but do not consistently focus their efforts on that material

A. Metamemory  A child’s intuitive understanding of memory  As a child develops, they learn more about how memory operates and devise naïve theories of memory (extension of T of M)  E.g. children learn that memory is fallible and that some types of memory tasks are easier (e.g. remembering plot vs. words)  Diagnosing memory problems accurately and monitoring the effectiveness of memory strategies are important elements of MM B. Metacognitive Knowledge  Children’s growing understanding of memory is parallel with their increased understanding of cognitive processes  MC knowledge grows rapidly during elementary school  Effective cognitive self-regulation – children regulate their learning by understanding a goal, selectin a means to achieve that goal, and determining whether the method is effective (analyzing, strategizing and monitoring

Family System and Parents 

Family Systems Approach  Systems view – approach that emphasizes how each relationship (and actions) within the family influences the family as a whole  Dynamic relationship: relation between two parents  Subsystems: multiple, overlapping (e.g. mother-child-father, child-sibling-mom) A. Bi-Directional Effects  Each individual influences others and is influenced by others  Each relationship influences and is influenced by another relationship B. Dynamic  System changes with development of individual members  System-level changes influence development of individuals

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**embedded in larger contexts (e.g. cultural, historical and community contexts) Parenting Styles

A. Authoritative: high in control and warmth  Responsive to child’s needs and concerns  Set clear limits and enforce rules firmly but explain rules/decision/reasoning  Allow flexibility and autonomy within limits  Children become independent, creative, high self-esteem, socially skilled B. Authoritarian: high in control but little in warmth  Unresponsive to needs  Set many rules (expects obedience w/o explanation)  Children become dependent, conforming and passive C. Indulgent-Permissive: little control but high in warmth  Responsive to child’s needs and concerns  Few or no rules, and no expectation of child behaving maturely and appropriately (i.e., allow child to behave freely  Children become irresponsible, immature and conforming D. Indifferent-Uninvolved: little control or warmth  Unresponsive to child’s needs and concerns  No limit setting or monitoring of child’s behavior  Seem rejecting or neglectful; parent seems “disengaged”  Children become impulsive, delinquents and early sex/drugs E. Traditional Parenting Style: high control and high warmth  Difference is that they do not encourage discussion or debate  Can look similar to authoritarian but there is warmth (strict out of love)  Not associated with negative outcomes  E.g. Asia, African-American 

Parenting Behavior A. Direct Instruction  Telling a child how, when and why certain behaviors are important  Better than simply telling a child what to do because it helps to them be empathetic, have self-control and internalize values  Parental coaching helps children to be more socially skilled and get along better with peers (e.g. “she is sad because you broke her pencil”, “ask her privately to sleepover so you don’t hurt other people’s feelings”) B. Modelling  Observation facilitates imitation

 Can produce counterimitation or learning what should not be done (e.g. watching someone fall while skiing may cause them not to ski) C. Feedback  By giving feedback, parents indicate whether a behavior is appropriate or should stop  Reinforcement – increases the likelihood of an action (e.g. studying hard > getting a good mark > studying hard again to get another good mark)  Punishment – discourages a response (e.g. child doesn’t study > bad mark); bad because often behavior is only suppressed temporarily and it often causes side effects (anxiety, resentment, fear > lying)  Negative reinforcement trap – unwittingly reinforcing bad behavior I. Mother tells son to clean room II. Son complains III. Mother doesn’t make son clean his room to stop his complaining IV. Complaining is reinforced

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Influence of Parental Conflicts on Child I. II. III.

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Seeing parents fight jeopardizes a child’s feeling that the family stable and secure making a child feel anxious, frightened and sad Chronic conflict between parents often spills over into parent-child relationships (frequent arguing with spouse leads to ineffective interaction with child) When parents invest time fighting, they’re often too tired or preoccupied to invest high-quality parenting time

Effects of Divorce A. Aspects of Life Effected  school achievement, conduct, adjustment, self-concept and parent-child relations are lower  effects persist in adulthood – more likely to be a teenaged parent, to get divorced, be depressed  parents of same sex are better at raising child alone – negative reinforcement traps w/ mother-sons, better emotional relationship B. Effects on Development I.

Lose of role model, emotional support, supervisor, etc.

II. III.

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Economic hardship – not able to afford activities that support dev. Conflict between parents – extremely distressing to children and have major effects (as discussed above)

Children’s Influence: Reciprocal Influence > child behavior influences parent behavior and vice versa I.

Age  Parenting changes as child grows (becomes ineffective with age)  Warmth – beneficial throughout development ( decision-making autonomy)

II.

Temperament/Behavior  Match or mismatch between parental and child temperaments are important (e.g. father does not recognize mismatched temperament > child is resistant > father becomes authoritarian/controlling > lack of affection for father) 

Siblings A. Early Childhood Conflict  Arrival of a new sibling – if older sibling is 2+, may feel neglected  Often mothers have less interaction with older children  Maintaining responsiveness to older children can decrease rivalry  Fathers often take on more involvement after new baby – can counter jealousy and displacement  Having good friends can also buffer stress  In traditional cultures, conflict tends to be lower, as older siblings are understood to have dominance and often in caregiver role B. Middle Childhood & Adolescence  Increase in conflict in middle childhood I. Engage in wider range of activities might lead to more comparisons from parents II. But still rely on each other for companionship and assistance  Conflict decreases in adolescence I. More equal

II.

Less intense emotions

C. Sibling Closeness  Higher intimacy for sisters than for brothers or sister-brother pairs  Intimacy of same sex siblings is more stable across time  Intimacy between brother-sisters declines in middle childhood, increases again in mid-adolescence  Relationship of parents determines sibling relationship (good relationship with parents normally leads to better sibling relationship) D. Sibling Influence I. Academics – if good relationship, older siblings can “rub off” on younger II. Peers – if older sibling has conflict in peer relations, can transmit physical or relationally aggressive styles to younger siblings III. Sex – if older siblings are sexually active, younger siblings often become sexually active at an earlier age IV. Drugs – older sibling’s drug use predicts younger siblings drug use, especially in high-risk neighborhoods V. Protective factors – predicts positive outcomes in context of risk or adversity (e.g. absent parenting or parents incapacitated) 

Peers and Friends A. Friendship Changes Over Time I.

Reward-cost stage (7-8): friends offer help, share common activities, join in play, offer judgments, physically nearby, demographically similar

II.

Normative stage (9 to 10) : friends accept/admire each other, loyal, express similar values and attitudes (expect trust and assistance)

III.

Empathetic stage (11-12): expect genuineness, understanding, selfdisclosure, want friends to accept their help, share common interests, similar attitudes and values across range of topics

IV.

Adolescence: continue to expect genuineness, intimacy (sources of emotional/social support), common interests, emotional support

B. How are friends selected?  Tend to select friends that are similar to you although the characteristics or dimension you care about may change over time (“selection”)

 However, friends also increasingly become similar over time (“socialization”)  Parents also influence friend selection C. Peers vs Friends  Peer – another child of roughly the same age that you interact, play and exchange info but interactions are short (i.e. no strong commitments, limited to context, may not be mutual respect/liking)  Friend – a peer with whom the child has a special/mutual relationship, with regular sustained interactions and expectations  By 4-5 years old, most children claim to have a “best friend” (normally involves playing w/ each other and being nice)  Co-rumination – discussing each other’s personal problems D. Groups  Clique – small group of friends that tend to be similar in age, sex, race and attitudes  Crowd – larger, mixed-sex group who have similar values and attitudes (e.g. “jocks”, “nerds”, etc.). Crowds typically dislike other crowds that don’t share the same values (jocks hate nerds, etc.)  Often groups have a dominance hierarchy – leader that members defer to (in boys, usually based on power; in girls, based on group function) E. Assessing Social Status  Sociometric measures: designed to assess the degree of children’s status within their group (e.g. liked or accepted by their peers?)  Assessment methods: peer ratings or peer nominations

Accepted:

I. friendly, prosocial behavior; well-liked and disliked by few

II.

Rejected: actively disliked by peers, poor social skills (either aggressive or shy/withdrawn); often have poor outcomes but relatively stable status (usually a result of parents/home life)

III.

Neglected: neither liked nor disliked, ignored, not noticed by peers, poor social skills

IV.

Controversial: mixed responses, strongly liked and disliked, high in aggressiveness but also high in social skills

**can be accepted by peer group but lack close friend **can be rejected or neglected but still have a close friend

F. Methods of Aggression I. II. III. IV. V.

Physical aggression – behaviors in which physical damage (or threat of) serves as the agent of harm Verbal aggression – behavior in which damage is conveyed verbally (teasing, name-calling, taunting) Relational aggression – behaviors in which damage to relationships (or threat of) serves as the vehicle of harm (coined by Nicki Crick) Instrumental aggression – used to achieve an explicit goal Hostile aggression – unprovoked aggression that seems intended to intimidate, harass or humiliate

**aggression is usually consistent over time (i.e. aggressive children normally end up committing felonies, etc.) **children are likely to become chronic victims of aggression if they do not defend themselves or are aggressive themselves

G. Bullying  Two components… aggression from a point of power + repetition  Increase in middle childhood, decrease by late adolescence Practice Questions

I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI.

A(n) _______ parental style combines high control with low involvement. Children who have low self-esteem and are impulsive, aggressive and moody often have _____________ parents. Parental behaviors that influence children include direct instruction, modelling, and _____________. During Piaget’s _________, children are first able to represent objects mentally in different ways and perform mental operations. A memory strategy that involves embellishing information to be remembered is called __________. Children often select a memory strategy after they have __________. The term ______ refers to periodic evaluation of a strategy to determine whether it is working or not. According to systems approach, the family consists of interacting elements that influence each other, and the family itself is __________ With later-born children, parents often have more realistic expectations are ________ Among the effects of divorce on children are inadequate supervision, conflict between parents and ____________. Friends are usually similar in age, sex, race and ___________. Children with friends have higher self-esteem, are likely to be lonely, and ________ than children without friends. As a group forms, a ______ typically emerges, with the leader at the top. Peer pressure is most powerful when ____________. Popular children are usually _____________. Rejected kids are more likely to drop out of school, commit felonies, and __________.

Answers I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X.

Authoritarian Indifferent-uninvolved Feedback (reward/punishment) Concrete-operational stage Elaboration Determined a goal Monitoring Embedded in other social systems (e.g. neighbours) More relaxed in their discipline Economic hardship

XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI.

Interests More often to act prosocially Dominance hierarchy Standards for appropriate behavior are vague Socially skilled To suffer from psychopathology...