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Please, checkout the uploaded file below, where you will find information and instructions. psych_140_module_5_with_set_1__and_2_.docx Unformatted Attachment Preview PSYCH 140 – Module 5 with Problem Set 1, and 2 This is link for the video below: Nnnnn Page 1 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 Kohlbergs 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. vvvv ... Purchase answer to see full attachment