Free Essay

Psy Childhood

In:

Submitted By willdaman67
Words 1195
Pages 5
Middle Childhood
PSY/103

Middle Childhood
There are various aspects of human development, including physical, cognitive, social, moral, and personality development. In this paper the author will discuss the middle childhood (6-12 years) stage of human development. Incorporated will be the factors that affect physical and cognitive development both hereditary and environmental. I will also discuss the factors that affect social, moral, and personality development.
Developmentally, middle childhood is a big time in a child’s life. During this time, they begin their academic journey. “During middle childhood, defined by psychologists as the period between 6 and 12 years of age children develop the emotional, cognitive, and social skills necessary to become educable members of society” (Campbell, 2011). They are growing and changing in so many ways. Children begin learning how to relate to others outside the home. They also learn to respect others and how to treat others properly. A child’s physical and cognitive development can be affected by many things. Genetics, nutrition, home environment, income, and parenting affect how a child will develop during middle childhood. Culture also comes into play when a person looks at social, moral, and personality development. All of these things will affect how a child thinks and feels about the world around him or her.
Genes have an effect on middle childhood development. Everything from height and weight to hair color are determined by genes. Whereas other things such as nutrition do affect if one will grow to their true potential, genes are the main contributing factor. Genetics can also explain why some children have certain diseases and others do not. Children are resilient and will learn to live with the genetic disorders they may face. It is not only physical disorders that can affect a child, but also cognitive impairment can affect a child as well. Some mental disorders are shown to run in families and can be passed from mother or father to the child.
Another factor that comes into play is the child’s home environment. There is evidence that a good home environment fosters cognitive development during middle childhood. Examples of things parents can do to foster their child’s development include reading, talking with the children, helping children learn, and taking children to his or her local library. These are all positive things that can be done to help a child develop (Votruba-Drzal, 2006. Failing to foster a positive home environment may result in a child not developing as quickly as other children his or her age.
Income is also a factor. Low income families are not necessarily going to have a child who is behind developmentally, but it can be a factor. Income has been linked to behavior problems in middle childhood. However, income did not have an effect on reading and math skills. This may be because academic skills are harder to change than behavior. Behavior tends to respond quicker to changes in family processes related to income (Voltruba-Drzal, 2006). So children who have parents with income problems may act out in response to stress in the home.
When children play is another factor. This fosters cognitive development in several ways. Children learn how to plan and execute activities, affiliate with others, learn to follow rules more precisely, and negotiate. A child also learns how to be imaginative and creative when playing (Bergen, 2009).
Parenting has an effect on how middle childhood development occurs. Parents are responsible for teaching their children right from wrong among other things. Bad parenting can be disastrous for children. They may not learn how to function properly in the world around them. A child’s cognitive development depends on the proper guidance of parents. Albert Bandura’s theory states that one can succeed even if he or she has past failures if they have a strong sense of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is the measure of one's own competence to complete tasks and reach goals. A person’s self-efficacy will affect which challenges a person will choose to attempt. It will also affect how much energy a person puts into his or her attempt. One thing Albert Bandura emphasized was that self-efficacy does not carry over into other situations. Also part of this theory is the concept of reciprocal determinism. This means others are affected by a person’s self-efficacy. “Thus, a cognition (“I can succeed”) will affect behaviors (“I will work hard and ask for a promotion”), which in turn will affect the environment (“My employer recognized my efforts and promoted me”)” (Carpenter & Huffman, 2010). This theory fits into social, moral, and personality development. Albert Bandura believed that thoughts, behavior, and environment all interact to produce the personality that a person develops.
Similar to Albert Bandura’s theory, Julian Rotter’s theory “suggests that learning experiences create cognitive expectancies that guide behavior and influence the environment” (Carpenter & Huffman, 2010). Rotter believed that a person’s behavior or personality is determined by two things: What a person can expect to happen after he or she performs a specific action and the reinforcement value attached to the outcomes of performing the action. Rotter used personality tests to measure internal and external locus of control. People have different thoughts depending on whether they have an internal or external locus of control. People with internal locus of control believe that they can control the things that happen in their lives by their own efforts. People with an external locus of control believe that primary control over their lives is determined by the environment and external forces (Carpenter & Huffman, 2010).
Both theories are similar and no matter which theory a person may believe more, social, moral, and personality development occur through internal and external forces. The environment plays a part in affecting a person’s development. This includes culture. Culture drives the way people think and feel about the world around them. They learn what is right and wrong and how to behave around others. Social and moral standards are learned.
There are various aspects of human development, including physical, cognitive, social, moral, and personality development. When middle childhood development is concerned, many factors come into play. In this paper I have discussed what factors affect physical and cognitive development both hereditary and environmental. I also discussed the factors that affect social, moral, and personality development. There are environmental factors such as parenting, home environment, income, and nutrition. Then there are genetic factors to look at such as inherited diseases and conditions. Parents are the key to good development. They have so much control over a child’s life. Good parenting can go a long way in developing well balanced and happy children.

References
Bergen, D. (2009). Play and Social Interaction in Middle Childhood. Phi Delta Kappan,
90(6), 426.
Campbell, B. C. (2011, Sep). Adrenarche and Middle Childhood. Human Nature : An Interdisciplinary Biosocial Perspective, 22(3), 327-349. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/10.1007/s12110-011-9120-x
Carpenter, S. & Huffman, K. (2010). Visualizing psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Votruba-Drzal, E. (2006). Economic disparities in middle childhood development: Does income matter?. Developmental Psychology, 42(6), 1154-1167. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.42.6.1154

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Infancy and Early Childhood Development

...Infancy and Early Childhood Development In: Philosophy and Psychology Infancy and Early Childhood Development Infancy and Early Childhood Development Cynthia Miranda PSY 375 July 2, 2012 Dr. Aneta Bhojwani Infancy and Early Childhood Development Every human being begins developing in one way or another, from the moment they come into this world. Development and all its aspects begin in infancy and continue throughout one’s entire lifetime. It is a common belief that infants and young children are influenced by the environment that surrounds them. Cognitive and social aspects of development are shaped and molded at an early age, as well as language, speech, perception, and motor skills. A young child’s life is influenced by parents and family members, which is why they have a significant impact on the child’s development. When a child is old enough to attend school, he or she will also begin to adapt to the atmosphere of the school they are attending and to educational environment in that school; this will in turn affect the child’s cognitive development and social skills. Family Influences When a baby is first born, his or her brain begins to go through developmental changes. During the early stages of childhood, experiences can be split into two categories, experience-expectant and experience-dependent. Expectant experiences are those experiences that are common and somewhat universal experiences, and that most infants go through. Some of these...

Words: 323 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Sociology

...Chapter 7 PSY 201 Notes Heath and sickness For school-age children to develop slow and steady growth including: brain maturity, strong muscles, and other body organs good nutrition and hygiene is important. Immunizations helps prevent a lot of childhood diseases and viruses. Two of the most common health problems seen in school-age children are asthma and obesity. If the three levels of prevention is applied this can help in the health of a child. Primary Prevention- Happens before the sickness occur. Like making the environment better for a child. Secondary Prevention- Avoid on-set conditions. Staying consistent with routine check-ups. Tertiary Prevention- Treating the problem after it occurs. Teaching and learning Children begin to make sense of their situations. Children become more systematic and objective Thinking Children are able to organize their knowledge and utilize it when needed and in the correct way. Brain development As the brain continues to develop in middle childhood, several behaviors that were common in early childhood can be controlled, like emotional outburst. Ongoing maturation allows children to analyze the consequences of their behaviors before engaging in them which naturally improves with age. This video shows a good understanding of what selective and automation attention is in middle childhood Special needs children There are many different disorders that a child can develop during middle childhood. Children...

Words: 324 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Childhood

...Childhood and Adolescence Paper Christina Williams PSY/280 July 13, 2015 R. Adinah Johnson Childhood and Adolescence Paper “Child development does not mean developing your child into the person you think they should be, but helping them develop into the best person they are meant to be” (Sorenson, 2005). Statistics say that in the stages in middle adolescence 30% of the child’s social life and interactions there are a great stage of peer pressure. These results were compared to the 10% that is experienced during the early childhood. They show that they are competent by demonstrating their behaviors in these peer groups. During the elementary years in school, children have to prove to others that they understand and that they are capable of handling the different situations they find themselves in. They must keep a certain criteria in order to have friends. The main concern during these peer groups is to be accepted and most of these concerns are experienced during middle childhood. Researchers have been focusing in the friendship among the children.  Friendship is one of the most important parts of the social group between early stages of childhood. Friends fill that special need we have inside and for a child’s development that is one of the most important parts. They fulfill the special needs and they help with communication, interaction, acceptance, companionship and social skills. Peer is more related to the social and popularity status and its acceptance...

Words: 1046 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Cango

...Shannon Gosha PSY 223 Early Childhood In the article “Factors that affect television viewing time in preschool and primary schoolchildren” was researched by a host of authors such as Siddika Songül Yalçin, Belma Turul, Nazire Naçar, Murat Tuncer, and Kadriye Yurdakök. Researchers conducted a study to explore excessive viewing of television (TV) that has been linked to aggressive behavior, violence and childhood obesity. Therefore, TV programs should be decided carefully for preschool age children, along with school age children. A cross-sectional study was conducted among preschool children and primary schoolchildren in Ankara during March and April 1999. Children were chosen from two day-care centers to detect the factors that affect TV viewing time and to evaluate their parents’ knowledge, attitudes and practices with regard to TV. The parents were asked to fill out a questionnaire about TV habits of their family, the number and location of TVs in the household and the effect of TV on children. Of 400 questionnaires, 350 answered the questions appropriately for this study. Children were divided into two groups, according to their age’s preschool children (3-6) and primary schoolchildren (7-11). Television viewing time was given daily, as a mean of weekday. 62% of children watch an average of 2 hours of television each day, and 8.3% of children watch 4 hours of TV a day. The overall viewing of too much TV can distract children from their homework, make the children a passive...

Words: 730 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Childhood Development

...Childhood Development Raymond A. Nearey, III Dr. Matthew Warren PSY/375 May 26, 2013 Childhood development is something that we all go through; it starts from infancy. Infants have a natural ability to explore their surroundings this is how they learn who people are, they begin to get familiarized with their surroundings and they are such things like parents, grandparents, smells, and sounds like someone’s voice. As they begin to grow from infancy to adolescence they begin to pick up traits from parents, siblings, or even their friends. Some of these can be bad habits or they can lead to success in a child’s life. Families can affect the development of infants and adolescence, and depending on the circumstances they can be good or bad. Many young girls/boy usually look up to their older sister or older brother. Many of those children can be influences on how on many of their life choices. Relationships can be a very great tool for children, when you show children love and you teach them compassion, love, and mercy, they will typically grow up showing those same traits. They should allow their children to socialize with other children, adolescence, and adults; as infants begin to age they understand and they will question the feelings of how other children act in school, such as bullies, and love interests (a school crush.) Children would like to know the feelings and the expectations of others and as parents in order to help with their children’s development it is important...

Words: 1047 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Infancy and Early Childhood Development

...University of Phoenix PSY/375 Kamika York May 11, 2015 All human lives are based on what happens from infancy throughout early childhood. There are different levels of teaching and experiences that are built upon as development occurs. Infancy and early childhood development is a part of a crucial production of their lives. The development that forms their foundation for the absorbing of information and the security of a child. There are positive and negative attributes that can affect the key functions one could endure or be subjected to pre-delivery and post-delivery. The negative influence can call a halt in the progression of development. Family dynamics, and parenting styles are direct key influences over the child’s life. The parenting styles will contribute greatly in support in areas like socially, culturally, physically, and mentally. Understanding what parenting style you depict, will cause you to be aware of the effectiveness of the style toward the promotion of among criteria and cognitive development of a child Effect of Families on Development           The family’s role on the effects of a child’s growth has more influence on a child’s development from the very early stages of life. Children develop better in a more supportive environment where the families are consistent, observant, and sensitive. Families are in charge of providing critical factors during infancy, such as a supportive comfort, love, facial cueing, interaction, and communication skills...

Words: 1248 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Influences of Childhood Development

...Influences of Childhood Development La Tesha Simpson PSY/600 Developmental Psychology July 15, 2013 Judy Pendleton, PsyD Influences of Childhood Development Children are impressionable and share the characteristics of a sponge in a sense, by means of picking up a spill and letting it ooze out of their personality or behavior. Children imitate most of what they see and hear whether negative or positive. Imitating is learning and learning is form of development. Everyone and everything can influence the choices children make during childhood. The purpose of this paper is to investigate influences of childhood development. Development of any kind during childhood can have life altering factors. Some of those factors will include career development starting during early childhood, economic resources in child development, and socioeconomic status and child development. This investigation will demonstrate whether the influences are healthy or unhealthy development during childhood. Career Development during Childhood Parents and professional role models may influence children in their career choice. For example, if a parent is a doctor a child may find that exciting and want to follow the footsteps of the parent. Perhaps, the child learns how police officers and fire fighters give back to the community and want to do the same. Career development start during childhood and covers the course of life (Porfeli & Lee, 2012). Researchers show how an individual establishes...

Words: 1318 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Lifespan and Personality Development

...Lifespan and Personality Development: Middle Childhood Taylor Nail PSY/103 February 02, 2015 Michael Phillips Lifespan and Personality Development: Middle Childhood What kinds of things can affect an individual from the age of 6 to 12 years? There are many things that can affect a person of this age group (middle childhood). During the middle childhood, Social and Moral Development describes that “children either develop a sense of their own competence at a variety of tasks, especially schoolwork, or they come to believe they are not capable of success (n.d.)”. Even though this age group can determine their own success and their own identity, there are factors that can affect these individuals’ physical, cognitive and social, moral, and personality development. There are many things that can affect the physical development in young children during their middle childhood, including environmental influences. With all of the research going on these days, it all loops back around to one issue these children face in the environment; obesity. For example, more and more children are spending more time watching television, and while watching the television they are snacking or having more meal time causing them to increase in weight, ultimately affecting their physical development. This problem increases as the children grow older. “Children’s TV time and home environment factors were assessed longitudinally among 169 families with children followed from 6 to 12 years of age...

Words: 1259 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Middle Childhood Development and Personality

...Middle Childhood Development and Personality Josh PSY/103 November 2, 2015 Susanne Nishino Middle Childhood Development and Personality Middle childhood is a busy time in a child's life both physically and for their personality. During this time there is a crucial shift in a child's cognitive skills beginning at age six; this appears to be when a child begins to reason and is marked by several types of advances in learning and understanding. Formal schooling begins mostly between the ages of five and seven, during this time the child develops key thinking and cognitive skill. Children during this period also begin to experience advances in their learning consistent with what is deemed important by their cultures, such as math and language skills. I believe it's important for us to be patient with children at this age because it is such a difficult and confusing time but also an exciting time for them to experience this period of extensive growth. There are many different factors that affect physical development for children during the middle childhood development period. During birth until around age five, growth is generally set at the same rate for children around the same age, but at around age six or seven is when the growth spurts begin to become defined. Some children grow quickly and tall while others don't seem to grow much during this time. An example for this might be when I was younger, I did not grow quickly from age five until eight, but...

Words: 1186 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Childhood Development

...Nicole Hill PSY/260 Check Point- Week 7 September 14, 2012 Childhood Development and Sexual Behavior Parents often are astonished at the certain behaviors that they observe their adolescent and toddler children engaging in. Youthful children partake in sexual behaviors similar to adults; actually, sexual behaviors begin with the baby is still in the mothers wound. This is considered the infancy stage (0-2 years) It has been reported that boys have erection sin the utero and some are even born with erections. Pelvic thrusting, orgasms, and masturbation are all things that are typical for infants and young children. Many toddlers discover their genitals, and find themselves rubbing it and enjoying the relaxing pleasure it gives them. Early childhood stage is between 3 and 8, this is where children tend to be more interested in seeing their parents or other naked or undressing, they navigate towards women breasts, begin to touch their own private parts, and more commonly,,,this is the age where a child is very interested in the opposite sex. Preadolescent stage happens between 9-13 years of age. At this age, preadolescent tend to make a close relationship with a friend or “best friend”, typically of the same sex to discuss secrets and other related topics. “Play fighting” usually happens at this stage and sex education is taught around this age, bringing reasoning to the different feelings and desires they may be experiencing. Adolescents stage happens after age 13 up until...

Words: 366 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Infancy and Child Development

...Infancy and Early Childhood Development Terrence O. Roberts PSY/375 March 30, 2015 11:59 pm Linda O'Connor Infancy and Early Childhood Development One’s early childhood and infancy are some of the most advanced periods of their lives. This development is beneficial to the child’s productive abilities in life. These developmental stages form a foundation for the child’s future learning and well-being. Elements that effect a child during their infancy and early childhood can hinder a child’s development. Particular elements such as one’s family as well as their parenting styles. Some parent’s style of raising children are more effective than other parents’ methods. There are also certain programs that have been developed to influence cognitive development. Family’s effect on Development One’s family and their influences affect them during infancy and early childhood more than any other period in their lives. If a child’s family is attentive, sensitive and responsive the child tends to develop better. Family’s show this during the child’s infancy and early childhood in manners such as a gentle reassuring touch, overheard conversation, and facial expressions which improves the speech of young children (Berger, 2011). Families are the first teachers for infants and young children. It’s this relationship between young children and their families that determine how they development. “Early relationships help infants developing...

Words: 833 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Middle Childhood and Adolescence

...Middle Childhood and Adolescence Paper PSY/280 April 17, 2013 Rosita Rodriguez Middle Childhood and Adolescence Paper Childhood years can be one of the most wonderful times in life. These years can be full of fun. At this age of innocence a child is most impressionable by learning from their surrounding environment. The beginning of a child’s life can be broken down into different stages leading into an adult. In this paper the focus will be on the middle childhood and adolescence. The research will focus on evaluating the effect of functional and dysfunctional family dynamics on development such as family structure, function, and shared and non-shared environments. Examination of additional pressures that are faced in adolescence versus middle childhood, also the research will help to determine the positive and negative impact of peers and changes in peer relations from middle childhood to adolescence. The research will then discuss the development of moral values from middle childhood and adolescence. “It is human to have a long childhood; it is civilized to have an even longer childhood. Long childhood makes a technical and mental virtuoso out of man, but it also leaves a life-long residue of emotional immaturity in him.” — Erik Homburger Erikson (1902-1994) Erik Erikson a theorist believes that our temperament traits are inborn. Other characteristics such as competency or inferiority can be learned according to the challenges or support an individual receives...

Words: 1432 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Infancy

...Infancy Anna Parks PSY/375 7-21-14 Dr. Luster Infancy Every human being begins developing in one way or another, from the moment they come into this world. Development and all its aspects begin in infancy and continue throughout one’s entire lifetime. It is a common belief that infants and young children are influenced by the environment that surrounds them. Cognitive and social aspects of development are shaped and molded at an early age, as well as language, speech, perception, and motor skills. A young child’s life is influenced by parents and family members, which is why they have a significant impact on the child’s development. When a child is old enough to attend school, he or she will also begin to adapt to the atmosphere of the school they are attending and to educational environment in that school; this will in turn affect the child’s cognitive development and social skills. When a baby is first born, his or her brain begins to go through developmental changes. During the early stages of childhood, experiences can be split into two categories, experience-expectant and experience-dependent. Expectant experiences are those experiences that are common and somewhat universal experiences, and that most infants go through. Some of these experiences can be, but are not limited to, love from parents or families, perception of surrounding objects, and recognizing facial expressions (Berger, 2008). Dependent experiences are less universal and are more individualized, and...

Words: 1305 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Kdsjkfjs

...Article Critique Paper on The Childhood Experiences of Incarcerated Male Child Sexual Abusers An Assignment Submitted to Dr. Karena T. Valkyrie for Orientation To Psychological Studies PSY 2230 4/03/13 Madeline Holberg Troy University Literature Linda Garrett (2010) sought to gain a more thorough understanding of the reasons behind children becoming sexual abusers as adults. Research indicates that childhood experiences contribute to one’s self-concept and the notion that one is either a good or bad person (Chen and Boucher as cited in Garrett, 2010). If the child is exposed to violence, constant threat, and psychological or emotional abuse, a distorted self-concept develops and contributes to the casual properties of the person’s adult behavior or functioning (Garrett et. al. 2010). Research has suggested children who experience violent and sexual abuse are at a higher risk to repeat these inappropriate behaviors as adults (Garrett, 2010). To begin to understand the extent of the problem, this study focused on the childhood experiences of incarcerated male child sexual abusers (Garrett, 2010). Literature Critique This article was empirical. I found the literature section to be long. Some of the references used were more than ten years old. However, the literature section was clearly explained and thorough. Methods Participants Participants were chosen from a Southeastern prison if the psychological examiner found they met certain criteria...

Words: 997 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Middle Childhood and Adolescence

...Middle Childhood and Adolescence Louis Gibbs PSY/280 05/18/2012 Michael Johnson The introduction of middle childhood and adolescence, a crucial period of development, for the child and parent can become a time of uncertainty. The parenting styles of the parent makes a difference in the out-come of the child. All children need parents that care about them. The different parenting styles include; authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative. In the best interest of the child’s development, parents have to make an evaluation of the parenting methods that work well with the personality of the child. During these years the child’s temperament also begins to have an effect in their lives. “A child’s temperament matters (Kagan & Fox, 2006). If they do not consider the personality of the child, authoritarian parents might terrorize children who are innately fearful or anxious, or permissive parents might watch their impulsive children flail out of control.”(Berger, 2010). Environmental circumstances also have a role in children’s development for example: a parent gaining or loosing employment. There will be many changes that take place for middle childhood and adolescent children. Middle Childhood For many people puberty is a time in their life that will not be forgotten. The ages from 7 to 11 are sometimes called the school years. “The...

Words: 1071 - Pages: 5