Posted: March 12th, 2023

PLAGIARISM FREE “A” WORK HUMAN DEVELOPMENT CHAPTERS

Read the Chapters (ATTACHED) then respond regarding the content of each Chapter as you would in a face-to-face class. State your point of view. 

Please don’t summarize the reading.  Try to make this an interaction like one that would occur in a live classroom.  

Length should be at least approximately 300 words per Chapter for full credit.

Chapter 9: Middle Childhood: Physical and Cognitive Development

Summary
Children begin middle childhood with many of the
characteristics of younger children. Their body proportions and
motor skills resemble those of younger children, and their
thinking is preoperational and often magical. As children
mature through middle childhood, they become more adult-like.
Their body proportions are more similar to adults, as is their
use of language. They are able to carry out complex mental
activities, to think about themselves and others, and to
participate in a wide range of socially interactive activities.

Children grow steadily during middle childhood. As they mature
from early childhood to adolescence, their weight doubles, their
body proportions change, and their baby teeth are replaced by
permanent dentition. Much brain development occurs in the
cortex, and neural pathways are created and strengthened that
allow for increased executive functioning. Neural pathways
strengthened through myelination and automatization also
allow children more control of their bodies and motor
behaviors. Physical development is supported by play as well as
good nutrition.

Physical and brain changes that occur during middle childhood
support a tremendous amount of cognitive growth. Conversely,
the repetition of newly acquired cognitive skills strengthens
neural connections. Cognitively, children during middle
childhood develop competencies and strategies that allow them
to reason and use logic. They learn to read, write, and do basic
arithmetic through their use of concrete operations. Among the
cognitive functions that Piaget described as concrete operations
are reversibility, grouping, seriation, and conservation.
Together, these emerging abilities allow children to better
appreciate cause-and-effect relationships and to interact with
their environments with more intention.

Another way to conceptualize children’s cognitive development
is to consider it in terms of the way information is processed.
During middle childhood, children develop structures that allow

them to attend to new information and store it for later
retrieval. New information is acquired through sensory
memory, processed through short-term memory, and stored in
long-term memory. Improved information processing allows
children to selectively attend, and to improve the efficiency with
which they gain new knowledge and skills. In addition, they gain
the ability to think about the way they think, a phenomenon
known as metacognition.

Children begin elementary school with language skills that are
similar to those of adults. They know grammar and syntax and
use complex sentences. As they mature, their vocabularies
expand and they begin to comprehend words that have abstract
meanings. With abstract reasoning comes the ability to see
other perspectives and to develop socially and emotionally.

Chapter 10 Reading The Elementary Years of Middle Childhood Emotional and

Social Development

Summary
The context of children’s lives changes during middle childhood.
Children are more independent, less reliant on parents, and
more involved in school and community. Their social
development reflects gains they have made physically,
cognitively, and emotionally, and is influenced by a variety of
factors. Physical and brain changes, cognitive advances,
emotional regulation, and social awareness work together to
promote the child’s developing competencies and self-concept.

Improved cognitive abilities pave the way for emotional
development. Children can use their cognitive abilities to calm
themselves in uncomfortable situations and to add complexity
to their self-concepts. In middle childhood, children become
more aware of others and how others feel. Emotional
intelligence develops as children process information about
their own and others’ emotions and use that information to
guide their thoughts and actions. Being aware of others also
allows children to make comparisons. Children compare their
emerging skills to those of their peers and judge themselves to
be competent or inferior. These judgments form the basis of
self-esteem and contribute to children’s self-concepts.
Emotional development and cognitive development together
influence social development. An important component of social
development is moral development, which would not be
possible without concurrent gains in cognition. As children
mature, they acquire a more complex set of guidelines and
principles to help them distinguish between right and wrong.
These morals are attained through social interaction and
observation and become ensconced through practice. Central to
moral development is emotional development, and in particular
the ability to be empathic. In middle childhood, as children

come to appreciate others, they become able to sense how
others feel. Having a sense of how others feel further guides
social interaction.

Being able to think about people and relationships is known as
social cognition. Through social cognition, children learn about
themselves. They gain understanding of how they are viewed by
others and thus modify their self-concepts. Social cognition,
along with emotional intelligence, social perspective taking, and
moral development also makes friendships, healthy peer
relationships, and pro-social behavior possible. Being accepted
by peers seems to be associated with happiness, higher self-
esteem, fewer behavioral problems, and better school
performance.

Friendships are a unique form of peer relationship. The ability
to make friends develops in stages that parallel cognitive
development. Through friendships children gain
companionship, support, intimacy, and affection. Not having
friends puts children at risk. Those who do not have friends or
who are rejected by peers are less likely to engage in pro-social
behaviors, and more likely to be hostile or aggressive.

Aggression may be reactive or proactive. Reactive aggression
often is seen in children who misinterpret the intentions of
others. Children who demonstrate proactive aggression, on the
other hand, are deliberate about their behavior. Proactively
aggressive behaviors are intended to harm, and the
perpetrators may be considered bullies. Bullies, as well as
victims, tend to be children who have gaps in their social skills
and are rejected by peers. It is often the case that victims turn to
bullying behaviors themselves.

In addition to peers and friendships, there are a number of
other social influences on development during middle
childhood. Participation in sports provides opportunities to
enhance communication, cooperation, empathy, and connection.
Team sports in particular seem to be associated with higher
self-esteem; however, children who participate in certain sports
such as wrestling and martial arts also tend to exhibit
aggression.

During the elementary years, children spend many hours in
front of video screens, watching television, playing games, or
interacting with digital technology. The more hours they spend
in front of video screens, however, the less time they have to
spend sleeping, engaging in outdoor activities, studying, or
interacting with family and friends. Spending many hours in
front of video screens is also associated with being overweight.

With or without television, video games, and computers,
elementary-aged children spend less time with parents than
they did when they were younger. Parents and families have an
important role in helping children feel safe, secure, and
supported. Although a slightly decreasing trend from decades
past has been observed, many elementary children experience
the divorce of their parents. One in three children in middle
childhood is likely to live with a single parent, foster parents,
grandparents, or other relatives. These types of living situations
often place stressors on children and decrease the availability of
tangible and intangible resources from which they could benefit.
Increased stress and decreased resources often contributes to
negative outcomes; however, the right balance of protective
factors such as appropriate parenting and support mediate
these outcomes. Development in middle childhood is impacted
by an ever-expanding social context. The interactive influences
of school, peers, media, and family all contribute to the
developing child’s readiness for adolescence.

Chapter 11 Reading: The Adolescent Years: Physical and Cognitive

Development

Summary
This chapter focused on adolescent physical and cognitive
development, including during early adolescence (ages 11–14)
and mid-adolescence (ages 15–18). The chapter began with a
brief discussion about how adolescence is a distinctively
different period that is often associated with a certain degree of
fascination captured through various forms of media.
Adolescence used to be characterized as a period of “storm and
stress,” but the current view is that most adolescents mature in
a gradual, mostly continuous manner and navigate through
adolescence without major disturbances. The impact of culture
on adolescence was addressed, as well as some new challenges
that adolescents in contemporary society are forced to deal with
that weren’t prevalent years ago.

The first section of the chapter dealt with physical development
and the many significant changes that affect the adolescent in
various ways. In separate sections, male and female
development was addressed, including physical growth,
primary and secondary sex characteristics, and differing rates of
development. A general discussion of what is associated with
puberty was covered, as well as information about adolescent
health and eating disorders.

The second section described the cognitive changes that occur
during adolescence, including a discussion about brain
development and the contributions of Piaget, who developed
the concept of formal operational thinking. The chapter
included information about the structural and functional
changes that occur relative to informational processing and
then addressed the stages of moral development. This section
included a discussion of how adolescents experience school,
describing gender and ethnic differences in achievement and
the dropout problem. Finally, David Elkind’s concepts of the
invincibility fable, the personal fable, and the imaginary
audience were presented.

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Chapter 12 Reading The Adolescent Years: Emotional, Identity, and Social

Development

Summary
This chapter included a discussion of emotional and identity
development. A general discussion about how hormonal
changes influence emotions was included, as well as specific
information about anxiety and depression, two common
emotional problems that affect many adolescents. Signs,
symptoms, and who is most vulnerable to depression were
described, as well as the connection between adolescent
depression and suicide. In terms of identity development, both
Erikson’s and Marcia’s theories were described, as well as
gender and ethnic considerations relative to identity
development.

The second section of the chapter was about social
development, including the influence of both family and peers
on adolescent development. With regard to family, the chapter
discussed four parenting styles—authoritarian, authoritative,
permissive, and ignoring—and how these styles affect the
parent–adolescent relationship. Seltzer’s social identity theory
is described in this section, as well as peer relationships, peer
pressure, and romantic relationships and dating. Other topics
addressed included substance abuse, delinquent behaviors,
violence and gang membership, adolescent sexuality, career
development, and stages of vocational decision making.

With each generation it seems as if the challenges facing
adolescents are more substantial. Consider the fact that all
adolescents have the typical developmental tasks to deal with
(which many do quite successfully), but in addition there are
situational issues that affect more and more youth: living in
divorced or blended families, growing up in abusive households,
dealing with addicted parents, living in poverty, being
victimized or bullied, and so on. As helping professionals we

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have an obligation to help adolescents living in a contemporary
society to grow up without giving up.