Fred Schostag
Psychology 2215. 90
Due December 2, 2010
Evolvement of Brain Functioning During Middle Childhood
Advances in brain functioning during middle childhood are an important
development needed to making the transition between childhood, adolescence and
adulthood. The progression of integrating skills, reaction time, automatization, and
selective attention are key indicators if a child is developing as expected (Berger, 2009).
Understanding the development of brain functioning is critical to anyone involved
in education. Development comprehension can assist in the assessment of many
learning disabilities and understanding socio-cognitive interaction difficulties can reduce
the factors impeding a child academically. For example, cognitive reaction time should
be reduced and length of process time can be an indicator of a developmental difficulty.
Integrating Skills to Solve Problems
Children are expected to interact socially by middle childhood without a great
amount of outside support (Landry, Smith & Swank, 2009). Social interactions become
more intricate requiring a wide range of cognitive, verbal and social skills to solve social
interaction problems. Children need to understand and perceive the social cues,
adjusting their actions based on the feedback they are receiving.
How children reason and organize their behavior in order to solve problems with
others is a factor in executive functioning. The ability to start and stop actions, to
change behavior as needed, and to plan future behavior accordingly is necessary for
many social and academic tasks. Executive functions permit us to foresee events and
adjust to changing conditions (Landry, Smith & Swank, 2009). Middle childhood is
significant in the development of cognitive skills to meet ever changing social situations.
Yet, parental guidance in the form of feedback allows the child to learn to adjust his/her
behavior in order to develop a course of action (Landry, Smith & Swank, 2009). This
gives the child the opportunity to gain competence in solving problems in social
situations.
Reaction Time
The time required to react to a stimulus either cognitively or physically shortens
during middle childhood (Berger, 2009). Gender and fatigue all impact the speed an
individual reacts to stimuli. According to several studies, the most recent in 2006, males
have faster reaction times in almost every age group (Kosinski, 2010). Kosinski (2010)
reported male soccer players were able to react quicker to auditory and visual stimuli
and stated the male edge in reaction was greatest using visual stimuli.
Not surprisingly reaction time is slower when the individual is fatigued. Mental
fatigue has the most impact on reaction to stimuli. The lack of sleep has the greatest
fatiguing effect (Kosinski, 2010). This has important ramifications for school age
children. Cognitive reaction to stimuli in a school setting can be impeded by fatigue
caused by a lack of sleep or the length and intensity of the stimulus.
Automatization
When thoughts or actions are routinely repeated in sequential order they become
automatic and no longer requires the individual to think about the thoughts or actions
consciously (Berger, 2009). Most behavior initially requires careful slow thought, but
continued practice makes automatization apparent in the learning of almost every skill.
The transformation to a more efficient form of neural processing frees the brain for more
complex functions (Berger, 2009).
This programmed habitual behavior is a key element academic to success.
Without automatic processing and comprehension, the individual has to take additional
effort to process information. Increased activity in the prefrontal cortex can indicate
conflicting thoughts and difficulty in determining between good and bad. This can lead
to behavior problem and academic difficulties
Selective Attention
Concentrating on one stimuli and ignoring others is an essential factor in being
successful in school. School age children go through an increase in the production of
neurotransmitters which allows them to choose the correct response from several
conflicting sources (Berger, 2009). The extent a child can ignore inapplicable
information from their surroundings may be determined by age, the type of stimuli, and
the level of arousal. This plays a key factor in the child’s overall school behavioral
scheme and may influence the type of distractions that affect the child (Brodeur & Pond,
2001).
Summary
Brain functioning during middle childhood evolves making the socio- cognitive
transition between childhood and adulthood possible. The process of developing
integration skills, increasing reaction time, advancing automatic thoughts and behavior
and the amplification of selective attention are key indicators of a child’s future success.
Understanding this significant development is essential for those in the field of
education or those desiring to enter the career. Knowing the development can help in
the assessment of learning disabilities and reduce the impediments facing a child
academically.
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References
Berger, Kathleen Stassen (2009). The Developing Person through Childhood and
Adolescence. New York: Worth.
Brodeur, Darlene A., and Miranda Pond (2001) "The Development of Selective Attention in
Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder." Journal of Abnormal Child
Psychology 29.3: 229-39.
Kosinski, Robert J (2010). "Literature Review on Reaction Time." CU Dept. of Biology
Instruction. Retrieved November 27, 2010 from
http://biology.clemson.edu/bpc/bp/Lab/110/reaction.htm.
Landry, Susan H., Karen E. Smith, and Paul R. Swank (2009). "New Directions in Evaluating
Social Problem Solving in Childhood: Early Precursors and Links to Adolescent Social
Competence." New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development 123: 51-68.
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