Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 10.9, p. 252)
Can you think of other differences in boys’ and girls’ friendships?
Interactions of male and female friendship pairs also have a great deal in common.
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 10.9, p. 252)
Give examples of possible implications of these differences in form and style across the lifespan.
School-aged children appear to evaluate the role of gender in peer relationships in light of other variables,
Patterns of Aggression
LO 10.10 What types of aggression are most common among school-aged children?
In the middle-childhood years, physical aggression continues to become less common as children learn
the cultural rules about when and how much it is acceptable to display anger or aggression. In most
cultures, this means that anger is more and more disguised and aggression more and more controlled with
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 10.10, p. 253)
What might be some reasons girls’ use more relational aggression than physical aggression?
Whether the difference in the form of aggression has some hormonal/biological basis or is trained at an
Retaliatory aggression, aggression to get back at someone who has hurt you, increases among both boys
and girls during the 6- to 12-year-old period. Its development is related to children’s growing
understanding of the differences between intentional and accidental actions. Children over eight view
intentional harm differently than accidents, and they view children who do not try to retaliate when
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 10.10, p. 254)
Why might changing the way we speak to one another lower the levels of aggression and increase the
levels of prosocial behavior?
Bullying is a complex form of aggression in which one, the bully, routinely aggresses against one or more
habitual victims. Bullies exhibit physical, verbal, and/or relational aggression toward their victims. As in
the case with nonbullying aggression, male bullies are more likely to be physically and verbally
aggressive toward their victims, but female bullies are more likely to engage in relational aggression.
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 10.10, p. 254)
What are some ways adults can guide children to discourage bullying?
Feature Box Activity (Learning Objective 10.10, p. 255)
No Easy Answers: Bullies and Victims
Social Status
LO 10.11 How do popular, rejected, and neglected children differ?
Developmentalists measure popularity and rejection by asking children to list peers they would not like to
play with, or by observing which children are sought out or avoided on the playground. These techniques
allow researchers to group children according to the degree to which they are accepted by peers, a
variable often called social status. Typically, there are three groups—popular, rejected, and neglected.
Children’s social behavior seems to be more important than looks or temperament.
▪ Popular children behave in positive, supporting, non-punitive, and non-aggressive ways toward most
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 10.11, pp. 255-256)
In teams, brainstorm ways to help aggressive children learn to behave in more socially acceptable ways.
Not all aggressive children are rejected, of course. For girls, aggression seems to consistently lead to peer
rejection. Among boys, however, aggression may result in either popularity or rejection. In fact,
aggressiveness seems to be a fairly frequent characteristic of popular African American boys.
Critical Thinking Question (Learning Objectives 10.7-10.11, pp. 249-256)
If you had to explain an important developmental outcome, such as variations in optimism among adults,
as a function of childhood social experiences, what percentage of influence would you assign to each of
these factors: relationship with parents, friendships, experiences with gender segregation, experiences
with aggression, and social status?
INFLUENCES BEYOND FAMILY AND PEERS (pp. 256-261)
MyPsychLab Connections
Watch: Internet Kids, p. 260
Watch: Violence and Video Games: Douglas Gentile, p. 261
Poverty
LO 10.12 What are factors that contribute to resilience and vulnerability among poor children?
Child poverty rates are declining in the United States; however, child poverty in the United States
continues to be higher than in any other industrialized country in the world. Child poverty is unequally
distributed across children’s ages, race, and family structure.
▪ Children under six are more likely to live in poverty than those who are older.
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 10.13, p. 257)
List reasons for the unequal distribution of child poverty.
The Effects of Poverty on Families and Children
Overall, poor families live in more chaotic environments, are more stressed, and have fewer
psychological and social resources than those who are more economically secure. Parents living in
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 10.13, p. 257)
Why are social resources such an important factor?
Children in low-income families differ from their better-off peers across all developmental domains.
▪ Physical: Infants born into low-income homes have higher rates of birth defects and early disabilities.
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 10.13, pp. 257-258)
In teams, research current information on violence in the inner city. Include the effects of violence on
children. If class time permits, each team could share what they learned with the entire class.
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 10.13, p. 264)
What suggestions do you have for parents and teachers in poor neighborhoods?
Protective Factors
Most poor children develop along the same lines as their more economically privileged peers. For
developmentalists, resilient children are those whose development is comparable to that of children who
are not poor, and vulnerable children are those who develop problems as a result of living in poverty.
Developmentalists think of poverty in terms of accumulated stresses. Studies of resilient and vulnerable
children suggest that certain characteristics or circumstances may help to protect some children from the
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 10.13, p. 258)
How might educators be able to influence the balance among the stressors with which a child must cope
and the competencies or advantages a child brings to the situation?
Media Influences
LO 10.13 How do television, computers, and video games affect children’s development?
Another important feature of children’s environment is the wide array of informational and entertainment
Television
The effect of advertising on children’s food preferences is well-documented; however, this is just one of
several hazards associated with allowing children to watch too much TV. Individuals who watched the
greatest number of violent TV programs in childhood were the most likely to engage in actual acts of
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 10.14, pp. 258-260)
Computer and the Internet
Ninety percent of school-aged children in the United States use computers on a regular basis, and about
60% regularly use the Internet. Computer and Internet rates are nearly identical for boys and girls. A
“digital divide,” however, exists across income and ethnic groups. Most children use computers such as
email, instant messaging, and for play.
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 10.14, p. 260)
Ask the class to make suggestions as to how to monitor children’s use of the computer and the Internet.
Video Games
Studies suggest that video-game playing enhances children’s spatial-cognitive skills and may even
eliminate the well-documented gender differences in this domain.
Research suggests that even short-term exposure to violent video games in laboratory testing increases
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 10.14, pp. 260-261)
How would you as a parent monitor your children’s use of video games?
Critical Thinking Question (Learning Objectives 10.12-10.12, pp. 256-261)
You have learned about some of the factors that determine a child’s vulnerability or resilience to poverty.
How do you think after-school care arrangements and media influences contribute to vulnerability and
resilience among children from low-income families?
LECTURE ENHANCERS
The Developing Self-Concept
The child’s self-concept becomes increasingly important during middle childhood for many reasons,
including the following:
▪ The increasing importance of peers and their opinions of one’s self
▪ Entry into school and the resulting increased opportunities for comparing one’s self to others
Very young children have one primary source for information about self—the primary caregiver(s). As
these children enter preschool and kindergarten, however, the opportunities for self-related information
Self is a very tricky thing. We want children to know who they are, why they are, and who others are.
But there is a fine line between helping individuals to understand who they are and what their place is in
Children during this age range are becoming much more “internally focused” in their self-concept. It
makes sense, then, that such comparisons can result in negative emotions because they believe they are
implications these initial experiences have on the child’s self-views. A few of the factors most important
in the child’s developing self-concept, then, appear to be the following:
Another issue to consider is the impact the child’s self-concept can have during this age range. The 6-
year-old child is now spending a greater portion of his or her day in social situations than ever before. At
Influences on Self-Esteem Development
The influences on self-esteem development during this age range are diverse. In fact, the child is
gathering self-esteem-related feedback from more diverse sources than at any time before. Messages
about what it means to be “worthy” and what it takes to acquire this status are available from children’s
books, parents, peers, sports figures, teachers, and television. At the same time that this information is
pouring in, the child is making decisions of his or her own about what they are good at, how valuable
those assets are to others, and whether those are assets that others expect one to have. The picture can be
a complex one. The influences include the following:
▪ Genetics—what characteristics did the person inherit?
This, of course, is only a partial list but certainly it gives a sense of the complex interplay of factors that
influence how an individual feels about his or her “self.” Parents can reinforce or diminish feelings of
self-worth in many ways. How often a child is reprimanded in relation to how often the child is praised is
only one example. The exact content of what parents say can make a difference as well.
Why does the child start to do this? The answer to this question centers on predictability. Children are
taught that they can control what happens to them. At the same time, children are taught that people “get
what they deserve.” It is easy, therefore, to understand why the child will process information in such a
way that self is reconfirmed. We process self-related information on three levels:
▪ The first level involves a decision about where responsibility belongs for the outcome. The
INSTRUCTOR RESOURCES
Media
▪ MyPsychLab—MyPsychLab contains a variety of engaging activities and assessments that aid in
teaching and learning, including the following tools:
o Writing Space. A single place to create, track, and grade writing assignments, provide writing
resources, and exchange meaningful, personalized feedback with students quickly and easily. For
Fall 2014 courses, Writing Space for the 7th edition will contain new auto-graded writing
▪ MyPsychLab Connections
o Watch: Sibling Rivalry, p. 249
o Watch: Child and Adolescent Friendships: Brett Laursen, p. 251