Learning and Cognitive Development in Teens

During middle childhood, children are able to excel in many aspects of development that they could not have obtained before. Children starting around age seven are able to excel in their learning and cognitive development, like being able to read and enjoy going to school to learn something new. They enjoy being able to practice their new knowledge by practicing it until they get it perfect. By this age, middle school age children are able to direct their attention to a particular situation or objective and ignore everything else; this is also called selective attention, “ability to concentrate on some stimuli while ignoring others.” (Berger, 2011, p.305) Another aspect of middle school age children, are seen to be able to control their actions or thoughts and think about the consequences before doing any given action. This can also be seen as middle school age children, who have major advances in controlling their emotions.

A development that is very important to a middle age child is the ability to use social comparison and compare people to them. During this time, children look towards their peers to compare themselves and start friendships with children that are similar to them. It is also important for the child and their parents, during this time to have a good parent-child relationship. These are all developments that a child should be able to obtain when they reach middle school age and shows that they are on the right track to be able to exceed at their education and function in society. Although it is ideal for every child to be able to grasp these goals, children like Ryan, struggle to be able to master theses skills and start falling behind.

Ryan is a young male, who is eight and is in his middle school age years. He...

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References

Berger, K. (2011). The Developing Person: Through the Life Span (8th ed.). New York, New York: Worth Publishers.

Huckman, A. (2011, November-December). Get the facts about ADHD. Pediatrics for Parents, 27(11-12), 4+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA290735825&v=2.1&u=txshracd2557&it=r&p=HRCA&sw=w&asid=76489fa3ae0696f37abf8ec9e68d7c41

Korrick, S. K., Epstein, S. A., & Bellinger, J. N. (2013, January). Pre- and Postnatal Risk Factors for ADHD in a Nonclinical Pediatric Population. Journal of Attention Disorders. Retrieved from http://jad.sagepub.com/content/17/1/47.full.pdf+html

Levine, L. J., Whalen, C. K., & Lench, H. C. (2013, February). Exasperating or Exceptional? Parents’ Interpretations of Their Child’s ADHD Behavior. Journal of Attention Disorders. Retrieved from http://jad.sagepub.com/content/17/2/141.full.pdf+html