Discuss the development of planning on multistep tasks in middle childhood

What will be an ideal response?


Answer: Planning on multistep tasks improves over the school years. On tasks with multiple parts, older children make decisions about what to do first and what to do next in a more orderly fashion. By the end of middle childhood, children engage in advance planning—evaluating an entire sequence of steps to see if it will get them to their goal. Nine- and 10-year-olds can project ahead, predicting how early steps in their plan will affect success at later steps and adjust their overall plan accordingly. Children learn much about planning from collaborating with more expert planners. With age, they take more responsibility in these joint endeavors, such as suggesting planning strategies and organizing task materials. The demands of school tasks—and parents’ and teachers’ explanations of how to plan—contribute to gains in school-age children’s planning. But adult-controlled activities may rob children of opportunities to plan. In one study, researchers videotaped small groups of first and second graders devising plays they would perform for their class. Some groups were child-led, whereas others were led by adult volunteers. Child-led groups engaged in extensive planning, brainstorming themes and working out the details of their plays. But when adults planned the play in advance, the children spent most of their time in nonplanning pursuits, such as rehearsing lines. The adults missed a rich opportunity to scaffold planning by turning over responsibility for it to the children and guiding and supporting, as needed.

Psychology

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A. overlearning B. the method of loci C. massed practice D. consolidation

Psychology

Which of the following is true regarding children's knowledge of sex and reproduction?

a. Children's level of understanding is linked to their cognitive development. b. Children tend to rely on adult explanations for reproduction, rather than constructing their own form of understanding. c. By age 4, most children know that intercourse is the key process in reproduction. d. Understanding of the role of the egg and sperm in reproduction typically occurs around age 7.

Psychology

Imagine that researchers have determined that exposure to a particular household chemical has an adverse effect on the cognitive development and later school performance of children. This would be evidence in support of

a. the role of environmental factors in intellectual development. b. the role of genetic factors in intellectual development. c. the role of cultural factors in intellectual development. d. the low reliability of measures of intelligence.

Psychology

While repeating information given to them through headphones in their left ear, participants are also receiving a second message in their right ear. Which aspect of the second message would MOST likely be noticed?

A) The speaker changes languages. B) The voice of the speaker changes sexes. C) The subject of the message switches from the weather to current events. D) The voice of the speaker is slow and monotone throughout.

Psychology