child development

What major psychological challenges do children face during middle childhood?

In middle childhood children face many new challenges: the challenge of knowing who you are, the challenge to achieve, the challenge of peers, the challenge of family relationships, and the challenge of school. All of these challenges are affected by influences of peers and family relationships.

2. What important changes occur in a child’s sense of self during middle childhood?

A child’s sense of self begins to rapidly evolve in middle years and becomes more organized and complex. This sense of self is continuously revised with increasing age and experiences. This grows with social experiences and out of contacts with others.

3. What is achievement motivation, and what forms does it take?

Achievement motivation is a tendency to show initative and attaining goals by increasing competence and meeting standards of excellence. There are two forms of achievement motivation: one focuses on competence as such and one that emphasizes the judgments people make about competence.

4. How have changes in the nature of the family, such as increases in the proportion of a single-parent and dual-wage-earner families, affected children’s psychological development? The changes in the nature of family can greatly affect a child’s psychological development. These changes such as divorce and blended families pose challenges to children. These situations usually cause stress on all members of the family even though boys and girls react differently.

5. How do peers contribute to development during middle childhood?

Children are influenced by their school’s culture and peers. This influence is positive if a school’s culture and a child’s family culture are similar. This plays a role in how children experience and interact with others , how they percieve themselves, and how they develop psychosocially.