Middle Childhood: An Evolutionary‐Developmental Synthesis

By M. Del Giudice. 2014

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Middle childhood is a crucial phase of human development characterized by a global shift in cognition, motivation, and social behavior. In this article, I review recent work on middle childhood from an evolutionary-developmental perspective and show how contributions from a range of disciplines can be synthesized into an integrated model of this life stage. I begin by reviewing the main evolved functions of middle childhood and the underlying hormonal mechanism of adrenarche. Then, I introduce the idea that the transition to middle childhood works as a switch point in the development of life history strategies. Finally, I discuss three insights into the nature of middle childhood that arise from an integrated approach.

Subfields: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/77bebd987105f7193b92baf5581d0a322bc32a59