Hum Nat (2011) 22:247–248 DOI 10.1007/s12110-011-9118-4
An Introduction to the Special Issue on Middle Childhood Benjamin C. Campbell
Published online: 3 September 2011 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011
Keywords Middle childhood . Development . Evolution Middle childhood is recognized by developmental psychologists as a distinct developmental stage between early childhood and adolescence, defined by increasing cognitive development, emotional regulation, and relative social independence. Adults have increasing expectations of children during middle childhood, as reflected in Sheldon’s White’s (1996) description of this stage as “the age of reason and responsibility.” Developmentally, the onset of middle childhood is defined by Piaget’s (1963) “5 to 7 transition,” with the end marked by the onset of puberty. Middle childhood is generally associated with importance of and identification with same-sex groups, thus providing a basis for Freud’s notion of a latency period during childhood. From an evolutionary perspective, middle childhood is consistent with what biologists have referred to as the “juvenile phase” (for primates, see Pereira and Fairbanks 2002), when individuals who are not yet reproductively capable are responsible for feeding themselves but are still under the social influence of their parents. Although the dramatic physical changes associated with puberty provide a clear basis for understanding the end of middle childhood, the biological (both somatic or neurological) underpinnings of the 5-to-7 transition have remained obscure until quite recently, leaving the universal nature of middle childhood in doubt. Recent findings of the onset of cortical maturation starting around age 6 (Gogtay et al. 2004) suggests that the 5-to-7 transition is closely related to the timing of brain development. The loss of juvenile teeth and the onset of adrenarche (increase in the adrenal production of the neurosteroid DHEAS) at about the same time index somatic changes associated with the transition. Thus, middle childhood in humans B. C. Campbell (*) Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 290 Sabin Hall, 3413 N. Downer Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA e-mail:
[email protected]
248
Hum Nat (2011) 22:247–248
now appears to be marked by the physiological changes of adrenarche on one end and gonadarche on the other, providing not only a reliable maker by which to judge middle childhood across cultures but a substrate for its evolution as well. In this special issue we examine middle childhood in both evolutionary and crosscultural perspectives to understand its origins, physiological correlates, and ecological and cultural variability. Jennifer Thompson and Andrew Nelson’s (2011) “Middle Childhood and Modern Human Origins” considers evidence for middle childhood in the human fossil record, suggesting that middle childhood may emerge only with the advent of modern humans. David Lancy and Annette Grove’s (2011) “Getting Noticed: Middle Childhood in Cross-Cultural Perspective” provides ethnographic evidence across a variety of cultures from a variety of subsistence types, in support of middle childhood as universal developmental period in which children make a great effort to enter the public arena. In “Middle Childhood among Pumé Foragers,” Karen Kramer and Russell Greaves (2011) place somatic development among Pumé girls in the larger context of other foraging groups. They suggest that Pumé girls grow faster than girls in similar subsistence populations because they expend less energy during middle childhood. Finally, Benjamin Campbell’s (2011) “Adrenarche and Middle Childhood” provides a synthesis of the role of adrenarche not only as a marker of middle childhood, but as a potential coordinator of behavioral changes during this developmental period. The articles in this issue represent a holistic approach, integrating biological, social, and cultural perspectives, and using new tools to look at the closely linked biological (hormones, neurophysiology), behavioral, and cultural factors during this key transitional childhood period. In so doing we hope to shed light on an important but neglected stage of human development.
References Campbell, B. C. (2011). Adrenarche and middle childhood. Human Nature, 22. doi:10.1007/s12110-0119120-x. Gogtay, N., Giedd, J. N., Lusk, L., Hayashi, K. M., Greenstein, D., Vaituzis, A. C., et al. (2004). Dynamic mapping of human cortical development during childhood through early adulthood. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 101, 8174–8179. Kramer, K. L., & Greaves, R. D. (2011). Juvenile subsistence effort, activity levels, and growth patterns: Middle childhood among Pumé foragers. Human Nature, 22. doi:10.1007/s12110-011-9122-8. Lancy, D. F., & Grove, M. A. (2011). Getting noticed: Middle childhood in cross-cultural perspective. Human Nature, 22. doi:10.1007/s12110-011-9117-5. Pereira, M. E., & Fairbanks, L. A. (2002). Juvenile primates: Life history, development and behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Piaget, J. (1963). The origins of intelligence in children. New York: W.W. Norton. Thompson, J. L., & Nelson, A. J. (2011). Middle childhood and modern human origins. Human Nature, 22. doi:10.1007/s12110-011-9119-3. White, S. (1996). The child’s entry into the age of reason. In A. H. Sameroff & M. M. Hiath (Eds.), The five to seven year shift: The age of reason and responsibility (pp. 17–32). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Benjamin C. Campbell is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee. His research has focused on hormones and male life history in both humans and nonhuman primates, including fieldwork among East African pastoral nomads. He has recently begun work in neuroanthropology, with a particular interest in development of the human brain and culture.
