6. Emotion Development Flashcards
What is emotion?
thought of having several components:
1. physiological factors e.g heart rate
2. subjective feelings linked to emotional state
3. cognitions and perceptions
4. expressive behaviour
5. desire to take action: fight or flight
What is the first sign of positive emotion that infants express?
What are the stages?
smiles
0-4 weeks:
- exhibit smiles primarily due to REM (reflexive)
3-8weeks:
- infants begin to smile as a reaction e.g to touching
3 months:
- infants exhibit social smiles (more likely to smile at people than animated puppets)
7 months:
- smile at primarily familiar people
What is the first sign of negative emotion that infants express?
What are the stages?
generalised distress
4 months:
- infants become fearful of unfamiliar objects and events but not people
6-7 months:
- signs of fear can be observed, specifically to strangers
7 months:
- other fears evident
- loud sounds, sudden movements etc
over 2 years:
- fear of strangers intensify but depend on temperament
What are the stages of separation anxiety?
8 months:
- distress from being away from caregiver emerges
8-15 months:
- separation anxiety increases then declines
What are the stages of anger?
1 year:
- children express anger clearly
- often towards others
2 years:
- gain more control over environment
- anger is common when control taken away
What is social referencing?
- young children are sensitive to others reactions
- affects their own emotions and can calibrate to the situation
What is the emergence of self conscious emotions?
2 years:
- children begin to show a range of emotions: guilt, pride, shame and embarrassment
- linked to developing a sense of self
What is guilt vs shame?
How does this differ?
guilt = remorse and regret about ones actions
shame = focussed on self, feeling exposed
- individual differences have been found in whether guilt or shame is felt
- may be due to parenting
What is the discrete emotions theory?
- each emotion is innately packaged with a specific set of physiological, bodily and facial expressions
- can be differentiated
In the argument if emotions are innate, what does the functionalist approach advocate for?
the role of the environment
1. a basic function of emotions is to promote action towards achieving a goal in a given context
2. emotional reactions are affected by social goals, including others involved and values learnt
What are the four aspects of emotional functioning used to initiate emotional regulation?
- physiological factors
- subjective feelings
- cognitions and perceptions
- expressive behaviour
Why are emotion regulation skills important?
better emotion regulation equals:
- better interactions with others
- doing better in school
What is temperament?
- a persons emotional and attentional reactivity and self-regulation
Is temperament thought to be due to nature or nurture?
nature:
- strong element
- thought to be hereditary
nurture:
- however extreme environmental stressors e.g negative parenting have also been linked
How do we measure temperament?
physiological measures:
- cortisol is released in response to stress
- cortisol reactivity: amount released in a given situation has been linked to temperament differences
questionnaires:
- parents asked
lab measures
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the ways in measuring temperament in children?
physiological:
+ more objective
- cause or consequence?
questionnaires:
+ parents have extensive knowledge
- bias: not objective
- can’t compare to other children
lab measures:
+ more objective
+ less bias
- only observed in a limited set of circumstance
- could just reflect mood on the day
