Chapter 10: Emotional Development Flashcards
What is emotion?
neural and physiological responses to the environment, subjective feelings, cognitions related to those feelings, and the desire to take action
What are components of emotion?
- neural responses
- physiological factors
- subjective feelings
- emotional expressions
- the desire to take action
What is the discrete emotions theory?
a theory in which emotions are viewed as innate, and each emotion has a specific and distinctive set of bodily and facial reactions
What evidence support the discrete emotions theory?
- infants express a set of recognizable, discrete emotions before they are taught about it
- similar emotional facial expressions have been observed around the world
- vocalizations of basic emotions are recognizable across very different cultural groups
What is the functionalist perspective of emotion?
a theory which argues that the basic function of emotions is to promote action toward achieving a goal; goal-driven
What are the two theories of emotion?
discrete emotions theory and functionalist perspective
What are the six basic emotions?
happiness, fear, anger, sadness, surprise, and disgust
What is AFFEX?
system for coding emotions in infants that links particular facial expressions and facial muscle movements with particular emotions
How do infants show that they are happy or content?
- 6 weeks = social smile
- 3 months = laughter; curiosity
- 4 months = full, responsive smiles
- 7 months = smile primarily at familiar people, rather than at people in general
How do infants show that they are angry or sad?
- 4-8 months = anger
- 18-24 months = peak in anger manifestation
How do infants show that they are fearful?
- 9-14 months = with strangers (stranger wariness; separation anxiety)
- 12 months = fear of unexpected sights and sounds
How do infants show that they are prideful or shameful?
- 18 months = self-awareness; pride; shame; embarrassment
What are social smiles?
smiles that are directed at people
What is separation anxiety?
feelings of distress that children, especially infants and toddlers. experience when separated, or expect to be separated, from individuals to whom they are emotionally attached
What are self-conscious emotions?
emotions such as guilt, shame, embarrassment, and pride that related to our sense of self and our consciousness of others’ reactions to us
Why is understanding emotions important for infants?
it affects social behaviour so it is critical to the development of social competence
What emotion can children distinguish at 3 months?
children can distinguish facial expressions of happiness, surprise, and anger
What emotion can infants distinguish at 16- to 18- months?
prefer toys associated with surprise and happy faces
What is social referencing?
the use of a parent’s or other adult’s facial expression or vocal cues to decide how to deal with novel, ambiguous, or possibly threatening situations
At what age does social referencing occur?
12 months
At what age does labeling emotions occur?
2 years
What is the first step for children to develop an understanding of emotion?
to recognize different emotions in others
How do children’s environments determine their facility for reading others’ emotions?
children who grow up in environments with violence or without adults they can trust may develop heightened awareness to emotional cues of conflict
What is emotional intelligence?
the ability to cognitively process information about emotions and to use that information to guide both thought and behaviour
What is cognitive intelligence?
the ability to reason about, learn from, and remember verbal or visual information
When do children begin to have the realization that the emotions people express do not necessarily reflect their true feelings?
3 year olds’ occasional attempts to mask their negative emotions when they receive a disappointing gift or prise
What are display rules?
a social group’s informal norms about when, where, and how much one should show emotions and when and where displays of emotions should be suppressed or masked by displays of other emotions
Why is emotional intelligence important for infants?
it has been linked to a range of positive outcomes in both childhood and adolescence
- better able to manage their own emotions
- less likely to engage in aggressive behaviour than are children with lower emotional intelligence
What are the two main strategies for engaging in display rules?
- simulating an emotion typically to be nice
- masking an emotion as a self-protective measure
What is emotion regulation?
a set of both conscious and unconscious processes used to both monitor and modulate emotional experiences and expressions
Why is emotion regulation important?
- used to monitor and modulate emotional experiences and expressions
- paves the way for success in social interactions and academic settings
What is co-regulation?
the process by which a caregiver provides the needed comfort or distraction to help a child reduce his or her stress