Chapter 10 emotional development Flashcards
5 Components of emotions
- Neural responses
- Physiological factors
- Subjective feelings
- Emotional expressions
- The desire to take action
Emotions
neural and physiological responses to the environment, subjective feelings, cognition related to those feelings, and the desire to take action.
Discrete emotions theory
a theory about emotions, held by Tomkins, Izard, and others, in which emotions are viewed an innate and discreet from one another from very early in life, and each emotion is believed to be packaged with a specific and distinctive set of bodily and facial reactions (emotions are innate)
Functionalist perspective
a theory of emotion, proposed by Campos and others, arguing that basic function of emotions is to promote action toward achieving goal. In this view, emotions are not discrete from one another and vary somewhat based on the social environment.
Social Smiles
smiles that are directed at people (by babies); they first emerge as early as 6-7 weeks of age.
When do babies smile primarily at familiar people?
Around 7-8 months of age
When does fear begin to emerge?
Around 6 or 7 months of age, most notably the fear of strangers in many circumstances. (Lasts till about 2 years of age, but is quite variable)
Seperation Anxiety
feelings of distress that children, especially infants and toddlers, experience when they are separated, or expect to be separated, from individuals to whom they are emotionally attached. (emerges at about 8 months)
When does anger peak in children?
around 18-24 (2 years) of age. But increases at home with their families as they get older.
What emotion is typically paired with sadness?
Anger
Self conscious emotions
emotions such as guilt, shame, embarrassment, and pride that relate to our send of self and our consciousness of others’ reactions to us. (thought to be innate and emerge around 2 years of age)
Difference between guilt and shame?
- Guilt is associated with empathy for others and involves feelings of remorse/regret, as well as desire to undo.
- Shame does not seem to be related to concern about others, the focus is on oneself.
6 Basic emotions
- Happiness
- Anger
- Sadness
- Surprise
- Disgust
- Fear
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
Emotional intelligence
the ability to cognitively process information about emotions and to use that information to guide both thought and behaviour.
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.
Emotion regulation
a set of both conscious and unconscious processes used to both monitor and modulate emotional experiences and expressions
Co-regulation
the process by which a caregiver provides the needed comfort or distraction to help a child reduce his or her stress
Self-comforting behaviour
Repetitive actions that regulate arousal by providing a mildly positive physical sensation
Self-distraction
Looking away from an upsetting stimulus in order to regulate one’s level of arousal
Social Competence
the ability to achieve personal goals in social interactions while simultaneously maintaining positive relationships with others.
Temperament
individual differences in emotion, activity level, and attention that are exhibited across contexts and that are present from infancy and thus thought to be genetically based
3 temperament groups (Thomas and Chess)
- Easy babies: adjusted readily to new situations, quickly established daily routines such as sleeping and eating, and generally were cheerful in mood and easy to calm.
- Difficult babies: slow to adjust to new experiences, tended to react negatively and intensely to novel stimuli and events, and were irregular in their daily routines and bodily functions
- Slow-to-warm-up babies: somewhat difficult at first but became easier over time as they had repeated contact with new objects, people, and situations.
Rates in temperament groups (Thomas and Chess)
-40% of infants were classified easy
-10% as difficult
-15% as slow to warm up
(the rest didn’t fit the categories)
Mary Rothbarts 5 key dimensions of temperament
- Fear
- Distress/Anger/Frustration
- Attention Span
- Activity level
- Smiling and Laughter
Goodness of fit
the degree to which an individual’s temperament is compatible with the demands and expectations of his or her social environment
Differential susceptibility
a circumstance in which the same temperament characteristic that puts some children at high risk for negative outcomes when exposed to a harsh home environment also causes them to blossom when their home environment is positive
Emotion socialization
the process through which children acquire the knowledge, values, standards, skills and behaviours that are regarded was appropriate for their social context
Mental health
children’s sense of well-being both internally and externally
Stress
a physiological reaction to some change or threat in the environment
Mental disorders
a state of having problems with emotional reactions to their environment and with social relationships in ways that affect daily life
Equifinality
the concept that various causes can lead to the same mental disorder
Multifinality
the concept that certain risk factors do not always lead to a mental disorder
