Chapter 10: Personality & Emotional Development Flashcards
Define temperament
profiles of emotions, behaviours, and attention that appear early in infancy and remain largely stable throughout the lifespan.
Rothbart’s three dimensions of temperament
extraversion, negative affect, and effortful control
Define Personality
emotional and behavioural traits that develop during childhood that differ from one individual to another
Define facultative adaptation
an adaptation that is designed to respond to specific cues in the environment, thus preparing organisms for the varying conditions that were possible in the EEA
Define social facultative adaptation
an adaptation designed to respond to specific cues in the social environment, allowing one to develop the most advantageous social strategy
Species with personality are ____________
social species
- not all species have personality
Five dimensions of personality development
relative dominance- for a strong person, a dominant personality will maximize opportunity, but for a weak person, a cooperative personality will be better
birth order- first-borns are conservative and later-borns are risk-takers
life history theory- sexual strategies are determined by paternal investment in society and presence/absence of father in childhood
stress-evoked resilience- in stressful environments, chaos leads to personalities that cope with unpredictability and promote vigilance
culture of honour- South have it, North doesn’t. Evolved from the greater threat of stealing experienced in the South (cattle) compared to the North (agriculture)
For men, adult salary has a stronger relationship to ________- than to _______
adolescent height; adult height
Harlow & Rhesus Monkeys
the theory that parents were loved solely because they provided nutrition was challenged. Monkeys preferred to spend free time with cloth-mother instead of wire-mother, regardless of food source.
What is attachment? What is the function of attachment and who proposed this?
Attachment is the emotional bond a young child feels with another specific person, an example of a social FA.
The function of attachment is to provide security and a home-base for exploration (this is Bowlby’s attachment theory)
According to Lorenz, young learn who their mother are based on _________
motion cues
- the mother is typically the first moving thing a baby sees
- Lorenz discovered this through his studies on imprinting
Mary Ainsworth & The Strange Situation
- the gold standard for researchers to assess attachment in developing children since the 60s
- caregiver, baby, and unfamiliar adult are in room.
- experimenter assesses quality of attachment to caregiver by observing reaction to separation, reuniting, and interaction with stranger
Stranger Wariness & Separation Anxiety
- stranger wariness is the fear of unfamiliar people which starts around 6 or 7 months and develops fully at 10 months. It wanes at 2 years
- separation anxiety is the distress a child feels due to separation from his or her primary caregiver. It emerges around 8 months until 15 months.
4 Types of Attachment
- secure (distressed upon mother’s exit and comforted upon return)
- insecure/resistant (distressed upon exit and resistant to attempts at comfort upon return)
- insecure/avoidant (does not use mom as home-base, not distressed upon exit and no interest upon return)
- disorganized/disoriented (not behaving in a coherent way)
Compared to Western world, In East Asia, there is ___________ between mother and child in daily routine
less separation
- more distressed without her and not comforted when she returns
- if attachment is insecure, it will be resistant and not avoidant
Romanian Orphans (7 main points)
- thousands of children living in orphanages with terrible conditions
- many were adopted by British families
- if younger than 6 mons when adopted, IQ increases substantially. If older than 6 mons, IQ increases slightly
- best predictor of symptom severity: age at which they were removed from orphanage
- autism like symptoms, unusually social, friendly and helpful
- attachment if adopted before 2, no attachment if after 4
- critical period of social development that takes place in first 2 years of life
Define Emotion
a subjective affective experience, often in response to a stimulus, that may be accompanied by a specific physiological signature, facial expression, and behavioural response
Function of Emotions (5)
- disgust (pathogen avoidance)
- fear (injury avoidance)
- anger (avoid being taken advantage of, recall past offenses)
- happiness (achieve as much as possible when we’re good)
- sadness (save energy when circumstances are bad, ruminate)
________ & _______ experienced in first weeks of life
excitement; distress
- social smile seen at 6 weeks (before this they are reflexive, not meaningful)
Explain smiles, distress, anger/sadness, and fear
- smile: more often at (familiar) people than objects and when they have control over something
- distress: by 3 months noticeable difference in cry
- anger and sadness: by 4 months, more distinguishable. Anger common when goals are thwarted and sadness when attachment figure leaves
- fear: fear at 6 or 7 mons. Likely not functional before this time. Scared of adult anger (esp male) and some animals like rats
Mineka’s experiment with snakes and flowers tells us…
monkeys can learn to be afraid of EEA dangers like snakes, but cannot learn to be afraid of flowers even if they see another scared of a flower. Not all phobias are equally relevant and easy to induce.
Emotion Regulation Development
- by 3 months, we have this. Soothe oneself by sucking thumb, calm down when angry, won’t look if something makes them upset
- at 3 yrs, child will lie and say they like a drink even if they don’t.
- girls are better at this
Universal & Regional Emotion Expression
- basic emotions (joy, anger, sadness etc.) seem to be standard across cultures (develop in 1st year of life)
- self-conscious emotions (pride, embarrassment etc.) are more nuanced and variable across cultures (develop in 2nd year of life)
Differences in children’s expressions across cultures
At 11 months, chinese less likely to show frustration if goal is thwarted. American more likely to display frustration.
