Chapter 10: Personality & Emotional Development

Question 1

Define temperament

Answer 1

profiles of emotions, behaviours, and attention that appear early in infancy and remain largely stable throughout the lifespan.

Question 2

Rothbart’s three dimensions of temperament

Answer 2

extraversion, negative affect, and effortful control

Question 3

Define Personality

Answer 3

emotional and behavioural traits that develop during childhood that differ from one individual to another

Question 4

Define facultative adaptation

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Define social facultative adaptation

Answer 5

an adaptation designed to respond to specific cues in the social environment, allowing one to develop the most advantageous social strategy

Question 6

Species with personality are ____________

Answer 6

social species

- not all species have personality

Question 7

Five dimensions of personality development

Answer 7

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)

Question 8

For men, adult salary has a stronger relationship to ________- than to _______

Answer 8

adolescent height; adult height

Question 9

Harlow & Rhesus Monkeys

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

What is attachment? What is the function of attachment and who proposed this?

Answer 10

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)

Question 11

According to Lorenz, young learn who their mother are based on _________

Answer 11

motion cues

• the mother is typically the first moving thing a baby sees
• Lorenz discovered this through his studies on imprinting

Question 12

Mary Ainsworth & The Strange Situation

Answer 12

• 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

Question 13

Stranger Wariness & Separation Anxiety

Answer 13

• 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.

Question 14

4 Types of Attachment

Answer 14

• 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)

Question 15

Compared to Western world, In East Asia, there is ___________ between mother and child in daily routine

Answer 15

less separation

• more distressed without her and not comforted when she returns
• if attachment is insecure, it will be resistant and not avoidant

Question 16

Romanian Orphans (7 main points)

Answer 16

• 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

Question 17

Define Emotion

Answer 17

a subjective affective experience, often in response to a stimulus, that may be accompanied by a specific physiological signature, facial expression, and behavioural response

Question 18

Function of Emotions (5)

Answer 18

• 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)

Question 19

________ & _______ experienced in first weeks of life

Answer 19

excitement; distress

- social smile seen at 6 weeks (before this they are reflexive, not meaningful)

Question 20

Explain smiles, distress, anger/sadness, and fear

Answer 20

• 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

Question 21

Mineka’s experiment with snakes and flowers tells us…

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

Emotion Regulation Development

Answer 22

• 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

Question 23

Universal & Regional Emotion Expression

Answer 23

• 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)

Question 24

Differences in children’s expressions across cultures

Answer 24

At 11 months, chinese less likely to show frustration if goal is thwarted. American more likely to display frustration.

Question 25

Define self-concept. How does it change as we grow?

Answer 25

a set of beliefs that people use to define and describe themselves, and also to describe their distinction from and relationship to others

• preschoolers: concrete (I have curly hair)
• 5-7 years: emotions and social affiliations
• adolescence: future oriented, maybe religious and political affiliations

Question 26

Define self-esteem. When is it highest? What is it defined by?

Answer 26

a person’s judgment of his or her own self-worth

• highest in preschool.
• In school, informed by academic performance
• In adolescence, informed by job performance, social success and physical attractiveness