Chapter 4 Flashcards
Developing Emotions (Sequence)
- Birth - Distress; contentment
- 6 weeks - Social smile
- 3 months - Laughter; curiosity
- 4 months - Full, responsive smiles
- 4–8 months - Anger
- 9–14 months - Fear of social events (strangers, separation from caregiver)
- 12 months - Fear of unexpected sights and sounds
- 18 months - Self-awareness; pride; shame; embarrassment
As always, culture and experience influence the norms of development. This is especially true for emotional development after the first eight months.
Early emotions
Emotional Development
- High emotional responsiveness
- Pain
- Pleasure
Crying
Emotional Development
- Typical: Hurt, hungry, tired, frightened
- Colic: Uncontrollable; reflux and immature swallowing
- Excessive
Smiling and laughing
Emotional Development
- Social smile (6 weeks): Evoked by viewing human faces
* Laughter (3 to 4 months): Often emerges as curiosity
Anger
Emotional Development
- First expressions at around 6 months
* Healthy response to frustration
Sadness
Emotional Development
• Indicates withdrawal and is accompanied by increased
production of cortisol
• Stressful experience for infants
Fear
Emotional Development
Emerges at about 9 months in response to
people, things, or situations
Stranger wariness (Emotional Development)
Infant no longer smiles at any friendly face but cries or looks frightened when an unfamiliar person moves too close.
Separation anxiety
Emotional Development
Distress when a familiar caregiver or loved one leaves; most obvious between 9 and 14 months.
- Tears, dismay, or anger when a familiar caregiver leaves
- If it remains strong after age 3, it may be considered an emotional disorder.
Toddlers’ emotions
Emotional Development
- Anger and fear become less frequent and more focused.
- Laughing and crying become louder and more discriminating.
- Temper tantrums may appear.
New emotions
Emotional Development
- Pride
- Shame
- Embarrassment
- Disgust
- Guilt
Self-awareness
Emotional Development
Person’s realization that he or she is a distinct individual whose body, mind, and actions are separate from those of other people.
Social referencing
Emotional Development
The tendency of an infant to analyze the facial expressions of a significant other in order to be able to determine what to do.
Mirror Recognition
Emotional Development
• Classic experiment (M. Lewis & Brooks, 1978)
• Babies aged 9–24 months
looked into a mirror after a
dot of rouge had been put on their noses.
• None of the babies younger than 12 months old reacted as if they knew the mark was on them.
• 15- to 24-month-olds showed self-awareness by touching their own noses with curiosity.
All reactions begin in the brain
Brain and Emotions
- Growth of synapses and dendrites is related to gradual refinement and expression of each emotion.
- This is the result of past experiences and ongoing maturation.
Experience and culture
Brain and Emotions
• Promote specific connections between neurons and emotions
(cultural sponge).
• Shape functional anatomy of self-representation.
Social smile and laughter
Brain and Emotions
Related to cortex maturation
Social anxiety
Brain and Emotions
Stronger than any other anxiety for many; genetic and
environmental influences
What affects emotions?
How does fear and stress affect the developing brain?
(Growth of the Brain: Stress)
Genes, past experiences, and
additonal hormones and neurotransmitters
• Excessive fear and stress HARM the developing brain
Abuse and its effects
Growth of the Brain: Stress
form of chronic stress
– May cause potential long-term effects on a child’s emotional development.
– Often creates high levels of stress hormones indicative of emotional impairment and later behavioral difficulties.
Temperament
Brain and Emotions: Temperament
Biologically-based core of individual differences in
– Style of approach
– Response to the environment that is stable across time and situations
Temperamental traits vs Personality traits
Brain and Emotions: Temperament
Temperamental traits are GENETIC; personality traits are
LEARNED.