chapter 6: emotions + temperament Flashcards
what book did Darwin write in 1872
the expression of emotions in man and animals
what did Darwin argue regarding emotions
biological aspects of emotions - our emotions are subject to natural selection - in animals too
emotions research after Darwin
facial coding system - divided the face into action units (AU) and categorized emotions based on them – different kinds of emotions move different kinds of muscles
ethology
approach which emphasizes the evolutionary origins of many behaviours that are important for survival
four questions of ethology
o Mechanism (causation) – how does this behaviour occur in an individual?
How does the brain of the bird work?
o Ontogeny (development) – how does this behaviour arise in an individual?
Do birds raised in isolation also show this behaviour?
o Adaptive value (function) – Why is this behaviour adaptive for the species?
Does bird song have importance for mating behaviour?
o Phylogeny (evolution) – how does this behaviour arise in the species
how’s Erikson similar and different from Freud
o Similar to Freud: developmental stages in which a conflict needs to be resolved
o Different from Freud: social conflicts rather than sexual/internal ones
Erickson’s stages
o Trust vs mistrust – infancy (0-18 months) – feeding/comfort – Is my world safe?
o Autonomy vs shame and doubt – early childhood (2-3) – toilet training/dressing – Can I do things by myself or need I always rely on others
o Initiative vs guilt – preschool (3-5) – exploration/play – Am I good or bad?
o Industry vs inferiority – school age (6-11) – school/activities – How good can I be?
o Identity vs role confusion – adolescence (12-18) – social relationships/identity – Who am I and where am I going?
o Intimacy vs isolation – young adult (19-40) – intimate relationships – Am I loved and wanted?
o Generativity vs stagnation – middle adulthood (40 to 65) – work and parenthood – Will I provide something of real value?
o Ego identity vs despair – maturity (65+) – reflection of life – Have I lived a full life?
Bowlby’s attachment styles
o Secure – healthy communication style, able to ask for help when needed, can self-regulate emotions
o Anxious – clinginess, fear of abandonment, needs constant reassurance
o Avoidant – difficulty expressing emotions, tends to be emotionally withdrawn from others, unwilling to ask for help
o Disorganized – incorporates characteristics of anxious and avoidant styles, fear of rejection but difficulty with intimacy, low self-worth
who’s the founder of the evolutionary theory of socialization
Belsky
two types of Belsky’s models
o Type 1 – trouble at home
Childrearing: harsh, rejecting, insensitive, inconsistent
Insecure attachment, mistrustful internal working model, opportunistic interpersonal orientation
Early maturation and puberty -> earlier sexual activity, short term unstable pair bonds, limited parent investment – because there is a lower life expectancy
o Type 2 – no trouble at home
Childrearing: sensitive, supportive, responsive, positively affectionate
Secure attachment, trusting internal working model
Later maturation and puberty -> later sexual activity, long-term enduring pair bonds, greater parental investment
three areas of children’s emotional development
o Recognising different facial emotional expressions and conveying their own emotions
o Understanding of emotions – when do they realise that certain situations are likely to elicit particular emotional responses?
- The ability to empathise with others
o Regulating their own emotions
basic Ekman’s emotions
happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, disgust
how did Ekman research emotions
Fore people from New Guinea - had to choose a photo of the facial expression that matched the emotional context + same for people in the US (difficult between surprise and fear)
what are the basic and complex emotions
Basic – happiness, interest, surprise, disgust, sadness, distress, anger, fear
Complex – pride, shyness, jealousy, guilt, shame, embarrassment
why are complex emotions in young children controversial
such emotions require sophisticated cognitive understanding (recognizing that one’s behaviour may have fallen short of expected standards)
social referencing
infants and young children look at their caregivers for advice when faced with a difficult or uncertain situation and seek social cues to guide their actions
visual cliff experiment
Mothers coaxed their 12-month-old infants close to the deep side before posing a happy or fearful expression
None of the infants crossed over to the deep side if mother seemed fearful, but when she looked happy ¾ of infants crossed to the deep side
habituation-dishabituation to assess infants’ discrimination of facial expressions
o Infants at 3 months could distinguish between photos of people smiling and frowning
o Infants 4-7 months could distinguish between expressions of happiness and surprise
o Neonates could discriminate between happy, sad, and surprised expression posed by a live model
o Doesn’t necessarily mean that they can understand the meaning in the expressions
when can children use emotion words to explain and comment on their own and other people’s current behavior + predictions
28 months
alternative explanation for children talking about emotions
use a script that later gets replaced by true understanding
skills in the emotion understanding task
o Can label facial expressions depicting happiness, anger, sadness, and fear
o Understand that these core emotions are triggered by certain situations
o Can predict a person’s emotional responses in a non-egocentric manner
puppet emotions task
children (2-3) heard about a puppet who voiced emotions opposite to infants about particular situations - they had to choose a face that would match its feelings - performed above chance but with variation
brocoli vs cracker
children at 18 months - gave the experimenter food they prefer even when infants don’t
milk Coca Cola experiment
story: character replaced milk with Coca Cola - how would they react when they first saw the container and what when they opened it?
children at 4 - can pass the regular false belief task, but did badly on this one, only at 6 can pass
test of emotional comprehension results
o Up to age 5 – children are typically able to understand the public aspects of emotions – how situations trigger or reactivate emotions and how emotions are outwardly expressed
o By age 7 – children can understand the mentalistic nature of emotions – they are related to knowledge and beliefs, but the emotion one expresses might not be the emotion one feels
o Between 9 and 11 – children realise that one can feel two emotions in response to the same event, that cognitive strategies can be used to regulate emotions and that morals and moral transgressions relate to emotional responses