Chapter 7 Flashcards
Basic emotions basics
There are 6 Happiness Anger Fear Disgust Sadness Surprise
And babies are born with the capacity for these
3 elements of basic emotions
Subjective feeling
Physiological change
Overt behavior
Development of basic emotions
Where is brain activity
Nature/Nurture
do their faces change predictably?
When infants smile, there is more activity in left frontal cortex than right
this is the same as adults
They have INNATE patterns of facial expressions but these interact with those of the people they socialize with and hence become associated with certain emotions
Hence there is both nature and nurture
By 5-6 months, infants faces change predictably in response to stimuli (eg see mother = smile)
Happiness in infants - birth
From first few weeks kids can smile but it is response to internal physiological experiences
Happiness in infants - 2 months
They make social smiles when they see a face
Smiling and cooing seem to be ways of expressing pleasure at seeing another person
Happiness in infants - 4 months
Add laughter
Either when they experience vigorous physical stimulation or when a parent does clowning
Non-verbal, absurd behavior
Happiness in infants - 5-6 months
Initially laughter is in response to novelty ans social context but by this age, they can determine for themselves what is funny
Happiness in infants - summary
Early happiness is due to a physiological state, later shifts more to a psychological response
Negative emotions in infants - anger
Appears at 4-6 months - will get angry is favorite toy is taken away
Reflecting their growing goal focused behavior infants get angry when their attempts are not met with success (eg adult restrains child who wants an object)
Negative emotions in infants - fear
6 months on
Starts as stranger anxiety
If a stranger approaches, gets fussy and looks away
If a stranger picks them up, cry and reach for caregiver
Negative emotions in infants - things that affect fear
Infants are less scared of strangers in familiar circumstances/environments
Also depends on strangers action - if they just pick up kid immediately, very scary. If they give the child time and speak to caregivers, relaxes child
Stranger anxiety is adaptive cos it appears at the time kids are exploring - being anxious about strangers stops kids from leaving caregivers
Negative emotions in infants - cultural factors
North american kids cry and smile more than Chinese do
US preschoolers express more anger in conflicts than Japanese ones do
Rooted in Biology, but influenced by culture and context
Negative emotions in infants - sadness
response to disrupted caregiver-infant communication
Complex emotions
DO NOT APPEAR UNTIL 18-24 MONTHS
The depend upon a child’s developing sense of self as seperate which is not there until 15-18 months so come in after that is installed
These are more likely to be learned
If a child takes a toy from another child and the caregiver says you should be ashamed, they are teaching a child to FEEL a certain way (in this case shame)
Shame - caregiver makes them feel bad about themselves
Embarrassment - caregiver laughs at them
Guilt
Pride
Envy - caregiver says wouldn’t you want this etc
Recognizing other peoples emotions
When?
what face do infants look at when they hear laughter?
6-7 months can recognize different emotions
Infants often match their own emotions to those of others
In experiments, infants will stare at smiling faces more than angry ones if they hear laughter
They are not so good at matching negative emotions to situations that provoke them
Social referencing of emotions
Kids use social referencing to see how they should react
If the caregiver is scared or happy in an uncertain situation, they use this to appraise it
This is used by caregivers to teach children how to react
In one experiment, if a hissing box caused parents to act scared, so would the child be. If not, the child would not be. In another, if adults look happy when exploring one box and disgusted when exploring another, the kids will preferentially explore the happy box
This is dependent also on how their caregivers have reacted in the past; if their caregivers ignore them, they use other adults to socially reference, if their caregivers are attentive, they use them.
Regulating emotions
timings of start of this
Is adjusting ones own state of emotional intensity
Regulation of emotions begins in infancy
at 4-6 months they block out stimuli by looking away or covering eyes. They may also move closer to parents if scared.
This uses the prefrontal cortex and requires effortful control
Develops over the first year with brain development
Regulating emotions development
over what time period?
Gets better over the first year;
Caregivers contribute - give them self-regulation styles and teach socially acceptable ways of expressing feelings
Regulating emotions neural and genetic factors
The prefrontal cortex of children who internalize (suppress) emotions is more active than the same are of those who externalize/act out
There is a gene implicated in emotional control and also depressing and impulse regulation problems but this interacts with parenting BUT the impact of this is worse in situations involving poor parenting, abuse or neglect.
Babies have a BASIS for emotional regulation but they develop further skills by interacting with the environment
Basics of attachment
Attachment is an enduring social-emotional relationship
Elicits care giving from adults
Influences infants perceptual and cognitive skills
6-7 months single attachment starts
This attachment contributes to a child’s internal working model of their caregivers availability during stress
It is an adaptive behavior
Bowlby’s Ethological theory - pre-attachment phase
Birth to 6 weeks
Built in signals help bring babies into close contact with humans (grasping, smiling, crying and looking into adult eyes)
Recognize moms smell and voice but are not attached to her
Try to get mom to stay around
Bowlby’s Ethological theory - Attachment in the making phase
6 Weeks to 6-8 months
Infants respond differently to a familiar caregiver than a stranger
Develop a sense of trust
Do not protest when separated from caregiver
Bowlby’s Ethological theory - clear cut attachment phase
6-8 months to 18-24 months
Attachment to the primary caregiver (separation anxiety)
Separation anxiety depends on the infant temperament and the current situation
Infants who have not mastered object permanence are not affected when caregiver leaves
Dads have a role more like play buddy - physical play, teaches kids to cope with emotional arousal and practical skills - prefer to play with dad, prefer emotional support from mom
Bowlby’s Ethological theory - formation of a reciprocal relationship
18-24 months and on
Understand some of the factors that influence parents coming and going to predict their return
Separation protest declines because child knows they will come back
Negotiation with the caregiver (eg go to bed - I want a story)
Mary Ainsworth
Strange Situation Test
Secure attachment
60-70%
Parent is connected and attuned to the child’s emotional and physical needs
Able to build loving and meaningful relationships, shows empathy and trust
Babies securely attached to mom usually are to dad too
I am ok, you are ok
Strange situation:
distress when away from mom
avoids stranger unless mother is there
happy to see mother after seperation
Avoidant attachment
15%
Infant deals with lack of trust by avoiding mother
Parent unavailable or rejecting for a long time
Avoids closeness, can be distant, rigid, intolerant of others
I am ok, you are not ok
Strange Situation:
Shows no interest when separated from mother
Play happily with stranger
Ignore mother after seperation
Ambivalent/Resistant attachment
10%
In resistant attachment infant seems angry with mother
Inconsistent/intrusive parent communication
Anxious, insecure, unpredictable
blames others
wants intimacy but pushes people away
I am not ok, you are ok
Strange Situation:
Show distress when away from mother
Significant fear of stranger
Approach mother but reject contact after separation
Disorganized/disorientated attachment
15%
Seems not to understand the mothers absence
Ignored or was not able to see or meet the child’s needs. Parent behavior was scary or abusive
Chaotic, insensitive, prone to outbursts
Untrusting while craving security
Im not ok/Youre not ok
Strange situation
Added by Main & Solomon (1990)
Inconsistent attachment behaviours
Secure attachment consequences
Children with this have higher quality friendships and less conflicts in friendships
Less behavioral problems in school-age kids
At summer camp, 11 year olds securely attached interacted more skillfully with peers and had more close relationships
Securely attached children have better understandings of emotions, are better able to regulate emotions and have more emotional expressiveness - relationship between EQ and attachment suggested
Get married earlier, have kids earlier
Factor influencing attachment
Adults have attachment styles too
Adults with kids also have attachment styles
If you ask them to describe their childhood you can see the adult attachment scale:
Autonomous: describes childhood objectively- says good and bad things about parents
Dismissive - describes childhood in general but tends to idealize parents
Preoccupied - describes childhood emotionally and express anger or confusion with parents.
Only autonomous are likely to have securely attached kids
Babies are not passive - they influence attachment. Hard to deal with kids are less likely to have secure attachment because they’re harder work!
Mothers can be TAUGHT to provide better responses and hence, better attachment
Reactive attachment disorder
Mental health disorder which involves disturbances in emotional functioning and a pattern of inappropriate interpersonal behaviors in children, thought to result from disrupted early attachment
Privation
Basic needs and comfort of life not met - bad for attachment
Onset of peer interactions - nonsocial play
PLAY begins at 6 months with nonsocial play (play alone)
Onset of peer interactions - parallel play
12-15 months
Play next to each other
Play alone and watch each other
Onset of peer interactions - simple social play
15-18 months
Interact socially during play
Onset of peer interactions - Cooperative play
Near 2 years old
Co-operative play
Organize play around a theme and each take a role
Includes imaginary play scripts
Self recognition origins
18-24 months
mirror task
preference of photos of self
use I and ME
Moving beyond self-recgnition
Start to see themselves as a separate thing
20-28 months MINE
Begin gender specific orientation
The categorical self - preschoolers
Possessions physical characteristics competencies First form of self-awareness defined in terms of having certain things
The categorical self - School age
Emotions
Social groups
Comparisons with peers
Can talk about emotions
The categorical self - Adolescents
Attitudes personality traits beliefs vary with setting future orientated ATTITUDES/BELIEFS
Temperament
Is an infants consistent mood and style of behavior
High heritability
Thomas and Chess Temperament
They interviewed the parents over 2 years. Came up with 9 attributes
1) Sensitivity
How much stimulus for a response from the child
2) Intensity of reaction
Energy level of child’s response
3) Activity level
Some kids are more active than others
4) Adaptability
Some kids adapt quicker than others to change
5) Approach /withdrawal
first response to new stimulus
6) Persistence
Child’s drive to finish an activity when it is started
7) Rythmicity
Regularity of child’s biological functions
8) Quality of mood
How often a chils is pleasant and happy
9) Distractability
How easily a child is drawn away from an activity
have identified three patterns of temperament:
- EASY babies: usually happy and is well adjusted to new situations and had regular routine
- DIFFICULT babies: tend to be unhappy, respond intensely to novel situations and had irregular routine
- “slow-to-warm-up” babies, often unhappy but are not upset by unfamiliar situations
Rothbart structure of Temperament
Activity level - level of gross motor activity
Attention span/persistence - duration of interest
Fearful distress - wariness and distress in response to intense or novel stimuli, including time to adjust to new stimulus
Irritable distress - Extent of crying, fussing and distress when desires are frustrated
Positive affect - frequency of expression of happiness and pleasure
Effortful control - Capacity to suppress a dominant, reactive response in order to plan a more adaptive response
In first two year this is called orientating/regulation which is the capacity to self-sooth, shift attention from unpleasant events
Arnold, Bass and Plomin Temperament
Emotionality - strength of an emotional response to a stimuli, the ease this was triggered with and the ease of return to normal baseline
Activity - tempo and vigor of activities
Sociability - extent to which a person prefers to deal with other people
Methods of temperament
are similar!
Neurobiological correlates of shyness to sociability
heart rate
saliva
pupil dilation, BP, surface temp
Hereditary and environmental contributions to temperament
Identical twins are more alike than fraternal twins
mum’s who are abrupt with kids often have kids that are later intense and difficult temperament
Nature component
Responsible for about half of individual differences
Vary with trait and the age of individuals studied
Nurture factor Nutrition Quality of care-giving Cultural variations Gender stereotyping Role of siblings
Stability of temperament
Stability is:
Low in infancy and toddlerhood
Moderate from preschool on
Temperament develops with age, becoming more stable after 3 years of age
Temperament and other areas of development
Persistent kids do well at school
Shy kids have difficulty with social interactions
Anxious kids are more likely to comply with parents demands
Extroverted, uninhibited kids are more likely to have accidents
Shy kids marry and have kids later
Different to control children:
If left uncontrolled have increased aggression and violence later
If controlled, do not
Goodness-of-fit
The interaction between parenting style and temperament of children is very important
Effective child rearing requires a good fit with kid’s temperament
Eg if active, have child engage in activities
If the parent is extroverted and outgoing but the kid is shy, the parent must adapt!
This can influence the child’s development
Temperament - environment
Positive emotionality - reflects environmental influences
Difficult temperament is linked to abrupt parenting
Strange Situation Test
Mary Ainsworth
20 min observation
8 stages:
(0) baby + Mother + Researcher
(1) Baby and Mother
Does the baby explore the room using mom as a safe base?
(2) Baby + Mother + Stranger
Infant is allowed to explore room for 3 mins; mother watches but does not participate
How does the baby respond to an unknown newcomer
(3) Baby and stranger
Stranger enters the room and is silent for one min. Then talks to the baby. Then approaches baby MOTHER LEAVES
How does baby respond to being left by mom (separation anxiety)
(4) Baby, mother and stranger
Stranger does not play with baby but attempts to console them
How does baby respond when mom comes back?
(5) Baby and mother
After 3 mins mom comes back and consoles baby
(6) Baby alone
When baby returns to play, mom says bye bye and leaves
(7) Baby and stranger
Stranger tries to calm and leave with the baby
(8) Baby and mother
After 3 mins the mother returns and the baby leaves
What were researchers observing in strange situation test?
4 things
Proximity and contact seeking
Contact maintaining
Avoidance and proximity of contact
Resistance to contact and comforting
Caregiver sensitivity hypothesis
Differences in infants attachment styles are dependent on mothers behavior during a critical period of development
Beyond Self Recognition - when
20-28 Months
MINE
Types of personality (%) according to Thomas & Chess
Easy - 40% = quick to establish routine, generally cheerful and adapts easily to new experiences
Difficult - 10% = irregular, slow to adapt, reacts negatively and intensely
Slow to warm up - 15% = Inactive, low-key reactions to environmental stimuli, is negative in mood, slow to adapt to new stuff
Unclassified - 35% = Don’t fit - unique blends of traits
