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
