Developmental Semester 1 Week 6: emotion development Flashcards
What are the components of emotion?
Physiological factors, subjective feelings, cognitions and perceptions, expressive behaviour, and the desire to take action.
What are physiological factors in emotion?
Heart rate, breathing rate, and hormone levels.
What is meant by expressive behaviour in emotions?
An outward expression of the emotional state.
What are action tendencies in relation to emotions?
Tendencies to enact behaviours in relation to specific emotions.
What do forward actions indicate?
Actions taken towards a situation.
What do backward actions indicate?
Actions taken away from a situation.
What is the action tendency associated with disgust?
Active rejection of the thing causing disgust (backward).
What is the action tendency associated with fear?
Fight or flight to maintain self-preservation (forward or backward).
What is the action tendency associated with anger?
Eliminating obstacles or removing sources of anger (forward).
What is the action tendency associated with sadness?
Disengagement and withdrawal (backward).
What is the action tendency associated with shame?
Withdrawal, avoiding others (backward).
What is the action tendency associated with guilt?
Movement to make amends, inform others, or punish self (forwards).
How do parents often misinterpret infants’ emotions?
They often read too much into infants’ emotional range.
What is the first sign of positive emotions in infants?
Smiles.
What happens in the first 4 weeks regarding infant smiles?
Infants exhibit fleeting smiles primarily during REM sleep.
What is the nature of early smiles in infants?
Early smiles tend to be reflexive rather than due to social interaction.
What occurs between 3 to 8 weeks in infant emotional development?
Infants begin to smile in reaction to external stimuli.
What are social smiles and when do they appear?
Smiles directed towards people, appearing around 3 months.
What is significant about smiles at 7 months?
Infants smile primarily at familiar people, strengthening bonds with caregivers.
What do infants start to do towards 1 year old?
Infants start to laugh at surprising or unexpected events.
What is the first sign of negative emotion in infants?
Generalised distress.
How can researchers distinguish between anger and sadness in 2-month-olds?
By examining facial expressions.
When do infants start to become wary of unfamiliar objects and events?
4 months of age.
At what age do signs of fear, particularly towards strangers, become observable in infants?
Signs of fear can be observed in infants at 6-7 months of age.
(Camras et al., 1991)
What type of fears do infants develop around 6-7 months?
Infants may develop fears of loud noises and other stimuli, which are likely adaptive.
How does fear of strangers change after 2 years of age?
Fear of strangers intensifies after 2 years but depends on temperament.
When does separation anxiety begin to emerge in infants?
Separation anxiety emerges at 8 months of age, particularly when the primary caregiver walks away.
How does separation anxiety change between 8 to 15 months?
Separation anxiety increases and then declines between 8 to 15 months.
(Kagan, 1976)
At what age do children begin to clearly express anger?
Children begin to clearly express anger around 1 year of age.
How does anger expression change as children approach 2 years of age?
Anger typically increases up to 16 months of age and is common when toddlers gain more control over their environment.
What is the trend in anger responses from 18 months to 36 months?
Toddlers are quicker to respond with anger at 18 months than at 36 months, likely due to better language and self-regulation.
(Cole et al., 2011)
At what age can infants distinguish between happy, surprised, and angry faces?
Infants can distinguish between happy, surprised, and angry faces at 3 months of age.
When can infants distinguish between fear, sadness, and interest?
By 7 months of age, infants can distinguish between fear, sadness, and interest.
How do young children respond to others’ emotions?
Young children are sensitive to others’ reactions, which affects their own emotions.
(Saarni et al., 2006)
At what age do children begin to show self-conscious emotions?
Children begin to show self-conscious emotions such as guilt, pride, shame, and embarrassment at 2 years of age.
What is linked to the emergence of self-conscious emotions in children?
The emergence of self-conscious emotions is linked to children developing a sense of self and their awareness of others’ expectations.
(Lewis, 1998; Lewis et al., 1992)
What individual differences exist in children’s feelings of guilt and shame?
Individual differences in feelings of guilt or shame may be due to parenting style.
What did Barrett et al. (1993) find regarding children’s responses to a doll’s leg falling off?
Some children showed shame by hiding the doll, while others showed guilt by attempting to repair it and informing the researcher. - possibly due to parenting style
(Barrett et al., 1993)
Are emotions innate?
Yes, according to Charles Darwin, facial expressions for basic emotions are innate to the species, universal, and found in very young infants.
What does Discrete Emotions Theory propose?
Each emotion is innately packaged with a specific set of physiological, bodily, and facial expressions, allowing for differentiation very early in life.
(Izard, 2011)
What is the argument against the innateness of emotions?
Emotions are not distinct at the beginning of life, and the environment plays an important role in their expression.
What are the three basic affect systems identified by Sroufe (1995)?
- Joy/Pleasure 2. Anger/Frustration 3. Wariness/Fear
How do the basic affect systems change over time?
They undergo developmental changes from primitive to more advanced expressions during the first few years of life.
What is the functionalist approach to emotions?
It emphasizes the role of the environment in promoting action towards achieving a goal in a given context.
What does the visual cliff experiment suggest?
It was originally used to argue that infants have an innate fear of heights.
What is emotional regulation?
It involves initiating, inhibiting, or modulating physiological factors, subjective feelings, cognitions, and expressive behavior.
What are marshmallow tasks used to assess?
They assess delay of gratification and emotional regulation in children.
(Mischel, 1981)
What are the three stages of emotion regulation development according to Zimber-Gembeck and Skinner (2012)?
- From caregiver to self-regulation 2. The use of cognitive strategies 3. Selection of strategies
How do parents help infants regulate emotions?
Parents soothe or distract distressed infants, helping them to regulate their emotions.
At what age do infants show signs of basic self-regulation?
Around 6 months, infants begin to show signs of basic self-regulation.
What cognitive strategies do older children use for emotion regulation?
Older children use cognitive strategies and problem-solving, such as rethinking goals to adapt to unpleasant situations.
Why is emotion regulation important?
It fosters social competence and leads to better interactions with others and improved academic performance.
What is temperament?
Temperament is a person’s emotional and attentional reactivity, and self-regulation that shows consistency across situations and stability over time.
(Rothbart & Bates, 1998)
What are the six aspects of temperament?
- Fearful distress/inhibition 2. Irritable distress 3. Attention span/persistence 4. Activity level 5. Positive affect/approach 6. Rhythmicity
How is temperament thought to be influenced by nature?
Temperament is thought to be hereditary, as identical twins have more similar temperaments than non-identical twins.
What environmental factors can influence temperament?
Extreme environmental stressors, such as negative parenting and instability, can affect emotion regulation and temperament.
What is a strength of self-report measures in assessing temperament?
Parents have extensive knowledge of their child’s behavior.
What is a weakness of self-report measures in assessing temperament?
Parents may not be objective and may lack knowledge of other children for comparison.
What physiological measure is linked to temperament differences?
Cortisol reactivity, which is the amount of cortisol released in response to stress.
What is a strength of physiological measures in assessing temperament?
They provide objective data.
What is a weakness of physiological measures in assessing temperament?
It is hard to determine the direction of causality.
What types of stimuli are used in lab measures for assessing temperament in younger infants?
Blocked toys, puppets, and scary masks.
What is a strength of lab measures in assessing temperament?
They are more objective and less likely to be biased.
What is a weakness of lab measures in assessing temperament?
Behavior is only observed in a limited set of circumstances.
