Emotion Flashcards
Early positive emotions
Smiles 1st positive emotion
3-8 week- smile in reaction to stimuli
3 month- social smiles directed toward people
-more likely to smile at people than animated
7mnth- smile primarily at familiar people-strengthens bonds
1st year- laugh at surprising or unexpected events
Early negative emotions
Generalised distress- hunger, pain or overstimulation
Debate over experienced generalised distress or specific negative emotions
-distinguish between anger and sadness vs distress from pain
Fear:
- 4mnth- unfamiliar objects and events
- 6-7mnth- fear to strangers- no comfort or pleasure
Separation anxiety:
- 8mnth- distress at being away from caregiver
- especially when see them walking away
Anger:
- anger when no control
- decline due to being able to express themselves through language
Self-conscious:
-relate to aware of others reaction to them and what is expected of them
Guilt vs shame:
- guilt- remorse and regret, attempt to fix doll
- shame-focus on oneself, avoid experimenter
Are emotions innate
Yes
Darwin- facial expressions for basic emotions are innate, universal and found in very young infants
Discrete emotions theory- emotion is innately packaged with specific set of physiological, bodily and facial expressions- differentiated early on
Are emotions innate
No
Emotions not distinct from one another
Environment plays role in expression of emotion
3 basic affect systems undergo developmental changes:
- joy/pleasure
- anger/frustration
- wariness/fear
Functionalist- some emotions need interaction to develop, affected by social goals
Emotion regulation
Set of processes whereby people seek to redirect or dampen down feelings of emotion
Initiating, inhibiting or modulating:
- physiological factors
- subjective feelings
- cognitions and perceptions
- expressive behaviour
Marshmallow task:
-children who did better and delayed gratification had better self-regulation strategies
Must rely on caregiver to settle them
Developmental stages to emotion regulation
From caregiver to self-regulation
Infants are distressed- parents help regulate their emotions
-vocalisations, holding, rocking, feeding
6mth- rudimentary self-regulation
- avert gaze or self-soothing
- increase ability to control their attention and movements, due to rapid cognitive developments in language, attentional control and inhibitory control
Developmental stages to emotion regulation
The use of cognitive strategies and problem solving
Older children use cognitive strategies and problem solving
Unpleasant situation- rethink their goals to adapt to the situation
Developmental stages to emotion regulation
The selection of appropriate strategies
Improve their ability to select cognitive or behavioural strategies appropriate to the situation
Due to developments in planning and problem solving across middle childhood and adolescence
Able to distinguish between controllable stressors
Temperament
Emotional and attentional reactivity and self-regulation show consistency across situations and stability over time
- large individual differences in emotional functioning—> some relatively mellow, some emotional
- differ in how timid they are, how they express positive emotion and deal with emotions
6 aspects to temperament
Fearful distress/ inhibition:
-distress and withdrawal in new situations
Irritable distress:
-fussiness, anger and frustration
Attention span/ persistence:
-duration of orienting towards objects of interest
Activity level:
-how much infants move
Positive effect/approach:
-smiling/laughing, approach to people, cooperativeness
Rhythmicity:
-regularity and predictability of routines
How do we measure temperament
Physiological measures
Cortisol= hormone released in response to stress
Amount released in a given situation linked to temperament differences
High in negative emotionality, poorer emotion regulation = larger increases in cortisol
Comparing different methods
Questionnaires:
^- parents have extensive knowledge of child’s behaviour
X- might not be objective, can’t compare as no knowledge of other children
Lab measures:
^- data objective, less likely to be biased
X- behaviour is only observed in limited set of circumstances, could reflect mood on the day
Physiological measures:
^- data objective
X- hard to tell if they are a cause or consequence of temperament in given situation
Social referencing
SAARNI ET AL (2006)
7-12mnth- process and interpret social cues
-use others facial expressions or vocal cues to decide how to deal with novel or ambiguous situations
-stay near mother if show fear, approach item if parent is happy, move away if parent gives neutral expression
Parents socialise emotion development
Their own expression of emotion with their and other people
Prove a model of when and how to express emotion
In families which do not tend to express emotions, children may think emotions should be avoided and inhibited
Parents socialise emotion development
Parents reactions to child’s expression of emotion
Dismiss or criticise
-less emotionally competent, less skilled a coping with stress, less sympathetic, show problem behaviours
