Emotional and Psychological Development Flashcards
Describe key areas contributing to emotional and social development Identify the basic emotions and describe their functions In the context of underlying brain development, describe the role of temperament in individual difference, Bowlby's attachment theory, the Strange Situation Procedure classifications, and the role of emotional regulation
State the main 4 developmental domains
Emotional, cognitive, social, physical
State the social and emotional milestones between birth and 3 months of age
Smiles in response to interaction, comforted by a familial adult
State the social and emotional milestones between 3 and 6 months of age
Initiates interaction, smiles spontaneously, plays peek-a-boo
State the social and emotional milestones between 6 and 9 months of age
Differentiates emotions, distinguishes friends and strangers, prefers familiar people
State the social and emotional milestones between 9 and 12 months of age
Separation anxiety, imitation, self-regulation
State the social and emotional milestones between 1 and 2 years of age
Sense of self develops, assertive, directs others, pride and pleasure with accomplishments
State the social and emotional milestones between 2 and 3 years of age
Explores more, self-help skills, sees self as good or bad, aware of own feelings as separate to others
Describe the brain development in a child’s first 3 years of life
The brain doubles in size in their first year - by age 3, it has reached 80% of its adult volume. The sensorimotor cortex develops rapidly from birth, with other areas developing more slowly with synaptogenesis and synaptic pruning
When does the prefrontal cortex finish developing?
Adolescence
Define emotions
Feelings or states of mind generated from interaction with internal biochemical and external environmental factors, with either positive or negative valence
Name the 6 basic emotions which develop in the first year of life
Happiness, sadness, disgust, anger, surprise, fear
Name the 3 basic emotions which develop in the first 3 months of life
Happiness, sadness, disgust
Name the 3 additional emotions which develop after 1-2 years of life
Empathy, jealousy, embarrassment
Name the 3 additional emotions which develop after 2-2.5 years of life
Pride, shame, guilt
Describe the function of early emotions
To communicate the baby’s needs and to engage in interactions with others, in order to understand the emotions of others
Define temperament
Simple, non-motivational, non-cognitive, stylisyic characteristics present from birth that represent meaningful ways of describing individual differences and affect how a young child acts and responds to different situations and individuals
How does personality develop from temperament?
It is based on temperament, but modified by interactions and the child’s self-worth and self-concept
State the 3 clusters of temperament proposed by Thomas & Chess in the 1950s
Difficult cluster, easy cluster, slow-to-warm-up cluster
State the 2 clusters of temperament proposed by Kagan in the 1970s
Inhibited (highly reactive) and uninhibited (low reactive)
Describe the consistency between temperament in childhood and personality in adolescence
Temperamental characteristics in the first 2 years have a low correlation with comparable characteristics in adolescence, however there is a great correlation between the early school years and adolescence, with consistency greater for extreme characteristics
Name 2 relevant genes in the heritability of temperament
Dopamine receptor gene and serotonin receptor gene
Describe the implications of a difficult temperament for psychopathology
Difficult temperament is associated with higher rates of accidents, sleep difficulties, infantile colic, behavioural deviance at school, and confrontational responses from others (including parental criticism)
Define attachment
The emotional bond between a child and caregiver
Describe Bowlby’s theory of attachment
Children need their primary caregivers to be a secure base for exploration and a haven for protection. Their perception of their caregiver forms the basis of their internal working models of their own self, the caregiver, and others. These working models influence interpersonal behaviour
Describe Ainsworth’s strange situation procedure
A child is observed playing with caregiver supervision. A stranger enters and interacts with the caregiver and then the child. The caregiver leaves and the baby’s reaction is observed. After a short while, the caregiver returns and the baby’s reaction is observed again
Name the four types of attachment seen in the strange situation procedure
Secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant, and disorganised
Describe secure attachment seen in the strange situation procedure
The infant engages in positive exploration. They are upset by separation but respond positively to the caregiver on reunion and return rapidly to exploration
Describe insecure-avoidant attachment seen in the strange situation procedure
The infant is detached upon separation, avoids the parent on reunion, and engages in displacement exploration that is devoid of true interest
Describe insecure-resistant attachment seen in the strange situation procedure
The infant is preoccupied with their caregiver’s availability. They show distress on separation but anger or ambivalence on reunion and are difficult to comfort
In which group of infants is disorganised attachment more common?
Those exposed to situations of high psychosocial risk, e.g. domestic violence or abuse
Describe the relationship between cortisol and attachment (Bernard et al, 2010)
Cortisol increases following a strange situation procedure if the child has insecure or disorganised attachment, but not if they have secure attachment
Describe the influence of disorganised attachment on childhood psychopathology
It is the strongest predictor for vulnerability to stress, difficulty regulating negative emotions, and oppositional, aggressive behaviour
Describe the influence of insecure attachment on childhood psychopathology (Madigan et al, 2013)
It has a small effect on future internalisation of problems, a feature of anxiety and depression
Define emotional regulation
The ability of an individual to control their own emotions and reactions to their environment
Describe the relationship between attention allocation and self-regulation in infants
Infants who are slow to reorient their attention on EEG have lower scores on self-regulation
