Emotional Dev (ch. 10)

Question 1

Emotions

Answer 1

neural and physiological responses to the environment, subjective feelings, cognitions related to those feelings, and the desire to take action

Question 2

The marshmallow test

Answer 2

• see how long kids could delay gratification and their coping strategies
• those who extended/ delayed gratification longer grew up to have better self control and better academic scores (i.e SAT)

Question 3

Discrete emotions theory

Answer 3

• argues that neurological and biological systems have evolved to allow humans to experience and then express a set of basic emotions through adaption to our surroundings, from infancy

Question 4

Darwin’s Emotions Theory

Answer 4

expressions for certain basic emotional states are innate to the species and therefore all similar across all peoples, including young babies
- infants can express emotions before they’re taught

Question 5

Functionalist perspective

Answer 5

a theory which argues basic function of emotions is to promote action toward achieving a goal
- emotions aren’t discrete from one another and vary somewhat based on the social environment
EX: when infant wants something, they cry

Question 6

Universal emotions

Answer 6

happiness, fear, anger, sadness, surprise, disgust

Question 7

Social Smiles

Answer 7

• typically directed toward people within first 2nd or 3rd month of infant’s life

Question 8

Fear

Answer 8

• initial signs of fear are seen by 7mos and the ability to recognize fear in other people
• fear of strangers is adaptive for infants (show fear between 6-8mos, hitting high at 8mos then dissipating by 16mos)

Question 9

Separation anxiety

Answer 9

distress due to separation from the parent appears at 8mos

Question 10

Anger

Answer 10

An adaptive emotion because it helps humans self-defend and motivates us to work more diligently
- infants rarely express anger as a single emotion = thus, they might not be able to differentiate whether something is making them sad or angry
- kids’ ability to express anger peaks at 18 to 24mos

Question 11

Sadness

Answer 11

Adaptive emotion because it can draw in the attention and support of caregivers who can help regulate their emotion

Question 12

Surprise

Answer 12

Involves a cognitive understanding that something is not as it usually is, in addition to reaction of somethings startling/unexpected
- most infants begin to express this at 6mos
- influenced by enviro (EX: depressed moms’ infants were less surprised by startling things)

Question 13

Disgust

Answer 13

Evolutionary basis as it helps humans avoid potential poisons

Question 14

Self conscious emotions

Answer 14

emotions such as guilt, shame, embarrassment, and pride that relate to our sense of self and our consciousness of others’ reactions
- not fully developed until 2yrs old
- expressing this is an example of DISCONTINUOUS GROWTH

Question 15

Discontinuous growth + self consciousness

Answer 15

• there is an abrupt, qualitative change in children’s ability to experience self-conscious emotions that’s linked to emergence of a sense of self
• also fostered by adults and what society expects

Question 16

Guilt

Answer 16

associated with empathy for others and involves feelings of remorse and regret about one’s behavior, a desire to undo the consequences of that behavior

Question 17

Shame

Answer 17

Not concerned about others
- when children feel this, their focus is on themselves and the acceptance of personal failure (feel exposed and want to hide)

Question 18

Identifying emotions of others

Answer 18

by 3mos, infants can distinguish facial expressions of happiness, surprise, and anger
- determined through habituation paradigm

Question 19

Social referencing

Answer 19

the use of a parent’s or adult’s facial expression or vocal cues to decide how to deal with novel, ambiguous, or possibly threatening situations
- 12mos tend to stay near their mothers when she shows fear, move toward the obj if she shows positive emotions, and partially to obj if she shows no emotion
- kids do better if they receive both facial and vocal cues

Question 20

Correlation between inability to recognize emotions in others and negative qualities

Answer 20

• children low in emotion recognition ability had high levels of loneliness

Question 21

False emotions

Answer 21

• seen in 3yr olds attempt to mask their negative emotions when they receive a disappointing gift
• by age 5, children’s understanding of flase emotion has improved

Question 22

display rules

Answer 22

a social group’s informal norms about when, where, and how much one should show emotions and when + where displays of emotion should be suppressed or masked by displays of other emotions

Question 23

Emotional intelligence

Answer 23

ability to cognitively process info about emotions and to use that info to guide both thought and behavior

Question 24

Emotional regulation

Answer 24

a set of both conscious and unconscious processes used to monitor and modulate emotional experiences
- paves way for successful social interactions and academics

Question 25

Dev of emotional regulation

Answer 25

• infants rely on their parents for regulation and soothe
• as they develop their abilities to control their bodies and understand their env, they can gradually take control of regulating their own emotions

Question 26

co-regulation

Answer 26

a caregiver provides the needed comfort or distraction to help the child reduce their distress

Question 27

Self-comforting behaviors

Answer 27

repetitive actions that regulate arousal by providing a mildly positive physical sensation
- by 5mos, infants show signs of rudimentary regulation

Question 28

Self distraction

Answer 28

looking away from an upsetting stimulus to regulate one’s level of arousal
- over the course of the first 5 yrs, infants DECREASE their use of self-comforting in stressful situations and INCREASE their use of self-distracting

Question 29

Social competence

Answer 29

the ability to achieve personal goals in social interactions while simultaneously maintaining positive relationships with others

Question 30

Parents’ emotional expression impact

Answer 30

provides children with a model of when and how to express emotions
- when parents don’t react in how the infant expects, causes distress (“still face” experiment)

Question 31

Emotional socialization

Answer 31

the direct and indirect influence parents have on their children’s standards, values, and ways of thinking + feeling
- parents socialize their children’s emotional dev through their reactions to their children’s expression of emotion

Question 32

Parent reactions to children’s emotions

Answer 32

• parents who dismiss or criticize anxiety and sadness communicate to the child that their feelings aren’t valid
• their children, in turn, are likely to be less emotionally and socially competent

Question 33

Emotional coaching

Answer 33

the use of discussion and other forms of instruction to teach children how to cope with and then express emotions

Question 34

Temperament

Answer 34

• individual differences in children’s emotional functioning
• diffs in their timidity, expression of emotions, and how they deal with their emotions
• present from infancy onward and thought to be genetically based
• considered to be relatively consistent across time and situations

Question 35

Within-person approach to understanding development

Answer 35

researchers characterize every child laong the same set of dimensions of temperament
- every child has some level of temperament

Question 36

5 dimensions of temperament

Answer 36

fear, distress/anger, attention span, activity level, and smiling/laughter

Question 37

EEG differences for temperament

Answer 37

when confronted with a novel stimulus, infants who show a greater RIGHT frontal activation more likely to react with anxiety and avoidance
- but those with a LEFT activation of frontal lobe likely to exhibit happy mood and eagerness to engage with a new experience

Question 38

Determinants of temperament

Answer 38

Thought to rely heavily on genetics and biology but some environmental influence
- EX: teratogens influence attention and behavior (thus temperament)
- also criticism and abuse from parents influences termperament

Question 39

Goodness of fit

Answer 39

the degree to which an individual’s temperament is compatible with the demands and expectations of their social environment

Question 40

Differential susceptibility

Answer 40

a circumstance in which the same temperament characteristic that puts some children at high risk for negative outcomes when exposed to a harsh home environment also causes them to blossom when their home environment is positive

Question 41

Equifinality

Answer 41

the concept that various causes can lead to the same mental disorder

Question 42

multifinality

Answer 42

the concept that certain risk factors don’t always lead to a mental disorder
EX: not every maltreated child develops a disorder

Question 43

Gender differences in adolescent depression

Answer 43

girls tend to express more internalizing emotions, than boys
- biological changes in puberty tend to be more difficult for girls and may contribute to girls’ vulnerability
- girls more affected by chronic stress from social interactions
= all lead to increase in depression for girls compared to boys

Question 44

Rumination

Answer 44

the act of focusing on one’s own negative emotions and negative self-appraisals and consequences, without engaging in efforts to improve one’s situation

Question 45

co-rumination

Answer 45

extensively discussing and self-disclosing emotional problems to another person