Emotional Development

Question 1

What are the main components of any emotions?

Answer 1

Components
- Neural response
- Physiological factors
- Subjective feelings
- Emotional expression
- Urge to take action

Question 2

How to create a good fit for a child?

Answer 2

Can foster fit by
- Knowing and understanding a child’s temperament
- Adjusting expectations for them to be more realistic
- Selecting activities more in line with child’s temperament

Question 3

Why are supportive and sensitive reactions ideal for children?

Answer 3

Supportive/sensitive reactions are ideal because
- Validates child’s emotions
- Helps the child understand their emotions
- Fosters emotional regulation
- Associated with higher self-esteem
- Fosters empathy and social skills
- Associated with better performance in school

Question 4

What are the 6 innate basic emotions?

Answer 4

Happiness, Fear, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Surprise

Question 5

What are the emotions present from birth?

Answer 5

At birth→ 2 general emotional states
- positive/happiness→ approach behaviour
- negative/distress→ crying or withdrawal behaviour

Question 6

When does each basic emotion appear?

Answer 6

Happiness-> from birth
Anger-> 4months but peak at 24 months because of
Fear-> 7 months
Suprise, sadness and disgust appear within first year

Question 7

What are the different stage of fear during infancy?

Answer 7

7months-> appears
8months-> separation anxiety and fear of strangers
15months-> decline of separation anxiety
3-5yo-> scared of creatures because symbolic thoughts
7+yo-> scared of everyday situations

Question 8

Why does anger peak at 24months?

Answer 8

limited language abilities

Question 9

Which cognitive ability is necessary for sadness to emerge?

Answer 9

object permanence

Question 10

When do self-conscious emotions emerge?

Answer 10

2yo

Question 11

What is the difference between guilt and shame?

Answer 11

Guilt→ Feelings of regret about one’s behaviour associated
- desire to “fix” the consequences of that behaviour
- hurting someone
Shame→ self-focused general feeling of personal failure
- desire to hide
—>guilt healthier than shame
—>around 2yo

Question 12

What are the parental reactions to children’s actions that influence child’s emotional experience of guilt or shame?

Answer 12

• if parents emphasizes badness of action→ guilt
• emphasizes badness of the child→ shame

Question 13

What is social referencing?

Answer 13

Use of adults’ facial expressions and tone of voice to decide how to deal with novel/ ambiguous situations
ex: visual cliff experiment

Question 14

What is the timeline for labelling emotions in childhood?

Answer 14

3yo→ able to label happiness, anger, fear and sadness
5yo→ label surprise and disgust
6-8 yo→ label self conscious emotions
—>accuracy improves into adolescence

Question 15

When does a child understand mixed emotions?

Answer 15

5yo->ex: Little Mermaid

Question 16

What is the timeline for the development of emotion regulation?

Answer 16

At Birth→ co-regulation
- parents regulate infant’s distress through soothing or distraction
5 months→ rudimentary emotion regulation skills
- self-comforting behaviours→ repetitive actions creating mildly positive sensation
- Self-distraction→ look away from upsetting stimuli
As get older, rely more on self-distraction
- ex: play
6-8 yo→ use cognitive strategies and problem-solving to regulate emotions
- try to think in a different way about the situation

Question 17

Why does emotion regulation improve?

Answer 17

Motor development→ greater ability to control body
- important for self-soothing and distraction
Increased parental expectation
Cognitive development→ improved executive functions
- able to control attention better to enable self-distraction
- improvement in language skills to discuss rather than emotional outburst
Neurological development→ prefrontal cortex linked with executive functioning

Question 18

What are the distinct aspect of emotions during adolescence?

Answer 18

Adolescent report more frequent high-intensity emotions (positive AND negative)
Intense moods last less long
Happiness→ reported experiencing happiness 70% of the time but decreased over time
Sadness and anxiety increase especially for girls
Impulsivity increases during early adolescence

Question 19

What are the reasons for emotional changes in adolescence?

Answer 19

Cognitive changes→ advances in abstract thinking
- interpret ambiguous events in several ways
- anxiety-inducing
Social changes
- school becoming more challenging
- stronger desire for autonomy and can lead to conflict with caregivers
- more time with peers and less with family so new emotional reactions
Neurobiological changes

Question 20

What are the two brain regions responsible for the emotional changes occuring during adolescence?

Answer 20

Limbic system-> emotional processing
- reaches full potential during adolescence
- “reward more rewarding”
- synaptogenesis of dopamine receptors
PFC-> immature PCF associated with difficulties with inhibition, impulse control
- pruning and myelination until mid-20s
–>mismatch responsible

Question 21

What are the different type approach to temperament in babies?

Answer 21

Easy babies→ adjust easily
- quickly establish daily routines
- easy to calm
- 40% of babies
Difficult babies→ slow to adjust
- irregular in daily routines
- react negatively and intensely to novel stimuli
- 10% babies
Slow-to-warm-up babies→ difficult at first but easier over time
- 15% of babies

Question 22

What are the 5 keys dimensions of temperament?

Answer 22

• Positive affectivity→ Degree of positive emotional response to a change in a stimulus, indexed by smiling and laughter
• Distress→ Degree of negative emotional response related to having an ongoing task interrupted or blocked
• Fear→ tendency to experience nervousness to new situations
• Attention span→ Ability to manage and focus attention on a task for an extended period and to inhibit impulsive responses
• Activity level→ Rate and extent of gross motor body movements

Question 23

What are the two things that parents do to directly influence the emotional development of their child?

Answer 23

Mirroring→ Behaviours in which a parent reflects the emotions of their child back to them
- verbal or non verbal cues
- ex: baby looks upset→ parent also frown
- contingent responding→ timely and appropriate reaction
Emotional coaching→ use of discussion and other forms of instruction to teach children how to cope with, regulate, and appropriately express emotions

Question 24

What are the four types of reaction from parents?

Answer 24

Supportive/sensitive-> mirroring+coaching
Critical-> no mirroring or coaching
Dismissive->coaching but no mirroring
Over-validating-> mirroring but no coaching

Question 25

Why do parents react the way they do?

Answer 25

Cultural differences
- emotional expression more encouraged in north America VS east Asian cultures
Generational differences
Family reactions to emotions
- intergenerational transmission of emotional reactions and regulation
Mood and emotions in the moment