Emotional Devleopment Flashcards
What are emotion definitions?
State or feeling that has physiological, situational, subjective, and cognitive components and desire to take action
What are emotional components?
Neural responses
Physiological factors - HR, BR and hormone levels
Emotional expressions
Subjective feelings
The desire to take action
Cognitive components - evaluation
Are expressions of emotions innate?
Darwin - evolutionary approach to emotions; facial expressions of some basic emotions are innate
What are basic emotions?
Happiness
Surprise
Sadness
Anger
Disgust
Fear
What did Ekman do?
Showed photo of 6 different emotions, across different countries
Had to match photo with labels
Suggests it’s universal (all countries industrialised)
Are emotions universally understood?
Asked tribe in New Guinea who weren’t exposed to TV
Told scenario and captured their reaction
E.g., your friend has come, your child has died
Suggests it’s universal
When are basic positive emotions shown?
0-3 months - smiles are reflective, not directed at other people
3 months - social smiling, directed at other people
3-4 months - laughter emerges (e.g., at tickling)
7 months - smiling more at familiar people
Second year - more intensive, varied positive emotions in more contexts
When are basic negative emotions shown?
New born - general distress (e.g., hunger, pain)
Fear - evident by 6-7 months (strangers, nosies)
8 months - separation anxiety
What are self-conscious emotions?
Pride (study claimed to be universally recognised) (much of body, not just face)
Guilt
Shame
Embarrassment
More cultural variations - not innate
Occurs later in life
What do self-conscious emotions require?
Basic sense of self
Awareness of others reaction to us
Awareness of standards and norms
Emerge around 18-24 months
When do people recognise emotions?
3 month old distinguish between photographs of people smiling and frowning
4-7 month olds distinguish between happiness and surprise
10-12 months - begin social referencing - looking for an adult for cues to help interpret novel or ambiguous situations
By 18 months - more solid understanding of others desires/likes
Toddlers and preschool years - ability to label and understand emotions
Can young infants empathise with others emotions
Adults assessed infants response to viewing photograph
Adults were able to assess since infants imitated the facial expression they viewed
But: no emotional context was provided, so mere imitations could play a role
What did the test of emotion comprehension find?
Up to 5 - understanding the public aspect of emotion; how situations trigger emotions and how they are outwardly expressed
By 7 - understanding of the mentalistic nature of emotions, emotions are related to other mental states
Between 9-11 - understanding that one event can elicit several emotions; cognitive strategies can be used to regulate emotions.
What did the test of emotion comprehension find across cultures?
Found the same order of emotion understanding in Indian children in Peru
However, children showed a delay in emotion understanding compared to British children
What is emotion regulation?
Process used to monitor and modulate experiences and expression
Prevents emotional overload and allows one to function in a consistent manner
When do you learn to regulate emotions?
Early - reliance on caregivers to regulate externally (co-regulation)
1-2 - some self-regulation (behavioural strategies: self-distraction)
Preschool and school - more self-regulation, rely less on others, more cognitive strategies
What is attachment?
An enduring affective bond with a specific person, often between a child and their primary caregiver
Universal
Long lasting
Not dependency or sociability
John Bowlby attachment?
Primary caregiver as secure base
Derived from evolutionary and ethological theories
- innate basis
- quality depends on nature of experience with caregiver
What’s the developmental course?
Preattachment
Attachment in the making
Clear cut (true) attachment
Reciprocal relationships
Child develops an internal working model
What’s pre-attachment?
Indiscriminate social responsiveness (0-2 months)
Produce innate signs
Learn to recognise caregivers
Types of attachment?
Secure
Insecure-resistant
Insecure-avoidant
Disorganised
What are secure attachment?
Use caregiver as secure base during exploration
May be distressed when caregiver leaves
What is insecure-avoidant attachment?
Indifference towards caregiver
If distressed during separation, comforted easily by stranger
What is insecure resistant?
Clingy, stays close to caregiver rather than exploring
Very upset during separation
What is disorganised attachment?
Small % of children don’t fit other categories
No consistent way of coping with stress
What’s attachment in the making
discriminate social responsiveness (2-7 months)
Respond preferentially to primary caregiver
More easily soothed by primary caregiver
Beginning to identify caregiver as person they can depend on
Whats clear cut attachment?
Focused attachment to regular caregivers (7 months to 1.5 years)
Infants have singled out attachment figure (often mom)
Trust this person, who provides socioemotional base
Separation anxiety
What’s reciprocal relationships?
Goal-corrected partnerships (from 2 years on)
Gradually less separation anxiety
Can negotiate with caregiver
Become true partners in attachment relationships
