Exam #2 Emotions Flashcards
facial expressions
powerful tool for expressing emotions
evolutionary roots for communication
young neonates are able to imitate adult facial expressions of basic emotions:
happiness, fear, anger, disgust, sadness and surprise
positive emotions
smile
first month = reflex response
2-3motnhs = social smiles to people - first emotional mielston
7th moth = familiar people, encourage interaction and bonding
happiness
by 2nd month - product of child controlling event
laughing
by 3rd and 4th month - during activities
about 12 months - unexpected events
2nd year - own behavior, trying to elicit laugh from others
negative emotions
undifferentiated distress early in life
generalized distress
- newborns: hunger, pain, over-stimulation
anger
early instances - restraint, loss of an interesting toy, absence of caregiver
increases with age
effective at getting attention
sadness
first few months - seen in response to pain
less common than anger
- more common in the disturbed parent-child relationship
- extreme separation: Romanian orphans
fear and distress
fear - develops with motor capabilities, using social referencing
6 months to 2 years = fear of strangers
- fear response to unfamiliar adults
- emerges at 6-7 months and peaks 8-10 months, declines over 2nd year
- intensity varies by child, culture and experience
separation anxiety
fear of being away from caregiver
- appears at 1 year and peaks between 13-15 months
- declines during preschool years
- intensity varies by culture, individual child, and experience (attachment relationship)
self-conscious emotions
embarrassment, pride, guilt, and shame
- self-awareness, awareness of reactions of others
embarrassment - 15-24 months old
pride, guilt and shame don’t happen until 3 years at earliest
disgust
facial display at birth
adult-like stimuli - not evident until 3 years
- will eat almost anything
- no aversion to human waste products
relatively sudden onset
- biologically timed
- requires learning (varies by culture)
emotional regulation
- adjust emotional state or comfort level
- vary level of intensity
- enable us to achieve a goal
- control emotions
infant emotional control
- limited capacity
- get attention: depend on caregiver for soothing
early childhood emotional control
language allows communication with caregiver
develop new strategies - distractions, shift activity
emotional outbursts decrease
- parents encourage children to “use words”
middle-late childhood
develop strategies by age 10
social support - seek out friends
distraction
redefine situation
problem-solving
influences on emotional regulation
cultural differences
- american are described as “emotionally explosive” other countries emphasize emotional regulation more
temperament
- early emerging individual differences
parent-child interaction
- parents talk to children directly
EQ
Abilities key to competent social functioning
Predicts how people do in life (better than IQ)
Motivate oneself
Persistence
Impulse control
Delay gratification
Identify own feelings
Identify others’ feelings
Regulate mood
Regulate emotions
Empathy
delayed gratification/ impulse control - Mishcel
- marshmallow test
- children most effective at delay of gratification task re-direct their attention by talking to themselves, signing or making up games
temperament overview
individual differences in behavior functioning
emerge early
biologically based
somewhat stable over time
basis for more complex personality characteristics
NY longitudinal study of temperament (chess and thomas)
- first major study of temperament as reactionary to behaviorism
- detailed clinical interivews with mothes from birth on 141 participants
Chess and thomas: identified 9 dimensions of temperament
Mood - predominant quality, positive or negative
Approach/withdrawal - response to novelty, bold vs shy
Adaptability - response to environmental changes, roll with the punches vs slow to acclimate
Intensity - the strength of emotional reactions, extreme highs, and lows vs mellow
Rhythm - regularity of biological cycles, predictable vs unpredictable
Persistence - response to challenges and obstacles, give up vs keeps at it
Threshold- sensitivity to stimulation, notice vs don’t notice small changes
Activity - the proportion of time active vs inactive, can’t sit still vs physically calm
Distractibility - ability to focus attention, notice every distraction vs extreme concentration
temperament type: easy 40%
Positive mood
regular/rhythmic in body functions
Adaptable
Reactions mild to moderate intensity
temperament type: difficult 10%
negative mood
active
irregular/rhytmic
unadaptable
withdraw from novelty
very intense emotional relations
temperament type: slow to warm up 15%
withdraw from novelty
slow to adatp
reactions mild to moderate intensity
low in activity
