Lecture 10 - Emotional Development Flashcards
Basic emotions and expressions are…
…seen and recognized across cultures
What method confirmed that people across cultures can recognize basic emotions and expressions?
People matched pictures of facial expressions to matching vocal cues to emotion
What methods can be used to determine infant emotional expressions?
Observational methods (natural v. structured)
What are the advantages of a natural observation?
Non-laboratory setting
Behaviors may be more likely to be those that occur in real settings
What are the disadvantages of a natural observation?
Many important behaviors are infrequent
What are the advantages of a structured observation?
Can generate behaviors of interest
Greater control over context
What are the disadvantages of a structured observation?
Less naturalistic setting
What is required for both natural and structural observations?
Both require “Rater Agreement”
Emotional expression in infancy: Birth - 6 months
Defined in terms of features (as objective as possible)
Interest, Joy, Sadness/Distress, Anger
Two ‘fear’ provoking situations
- Stranger anxiety
2. Separation anxiety
Stranger anxiety
Fear strangers, even when parents are present
Lasts til about 2 yrs
Large individual differences
Separation anxiety
Distress when parents leave
Cultural differences in degree/amount, but NOT in developmental trajectory
Which culture (Chinese or Euro-American) experiences a larger degree of separation anxiety?
Chinese
Separation anxiety trajectory
Increase to 70-100% till 13 months, then decrease
More complex, later developing emotions
“Self conscious” emotions
Dependent on the infant having ‘self’ concept, which emerges about 18 months
