Lecture 7: Emotional Development Flashcards
emotions
a combination of physiological and cognitive responses to experiences
what responses are involved in emotional experiences?
- Neural response
- Physiological factors
- Subjective feelings
- Emotional expression
- Urge to take action
examples of neural responses
amygdala activation & the release of cortisol and adrenaline
examples of physiological factors
heart racing & nausea
examples of subjective feelings
recognition of danger & feeling of fear
examples of emotional expression
eyes wide, eyebrows raised & mouth pulled back
examples of the urge to take action
run away & lock the door
discrete emotions theory
Neurological and biological systems have evolved to allow humans to experience and express a set of innate, basic emotions
basic emotions
innate emotions that were important for survival and communication and thus largely automatic
evidence for basic emotions
- Basic emotions are universal across cultures
- Basic emotions are present from infancy
what are the basic emotions?
- Happiness
- Fear
- Anger
- Sadness
- Disgust
- Surprise
(inside-out characters plus surprise)
beyond basic emotions
- Other emotions develop later and/or are not culturally universal
- Other emotions are variations in intensity or combinations of basic emotions
how do we know what babies are feeling?
Systems of coding facial cues have been developed to make interpretations of infants’ emotions more objective. They link particular facial expressions and facial muscle movements with particular emotions
happiness cues
smiling, raising cheeks, eyes squinting
anger cues
strongly furrowed brow that comes down in the centre, open square-shaped mouth, sometimes baring teeth, flared nostrils
emotions at birth
At birth, infants experience 2 general emotional states
what 2 emotional states are present at birth?
- Positive, indicated by approach behaviour
- Negative/distress, indicated by crying or withdrawal behaviour
emergence of basic emotions
Basic emotions emerge in a predictable sequence over the first year of life
why is happiness adaptive?
it motivates us to approach situations that are likely to increase chances of survival
when do smiles evoked by biological states first occur?
from birth
when do social smiles first occur?
2-3 months
when do infants first laugh?
5 months
development of the source of happiness
- What makes children smile and laugh changes with cognitive development
- ex. At 5 months old, they laugh at bodily noises, but at 4 years old, they laugh at jokes
why is anger adaptive?
it helps us defend ourselves against threats and to overcome obstacles to our goals
when do infants begin to express anger?
4 months
when do infants peak in the tendency to react with anger?
24 months
why does the tendency to react with anger decline after 24 months?
likely due to kids’ greater ability to express themselves with language and improved emotion regulation skills
matching anger to the situation
- As children get older, they are better able to match anger to the situation
- They are angrier if a hurtful action is intentional vs. unintentional
what context do social smiles emerge in?
usually in interactions with parents
benefit of social smiles
promote care from caregivers and foster bonding
why is fear adaptive?
it motivates escape from danger or solicits protection from caregivers
when do infants begin to express fear?
7 months
when does a fear of strangers and separation anxiety emerge?
8 months
when does separation anxiety begin to decline?
15 months
development of the source of fear
What scares children changes with cognitive development
fear at 3-5-years-old
children fear imaginary creatures
fear at 7+-years-old
fear related to everyday situations
when do sadness, surprise, and disgust emerge
in the first year
function of surprise
indicates that the world is working contrary to expectations and is thus important for learning
function of sadness
elicits care and comfort from their caregiver in reaction to a loss
what is necessary for the emergence of sadness?
object permanence
what usually causes sadness in infants?
being separated from their parents
why is disgust adaptive?
it helps us avoid potential poisons or bacteria
what are the first expressions of disgust directed towards?
food
when do self-conscious emotions emerge?
once a child has a sense of self as separate from other people & an appreciation of what adults expect of them
when does a sense of self as separate from other people emerge?
around 18 months
examples of self-conscious emotions
guilt, shame, embarrassment, pride, and empathy
when do self-conscious emotions emerge?
around 2 years
culture and self-conscious emotions
Culture influences the frequency and types of self-conscious emotions that are most likely to be experienced
self-conscious emotions in individualistic cultures
more likely to experience pride
self-conscious emotions in collectivist cultures
more likely to experience guilt and shame
guilt vs. shame
- Guilt and shame are often elicited by similar situations but are distinct emotional reactions
- Generally, guilt is healthier than shame
guilt
feelings of regret about one’s behaviour associated with the desire to fix the consequences of that behaviour
shame
a self-focused feeling of personal failure associated with the desire to hide
when can expressions of guilt and shame be distinguished?
around 2 years
guilt and shame in 2-year-olds study
- When 2-year-olds play with a doll that has been rigged so that one leg falls off during play, they show different reactions
- Guilt: trying to fix the doll and quickly telling the adult about the accident
- Shame: didn’t try to fix the doll, avoided the adult, and delayed telling them about the accident
parental influence and guilt vs. shame
- The child is more likely to feel guilt if the parent emphasizes the badness of the action
- The child is more likely to feel shame if the parent experiences the badness of the child
how does emotional recognition begin?
Identifying emotions in adults’ faces comes before identifying one’s own emotions
facial recognition at 3 months
can distinguish facial expressions of happiness, surprise, and anger
(i.e. habituated to pictures of happy faces and then dishabituate when presented with a picture of a surprised face)
facial recognition at 7 months
can distinguish expressions of fear and sadness
social referencing
use of parents’ facial expressions and tone of voice to decide how to deal with novel/ambiguous situations
what enables social referencing?
Recognizing parents’ emotions
social referencing and the visual cliff study
- 0% of babies cross if the parent looks scared
- 75% of babies cross if the parent looks happy
social referencing and the visual cliff takeaways
- Children can distinguish between emotional expressions
- Children rely on parents’ reactions to figure out how to react to a situation themselves (social referencing)
when do children learn to label emotions?
3 years
initial emotion labelling abilities
are simply described as feeling good or bad
labelling emotions throughout childhood
The ability to label emotions improves over early childhood
when do children begin to understand mixed emotions?
5 years old
when do children begin to understand that a person’s facial expressions do not necessarily match what they’re feeling?
5 years old
understanding real vs. fake emotions study
3- and 5-year-old hear a story about a child forgetting her favourite toy for a sleepover but that she doesn’t want to show how she feels
understanding real vs. fake emotions study findings in 3-year-olds
think that the child will be showing sadness
understanding real vs. fake emotions study findings in 5-year-olds
know that the child will be sad but will be showing happiness on her face
why do children improve in their abilities to detect fake emotions?
greater understanding of display rules
display rules
Social norms about when, where, and how much one should show emotions and which emotions are appropriate in a given context
why are display rules important?
for successful social interactions
implications of understanding real vs. fake emotions
Understanding false emotions allows children to fake emotions themselves and lie
emotional regulation
A set of conscious and unconscious processes used to manage emotional experiences and expressions
development of emotional regulation
Develops gradually during childhood
co-regulation
parents regulate infants’ distress through soothing or distraction
why is co-regulation necessary?
because infants cannot regulate their own emotions
when do infants begin to show rudimentary emotional regulation skills?
5 months
how do 5-month-olds regulate their emotions?
self-comforting behaviours & self-distraction
self-comforting behaviours
repetitive actions that create a mildly positive sensation
self-distraction
looking away from the upsetting stimulus
what emotional regulation behaviour do children rely on most in the first few months of life
they learn to rely more on self-distraction rather than self-comforting behaviours
emotional regulation behaviour in middle childhood
Beginning in middle childhood (6-8 years), children also rely on cognitive strategies and problem-solving
Children that have good emotional regulation skills:
- Have higher well-being
- Are more socially skilled and are liked better by their peers and teachers
(poor regulation skills put kids at risk of being bullied) - Do better in school
why does emotional regulation improve?
- Motor development
- Increased parental expectation that child should be able to manage their emotional arousal
- Cognitive development
emotional regulation and motor development
Greater ability to control bodily movements enables self-soothing and distraction in infancy
parental expectations and emotional regulation
Children internalize this expectation and comply
cognitive development and emotional regulation
Improved attention and inhibition enable better emotional regulation skills
adolescents and moodiness and study method
- experience-sampling method
- Adolescents and adults wore a pager that beeped at random times
- It reported on mood when it beeped
adolescents and moodiness study findings
- adolescents report more frequent high-intensity emotions than adults
- Both more intense negative and positive emotions
- Intense moods don’t last as long compared to adults
adolescents and moodiness study takeaway
Adolescents are indeed more moody than adults
emotional changes in adolescents study method
- adolescents rated emotions during each day of the school week for 3 weeks
- They did this for 5 years
emotional changes in adolescents study findings
- Happiness decreases over adolescence
- Sadness and anxiety increase, especially for girls
- Anger increases and then decreases towards the end of adolescence
emotional changes in adolescents study implications
- Gender differences in emotional experience in adolescents
- An increase in negative emotions during adolescence is normal
- Struggles to cope with these changes can lead to the development of depression and anxiety disorders
- It can be difficult to distinguish between normal changes in adolescents’ emotional experiences vs. mental health issues
risk-taking in adolescents
- Impulsivity increases during early adolescence, peaks in middle/late adolescence, and then declines in adulthood
- This is found across cultures and historical times
motor vehicle deaths
motor vehicles peak in 21-24-year-olds, and are also very high in 16-20-year-olds
why do adolescents take more risks?
The result of changes to the limbic system & the prefrontal cortex, both of which are involved in decision-making
limbic system
involved in emotional and reward processing
prefrontal cortex
involved in goal-directed behaviour, deliberation, and inhibitory control
changes to the limbic system in adolescence
Reward processing in the limbic systemic is heightened in adolescence due to the synaptogenesis of dopamine receptors
changes to the PFC in adolescence
Synaptic pruning and myelination in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) occur until the mid-20s
myelination
thickening of the myelin sheath surrounding axons, which increases the speed of neural signal transmission
what is an immature PFC associated with?
difficulties with inhibition, impulse control, and planning
implications of risk-taking in adolescence
- Adolescents take more risks because of the maturational imbalance between their limbic system and prefrontal cortex
- But, risk-taking is also a good thing. It promotes independence by trying new experiences
what is nucleus accumbens activation associated with?
The degree of nucleus accumbens activation during reward anticipation is positively correlated with self-reported risk-taking in daily life
temperament
Individual differences in emotion, self-regulation, activity levels, and attention that are consistent over time and across contexts
basis of temperament
Present from infancy thus thought to be genetically-based
why do kids show very different reactions to the same situation?
they have different temperaments
who described the type approach to temperament?
Thomas et al.
3 categories of babies in the type approach to temperament
- easy babies
- difficult babies
- slow-to-warm-up babies
easy babies
adjust easily to new situations, quickly establish daily routines, such as sleep and eating, and generally are cheerful in mood and easy to calm
what percentage of babies are easy?
40%
difficult babies
slow to adjust to new experiences, tend to react negatively and intensely to novel stimuli and events, irregular in their daily routines, and bodily functions
what percentage of babies are difficult?
10%
slow-to-warm-up babies
somewhat difficult at first, but become easier over time as they have repeated contact with new objects, people, and situations
what percentage of babies are slow-to-warm-up?
15%
what prompted the dimensional approach to temperament?
Many children did not fit into one of Thomas et al.,’s categories
5 dimensions of temperament
- smiling and laughing
- distress (in infancy)/anger (in childhood)
- fear
- attention span
- activity level
smiling and laughing
positive emotional response to a change in a stimulus
Distress (in infancy)/anger (in childhood)
negative emotional response related to having an ongoing task interrupted or blocked
fear
the tendency to experience unease or nervousness in new situations
attention span
attention to an object or task for an extended period
activity level
rate and extent of gross motor body movements
how is the dimension approach to temperament assessed?
- Parent and/or teacher responses to questions assessing each dimension
- Observing how kids react to lab tasks designed to assess each dimension
consistency of temperament over time
- Temperament is largely consistent/stable over time (influence of genetics)
- But, some changes in temperament over time are possible (influence of the caregiver)
temperament twin studies
Identical twins have more similar temperaments than fraternal twins
when is changing temperament easiest?
when kids are younger
implications of temperament
- Children contribute to their emotional development through their temperament
- Some children are easier to parent than others
the influence of family in emotional development
Family, especially parents, play a huge role in children’s emotional development
how do parents influence emotional development?
- Parent’s expression of emotions (indirect influence on emotional development)
- Parent’s reactions to children’s emotions (direct influence on emotional development)
parents’ expression of emotions
Parents’ emotional expressions serve as a model of when and how to express emotions
Children who grow up with parents who tend to not show emotions tend to:
- Not express emotions themselves (they learn to see emotions as bad)
- Have trouble identifying and understanding emotions in themselves and others
- Struggle with regulating intense emotions
Children who grow up with parents who express a high level of positive emotion tend to:
- Express more positive emotions themselves
- Have higher well-being
- Have better social skills
Children who grow up with parents who express a high level of negative emotion tend to:
- Experience and express more negative emotions themselves
- Be less socially competent
- Have poorer emotion regulation skills
parents’ reactions to childrens’ emotions
Parents’ reactions to their children’s emotions directly influence children’s emotional development
mirroring
- Behaviours in which a parent reflects the emotions of their child to them
- Contingent, quick response to the infant
how is mirroring conveyed?
Conveyed through verbal and non-verbal cues
what characterizes mirroring?
warmth
why is mirroring important?
- It validates and normalizes the child’s emotions
- Helps the child identify and understand their emotions
still-face paradigm
Lab procedure in which a parent goes through a repetitive sequence with their child in which they have
2 minutes to play with the infant & 2 minutes of still face (no reaction to the infant)
results of the still-face paradigm
Infants quickly become distressed in reaction to still-face and this distress increases with each still-face episode
implications of the still-face paradigm
- Infants are attuned to parents’ emotions
- They are distressed when the parent doesn’t react as expected
- They often engage in self-distraction
emotional coaching
The use of discussion and other forms of instruction to teach children how to cope with, regulate, and appropriately express emotions
emotional coaching across cultures
What is seen as appropriate depends on the culture
example of emotional coaching
“You seem anxious about the test. Let’s walk through the first step that can get us going in the right direction.”
Supportive/sensitive reaction
-mirroring + emotional coaching
- Is the ideal way to react to children’s emotions
why is a supportive reaction important?
- Validates a child’s emotions
- Helps the child understand their emotions
- Fosters emotional regulation
- Associated with higher self-esteem
- Fosters social competence
- Associated with better performance in school
example of a supportive/sensitive reaction
“You seem worried and upset about the test. I sometimes feel the same way when I have a big thing to do at work. Let’s walk through the first step that can get us going in the right direction…”
dismissive reaction
coaching but no mirroring
example of a dismissive reaction
“You’re fine. There’s no need to be nervous. You’ll just study and it’ll be ok”
over-validating reaction
mirroring but no coaching
example of an over-validating reaction
Parent looks anxious. “OMG! The test is next week! You must be so nervous. You have so much material to study. Where do we even begin?”
critical reaction
no mirroring or emotional coaching
example of a critical reaction
In an angry tone. “What’s wrong with you? You always get like this before a test and then you get a bad grade.”
implications of lack of supportive/sensitive reaction
Children who grow up with parents who habitually do not show a support/sensitive reaction tend to be less emotionally and socially competent
why do parents react the way they do?
- cultural differences
- Generational differences in norms for emotional expression
- Family reactions to emotions when parents themselves were children (intergenerational transmission of emotional regulation)
- Parents’ mood and emotions in the moment
cultural differences and emotional reactions
- Emotional expression is more encouraged in independent vs. interdependent cultures
- Reactions to specific emotions differ by culture
differential susceptibility hypothesis
- Some children are highly sensitive to both negative and positive environmental conditions
- Sensitive temperament + negative home environment = negative outcomes
- Sensitive temperament + positive home environment = positive outcomes
what hypothesis is known as the dandelion and orchid theory?
the differential susceptibility hypothesis
dandelion and orchid theory
- Dandelions are hearty and can live in any conditions (less sensitive temperament)
- Orchids can only live in certain conditions (sensitive temperament)
Children with more difficult/negative temperaments have:
- More behavioural problems if raised with low-quality childcare
- But, they have the lowest levels of behavioural problems if raised by high-quality childcare
Children with impulsive temperaments have:
- Higher levels of alcohol abuse in adolescence if raised in harsh families
- But, have the lowest levels of alcohol abuse if raised in positive family environments
implications of differential susceptibility
- Children’s temperament and the environment they grow up in jointly determine their outcomes
- When all kids benefit most from sensitive parenting, it is particularly important for children who are more temperamentally sensitive to their environment (orchids)
example of mirroring
a baby looks upset. The parent also furrows their eyebrows and frowns.
emotional development timeline
- at birth: infants experience & positive emotional states, they show biological/reflexive smiles
- 2 months: social smiles emerge
- 3 months: can distinguish between faces of happiness, surprise, and anger
- 4 months: begin to express anger
- 5 months: begin to laugh (mainly at bodily noises), show rudimentary emotional regulation skills (self-soothing & self-distraction)
- 7 months: begin to express fear, can distinguish between expressions of fear and sadness
- 8 months: fear of strangers & separation anxiety emerge
- 15 months: separation anxiety declines
- 18 months: a sense of self as separate from others emerges
- 2 years: peak in the tendency to react with anger, guilt & shame emerge, guilt & shame can be distinguished
- 3 years: rudimentary ability to identify and label emotions in the self and others (good vs. bad), fear imaginary creatures
- 4 years: laugh at jokes
- 5 years: understand that people can have mixed emotions, begin to understand that a person’s facial expressions don’t necessarily match their feeligns
- 6-8 years: rely on cognitive strategies & problem-solving to regulate emotions, fear relates to everyday situations
