Unit 10 - Emotional Development

Question 1

emotions

Answer 1

changes in: neural activity, physiological state, subjective experience, expressions reflecting one’s internal experience, thoughts, motivations, actions

Question 2

do you feel or think about your emotions first?

Answer 2

we feel the affect on our physiological state before it enter our cognition to determine what that emotion is

Question 3

discrete emotion theory

Answer 3

• basic emotions and their expressions are innate products of evolution
• each has a unique psychobiological basis and found across all cultures
• paul ekman

Question 4

functionalist perspective on where emotions come from

Answer 4

• emotions are goal-oriented and accordingly vary by social context
• does not draw hard distinctions between emotions and their roots
• Lisa Feldman barret
• still evolving theory

Question 5

what are the 6 basic emotions?

Answer 5

• anger
• happy
• fear
• sadness
• surprise
• disgust

Question 6

happiness

Answer 6

expression: smiling, rasing cheeks, squinting eyes

first signs: in the first month, babies can start to smile in the REM sleep, this decreases with age

• between 3-8 weeks, smile response in a range of stimuli (social smiling)
• by 7 months, familiarity plays a role, smile at people hey normally see but not so much with strangers
• by age 1, kids can find pleasure in funny noise, appearances, language, behaviuor

Question 7

fear

Answer 7

expression: mouth open or closed (corners are pulled backwards and down), eyes are wide open, middle eyebrow raised

first signs: little evidence in first few month (sensory systems are still developing), rely on adults to keep them safe

• develop stranger anxiety around 7-8months, will continue to intensify until year 2
• lots of variability in fearfulness (individual differences and contextual factors)
• necessary for survival (evolutionary perspective)
• develop separation anxiety (distress when one is separated from the figure of attachment), shown to increase between 8 to 15 months

Question 8

anger

Answer 8

expression: furrowed brows, flared nostrils, square mouth, baring teeth

first signs: hard to pinpoint (can be mixed with sadness), better to use distress as the signal to say that something is wrong

• by 4 months, anger can be clearly evoked (study with baby and interrupting their goal of reaching for the toy)
• react with anger peaks between 18-24 months and has a general decline from age 3 onwards due to language skills increased, understanding others pov, and sensitivity to social norms

Question 9

sadness

Answer 9

expression: downturned corners of mouth, lips pushed together, slightly furrowed brow

first signs: some signs in early infancy but hard to distinguish from anger (distress), starts to become evident when not being shown care
- study with toy being taken away, when they look towards their mother, most children showed sadness to elicit social support

Question 10

surprise (something unpredictable has occurred)

Answer 10

expression: eyes wide open, arched eyebrows, mouths in O shape

first signs:
- not the same thing as the startled response, which is more of a reflex (attention-grabbing stimulus), present at birth
- when something defies your expectations, you are surprised (not a relfex), challenge to expectations< emerges over 6 months

Question 11

disgust

Answer 11

expression: nose crinkled, nostrils flared, mouth open and lips pulled back
- important as it promotes us from avoiding things that might make up sick (avoid this)
- study with just birhted babies a sour and sweet solution to suck on, they show obvious difference in expression
- begin calling things yucky.gross early in toddlerhood
- before age 9, they often confuse disgust with anger

Question 12

self0consciuos emotions

Answer 12

emotions related to one’s senstivity to the perception and reactions fo others and one’s perception of oneself (guilty, shame and shyness)

Question 13

guilt

Answer 13

• focused specifically on one’s actions and thier consequences for others
• feelings of remorse, regret, empathy for other
• associated with attempts to remedy the situation

Question 14

shame

Answer 14

• focused more broadly on one’s feeling of self-worth, inherent value
• feelings of being a failure, exposed, needing to hide
• associated with social avoidance, withdrawal, not making amends

Question 15

guilt and shame in kids

Answer 15

• guilt increases from 2nd to 3rd year
• promote feeling guilt vs shame by focusing on behaviour not traits, guiding empathy to repair, avoiding humiliation
• cultural difference in shame and guilty
• more guilt is shown to have fewer behaviours in the future
• more shame is shown to lead to more risky behaviuors

Question 16

shyness

Answer 16

fear, discomfort, and reticence when faced with new social situations and the potential for social evaluation
- conflict between social approach and social avoidance motivations
- starts to emerge in early middle childhood
- strong predictor of later social anxiety

Question 17

temperament

Answer 17

the root of shyness in biology and genetics

Question 18

how do children understand others emotions?

Answer 18

by 3 months, infants are able to distinguish happiness, surprise and anger in others by doing habituation studies

Question 19

how do infants learn from others emotions?

Answer 19

• two age groups: 12 months and 16 months
• paired toys with videos of people expressing emotions
• when given the chance to choose a toy, 12-month-olds had no preference but 16-month-olds were more likely to choose the toys that were associated with happiness/surprise

Question 20

social referencing

Answer 20

using facial expressions and vocal cues from others to learn how to respond to new, ambiguous, or maybe threatening situations

Question 21

when can children label emotions?

Answer 21

• happiness by age 2
• anger, sadness, and fear are by age 3
• surprise and disgust is later in school year

Question 22

emotional intelligence

Answer 22

ability to process information about emotions and to use the info to guide one’s thoughts and behaviours
- emotion identification
- understand why people experience emotions
- essential for effective emotion regulation

Question 23

emotion socialization

Answer 23

acquiring the values, standards, skills, knowledge, and behaviours that are regarded as appropriate in one;s culture

Question 24

how does how a parents respond to their child emotions affect them?

Answer 24

responding to a children’s expression of engative emotions with anger, mockery or dismissiveness is associated with:
- lower social competence
- lower sympathy
- poor stress management
- problems with aggression

reliable, supportive responding is associated with positive outcomes:
- social competence
- school success

Question 25

why is exposure to emotion language important?

Answer 25

- more use by mother in first few years of life with promote between emotion understanding at age 6

Question 26

emotion coaching

Answer 26

- discussing meotions with kids - providing tips on how to cope with them - related to higher social competence and empathy - lower risk for depression

Question 27

emotion regulation

Answer 27

a set of conscious and unconscious processes used to monitor and modulate emotional experiences and expressions - newborns experience negative emotions but the only thing they know how to do is cry to signal distress Co-regulation: emotion regulation that is facilitated by an interaction with a caregiver

Question 28

emotion regluating behaviuors in infants

Answer 28

1. self-soothing: repetitive actions to regulate arousal by giving mild positive physical sensation (thumb-sucking), will decrease over first year 2. self-distraction: looking away from upsetting stimuli to reduce arousal, increases over first year 3. communicating about emotions with others

Question 29

emotion regulation is early childhood

Answer 29

- increasing with age, children start to develop self-control skills - ability to inhibit negative bahviuors - ability to inhibit positive emotions Marshmallow Test - looking at children delay of ratification - choice between small immediate reward and a larger reward later on - able to delay reward as the delayed rewards increased or the time they need to wait decrease, as they get older they are able to delay gratification and chose self-control -kids have lot of difference variability in how they regulate their temptations (exposure, distraction,etc.) - kids had the choice to have the reward covered or uncovered (3rd to 6th graders would rather cover it up as they knew about their desire to self-regulate)

Question 30

temperament

Answer 30

individual differences in emotion, activity elvels, and attention; exhibited in a wide variety of context - emerge in infancy and thought to be rooted in biology

Question 31

what is the origin of temperament

Answer 31

- thomas and chess - interviewed parents about their babies pattern of behaviour - asked about stability of mood, reactions to new people/situations, regularity of their schedules, attention span/curiosity - 3 categories of babies - between-subjects approach

Question 32

what are the 3 categories of babies in Thomas & Chess's study?

Answer 32

Easy babies: highly adaptable, adjust quickly, show interest to novelty, quick to establish routines, cheerful, regulated, flexible, 40% difficult babies: withdraw, hard time adapting, intense negative negative response to novelty, irregular in daily routines, fussy, emotional, irritable, cry more, 10% slow-to-warm-up babies: withdrawn at first but warm up and adapt over time, wary of novelty but lower intensity, fairly regular in routines, low energy, shyer, not so cheery, 15%

Question 33

what are the different appraoch to temperament by Rothbart?

Answer 33

- proposed a within-subjects approach - wanting to look at many characteristics within a child - breaking down temperament into several continuous dimensions - 5 central dimensions at infancy but as you age, there are more dimensions added to your temperament (ex.shyness) - 3 broad factors

Question 34

what are the 5 central dimensions of infant temperament?

Answer 34

1. fear 2. distress at limitations 3. attention span 4. activity level 5. smiling and laughter

Question 35

what are the 3 broad factors of temperament from Rothbart?

Answer 35

1. surgency: a tendency toward positive emotions, seeking stimulation and high activity levels - high surgency: lots of positive emotions, enjoys physical activities, initiates social activities 2. negative affectivity: a tendency toward negative emotions and difficulty settling down when aroused, NOT THE OPPOSITE OF SURGENCY - high negative affectivity: quick to sadness, many fears, frustrated when goals are interrupted, hard to soothe when upset 3. effortful control: the ability to focus and shift attention, inhibit impulses, and cope with low-intensity, complex and new activities - high effortful control: resist temptations, remain attentive and content in low-stimulation, persevere through tough tasks, self-soothe when distressed, good self-regulators

Question 36

how does temperament adapt over time?

Answer 36

- quite consistent over the course of development - strongly influenced by genetics - but still is plenty of room for growth and change

Question 37

goodness of fit

Answer 37

the degree to which one's temperament is compatible with the demands and expectations of one's social environment

Question 38

differential susceptibility

Answer 38

the same temperament that puts some kids at risk in negative conditions might cause them to excel in positive conditions - dandelions do well anywhere but in high-risk environments - orchids will flourish under supportive conditions but can struggle under difficult conditions

Question 39

mental health

Answer 39

chdilren's senes of psychological well-being - internally: emotions and stress levels - externally: in relationships with family and peers

Question 40

stress

Answer 40

a physiological reaction to some change or threat in the environment - evolved to help us survive immediately threats to out lives or well-being

Question 41

toxic stress in childhood

Answer 41

the experience of overwhelming sustained levels of stress without support from adults to mitigate its effects - results in long-lasting structural and physiological changes to the brain sources: maltreatment, poverty, societal events

Question 42

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Answer 42

traumatic childhood experiences linked to mental and physical health problems later in life study: - looked at the relationship between ACe and mental health - the more ACE that a person experiences, the more likely they are to suffer from things such as depression, substance abuse, cancer, heart disease, income, school success, etc.