Week 10 (Early/Middle childhood: social and moral) Flashcards
▪ Match emotions on faces to
their labels
▪ Children’s emotion
understanding improves
gradually from age 4 – 7.
( E. Farina et al., 2027)
Emotional Matching tasks
The affective quality of an emotion as
“good” (positive) or “bad” (negative)
Emotional Valence
Emotional Arousal
Intensity/strength of an emotion
(physiological activity state）
Grow in understanding of
1. Emotions differ in arousal (angry vs. sad)
2. Emotions with similar arousal (sad vs. depressed)
3. Mixed emotions: feeling 2 or more emotions at the same time
Emotion vignettes
Stories used to test understanding of the causes and consequences of emotions (how, why, and outcomes)
(ie;)
1. 5-yr-olds: how a situation make
a character feel
2. Reason why emotion change
3. Predict outcomes
Emotional Understanding:
Causes and Dynamics of Emotion
Inferring emotions from events: happy > sad.
▪ 2 yr: happy, words for the basic emotions and causes
▪ 4-6 yr: identify negative emotions, explain causes of peers’ negative emotions
▪ 10 yr: mixed feelings (emotional ambivalence)
Real and False Emotions
▪ Matching Internal feelings vs. External expressions
◦ 3- to 4-years-olds
(50% correct).
◦ 5-year-olds
(80% correct)
initiating, inhibiting, or modulating internal feeling states and related physiological processes, cognitions, and behaviors
Emotional self-regulation
Cognitive Emotional self-regulation
Suppression or replacement
Behavior Emotional self-regulation
self-soothing or self-
distraction
Display rules
culture norms about when, where, and how much emotions should be expressed or masked
e.g., Verbal display rules > facial display rules
Self-regulation of
emotions may be
________ for young
children (Sulik et al., 2016)
Challenging
Delay of Gratification
Resisting an impulse to take an
immediately available reward in the
hope of obtaining a more-valued
reward in the future
Experiments that measure children’s
abilities to delay gratification and examples
Delay-of-gratification tasks
- E.g., Marshmallow task (Mischel
& Mischel, 1987)
- Why It is So Hard to Delay Gratification?
- Coping Strategies
- Hot system (impulsive and emotional) overrides cool system (rational)
- ▪ Coping strategies:
▪ 18-mo: angry; 3-yr: distraction, brief anger
▪ 4-yr: more such as distraction no anger; reframing
▪ Those chose positive strategies (e.g., fixing problems
vs. emotional/suppression) were less likely to display
depressive symptoms (Wong & Power, 2019)
In delaying gratification, the ____ system typically overpowers the ____ system
Hot system (impulsive and emotional)
overrides cool system (rational)
Which Researcher created the marshmellow test
Walter Mischel
Delayed Gratification
Makes for ___________
Better Prepared Children
- It is essential to self- regulate /control and ability to predicts adulthood socio- emotional and academic competence
The ability to modulate attention and inhibit behavior, including in stressful situations
Effortful control
Individual Differences in Temperament
▪ Children differ in their abilities to
regulate emotions:
o highly inhibited/shy children: high fear
o under-controlled children: high negative reactions
(little effortful control)
o well-regulated children: skilled (high effortful
control)
- Guilt is ____, while
- Shame is ____
- other focused
- Self focused
- Guilt and Shame results from ________
- Both have a ______
- Result from a violation of behavioral
standard (Muris & Meesters, 2014) - Gradual internalization
▪ Expands between 5 and 11 yrs of age with
growing ability to reason about self and other
(Berti et al, 2000)
▪ Can be healthy (promote appropriate behaviors)
or maladaptive (Muris & Meesters, 2014)
Self-Conscious Emotions
(ie; embarassment, pride, guilt, shame)
- “I am bad” = ____
- ” I have done something bad” = ____
- Shame
- Guilt
- ____ is rooted in two sources of happiness: accomplishment (e.g., “A” grade) and outside recognition/acceptance (e.g., pleased teachers/parents).
Bonus: Is this a primary or secondary emotion
- Pride
- Secondary
Arising from children’s positive evaluation of an achievement (related to positive and prosocial behaviors)
Authentic pride
Arising from children’s attribution of an achievement to their overall greatness (related to antisocial and selfish actions)
Hubristic pride
The Causes
& Consequences of Emotions
Children gradually come to
appreciate the causes and
consequences of emotions:
many factors; emotional
fluctuation
◦ Certain situations may lead to
mixed emotions
◦ Counterfactual situations that lead
to ”relief and regret
Test understanding that emotions depend on how reality compares to
alternative possible outcomes (Beck & Riggs, 2014)
Counterfactual emotion tasks
Counterfactual emotion tasks throughout different ages
◦ 7-yrs: can judge regret, but difficult with relief
◦ 9-10-yrs: Understanding both regret and relief and
develop strategies to cope future disappointments
(Guttentag & Ferrell, 2004)
◦ 12-yrs > 8-yrs: counterfactual consoling (e.g., It could be
worse) (Payir & Guttentag, 2016)
Strategies to hide authentic feelings or change emotional expressions to fit a situation
Display rules
- 4 Types of Display Rules (Ekman & Friesen, 1969)
- How are display rules tested?
- Intensification
- Minimization
- Neutralization
- Substitution
- Emotion Vignettes
TOM understanding that it is possible to have a false belief about someone
else’s belief (e.g., Miller, 2009)
Second-order false belief
TOM contributes to distinguishing
________
transgressions (Fu et al., 2014)
intentional vs. accidental
Theory of Mind (TOM) & Moral Reasoning
Social Information Processing
Theory (Dodge, 1986)
the management or
modification of a specific problem or situation
Situation-centered coping
the regulation of emotional
reactions to a problem/situation (Lazarus & Lazarus, 1994)
Emotional coping / emotional regulation
Emotional Self-efficacy
The feeling of being in
control, able to handle emotional challenges
Children who do not effectively use coping strategies
may show ____________ behaviors
internalizing or externalizing
Internalizing
Problem behaviors directed
inwards (e.g., suppressing feelings inside), and
may develop into anxiety or depression
Externalizing
Problem behaviors directed
to the external environment (e.g., acting out in
unacceptable ways), may develop into
aggression and other problematic behaviors
such as disobeying rules, and destroying
property.
Emotion Coaching
positive socialization of children’s emotions (e.g., validate feelings and
support positive coping)
conversations about feelings
and mental states (e.g., Brown & Dunn, 1996)
Emotion Talk
Parenting Context (Early)
- Children have sensitive responses to emotions
- Insensitive responses: dismissive of emotions; harsh punishment/criticism
- Mental state talk buffer emotional development and reduce externalizing or internalizing problems of adopted children (Tarullo et al., 2006)
dismissive of emotions; harsh punishment/criticism
Insensitive responses
Sibling Context (Early)
- Sibling relationships and interactions facilitate emotional
understanding and emotional support (e.g., Hughes et al., 2019) - Poor sibling relationships are associated with externalizing and internalizing problems (Buist et al., 2013)
Family Context (Middle)
Parent context
◦ Parents as models
◦ Emotion coaching: talking about emotions and offering helpful coping strategies
(Gottman et al., 1996)
◦ Physical punishment and maltreatment (e.g., abuse or neglect) result in negative
outcomes (Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016)
Sibling context: sibling relationship quality matters
School Context (Early)
Positive teacher-child interactions and high-quality curricula support emotional development
Programs designed to support emotional learning
in young children from impoverished backgrounds = largely beter socio-economic and life outcomes
Peer Context (Middle)
Peers can positively influence children’s emotional development
◦ E.g., close friends support one another and distract them from overthinking negative experiences (e.g., Denham, 2007)
◦ Peers conflict can provide a platform for learning how to resolve disagreements
Cultural Context (Early)
**Cultural values shape children’s emotional growth
**
Chinese collectivism culture vs. North American individualism culture in emotional display: modest, humility, and self-restraint vs. openness in self-expression of feelings.
Emotional regulation: Nso > German 4-yr-olds: delay gratification
Cultural Context (Middle)
Cultures differ on the interpretation of specific emotions and
expectations/norms around emotional expression
◦ European Americans: pride represents a person’s accomplishments; shame is harmful for wellbeing.
◦ Asian cultures: pride is seen as not desirable and against humility and
interdependence values; shame fosters social engagement and conformity
(Mesquita & Karasawa, 2004
