Week 9: Emotional Development & Temperament Flashcards
How is emotions caused in humans?
A rapid appraisal of the personal significance of the situation, which prepares individuals for action.
How is emotional wellness critical to health?
Persistent psychological stress - manifested in anxiety, depressed mood, anger and irritability - is associated with a wide range of health impairments from infancy to adulthood
Are basic emotions universal in humans and other primates?
Yes, they have a long history of promoting survival ie. happiness, anger, sadness, surprise, fear, disgust, contempt
What function does happiness have in a baby’s life?
Happiness binds parent and child into a warm, supportive relationship that fosters infant’s emotional security and competence. During the early weeks, newborns smile when their needs are met (ie. feeling full). Between 6-10 weeks, parent evokes a broad grin, called “social smile”, which babies use to sustain pleasant interactions.
How do babies express anger?
Babies respond with generalised distress to a variety of unpleasant experiences (hunger, painful shots etc).
Does angry reactions increase with age?
Yes, because infants become capable of understanding intentional behaviour, and become better at identifying causes and consequences of events. They try to elicit desirable outcomes from caregivers.
What is stranger anxiety?
Infants and children expressing fear to unfamiliar adults.
What affects child’s expression of fear?
Temperament, attachment security and cultural differences in child rearing
Does fear decline with cognitive maturation?
Yes
What are self-conscious emotions?
A second, higher-order set of feelings, including guilt, shame, embarrassment, envy and pride. Involve enhancement of, or damage to one’s sense of self.
When does self-conscious emotion emerge?
At around 18-24 months when toddlers are firmly aware of the self as an independent, unique agent.
Does adolescence lead to the rise of self-conscious emotions?
Yes
How is the development of emotion regulation in infants?
By 4-6 months, babies are capable of shifting attention and engaging in self-soothing. More sensitive parents raise their babies to be less fussy, less fearful, and express more pleasant emotions. At around age 2 onwards, parents encourage self-awareness of internal states with language and mental representation.
How is the development of emotion regulation in early childhood?
With rapid gains in language ability, children can verbalise their feelings and actively control their feelings. Through conversations, parents guide the child to process their emotions and cope with distressing events with adaptive strategies.
How is the development of emotion regulation in adolescence?
Development increases in negative feelings and emotions tethered with negative self-evaluation. Coping strategies are either problem-focused coping or emotion-focused coping.
What is social referencing?
Relying on others’ emotional reaction to appraise an uncertain situation. Infants and young children look to their caregiver for ‘advice’ when faced with a difficult or uncertain situation and seek social cues to guide their own actions, and gather information about others’ intentions and preferences.
What is empathy?
The complex cognitive and affective capacity to detect different emotions in others; to take another’s emotional perspective; and to feel with that person or respond emotionally in a similar way
