psy 213 ch 20 emotion and self regulation

Infant Basic Emotional Responses

Attraction to pleasant stimuli and withdrawal from unpleasant stimuli.

Social Smiling

Begins around 2 months; infants smile to engage caregivers.

Primary / Basic Emotions

Emotions such as interest, happiness, anger, fear, surprise, sadness, and disgust.

Self‑Conscious Emotions

Emotions like shame, guilt, pride, embarrassment, which develop after self-concept emerges.

Emotional Self‑Regulation

Strategies used to control or modulate emotional states to achieve goals.

Co‑Regulation

When caregivers help infants regulate emotions by offering comfort, distraction, or soothing.

Effortful Control

The ability to inhibit a dominant response and activate a subdominant one; important for self-regulation.

Behavioral Self‑Regulation

Controlling one’s actions (doing or not doing certain behaviors) to meet social or personal goals.

Executive Function

Cognitive processes (like inhibition, working memory) that support behavioral regulation.

Delay of Gratification / Marshmallow Test

A classic experiment showing how children resist immediate reward in favor of a larger, delayed reward.

Internalization

When children adopt external standards / rules and begin to follow them without immediate external control.

Social & Emotional Competence

Skills like empathy, emotional awareness, self-regulation, and prosocial behavior.

Activity Theory of Aging

Theory that staying active (socially, physically) in old age contributes to wellbeing.

Continuity Theory

Theory that older adults maintain their identity by continuing habits, values, and behaviors from earlier life.

Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

Theory that as people age, they prioritize emotionally meaningful relationships because of limited time.

Selective Optimization with Compensation

Strategy where older adults focus on their strongest abilities and compensate for losses.