Child Development Exam 2 Chapt 7

Emotions

complex behaviors involving physiological, expressive, and cognitive elements that influence behavior

Temperament

a basic, innate disposition that is relatively stable over time

(enduring emotional mood)

Thomas and Chess: Patterns of Temperament

• Easy: moderate emotional reactions, even keeled children, positive

• Slow to warm up: low in activity level, reacted negatively to new activities 

• Difficult: did not adapt well to new situations, intensely negative (later in life displayed anxiety)

Primary Emotions

most basic emotions, such as anger, sadness, fear, disgust, surprise, and happiness

Phonology

gaining knowledge about the sound system of language

Semantics

meanings of words or combinations of words

Secondary Emotions

require social/cultural learning such as embarrassment, shame, guilt, pride, empathy

Goodness of Fit

• Is the child's temperament compatible with the environment (e.g. parenting style)

• A difficult child has well-rested/patients parents VS

• A difficult child has exhausted/frustrated parents

Emotional Contagion

• crying in response to hearing another infant cry 

Social Referencing

looking to others for emotional cues

Still-face paradigm

no emotion leads to distress

Empathy

the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Emotion display rules

the social norms for when, where, how, and to whom to express emotions

self-regulation

effortful control

Newborns seem to

experience distress, interest, and pleasure

Reactivity

activity level, attention span/persistence, fearful distress

2 to 3 year olds clearly display

empathy (giving a hug, sharing a toy)