Ch.10 emotional development

emotional competence

Skill in understanding emotions, including self-understanding, social awareness, self-management.

primary emotions

Emotions that are universal in humans, appear early in life, and are thought to have a long evolutionary history; Include happiness, interest, surprise, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust

Social smile

A smile that emerges in respect to seeing familiar people, occurs in an infant between 6 and 10 weeks after birth

Self-conscious emotions

Emotions that require cognitive development and an awareness of self, such as empathy, embarrassment, shame, and guilt

Emotion regulation

The ability to adjust and control one’s emotional state to influence how and when emotions are expressed

Social referencing

Seeking information from caregivers about how to interpret unfamiliar or ambiguous events by observing their emotional expressions and reactions

Emotional display rules

Unstated cultural guidelines for acceptable emotions and emotional expressions that are communicated to children’s via’ parents emotional behavior, expressions, and socialization

Stranger wariness

Also known as stranger anxiety, an infants expression of fair of unfamiliar people

Resilience

The ability to adapt to serious adversity

Risk factors

Individual or contextual challenges that tax an individual’s coping capacities and can evoke psychological stress

Protective factors

Variables that are thought to reduce the poor outcomes associated with adverse circumstances

cognitive reprisal

Emotion regulation strategy involving reconsidering a situation from a different perspective,

socioemotional selectivity theory:

The perspective that as the emotional regulation function of social interaction becomes increasingly important to older adults, they prefer to interact with familiar social partners, accounting for the narrowing of the social network with age.

temperament

Characteristic differences among individuals in emotional reactivity, self-regulation, and activity that influence reactions to the environment and are stable and appear early in life.

Easy temperament

Easy babies are often in a positive mood, even-tempered, open, adaptable, regular, and predictable in biological functioning. They establish regular feeding and sleeping schedules easily. About 40% of the longitudinal sample were categorized as having an easy temperament

goodness of fit:

The compatibility between a child’s temperament and the child’s environment, especially the parent’s temperament and child-rearing methods; the greater the degree of match, the more favorable the child’s adjustment.

attachment

A lasting emotional tie between two individuals

separation anxiety

Also known as separation protest; occurs when infants respond to the departure of an attachment figure with distress and crying.

security of attachment:

The extent to which an individual feels that an attachment object, such as a caregiver, can reliably meet their needs; measured by the Strange Situation.

Strange Situation

A structured laboratory procedure that measures the security of attachment by observing infants’ reactions to being separated from the caregiver in an unfamiliar environment.

secure attachment

The attachment pattern in which an infant uses the caregiver as a secure base from which to explore, seeks contact during reunions with the caregiver, and is easily comforted by the caregiver.

insecure-avoidant attachment

An attachment pattern in which an infant avoids connecting with the caregiver, shows no distress when separated from the caregiver (e.g., during the Strange Situation), and does not seem to care about the caregiver’s return.

insecure-resistant attachment

An attachment pattern in which an infant shows anxiety and uncertainty, showing great distress at separation from the caregiver during the Strange Situation and simultaneously seeking and avoiding contact upon the caregiver’s return

insecure-disorganized attachment:

An attachment pattern in which an infant shows inconsistent, contradictory behavior in the Strange Situation, suggesting a conflict between approaching and fleeing the caregiver and perhaps fear.

secure base

The use of a caregiver as a foundation from which to explore and return to for emotional support.

internal working model

A set of expectations about one’s worthiness of love and the availability of attachment figures during times of distress.

Which of the following is the most important determinant of infant attachment?

The caregiver’s ability to consistently and sensitively respond to the child’s signals.

Ben finds it difficult to study at home because the house is always crowded and noisy. The Wi-Fi at his house is also unreliable, which increases the time it takes to complete homework assignments. When faced with these challenges, Ben continues to persevere. He is determined to earn good grades and go to college. Which skill is being highlighted in this scenario?

resilience

At which stage of life do individuals tend to be the most unhappy and anxious?

in early adulthood

Timon, age 11 months, is almost walking. He pulls himself up and tries to walk from the sofa to a chair. He falls and then looks at his mother, who smiles and says, “Oops! Almost!” He then smiles and pulls himself back up. What is Timon using to determine how to react?

social referencing

Six-month-old Jeremy has difficulty sleeping. He doesn’t follow any predictable schedule. He is an extremely active baby, but he tends to be unhappy the majority of the time. He gets very upset when his mother leaves him with any other caregiver and typically spends most of the time she is away crying. What temperamental style does Jeremy have?

difficult

A study showed that preschoolers’ sociodramatic play predicted what?

emotional expressiveness

Juan is an infant taking part in the Strange Situation, a structured laboratory procedure that reveals the security of attachment when the infant is under stress. When his father comes back in the room, Juan hides behind a chair. His father picks him up, and Juan laughs while hitting his father in the face. What attachment type is Juan’s behavior consistent with?

insecure disorganized attachment

Which emotion is classified as a basic emotion?

surprise

Cognitive reprisal is reconsidering a situation from a different perspective; this emerges during late childhood and becomes an important regulation during adolescence.

True

Babies that are more positive, in a better mood, have established routines and are even tempered are said to have which type of temperament?

easy

What term describes challenges that tax children’s coping capacities and create psychological stress?

risk factors

Which theorist developed attachment theory?

Bowlby

Research supports the common belief that adolescents’ moods experience wider and quicker changes than those of adults.

True

What interacts with subcortical brain structures to give rise to emotions?

limbic system

Rachel is described as more inactive than most other babies. She tends to be fairly moody. She doesn’t respond very intensely to anything. Rachel is very hesitant when she meets new people, but she will accept them after a little while. When her mother introduces new foods, Rachel doesn’t like them at first. She needs to try them multiple times before she will eat. What temperamental style does Rachel have?

slow to warm up