Developmental Science Final Exam UIowa

Emotions

A combination of physiological and cognitive responses to thoughts or experiences — several components

Discrete emotions theory (Darwin, Izard, & Tomkins)

Emotions are viewed as innate, and each emotion has a specific and distinctive set of bodily and facial expressions

Emotion responses are largely automatic and not based on cognition

Limited number of discrete emotions

Functionalist perspective

Individuals experience emotions in order to manage the relationship between themselves and the environment

Emotions are partly responses to how individuals appraise the environment and whether factors in the environment are promoting or hindering their well-being

Emotions and emotional expressions are thus goal driven; when children want something to stop, they cry, when they want something to continue, they smile and laugh

The emergence of emotions — six basic emotions

Happiness: Smiling, either with a closed mouth or with an open upturned mouth; raised cheeks, which in turn make the eyes squint a bit 

a. Social smiles: Smiles that are directed at people; they first emerge around 3 months 

Sadness: Downturned corners of the mouth, lips pushed together and possibly trembling, slightly furrowed brow 

Anger: Strongly furrowed brow that comes down in the center, almost making an X of the brow muscles; open square-shaped mouth, sometimes baring teeth; flared nostrils 

Fear: Eyes wide open; brows raised in the middle, making a triangle shape; corners of mouth pulled back into a grimace, with mouth either open or closed 

a. Separation anxiety: Distress due to separation from the parent who is the child’s primary caregiver; 8 months 

Surprise: Eyes wide open; eyebrows raised into arches; mouth open in round O shape 

Disgust: Nose crinkled and nostrils flared; mouth open wide with lips pulled back and possibly with tongue sticking out 

The self-conscious emotions

Self-conscious emotions: Emotions such as guilt, shame, embarrassment, and pride that relate to our sense of self and our consciousness of others’ reactions to us 

Discontinuous growth: There is an abrupt, qualitative change in children’s abilities to experience self-conscious emotions that is linked to the emergence of a sense of self 

Guilt: Associated with empathy for others and involves feelings of remorse and regret about one’s behavior, as well as the desire to undo the consequences of that behavior 

Shame: Focus is on themselves and the acceptance of a personal failure; they feel that they are exposed, and they often feel like hiding 

Identifying the emotions of others

By 3 months of age, infants can distinguish facial expressions of happiness, surprise, and anger 

Social referencing: The use of a parent’s of other adult’s facial expression of vocal cues to decide how to deal with novel, ambiguous, or possibly threatening situations 

Emotional intelligence: Individuals’ ability to cognitively process information about emotions and to use that information to guide both their thoughts and behaviors 

Linked to a range of positive outcomes in both childhood and adolescence 

Understanding real and false emotions — display rules

Between 4 and 6 years of age, children increasingly understand that people can be misled by others’ facial expressions 

Display rules: A social or cultural group’s informal norms about when, where, and how much one should show emotions, as well as when and where displays of emotions should be suppressed or masked by displays of other emotions 

E.g., pretending to love an aunt’s cooking, pretending not to be afraid of an approaching bully 

Emotion regulation

A set of conscious and unconscious processes used to both monitor and modulate emotional experiences and expressions 

Develops gradually over the course of childhood and paves the way for success in social interactions as well as in academic settings 

The development of emotion regulation

Co-regulation: A caregiver provides the needed comfort or distraction to help a child reduce their distress 

Self-comforting behaviors: Repetitive actions the regulate arousal by providing a mildly positive physical sensation 

E.g., sucking fingers and rubbing hands together 

Self-distraction: Looking away from an upsetting stimulus in order to regulate one’s level of arousal 

E.g., an infant may turn his head away from an older sibling jangling a set of keys in front of his face 

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): Treatment that helps people recognize their own negative thoughts and thought patterns and learn ways to adjust those thoughts and related behaviors 

Compliance

Committed compliance: Eager, willing participation in the task; child follows directives in a self-regulated, proactive manner 

Situational compliance: Essentially cooperative, but participation requires continuing caregiver control; behavior driven by repeated prompts 

Social competence

The ability to achieve personal goals in social interactions while simultaneously maintaining positive relationships with others 

Less regulated children are at higher risk of becoming victims of bullying  

Well-regulated children do better in in school than their less regulated peers do 

Parent’s socialization of children’s emotional responses

Emotion socialization: The direct and indirect influence that parents have on their children’s standards, values, and ways of thinking and feeling 

Culture plays a significant role in influencing which emotional expressions are encouraged or discouraged by parents 

Emotion coaching: The use of discussion and other forms of instruction to teach children how to cope with and properly express emotions 

Temperament

Individual differences in emotion, activity level, and attention that are exhibited across contexts and that are present from infancy; thus, they are thought to be genetically based 

1. Easy babies: Adjusted readily to new situations, quickly established daily routines such as sleeping and eating, and generally were cheerful in mood and easy to calm 

2. Difficult babies: Slow to adjust to new experiences, tended to react negatively and intensely to novel stimuli and events, and were irregular in their daily routines and bodily functions 

3. Slow-to-warm-up babies: Somewhat difficult at first but became easier over time as they had repeated contact with new objects, people, and situations 

Goodness of fit

How well a child’s temperament matches the demands of a particular context 

Differential susceptibility: The same temperament characteristic that puts some children at high risk for negative outcomes when exposed to a harsh home environment also leads them to blossom when their home environments are positive 

Mental health, stress, and internalizing mental disorders

Mental health: Children’s sense of well-being both internally, such as in their emotions and stress levels, and externally, such as in their relationships with family members and peers 

Stress: A physiological reaction to some change or threat in the environment 

Although some stress can be adaptive, too much stress can interfere with children’s daily activities and relationships (e.g., COVID) 

a. Traumatic stress: Severe stress brought on by a sudden catastrophic event (e.g., hurricanes, terrorist attacks) 

b. Toxic stress: The experience of overwhelming levels of stress without support from adults to help mitigate the effects of that stress 

Adverse childhood experiences: Traumatic childhood experiences, such as abuse, neglect, violence exposure, or death of a parent, that are linked to mental and physical health problems later in life 

Internalizing mental disorders

Mental disorders: A state of having problems with emotional reactions to the environment and with social relationships in ways that affect daily life 

Equifinality: Various factors (e.g., genetic predisposition, a chaotic home environment, a traumatic event) can each lead to the same mental disorder 

Multifinality: Certain risk factors do not always lead to a disorder 

Depression and anxiety

Depression: A mental disorder that involves a sad or irritable mood along with physical and cognitive changes that interfere with daily life 

Rumination: Repeatedly focusing on causes, consequences, and symptoms of negative emotions (e.g., “I’m so fat” or “I’m so tired”) 

Co-rumination: Extensively and almost exclusively discussing self-disclosing emotional problems with another person, usually a peer – more common for girls 

Anxiety disorders: A set of mental disorders that involve the inability to regulate fear and worry 

Attachment

An emotional bond with a specific person that is enduring across space and time 

The strong affectional tie that humans feel towards the special people in their lives 

Influences behavior: feel joy around some people, go to people for comfort during stress 

Harry Harlow

Observations of monkeys: Deprived of all early social interactions and resultant behavior, supported the view that social and emotional development is rooted in early social interactions with adults 

Attachment theory (Bowlby)

Children are biologically predisposed to develop attachments with caregivers as a means of increasing the chances of their own survival 

1) Enhances the infant’s survival by keeping the caregiver close in proximity, 2) Help the child feel emotionally secure which allows the child to explore the world without fear, 3) serves as a form of co-regulation that helps the children manage their levels of arousal and their emotions 

Secure base: The presence of a trusted caregiver provides an infant or toddler with a sense of security that makes it possible for the child to explore the environment 

Internal working model of attachment: A mental representation of the self, attachment figures, and of the relationships in general 

Measure of attachment

Strange Situation (Ainsworth): Assesses infants’ attachment to their primary caregiver 

Infants should use caregiver as secure base 

1. E takes parent & child to playroom and leaves, 2. Parent & child alone in playroom, 3. Stranger enters, sits and talks to parent, 4. Parent leaves child alone with stranger, 5. Parent returns, stranger leaves, 6. Parent leaves (child alone), 7. Stranger enters & offers comfort 

Coding: Use of parent as secure base, Social referencing & attention to parent, Proximity to parent/clinginess, Emotions reactions (crying, anger, etc.), Exploration of room & toys 

3 timepoints: a) reactions to stranger entry, b) reactions to parent’s leaving, c) reactions to parent’s return 

Attachment classifications

Secure: Distressed by parent leaving but easily comforted by return, secure base; not comforted by stranger (~66% of American middle-class children) 

Avoidant (Insecure): Not distressed by parent leaving & avoid contact upon return (can be comforted by strangers if upset when parent is out of the room) ~20% 

Resistant (Insecure): Failure to explore, angry & resistant upon return; cannot be comforted by stranger ~15% 

Disorganized (Insecure): Inconsistent signals, contradictory reactions (very few!) 

Parental sensitivity: Caregiving behavior that involves the expression of warmth and contingent responsiveness to children, such as when they require assistance or are in distress 

Kochanska, 1998

Influence of mother-child relationship & child fearfulness on attachment, Short-term longitudinal study 

8-10 months: Mother-child relation, fear (parent rated & lab observation) 

13-15 months: Mother-child relation, fear, strange situation 

Results: Measures of M-C relationship stable 

Parent report of fear: DID NOT fit observed fear at 8-10 months, DID fit observed fear at 13-15 months 

M-C relationship at 13-15 months predicted secure vs. insecure attachment 

Fearfulness predicted type of insecurity (less fearful = avoidant vs. more fearful = resistant) 

Self-concept

Self-concept: A conceptual system made up of one’s thoughts and attitudes about oneself 

One’s own physical being (e.g., body possessions), social characteristics (e.g., relationships, personality, social roles), and internal characteristics (e.g., thoughts, psychological functioning) 

Social comparison: The process of comparing aspects of one’s own psychological, behavioral, or physical functioning to that of others in order to evaluate oneself 

Personal fable: A form of adolescent egocentrism that involves beliefs in the uniqueness of one’s own feelings and thoughts 

Imaginary audience: The belief, stemming from adolescent egocentrism, that everyone else is focused on the adolescent's appearance and behavior 

Self-esteem

Self-esteem: An individual’s overall subjective evaluation of their own worth and the feelings they have about that evaluation 

Does not emerge until children reach age 8 or so 

High self-esteem: Tend to feel good about themselves and hopeful in general 

Low self-esteem: Tend to feel worthless and hopeless – in childhood and adolescence, associated with problems such as anxiety, depression, and bullying, both as the perpetrator and victim 

Identity

Identity: A description of the self that is often externally imposed, such as through membership in a group 

Identity achievement: An integration of various aspects of the self into a coherent whole that is stable over time and across events 

Moratorium: The individual is exploring various occupational and ideological choices and has not yet made a clear commitment to them 

Identity foreclosure: Individuals who have committed early to an identity before engaging in any real exploration (e.g., adolescent who has been told all their life that they will be a doctor) 

Identity diffusion: Individuals who have neither committed to an identity nor explored potential identities; they are not concerned about their identity and thus make no concrete steps toward recognizing their identity 

Ethnic and racial identity

Ethnic and racial identity: The beliefs and attitudes an individual has about the ethnic or racial groups to which they belong 

Ethnicity: The relationships and experiences a child has that are linked with their cultural or ethnic ancestry, religion, or primary language 

Race: Physical characteristics, most commonly skin color 

Acculturation: The process of adjusting to a new culture while retaining some aspects of one’s culture of origin 

Sexual identity and sexual orientation

Sexual identity: One’s self of oneself as a sexual being 

Sexual orientation: A person’s romantic or erotic attractions to people of the same of different gender, both, or neither 

Sexual minority youth: Young people who experience same-sex attractions 

a) First recognition: An initial realization that one is somewhat different from others, accompanied by feelings of alienation from oneself and others 

Intersectionality: The potential for someone to experience multiple forms of discrimination and oppression linked to their multiple identities 

Play

Activities that children pursue for their inherent enjoyment 

Socioemotional development may be the domain most affected by play; children learn how to cooperate, take turns, and try out social roles 

Provides a chance for children to learn and practice empathy and concern for others 

Nonsocial types of play

Unoccupied play: The child watches things in the environment, but only briefly – nothing holds their interest for very long 

Onlooker play: The child watches other children’s play – the child may ask questions about the play but will not try to join in 

Solitary play: The child is engrossed in their own activity and does not attend to the behavior of others – all the preschool children were observed to engage in this type of play at some point, but some children engaged in it more than others 

Social types of play

Parallel play: The child plays alongside, but not with other children – they are typically engaged in similar activities but play independently 

Associative play: The child plays with other children in a common activity – the child may share toys with a peer or comment on their behavior, but the two do not have a shared goal; each child does what they want, and they do not coordinate their play 

Cooperative play: The child plays with peers in an organized activity with a goal, which involves playing a game (e.g., soccer), reaching an aim (e.g., building the tallest block tower), or enacting a dramatic situation from daily life (e.g., pretending to be staff and patrons at a restaurant) 

Children’s choice of friends

Reciprocities: Friends have mutual regard for one another, exhibit give-and-take in their behavior (e.g., cooperation and negotiation), and benefit in comparable ways from their social exchanges 

Friend: A peer with whom an individual has an intimate, reciprocated, and positive relationship 

1. Peers who are friendly and who act prosocially toward others, 2. Similarity of interests and behavior, 3. Similar levels of negative emotions (e.g., distress and depression), 4. Proximity (e.g., neighbors, playgroup members, preschool classmates), 5. Similarity in age & gender 

The role of the internet and social media in friendships

Rich-get-richer hypothesis: Children who already have good social skills benefit from the Internet and related forms of technology when it comes to developing friendships 

Social-compensation hypothesis: Argues that social media may be especially beneficial for lonely, depressed, and socially anxious adolescents 

The potential costs of friendships and negative peers interactions

Peer socialization hypothesis: Peers are similar to one another because adolescents adapt their behavior to be more like their influential peers 

Peer selection hypothesis: Peers are similar to one another because adolescents choose friends who are similar to them and engage in the same behaviors they do 

Aggression and disruptiveness: Children who have antisocial and aggressive friends tend to exhibit antisocial, delinquent, and aggressive tendencies themselves 

a. Deviancy training: Youths who are aggressive and antisocial may both model (socialize) and reinforce (select) aggression and deviance in one another by making these behaviors seem acceptable 

Peer relationships and development — causal model

Causal model: Low in acceptance—drop out of school 

2 to 5 times more likely to drop out of school vs. high-accepted 

Highly aggressive—criminality 

Assumption: Low acceptance and resulting high aggression CAUSES poor outcome 

Peer relationships and development — incidental model

Incidental model: Schizophrenics—withdrawn as children 

2 to 3 times more likely than “normal” children to withdraw from social interactions as children 

Aggressive behavior 

Assumption: Child’s characteristics CAUSE low peer acceptance, and the result is negative outcomes 

Sociometric status

A measurement that reflects the degree to which children are liked or disliked by their peers as a group 

Popular: Children are designated as popular if they are rated by their peers as being highly liked and accepted and highly impactful 

a. Not necessarily the most likable in their peer group; rather, they have other attributes, such as prestige, athletic ability, physical attractiveness, or wealth, that give them power over their peers 

Rejected: Children are designated as rejected if they are low in acceptance and preference and high in rejection but also high in impact 

a. Have more trouble in finding constructive solutions to difficult social situations – suggest fewer strategies and the ones they suggest are more hostile, demanding, and threatening 

Neglected: Children are designated as neglected if they are low in social impact – if they receive few positive or negative ratings 

a. Rated by their teachers as being as socially competent as popular children 

Average: Children are designated as average if they receive moderate ratings on both impact and preference 

Controversial: Children are designated as controversial if they are rated as very high in impact but average in preference 

Moral judgments

Moral judgments: Pertain to issues of right and wrong, fairness, and justice 

Social convention judgments: Relate to customs intended to ensure social coordination and organization 

Piaget’s theory of moral judgment

Believed that interactions with peers, more than adult influence, account for advances in children’s moral reasoning 

Heteronomous morality: Young children’s belief that rules are unchangeable is due to two factors, one social (parental control) and one cognitive (cognitive immaturity) 

Autonomous morality: Children no longer accept blind obedience to authority as the basis of moral decisions  

Children believe that punishments should “fit the crime” and that adults are not always fair in how they deliver punishment 

Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning

Preconventional level (self-centered): A child at this level focuses on getting rewards and avoiding punishment 

a. Stage 1: Punishment and Obedience Orientation. What is seen as right is obedience to authorities.

b. Stage 2: Instrumental and Exchange Orientation. What is right is what is in the child’s own best interest or involves equal exchange between people (e.g., you hurt me, so I hurt you). 

Conventional level (social relationships): A child at this level focuses on compliance with social duties and laws 

a. Stage 3: Mutual Interpersonal Expectations, Relationships, and Interpersonal Conformity Orientation. Good behavior is doing what is expected by people who are close to the person or what people generally expect of someone in a given role.

b. Stage 4: Social System and Conscience Orientation. Involves fulfilling one’s duties, upholding laws, and contributing to society or one’s group.

Postconventional level (ideals): A child at this level focuses on moral principles 

a. Stage 5: Social Contract or Individual Rights Orientation. Involves upholding rules that are in the best interest of the group, are impartial, or were mutually agreed upon by the group. 

b. Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles. Commitment to self-chosen ethical principles that reflect universal principles such as life, liberty, basic human rights, and the dignity of each human being. 

Social domain theory

Growth in moral reasoning occurs not through stagelike change but through gradual change based on the child’s social interactions with peers and adults as well as through direct socialization from their parents 

Moral domain: Children understand that the universal concepts of right and wrong, fairness, justice, and individual rights apply across contexts and supersede rules or authority 

Societal domain: Encompasses concepts regarding the rules and conventions through which societies maintain order (e.g., choices about clothing, manners) 

Personal domain: Pertains to actions in which individual preferences are the main consideration; there are no right or wrong choices 

Conscience

An internal regulatory mechanism that increases the individual’s ability to conform to standards of conduct accepted in their culture 

Restrains antisocial behavior and promotes a child’s compliance with adults’ rules and standards 

Kochanska & Murray (2000)

For fearful children, the most important factor in the development of conscience is gentle discipline 

For fearless children, the most important factor in the development of conscience is a positive mother-infant relationship 

Prosocial behavior

Voluntary behavior intended to benefit others, such as helping, sharing, or comforting 

Empathy: Emotional reaction to another’s emotional state that is similar to that person’s state or condition 

Sympathy: Feeling of concern for another person’s emotional state or condition 

a. Cooperation: May be driven by sympathy but may also be driven by a child’s sense of fairness 

Aggression & antisocial behavior

Aggression: Voluntary behavior intended to harm or injure another person 

Antisocial behavior: Behavior that violates accepted cultural norms for conduct such as theft, lying, etc. 

Aggression & antisocial behavior

Between 18 months and 2 years: Physical aggression present early, decreases as verbal skills improve 

Preschool: a) Instrumental aggression: Aggression used to get a concrete goal, such as a toy, b) Relational aggression: Aggression that harms others by damaging their peer relationships 

Elementary school: a) Reactive or hostile aggression: Aggression used to hurt another person or protect the self, b) Proactive aggression: Purposeful aggression used to bully others and get what is desired or needed