Emotional, Social, and Moral Development

This set of flashcards covers key concepts from emotional, social, and moral development in early and middle childhood, including definitions of emotional terms, types of aggression, and moral reasoning stages.

What is emotional valence?

affective quality of an emotion as “good” or “bad”

emotional arousal

intensity or strength of an emotion, reflected in the individuals physiological activation level

How does children’s understanding of emotional arousal develop?

Children gradually learn: (1) that emotions differ in arousal (e.g., angry vs. sad), (2) that emotions can share similar arousal with different qualities (sad vs. depressed), and (3) that they can experience mixed emotions at the same time.

What methods are used to assess children’s understanding of emotions?

Emotional matching tasks (matching faces to emotion labels) and emotion vignettes (stories about emotional situations) are used to assess understanding of causes, consequences, and labels for emotions.

From about ages 4–7, what trend is seen in emotion-matching tasks?

Children’s accuracy in matching facial expressions to emotion labels improves gradually between 4 and 7 years of age.

How do 2-year-olds understand the causes and consequences of emotions?

Around 2 years, children can use basic emotion words (e.g., happy) and identify simple causes of basic emotions in themselves and others.

How does understanding of negative emotions and their causes change between 4–6 years?

Children aged 4–6 become better at identifying negative emotions and explaining the causes of peers’ negative feelings.

When do children begin to reliably understand mixed emotions and emotional ambivalence?

Around 10 years of age, children appreciate that one situation can trigger mixed or ambivalent feelings (e.g., feeling both happy and sad)

What is the distinction between internal feelings and external emotional expressions?

Internal feelings are what a person truly feels inside, whereas external expressions are the emotions they show on their face or through behavior, which may or may not match their true feelings.

At what ages do children become better at understanding real vs. false emotions?

Around 3–4 years, about half of children correctly distinguish real from false expressions; by 5 years, about 80% can do so.

Define emotional self-regulation.

Emotional self-regulation is the process of initiating, inhibiting, or modulating internal feeling states and related physiological processes, cognitions, and behaviors.

What are two broad forms of emotional self-regulation strategies?

Cognitive strategies (e.g., suppressing or replacing thoughts) and behavioral strategies (e.g., self-soothing or self-distraction).

What are display rules in emotional development?

Display rules are cultural norms about when, where, and how emotions should be expressed or masked (e.g., hiding disappointment when receiving a gift).

Why can display rules be challenging for young children?

Because they require children to regulate their authentic emotional expressions to meet situational or cultural expectations, which demands self-control and social awareness.

What is delay of gratification?

Delay of gratification is resisting an immediate, smaller reward in order to obtain a more valuable reward later (e.g., waiting to receive two marshmallows instead of eating one immediately).

What classic experimental task is used to study delay of gratification?

The marshmallow task, where children must wait to receive a larger treat rather than take an available smaller one right away.

Why is delay of gratification considered important for later outcomes?

It is a key aspect of self-regulation and predicts later socio-emotional adjustment and academic competence

According to hot vs. cool systems, why is delay of gratification difficult?

The hot system is impulsive and emotionally driven and can override the cool, rational system that supports waiting; managing delay involves activating the cool system and cooling down tempting cues.

What is effortful control in the context of emotional regulation?

Effortful control is the ability to modulate attention and inhibit or activate behavior as needed, even under stress, in order to achieve goals or follow rules.

Which coping strategies in childhood are linked to fewer depressive symptoms later?

Positive coping strategies that focus on problem-solving and constructive distraction (rather than emotional suppression or rumination) are linked to fewer depressive symptoms.

What are the three temperament profiles noted in early childhood in this unit?

Highly inhibited/shy children (high fear), under-controlled children (high negative reactivity and low effortful control), and well-regulated children (high effortful control and good regulation)

How does effortful control relate to temperament and regulation?

Children high in effortful control are better able to regulate emotions and behavior, whereas those with low effortful control are more prone to under-controlled, reactive behaviors.

What are some key features of the parenting context that support emotional development in early childhood?

Emotion coaching (acknowledging and guiding emotions), emotion talk (conversations about feelings), sensitive responding, and mental state talk that helps children label and reflect on emotions.

How can insensitive or harsh parenting affect emotional development?

Dismissing emotions, using harsh punishment, or chronic criticism is associated with greater internalizing and externalizing problems and poorer emotion regulation.

How do siblings contribute to emotional development?

Positive sibling relationships provide emotional support and opportunities to practice emotion understanding and conflict resolution; poor sibling relationships are linked to internalizing and externalizing problems.

What are Parten’s six types of play?

Unoccupied play, solitary play, onlooker play, parallel play, associative play, and cooperative play.

How does play typically develop from toddlerhood to early childhood?

Children move from mostly unoccupied, solitary, and parallel play in toddlerhood toward more associative and cooperative play with peers in the preschool years.

What is instrumental aggression?

Aggression used as a means to achieve a goal (e.g., taking a toy); often seen in toddlers.

What is hostile aggression?

Aggression intended to harm another person; it increases during toddlerhood and then declines somewhat in early childhood.

What is relational aggression?

Non-physical aggression that harms social relationships or status, such as spreading rumors or excluding others; it continues through childhood and adolescence.

What gender differences are typically found in aggression?

Boys are more likely to display overt (physical and verbal) aggression, whereas girls are more likely to display relational aggression. What is a coercive family environment? A32. A pattern of family interactions in which negative behaviors (e.g., yelling, hitting, whining) are reinforced because each person’s aversive behavior stops the other’s temporarily, escalating conflict and aggression over time

What is a coercive family environment?

A pattern of family interactions in which negative behaviors (e.g., yelling, hitting, whining) are reinforced because each person’s aversive behavior stops the other’s temporarily, escalating conflict and aggression over time

How can corporal punishment and household chaos contribute to aggression?

Corporal punishment and chaotic, conflictual homes are associated with higher child aggression and poorer social skills.

Define morality and its three components.

Morality is a set of principles or ideals that guide behavior. It includes (1) moral reasoning—distinguishing right from wrong, (2) moral behavior—acting on this distinction, and (3) moral affects—emotions such as guilt, shame, and pride linked to moral actions.

What is Piaget’s morality of constraint?

A stage (under ~7 years) where rules are seen as fixed, handed down by authorities, and moral judgments focus mainly on consequences rather than intentions.

What characterizes Piaget’s autonomous morality (moral relativism)?

Emerging around 11–12 years, children understand that rules are agreements that can be changed, and they give more weight to intentions than to consequences in moral judgments.

What is Kohlberg’s preconventional level of moral reasoning?

Moral reasoning based on external consequences—Stage 1: punishment and obedience; Stage 2: naive hedonism or self-interest (“what’s in it for me?”).

What is Kohlberg’s conventional level of moral reasoning?

Moral reasoning based on social approval and maintaining social order—Stage 3: “good boy/girl” orientation; Stage 4: law-and-order orientation.

What is Kohlberg’s postconventional level of moral reasoning?

Moral reasoning based on abstract principles—Stage 5: social contract orientation; Stage 6: universal ethical principles.

According to the Social Domain view, what are moral judgments primarily about?

Moral judgments concern issues of harm, fairness, and rights; even young children (around 3 years) treat causing harm as wrong regardless of rules or authority.

What role does theory of mind play in moral judgment from a Social Domain perspective?

Theory of mind helps children consider a transgressor’s intentions (e.g., accidental vs. intentional harm) when evaluating moral situations.

What are social conventions in the Social Domain view?

Social conventions are context-dependent norms that help coordinate social interactions (e.g., dress codes); violations are seen as wrong mainly because they break group expectations, not because they directly harm others.

What is in-group bias?

The tendency to evaluate and treat members of one’s own group more favorably than members of outgroups.

How is in-group bias studied in childhood?

Through resource allocation tasks and minimal-group paradigms where children distribute resources (e.g., stickers) between in-group and outgroup members and often favor the in-group.

How do children’s expectations about in-group vs. outgroup behavior change with age?

Young children may think people will both help and harm outgroup members, whereas older children expect people to help in-group members but are less likely to expect help toward outgroup members and may tolerate harm against them.