Emotional Development

6 basic emotions

happiness

fear

anger

sadness

surprise

disgust

Development of happiness

1. smile nondiscriminantly

2. smile when see bright objects

3. social smile response to caregivers

4. start laughing

Smile nondiscriminantly

reflexive smile, not in response to external stimuli

anger and sadness

4-6 months show more anger to more stimuli

What causes increases in anger

improvements in cognitive and motor skills

How do improvements in cognitive and motor skills increase anger

more capable of intentional behavior

less easily distracted from goals

able to recognize barriers to goal

want more control

What is more common sadness or anger

Anger

What causes sadness

absence of familiar, loving adult

When does fear arise and peak

arises around 6 months, peaks around 18

implication for arise of fear

abused and neglected infants see fear at 3 months

What causes fear

stranger anxiety

What are babies more fearful of

adult strangers over child strangers

unsmiling strangers

strangers in an unfamiliar setting

What does growth look like for stranger anxiety

eventually able to discriminate between threatening and nonthreatening people and situations

when do self-conscious emotions appear

18-24 months, as awareness of self is separate being

Second, higher-order emotions (self-conscious)

shame, embarrasment, guilt, pride

How do kids learn to feel self-conscious emotions

on part due to parent instruction

What causes more intense self-conscious emotions

connecting worth to performance leads to more intense self-conscious experiences

Self-conscious emotions at school age

experience them when adult is not present

Intentionality in self-conscious emotions

children only feel guilty for intentional behavior

Emotional self-regulation

adjust intensity and duration of emotions to achieve goals

Emotional self-regulation in infancy

limited ability

dependant on others to soothe

what can infants due to emotionally self-regulate

suck thumb

turn head

Dependant on others to soothe infants

parent warmth leads to less fussy baby

Emotional self-regulation in toddlerhood

Better cognitive and motor skills helps child handle emotions

What can toddlers do to emotionally self-regulate

more tolerant of stimulation

can crawl or walk away

temper tantrums

What causes temper tantrums

due to increased desire for independence

What decreases temper tantrums

language improvements

Emotional self-regulation preschool

model ER skills of adults

know variety of strategies

leads to social competence in elem. school

Strategies for emotional regulation used in preschool

cover eyes/ears

tell self it will be okay

decide to do something else

Emotional self regulation in middle childhood

problem-centered coping

emotion-centered coping

problem-centered coping

aimed at changing or fixing problem

emotion-centered coping

internal, private, aimed at minimizing distress

Emotion display rules

when, where, and how it is appropriate to express emotions

When do children use emotion display rules

mask negative emotions

avoid punishment and gain approval

maintain social harmony

How do young children show they are trying to understand and respond to others’ emotions

social referencing

Social referencing

relying on another person’s emotional reactions to appraise uncertain situations

When does social referencing begin

8-10 months

What is important in social referencing

caregiver’s voice more important than just facial expression

What decreases need for social referencing

increases in memory and language

How does memory cause decrease in social referencing

remember caregiver’s reaction in similar situations

What does the Still Face Paradigm do

Assess mutual regulation

Mutual regulation

ability of baby and caregiver to respond to each other’s mental and emotional states

Steps in still face paradigm

mother and baby interact normally

mother becomes still and unresponsive

mother then resumes normal interaction

What happens when mother becomes still and unresponsive

babies usually try to get mother’s attention but then try to comfort themselves

What happens when mother resumes normal interaction

babies often show even more positive behavior upon reunion, but some continue to show signs of stress

When is emotion-coaching and emotion-dismissing most evident

seeing how caregivers respond to negative emotions

Emotion coaching

view negative emotions as opportunities for teaching

assisst in children labeling emotions

teach children to deal appropriately with emotions

Emotion-dismissing

view role as denying or changing negative emotions

Emotion-coaching parent outcomes

by preschool use more emotion words

better at judging other’s emotions

better at soothing themselves

less behavior problems

Temperament

style of interacting with people, places, events, things

What is temperament the difference between

reactivity and self-regulation

What is temperament thought to be

appear early, so innate and biological

Who studied temperament

Thomas and Chess

Thomas and Chess temperament classification

Easy

Difficult

Slow-to-warm-up

Easy Temperament

adapt well to new routines

little frustration

regular eating and sleeping

Difficult temperament outcomes

difficulty with routine chanegs

overly fussy

irregular eating/sleeping

Slow-to-warm-up temperament outcome

reluctant at fist, but warm up

fairly regular eating/sleeping

Is temperament stable

stability of temperament is only low to moderate, developing with age

What is rare to see with temperament

a switch from one extreme temperament to another

Example of switching extreme temperaments

extremely shy to extremely outgoing

How does temperament change with age

children learn skills as they get older to cope

parents are important too

Goodness-of-fit model

parents can alter style to best fit child’s temperament

Good parenting for child with difficult temperament

parents warm and set clear expectations leading to improved temperament

Good parenting for shy child

parents very involved, highly instructive, give lots of explanation

implication for helping shy child

highly instructive parenting would be frustrating for child that is highly active and wants to explore on their own