PSYC 101 Week 9

Lecture 17: Emotion Development

Main Points


  • Defining Emotion: An emotional experience is a transient state involving subjective feelings, physiological correlates (like heart rate or facial expressions), thoughts (appraisals), and a desire to take action (e.g., fight or flight).


  • Purpose of Emotions:


    • Motivate Action: They drive us to behave in certain ways.



    • Promote Survival: Negative emotions help us avoid harm, while positive ones encourage approaching beneficial things.



    • Communication: They signal internal states to others to help them predict our behavior.


  • Theories of Emotion:


    • Discrete Emotions Theory: Suggests emotions are innate and distinct from one another, with signature neural and physiological reactions.



    • Functionalist Approach: Emphasizes that emotions are continuous and their interpretation depends on the context of social and physical experiences.


  • Development of Primary Emotions:


    • Happiness: Social smiles (smiles directed at people) emerge around 6 weeks.



    • Negative Emotions: Newborns show general distress; specific expressions for anger and sadness become distinct from general pain around 2 months.


  • Secondary (Self-Conscious) Emotions:

    • These require a "sense of self," which is often tested using the Mirror Task (Rouge Task) around 18 months.



    • Guilt vs. Shame: Guilt is associated with empathy for others and a desire to repair a wrong; shame focuses on the self (feeling "bad" rather than having done a "bad thing").



  • Social Referencing: Infants (9-12 months) use their caregivers' emotional expressions to decide how to respond to new or ambiguous situations.


Key Terms & Definitions


  • Social Smiles: Smiles directed toward people, emerging at about 6 to 7 weeks of age.



  • The Mirror Task: A test of self-awareness where a mark is placed on a child's face; if the child touches their own face when looking in a mirror, they show self-recognition.



  • Emotional Contagion: The tendency to "catch" and feel the emotions of others, such as newborns crying when they hear another baby cry.



  • Social Referencing: Using a caregiver's facial expression or vocal cues to decide how to deal with novel or ambiguous situations.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lecture 18: Attachment & Parenting

Main Points

  • Evolution of Attachment Theory:


    • 1940s Behaviorism: Advised parents to avoid physical affection and focus on nutritional care.



    • Harlow’s Monkey Studies: Demonstrated that infant monkeys preferred a "cloth mother" (comfort) over a "wire mother" that provided food, proving that "comfort contact" is a primary need.



    • Institutionalization Effects: Early observations by Bowlby and Spitz showed that children in orphanages with adequate food but no social interaction suffered severe developmental and emotional retardation.



  • Bowlby’s Attachment Theory: Attachment is an innate bond that serves as a "secure base," allowing infants to explore the world while knowing they have a safe place to return to.


  • Ainsworth’s Attachment Categories (The "Strange Situation"):


    • Secure (60%): Uses parent as a secure base; upset when parent leaves, but easily comforted upon return.



    • Insecure/Resistant (10%): Clingy and stays close to parent; extremely upset when parent leaves and remains upset/resistant when they return.



    • Insecure/Avoidant (15%): Indifferent to parent; does not show distress when parent leaves and avoids them upon return.



    • Disorganized (15%): No consistent pattern; may appear confused or even fearful of the parent.


  • Parenting Styles (Baumrind):

    • Authoritative: High warmth, high demandingness (set clear standards but are responsive). Generally leads to the best outcomes in Western contexts.


    • Authoritarian: Low warmth, high demandingness (strict, "because I said so").

    • Permissive: High warmth, low demandingness (few rules).

    • Rejecting-Neglecting: Low warmth, low demandingness (disengaged).

Key Terms & Definitions


  • Attachment: A close, enduring emotional bond with a specific person.



  • Secure Base: The idea that the presence of a trusted caregiver provides an infant with a sense of security that allows them to explore the environment.



  • Internal Working Model: A mental representation of the self, of attachment figures, and of relationships in general, constructed from experiences with caregivers.



  • Parental Sensitivity: Caregiving behavior that involves the expression of warmth and contingent responsiveness to children’s needs; a key predictor of secure attachment.