14. Emotional Development

What are emotions?

  • A way of expression

  • Our use of language plays an important role in how we express ourselves and our thoughts

    • Happy, sad, mad

  • Expressions describe our emotions → smiling, frowning

Physiology of emotion

→ History of emotions

  • Our experiences in life can effect our bodies and minds

    • Changes in the ANS (Autonomic Nervous System)

    • Involuntary bodily functions, homeostasis → internal balance

      • Heart and breathing rate

      • Blood pressure

      • sweating, pupil dilation

      • skin responses

  • Our Cultural experiences shape how we experience emotion

    • e.g.

      • American moms tend to be more bubbly compared to Japanese moms more reserved

Emotional Expressions

Universality of emotions

→ 7 basic emotional expressions seem to be a universal experience

  • Anger, Fear, Interest, Joy, Sadness, Disgust, and Surprise

  • Recognized across cultures, a shared emotional response in humans

  • Paul Ekman

    • Looked at the expression of emotion in African tribes

    • Expression photos were used and participants were asked what emotion is being presented

    • RESULTS:

      • Emotional expressions were recognized across cultures, indicating a universal understanding of basic emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, and fear.

  • Studies in the last 5 years…

    • The internet provides many emotions

    • Networks pull out many photos and videos

    • Asked the P’s to identify the emotions being displayed in the photos and videos

    • Results: same as Ekman’s study

Emotions → A cognitive-social approach

  • Emotions are the products of cognitive processing

  • Cognitive processes mediate the mental state and lead to the response

    • EVENT → COGNITION → EMOTIONAL RESPONSE

  • Our emotions come from thinking (cognitions)

  • This suggests that by changing our patterns of thinking, we can influence our emotional responses

    • By understanding how cognition and emotion work together

  • Our cognition of the social world is going to influence how we feel about it emotionally

Children are socialized about the rules of emotional expression

  • This process of socialization is important as:

    • It helps children learn appropriate ways to express their feelings, recognize emotions in others, and develop empathy

  • E.g.

    • Visiting Santa at the mall an evoke a range of emotions, from excitement to fear. All depending in the child’s experiences and understanding of social cues

Emotions → Functional Approach

  • This approach emphasizes how emotions help children adapt to their environment.

  • Seeing that emotions act as a guide for behaviour and decision-making

    • ex → A child may feel fear when encountering a new situation, prompting them to seek comfort or support from caregivers

  • Emotions are not just reactions → but have adaptive purposes that help with navigating challenges and help thrive in an environment.

    • Ex → Fear: Seeking protection and safety

      • Function: Fear alerts children of danger and encourages them to seek safety

        → Toddler hears thunder, runs to parent for reassurance

      • Helps them feel safe and strengthens bond with caregivers

How do infants express their emotions?

  • basic emotions are expressed with their faces

  • Crying

    • By 6-7 months infants show all basic emotions

Infant recognition of emotions in others

  • Infants discriminate between emotional expressions in faces, and in voices

→ Metlzoff & Moore (1980)

  • Went into baby rooms in hospitals to express faces to newborns

    • Results: Babies can internalize facial expressions and copy them not too long after

      • Infants can recognize emotions and copy them

Recognition of emotion in others

  • Infants tend to recognize more positive emotions than negative ones

    • positive emotions elicit more of a stronger and more immediate reaction

    • emotions of joy and happiness happens earlier

  • Social Referencing

    • Meaning when someone looks to another person for emotional cues

    • We look at emotional states to see what we should be interpreting

    • At 12 months babies look at their caregivers for a sign whether or not to proceed

Differences in Emotional Expression

  • The ways in which the thing we post on the internet (helps us understand emotional behaviour)

  • Study

    • Real world facial expressions on flicker

    • how people express happiness

    • Looked at 3 demographics to look at expressions:

      • Ethnicity, gender, and age

Findings..

  • Women are more expressive

  • male babies tend to be more expressive that female babies

  • 6 month old male babies express more (crying more when frustrated)

Why is there a change in boys and girls expression as they age?

  • socialization

  • social referencing

  • Girls are more verbal earlier

  • parents are more likely to talk to their daughters about emotions

    • What is appropriate to have a meltdown about?

Takeaway

  • Expressions are culturally and socially developed

  • less about genes

Emotion Regulation

  • Interaction between babies and their caregivers

  • Helpful in assisting children in regulating their emotions

Development of specific emotions

  • We have typical behaviours that we use in situations

Smiling and Laughter

  • Reflexive smiling (babies randomly smiling)

    • Bowlby → smiling is a signalling behaviour

    • infants will smile back as a reinforcing expression at 6 months

Smiling and the environment

  • Early in age (6 months) rise in total number of smiles for all groups

Negative emotions

  • Fear

    • 3 Months → Wariness

    • 9 Months → True fear

The Development of Specific Emotions:

Biological Perspective

  • Theres a similarity in development of emotions in genetically related people

    • Monozygotic twins more likely to be similar in timing when social smiling emerges

Separation protest

  • Protest in separation is a normal developmental response across cultures

  • There is cultural differences,

  • Peaks at 12-18 months then gradually decreases

    • Most protest in African babies

    • Less in Antiguan, Guatemalan, and Israeli babies

Cognitive perspective

  • Concept development → the formation of new schemas may drive the development of emotion

    • What is appropriate for girls and boys → Schemas

  • As infants grow, they begin to understand the cause and effect to make sense of the world

    • If they cry → A parent will comfort them

  • Children learn to understand other peoples reactions can provide valuable information about the consequences of their actions

    • Helps with predicting outcomes more effectively

Learning perspective

  • Is useful for explaining differences in emotional expression among different people

  • also useful for explaining conditioned fear responses

    • e.g. → A child reacting to a dog, could be seen as not scary for some but not the same for all children

Secondary emotions

Pride, Guilt, Shame

  • Pride

    • From: Success and achievement

    • Response: smiling, seeking recognition

    • Outcome: confidence, motivation

  • Can reinforce positive behaviour and motivation

  • Guilt:

    • From: Harm to others or breaking rules

    • Response: Apologizing, fixing the harm

    • Outcome: Moral development

  • Guilt encourages empathy and prosocial behaviour

  • Shame

    • From: Feeling exposed or unworthy

    • Response: hiding, pulling back

    • outcome: low self worth

  • when balanced can promote humility and self-improvement

→ All play a key role in moral and social development