Emotional Development and Temperament

Overview of Chapter 10 on Mental Health and Emotional Development

  • The chapter covers mental health, emotional stability, and characteristics related to stress.

  • A brief mention of upcoming discussions on attachment and the self in social development.

  • The course is moving into the final weeks, focusing on social relationships with friends, peers, and family.

Course Timeline

  • Approximately 29 days remaining in the term, ending on April 9.

  • Final papers due by April 9, with about 30 days to prepare.

  • Class discussions will take place in research groups during Thursday classes.

Group Work Expectations

  • Students are not required to perform data analysis together as a group.

  • Options available:

    • Work independently if the group dynamics are not productive.

    • Form smaller subsets for group work or collaborate as a full group.

  • The paper will be submitted individually, not as a group, emphasizing autonomy in research paper preparation.

Consultation Days

  • Thursday classes are designated for consultation, available for either groups or individual students as preferred.

Grading Update

  • Acknowledgment of delays in grading tests due to time constraints.

  • Request for patience while the instructor balances grading and communication due to stress experienced by faculty as well.

  • An apology offered for previous delays in responses and grading.

Long Night Against Procrastination Event

  • A library event promoting focused study with writing clinics scheduled to start at 4:30 PM.

  • Opportunity to receive treats and prizes while working on assignments.

Section on Emotional Development

  • The focus is on the development of specific emotions, primarily positive emotions such as joy, laughter, and happiness.

  • Discussion on fear and its development in relation to emotional expressions.

Emotional Development Timelines

  • Timeline of development for emotional expressions is essential, with a focus on happiness and fear.

  • Example of a viral video featuring a baby named Micah laughing illustrates emotional expressions and development at around eight months old.

Reflexive Smiling

  • Discusses reflexive smiles in newborns before two months of age.

  • Reflexive smiles are typically produced by internal stimuli rather than external ones (e.g., a full stomach, release of gas).

  • Importance of caregiver responses to these reflexive smiles for emotional development and attachment.

Social Smiling

  • By three months of age, infants demonstrate social smiling towards familiar human faces.

  • Infants smile more to familiar faces and respond reciprocally to smiling behaviors from caregivers.

  • Social signaling begins to develop with increased responsiveness to familiar faces.

Cultural Context in Emotional Development

  • A figure demonstrates smiling behaviors in children across different cultural settings:

    • Institutional settings (orphans).

    • Typical North American family settings.

    • Kibbutz communal living in Israel.

  • Notable differences in emotional development based on cultural caregiving styles.

Fear Development

  • Fear responses peak at around nine months of age.

  • Study of various cultural contexts like Guatemalan Indian communities and African bushmen reveals universal patterns in fear expression.

  • The development of fear or wariness of strangers begins early and has social advantages in different cultural frameworks.

Temperament

  • Definition of temperament as the characteristic mood or emotional reactivity of an individual.

  • Mention of Jerome Kagan’s research distinguishing between reactive and inhibited temperaments in children based on behavioral responses observed as early as four months of age.

Dimensions of Temperament

  • Outline of variations in temperament types:

    • Easy children (40%).

    • Slow to warm up (15%).

    • Difficult (10%).

    • Mixed category comprising remaining percentages.

  • Examination of how difficult temperament can lead to challenges but does not determine future psychological issues.

  • The relationship between temperament and environmental responses.

Measuring Temperament

  • Thomas and Chess’s longitudinal study demonstrating nine dimensions of temperament.

  • The importance of a supportive environment to moderate and support infants' temperamental traits leading to overall emotional and psychological well-being.

Conclusion and Next Steps

  • Summary discussion of the connection between temperament, emotional development, and future personality traits, stressing the role of both innate biological predispositions and environmental influences.

  • Anticipation of attachment behaviors and how they may be affected by a child's temperament in future discussions.