Exam #2 Emotions Flashcards
facial expressions
powerful tool for expressing emotions
evolutionary roots for communication
young neonates are able to imitate adult facial expressions of basic emotions:
happiness, fear, anger, disgust, sadness and surprise
positive emotions
smile
first month = reflex response
2-3motnhs = social smiles to people - first emotional mielston
7th moth = familiar people, encourage interaction and bonding
happiness
by 2nd month - product of child controlling event
laughing
by 3rd and 4th month - during activities
about 12 months - unexpected events
2nd year - own behavior, trying to elicit laugh from others
negative emotions
undifferentiated distress early in life
generalized distress
- newborns: hunger, pain, over-stimulation
anger
early instances - restraint, loss of an interesting toy, absence of caregiver
increases with age
effective at getting attention
sadness
first few months - seen in response to pain
less common than anger
- more common in the disturbed parent-child relationship
- extreme separation: Romanian orphans
fear and distress
fear - develops with motor capabilities, using social referencing
6 months to 2 years = fear of strangers
- fear response to unfamiliar adults
- emerges at 6-7 months and peaks 8-10 months, declines over 2nd year
- intensity varies by child, culture and experience
separation anxiety
fear of being away from caregiver
- appears at 1 year and peaks between 13-15 months
- declines during preschool years
- intensity varies by culture, individual child, and experience (attachment relationship)
self-conscious emotions
embarrassment, pride, guilt, and shame
- self-awareness, awareness of reactions of others
embarrassment - 15-24 months old
pride, guilt and shame don’t happen until 3 years at earliest
disgust
facial display at birth
adult-like stimuli - not evident until 3 years
- will eat almost anything
- no aversion to human waste products
relatively sudden onset
- biologically timed
- requires learning (varies by culture)
emotional regulation
- adjust emotional state or comfort level
- vary level of intensity
- enable us to achieve a goal
- control emotions
infant emotional control
- limited capacity
- get attention: depend on caregiver for soothing
early childhood emotional control
language allows communication with caregiver
develop new strategies - distractions, shift activity
emotional outbursts decrease
- parents encourage children to “use words”
middle-late childhood
develop strategies by age 10
social support - seek out friends
distraction
redefine situation
problem-solving