Module 9 Flashcards
Whether emotions are the result of nature or nurture has long been debated in the field of emotional development. What are two key approaches to understanding emotions?
1) Discrete vs. Continuous Emotions
2) Functionalist approach
What is the discrete emotions theory?
claims that there is a small number of basic emotions. For example, Dr. Carroll Izard (1923-2017) hypothesized 12 discrete emotions: Interest, Joy, Surprise, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Contempt, Self-Hostility, Fear, Shame, Shyness, and Guilt. Other discrete emotions theorists have postulated the existence of different basic emotions.
Izard hypothesized that emotions are evolutionarily adaptive and that these discrete emotions are present from birth. If discrete emotions are indeed innate, Izard argued that they should be present in all cultures and have distinct physiological responses to environmental stimuli.
At the time of Izard’s research, most of his work was simply theoretical because we lacked the means necessary gather physiological data. Now, it has been well-established that different emotions DO NOT have distinct physiological underpinnings (at least the way we can currently measure them). That said, infants are able to recognize emotions much sooner than they are actively taught about them, suggesting an innate capacity for emotional development.
Other researchers argue that the boundaries between emotions are fuzzy. That is, emotions are continuous, not discrete. For example, the circumplex model is a dimensional approach to studying emotions. As shown below, emotions differ depending on arousal (mild-intense) and valence (pleasant-unpleasant). Emotions can be distinguished by plotting scores on these two dimensions.
Describe the functionalist approach to emotional development.
Focuses on the adaptive function of emotions. Emotions are evolutionarily adaptive because they motivate us to attend to environmental stimuli – motivate us to get away from something that’s bad for us, or motivate us to approach something that we like. The focus here is not on differentiating emotions, but on the functional significance of emotions. Eg:
Happiness = Increases sociability and energy
Guilt = Signals misbehaviour, which helps maintain group cohesion
Fear = Signals potential threats, stimulates flight-or-flight response
Flip for a summary of the approaches to understanding emotions.
Discrete emotions theory = focused on the idea that emotions are innate and can be differentiated from one another very early on in life.
Circumplex model = argues that while emotions may be innate, the boundaries between emotions are fuzzy and are separated by differences in valence and arousal.
Functionalist approach = focused on the evolutionary significance of emotions, not on differentiating them.
True or False?
Emotions are just subjective feelings.
False.
For example, can you remember the last time you felt worried? In addition to the subjective feeling of worry, what did your body sensations feel like? Did you notice your thoughts or behaviours? Perhaps you noticed that in addition to the subjective feeling, you experienced bodily sensations like an increased heart rate, racing thoughts, or a desire to take action in order to solve the worrisome problem.
Emotions are characterized by what 6 components?
1) Neural Responses - the firing of brain regions like the amygdala, etc.
2) Physiological responses - changes in heart rate, stress, hormones etc.
3) Subjective Feelings - How we traditionally describe emotions - happiness, sadness, etc.
4) Cognitions - Our thoughts or inner dialogue related to the experience
5) Desire to Take Action - Typically either approach or avoidance based
6) Expressive behaviour - Facial expressions, gestures, etc (although these may not always be expressed)
Imagine a 5-year-old boy who is angry because his brother won’t let him use his toy dinosaur. Apply the 6 components or emotions to help us understand the experience of anger.
Neural response: His amygdala and other emotion-related areas are firing.
Physiological response: His heart beat increased.
Subjective feeling: Anger.
Cognitions: He might be thinking, “I hate my brother! I want the dinosaur now!”
Desire to take action: He approaches his brother to get the toy he desires.
Expressive behaviour: Yelling, red face, wants to hit his brother.
Theorists who take a functionalist approach to understanding emotional development propose that emotions:
a) Promote action toward a goal
b) Have little impact on cognition
c) Are innate and thus are unaffected by socialization
d) Do not emerge until a child has a sense of self
a) Promote action toward a goal
Which of the following could be components of an emotion?
Smiling
Frowning
Feeling excited
Running away from an aversive stimulus
Increased sweat
Feeling afraid
Increased stress hormones
All are correct.
emotional development consists of much more than simply experiencing emotions. It consists of what 3 things?
Emotional expression: the ability to express different emotions.
Emotional recognition: the ability to recognize or become aware of different emotions.
Emotional understanding: the ability to verbally label and comprehend the use of emotion in themselves and others.
Basic emotions, such as happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and surprise, tend to happen ______________.
automatically
In other words, they do not require cognitive processing. As we just learned, we can organize basic emotions by valence (e.g., pleasant or unpleasant) or by discrete categories.
Describe the development of pleasant emotions.
While new parents might disagree, early smiles within the first two months of an infant’s life are reflexive (e.g., after they’ve been fed or passed gas).
Social smiles start at around 2 months old. For example, babies will start to smile at people who smile at them.
By 7 months, infants are more likely to smile at their caregivers than they are to smile at strangers.
By 24 months, young children enjoy making other people smile and laugh. For example, young children will repeat actions or words that make others smile or laugh.
Describe the development of unpleasant emotions.
As mentioned at the start of this module, unpleasant emotions are not well-differentiated during the first few months.
There is some disagreement in the field as to when unpleasant emotions begin to differentiate, but they do become well organized by 6 months of age and are clearly different by age 2. By this point, parents and other people can tell the difference between a tired cry and a hungry cry.
Interestingly, infants do not always demonstrate an emotion that is congruent to the situation. For example, they might show sadness when they should show surprise. This is because infants are not cognitively processing the world the same way as adults do. This discrepancy doesn’t matter too much, however, as long as the caregivers are attentive that something is wrong.
Describe the fear emotion.
Fear is adaptive as it motivates us to move out of a situation that could cause danger. Early in development, children are afraid of many things (e.g., loud noises, novel objects, sudden movements). However, this varies depending on the child’s temperament (more on this soon!). Nonetheless, fear is a normal part of childhood development. This includes:
Stranger wariness (begins around 7 months): Many evolutionary psychologists postulate that this is when infants start to crawl and explore the world. This stranger wariness helps protect the infant from crawling too far away from mom, which is important for survival. The degree to which a child may experience stranger anxiety is altered by several factors, including the size of the stranger, facial expressions, and the predictability of the situation. One way to help infants feel more comfortable is to get down on their level and actively engage them with a friendly, smiling expression.
Separation anxiety (begins around 8 months): is anxiety specific about separation from the primary caregiver (e.g., if Mom or Dad leave the room).
Separation anxiety tends to peak at ~13 months old; however, this depends on culture and family norms. Eg: mothers who live in the US often only have a very short maternity leave, and so these babies will show less separation anxiety than babies who rarely leave their mothers.
True or False?
Basic emotions like fear are both innate and learned.
True.
(Think - parents play a role in socializing fear responses in ambiguous situations in the Visual Cliff paradigm.)
What does the Visual Cliff study demonstrate?
That infants use social-referencing to determine how to approach and react to ambiguous stimuli. Social referencing is a major mechanism through which infants learn about the world around them (including emotions!).
What are Self-conscious emotions?
They’re sometimes called complex emotions or social emotions. In contrast to basic emotions, self-conscious emotions require a reflective capacity. That is, they require one to be able to reflect upon actions in order to consider what others might think about them.
Self-conscious emotions develop later than basic emotions because children must first understand that they are different from other people.
Self-conscious emotions start to differentiate around ~_______ years old, and include emotions like ___________, ____________ and _____________.
2 years old
embarrassment, pride, guilt, and shame.
(For example, at around 18-24 months, young children may start to feel embarrassed about being the center of attention.)
Describe the self-conscious emotion of “pride”.
Pride is apparent fairly early in development - for example, young children often appear to be very proud about taking their first steps. With development, pride is related to accomplishing challenging tasks.
Describe the self-concious emotion of “guilt”.
Guilt reflects feeling bad about a behaviour. Guilt can be an adaptive emotion, as it can guide us to correct the problematic behaviour
Describe the self-concious emotion of “shame”.
Guilt and shame are related, but distinct, emotions. Shame reflects feeling bad about oneself. Shame is often associated with internalizing symptoms in North American culture. Think - how can parents help differentiate between guilt and shame when disciplining their children?
What is the difference between guilt and shame?
Guilt reflects feeling bad about a BEHAVIOUR.
Shame reflects feeling bad about ONESELF.
Collectivist cultures emphasize _______________, whereas individualist cultures emphasize _______________.
interpersonal relationships and connections with others
the individual and their autonomy.
(One of the key differences here is the cultural emphasis on the self. For example, in Canadian culture, personal autonomy is emphasized. For example, in Canadian culture personal autonomy is emphasized. By contrast, in Colombian culture, one’s interdependence with others is emphasized.)
In collectivist cultures when are self-conscious emotions experienced?
In collectivist cultures what is the role of shame in misbehaviour?
More likely to be experienced in response to the behaviours of others.
Parents emphasize shame in child’s misbehaviour. This is because misbehaviour is a reflection not only on the individual, but also on their family and social connections. Thus, in collectivist cultures, shame is more normative (and is thus less strongly associated with difficulties).
