Emotional Development

Question 1

what 5 things make up emotion?

Answer 1

• Neural response
• Subjective feeling
• Physiological response
• Cognitive response
• Desire to take action

Question 2

Meta-theories to describe emotion

Answer 2

• Discrete emotions theory
• Functionalism
• Dynamic systems theory

Question 3

Discrete emotions theory

Answer 3

• Emotions can be described in terms of physical reactions
• First proposed by Darwin -> said facial expressions are evolved responses to specific stimuli and are species universal (Ex. Fear: wide eyes, flared nostrils and open mouth -> help us see what’s scaring us and breathe easily so we can run away)
• Emotions are innate and are distinguishable from each other from early in life (number of emotions differs depending on who you ask)

Question 4

Support for discrete emotions theory

Answer 4

• Generated facial feedback hypothesis: facial expressions actually mediate emotional states (ex. Smiling makes us happier)
• • Famous example: pen in the lips/teeth study -> pen in teeth makes you happier
• • Reducing frown lines via Botox reduces depression/sadness
• Computers can group emotional faces into categories with no other info (they do this almost as well as humans can)

Question 5

Number of emotions and Silvan Tomkins’ 8

Answer 5

• usually between 8-12 emotions depending on who you ask. According to Silvan Tomkins, they are:
  1. Surprise
  2. Interest
  3. Joy/happiness
  4. Anger/rage
  5. Fear
  6. Disgust
  7. Shame
  8. Anguish/sadness

Question 6

Functionalism

Answer 6

• Emotions promote action towards a certain goal (ex. Fear: evolved to encourage running away)
• Emotions are different not because they look different, but because they have different goal states
• How emotions are expressed in individuals is the result of life experience (ex. Anger does not manifest itself in the same way across individuals) -> differs from discrete emotions theory

Question 7

Supporting evidence for functionalism

Answer 7

• Smiles are not reserved only for joy -> can use them to express other emotions and goals
• Physical manifestation of emotions is not meaningful

Question 8

Dynamic Systems theory

Answer 8

• Dynamic-systems approaches argue that emotions are comprised of many sub-systems that cannot be separated (ex. Appraisals, goals, actions, expressions)
• Emotion is not any one of these sub-systems, but all of them working together (transactional model)

Question 9

when do positive emotions develop?

Answer 9

• Prior to 8 weeks, smiles are likely reflexive/physiological
• More positive emotions are observable in young infants after 8 weeks
• • Social smile (most often toward familiar people, especially prominent after 7 months)
• • Happiness when they can control events (ex. operant conditioning – controlling mobile on bed, sticky mittens)

Question 10

when do negative emotions develop?

Answer 10

• Most obvious emotion from birth: generalized distress (in response to hunger, pain, overstimulation, etc.)
• Anger, sadness, and fear/pain appear to be somewhat differentiated by 2 months
• By 6-7 months, fear/weariness is very clear (ex. Stranger danger -> persists until ~2 years of age)

Question 11

separation anxiety

Answer 11

• A particular kind of fear response
• Distress due to the primary caregiver leaving (rather than when the infant leaves)
• Evolutionary response to prevent abandonment
• Most intense at 8-13 months
• Universal, normal pattern of development

Question 12

separation anxiety disorder

Answer 12

• Separation anxiety is a normal aspect of development until about 3-4 years of age
• Distinct from separation anxiety disorder
• Developmentally atypical and disruptive
• Usually after 3-4 (cannot diagnose infants with this because it’s normal for babies to have separation anxiety)
• Recurrent and excessive stress
• Nightmares

Question 13

self-conscious emotions

Answer 13

• develop when a child is ~2 years old
• include pride, shame, embarrassment, and guilt
• At first, they’re not always based on reality (infants may misattribute those emotions in situations that adults wouldn’t normally)
• By 3 years old, self-conscious emotions are tied more closely to a child’s level of achievement (ex. easy tasks elicit less pride than difficult tasks, easy tasks elicit more shame than difficult tasks)

Question 14

Pride vs. Shame vs. Guilt

Answer 14

• Pride: positive feeling about accomplishments
• Shame: consciousness of something embarrassing
• Guilt: responsibility for harm to others

Question 15

emotional regulation in adults

Answer 15

• the more emotional we are (particularly for certain emotions like fear), the harder they are to control
• Regulation strategies:
• • Internal feeling states (how we feel)
• • Emotion-regulated cognitions (changing the way we feel about certain stimuli)
• • Emotion-related physiological processes (deep breathing to regulate heart rate)
• • Emotion-related behaviour (telling ourselves that things will be okay)

Question 16

emotional regulation in infancy

Answer 16

• for the first 6 months, infants do not appear to self-regulate their emotions (most regulation comes from the parents)
• After 6 months, some rudimentary self-regulation appears:
• • Self-soothing
• • Gaze aversion (especially between 12 and 24 months)
• • Awareness of adult expectations (starting at 9-12 months/onset of crying)

Question 17

individual differences in emotion

Answer 17

• Major individual differences in emotion and emotional regulation
• Arise due to:
• • Heredity (predominantly)
• • Environment
• — ex. Negative parenting (ie. Failure to attend to child’s needs)
• — ex. Environmental instability
• Difference in children’s innate emotionality is called temperament

Question 18

Thomas and Chess temperament classification

Answer 18

• Thomas and Chess were the first to attempt to divide infants by temperament
• Divided babies into 3 categories: Easy, Difficult, and Slow-to-warm-up
• Were unable to classify the remaining 35% of babies into those above categories

Question 19

Easy babies

Answer 19

• 40%

- Adjusted readily to new experiences, quickly established routines, and were generally cheerful and easy to calm down

Question 20

Difficult babies

Answer 20

• 10%
• Slow to adjust to new experiences, likely to react negatively and intensely to stimuli and events, and irregular in their bodily functions (correlation between bodily function and temperament)

Question 21

Slow-to-warm-up babies

Answer 21

• 15%

- Were somewhat difficult at first but became easier over time, had mild reaction

Question 22

Rothbart’s temperament scales

Answer 22

• captured infant temperament is captured on 6 dimensions (rather than putting babies in a discrete box like Thomas and Chess):
  1. Fearful distress/inhibition (fear in new situations)
  2. Irritable distress (anger when child can’t do what they want)
  3. Attention span and persistence (how long they can focus on an object of interest)
  4. Activity level (how much they move)
  5. Positive affect/approach (smiling, laughing, cooperativeness)
  6. Rhythmicity (regularity of bodily functions/routines)

Question 23

longitudinal effects of temperament

Answer 23

• Temperament is predominantly biologically based
• High trait stability
• Some, but not all, aspects of temperament are highly correlated throughout life
• • Ex. Positive emotionality is highly correlated throughout the lifespan (positive babies turn into positive adults)
• • Ex. Fetal activity level is associated with infant temperament for years after birth

Question 24

Research on emotional bonds in infancy: before 1940’s

Answer 24

psychologists didn’t typically believe that infants had complex emotions

Question 25

Research on emotional bonds in infancy: 1940’s-50’s

Answer 25

• discovered that infants raised in institutions (orphanages with adequate nutritional and physical care) did not thrive
• Infant mortality rate in this type of institutions reaches 30% in the 1940’s
• Infants raised in similar institutions with their mothers did thrive
• This led to discovery that parental interaction was not just essential socially, but also for survival

Question 26

Research on emotional bonds in infancy: 1950’s-1970’s

Answer 26

• Harry Harlow began researching infant rhesus monkeys
• Raised monkeys in isolation (or with peers only)
• • Monkeys were healthy, physically stimulated, adequately nourished, but did not thrive (developed social and sexual incompetence; became poor parents )

Question 27

emotional intelligence

Answer 27

• a set of abilities that contributes to competence in the social and emotional domains
• includes being able to motivate yourself in face of frustration, control impulses and delay gratification, identify and understand your and others’ feelings and moods, empathize, and regulate your emotions

Question 28

social competence

Answer 28

• the ability to achieve personal goals in social interactions while simultaneously maintaining positive relationships with others
• ability to self-regulate predicts social competence

Question 29

behavioural inhibition

Answer 29

• temperamentally-based style of responding characterized by the tendency to be fearful and restrained when dealing with new or stressful situations
• stable over time; predicts anxiety, depression, phobias, and withdrawal at older ages

Question 30

goodness of fit

Answer 30

• the degree to which an individual’s temperament is compatible with the demands and expectations in their social environment
• ex. difficult babies do better if they have supportive parents rather than hostile ones

Question 31

how parents socialize children’s emotional responses

Answer 31

• the way they express emotions around others
• their reactions to their children’s expressions of emotion
• the discussions they have with their children about emotion and emotional regulation