Emotional and Psychological Development

Question 1

State the main 4 developmental domains

Answer 1

Emotional, cognitive, social, physical

Question 2

State the social and emotional milestones between birth and 3 months of age

Answer 2

Smiles in response to interaction, comforted by a familial adult

Question 3

State the social and emotional milestones between 3 and 6 months of age

Answer 3

Initiates interaction, smiles spontaneously, plays peek-a-boo

Question 4

State the social and emotional milestones between 6 and 9 months of age

Answer 4

Differentiates emotions, distinguishes friends and strangers, prefers familiar people

Question 5

State the social and emotional milestones between 9 and 12 months of age

Answer 5

Separation anxiety, imitation, self-regulation

Question 6

State the social and emotional milestones between 1 and 2 years of age

Answer 6

Sense of self develops, assertive, directs others, pride and pleasure with accomplishments

Question 7

State the social and emotional milestones between 2 and 3 years of age

Answer 7

Explores more, self-help skills, sees self as good or bad, aware of own feelings as separate to others

Question 8

Describe the brain development in a child’s first 3 years of life

Answer 8

The brain doubles in size in their first year - by age 3, it has reached 80% of its adult volume. The sensorimotor cortex develops rapidly from birth, with other areas developing more slowly with synaptogenesis and synaptic pruning

Question 9

When does the prefrontal cortex finish developing?

Answer 9

Adolescence

Question 10

Define emotions

Answer 10

Feelings or states of mind generated from interaction with internal biochemical and external environmental factors, with either positive or negative valence

Question 11

Name the 6 basic emotions which develop in the first year of life

Answer 11

Happiness, sadness, disgust, anger, surprise, fear

Question 12

Name the 3 basic emotions which develop in the first 3 months of life

Answer 12

Happiness, sadness, disgust

Question 13

Name the 3 additional emotions which develop after 1-2 years of life

Answer 13

Empathy, jealousy, embarrassment

Question 14

Name the 3 additional emotions which develop after 2-2.5 years of life

Answer 14

Pride, shame, guilt

Question 15

Describe the function of early emotions

Answer 15

To communicate the baby’s needs and to engage in interactions with others, in order to understand the emotions of others

Question 16

Define temperament

Answer 16

Simple, non-motivational, non-cognitive, stylisyic characteristics present from birth that represent meaningful ways of describing individual differences and affect how a young child acts and responds to different situations and individuals

Question 17

How does personality develop from temperament?

Answer 17

It is based on temperament, but modified by interactions and the child’s self-worth and self-concept

Question 18

State the 3 clusters of temperament proposed by Thomas & Chess in the 1950s

Answer 18

Difficult cluster, easy cluster, slow-to-warm-up cluster

Question 19

State the 2 clusters of temperament proposed by Kagan in the 1970s

Answer 19

Inhibited (highly reactive) and uninhibited (low reactive)

Question 20

Describe the consistency between temperament in childhood and personality in adolescence

Answer 20

Temperamental characteristics in the first 2 years have a low correlation with comparable characteristics in adolescence, however there is a great correlation between the early school years and adolescence, with consistency greater for extreme characteristics

Question 21

Name 2 relevant genes in the heritability of temperament

Answer 21

Dopamine receptor gene and serotonin receptor gene

Question 22

Describe the implications of a difficult temperament for psychopathology

Answer 22

Difficult temperament is associated with higher rates of accidents, sleep difficulties, infantile colic, behavioural deviance at school, and confrontational responses from others (including parental criticism)

Question 23

Define attachment

Answer 23

The emotional bond between a child and caregiver

Question 24

Describe Bowlby’s theory of attachment

Answer 24

Children need their primary caregivers to be a secure base for exploration and a haven for protection. Their perception of their caregiver forms the basis of their internal working models of their own self, the caregiver, and others. These working models influence interpersonal behaviour

Question 25

Describe Ainsworth’s strange situation procedure

Answer 25

A child is observed playing with caregiver supervision. A stranger enters and interacts with the caregiver and then the child. The caregiver leaves and the baby’s reaction is observed. After a short while, the caregiver returns and the baby’s reaction is observed again

Question 26

Name the four types of attachment seen in the strange situation procedure

Answer 26

Secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant, and disorganised

Question 27

Describe secure attachment seen in the strange situation procedure

Answer 27

The infant engages in positive exploration. They are upset by separation but respond positively to the caregiver on reunion and return rapidly to exploration

Question 28

Describe insecure-avoidant attachment seen in the strange situation procedure

Answer 28

The infant is detached upon separation, avoids the parent on reunion, and engages in displacement exploration that is devoid of true interest

Question 29

Describe insecure-resistant attachment seen in the strange situation procedure

Answer 29

The infant is preoccupied with their caregiver’s availability. They show distress on separation but anger or ambivalence on reunion and are difficult to comfort

Question 30

In which group of infants is disorganised attachment more common?

Answer 30

Those exposed to situations of high psychosocial risk, e.g. domestic violence or abuse

Question 31

Describe the relationship between cortisol and attachment (Bernard et al, 2010)

Answer 31

Cortisol increases following a strange situation procedure if the child has insecure or disorganised attachment, but not if they have secure attachment

Question 32

Describe the influence of disorganised attachment on childhood psychopathology

Answer 32

It is the strongest predictor for vulnerability to stress, difficulty regulating negative emotions, and oppositional, aggressive behaviour

Question 33

Describe the influence of insecure attachment on childhood psychopathology (Madigan et al, 2013)

Answer 33

It has a small effect on future internalisation of problems, a feature of anxiety and depression

Question 34

Define emotional regulation

Answer 34

The ability of an individual to control their own emotions and reactions to their environment

Question 35

Describe the relationship between attention allocation and self-regulation in infants

Answer 35

Infants who are slow to reorient their attention on EEG have lower scores on self-regulation