Chapter 10 - Emotional Development

Question 1

Describe the marshmallow test.
What is it supposed to test?
How valid is it?
What does it demonstrate?

Answer 1

• intended to emotional development of children
• parents give their kids a marshmellow, tell the they can have another one if they don’t eat the first one while the parent leaves the room, parent leaves the room for some time
• now valid test for emotional development
• demonstrates children’s lack of impulse control

Question 2

• What made researchers notice how invalid the marshmallow test is?

Answer 2

• there were large discrepancies between the performances of high and low SES kids
• likely due to the low SES kids having more a scarcity mindset

Question 3

What are the cognitive components that contribute to emotional intelligence?

Answer 3

• self awareness
• empathy
• social skills
• self regulation
• motivation

Question 4

What is emotional intelligence a valid predictor for?

Answer 4

academic achievement

Question 5

Are emotion and feeling the same thing?

Answer 5

no, emotion is more complex

Question 6

What are the key components of emotion?

Answer 6

• neural responses
• physiological factors
• subjective feelings
• cognitions or perceptions
• expressive behavior or cognitive interpretations

Question 7

Describe the discrete emotions theory

Answer 7

• we are hardwired to express 8 basic emotions
• we can express more emotions when the 8 basic emotions overlap

Question 8

What is the earliest clear sign of happiness?

Answer 8

• smiling

Question 9

At what age is smiling the reaction to external biological stimuli

Answer 9

3 - 8 weeks old

Question 10

Is social smiling present in earliest development of positive emotions?

Answer 10

no

Question 11

When does communicative smiling begin?

Answer 11

around 3 - 4 months old

Question 12

When do babies begin to primarily smile at familiar faces?

Answer 12

around 7 months old

Question 13

After 2 years of life, what is a common motivation for smiling?

Answer 13

when children are able to make those round them smile

Question 14

What negative emotion is the generalized negative emotion displayed after birth?

Answer 14

generalized distress

Question 15

Out of all the emotions present in early life, which is the hardest to interpret?

Answer 15

negative emotions

Question 16

Around 4 months what evokes negative emotions

Answer 16

weariness to unfamiliar objects and events

Question 17

Around 6-7 months, what negative emotions begin to develop?

Answer 17

initial fear begins, particularly fear of strangers
- fear intensifies and lasts until about 2 years old

Question 18

Describe the patterns of anger in early development.
What is a potential explanation for this trend?

Answer 18

• drastic increase in anger around 1 1/2 years old, then steady decline
• this trend coincides with the period for language development. Anger is likely a result of the frustration of not being able to communicate effectively, and decreases as language develops
• at peak girls are angrier, as anger declines, boys general remain angrier

Question 19

What is emotional regulation?

Answer 19

• the ability to monitor and control emotional experiences and expressions
• controlling wants and desires to dictate what you do or don’t want

Question 20

Are young children able to regulate emotion? If so, how do they do it?

Answer 20

• they are unable to self-regulate
• instead their emotions are co-regulated by those around them (often their parents)

Question 21

How does co-regulation work?

Answer 21

parents help infants control emotional arousal by controlling their exposure to stimulating events

Question 22

How do children regulate emotions around 6 months old?

Answer 22

• self-soothing
• engaging in stylized or repetitive rubbing or stroking of their bodies or clothing

Question 23

How do children regulate emotions between ages 1 and 2?

Answer 23

• behavioral self-soothing
• increasingly turn their attention to non-distressing objects or people to distract themselves from distress

Question 24

Generally how does emotional regulation shift during development

Answer 24

• co-regulation, physical self-soothing, behavior self-soothing, cognitive self-soothing
• from early life to later life, children move from co-regulation with caregivers to increasing self-regulation through self-soothing

Question 25

What past theory/ model is emotional regulation a good example of?

Answer 25

the overlapping wave model/ theory

Question 26

What are emotional regulation abilities a good predictor of?

Answer 26

social competence

Question 27

What are some findings on trends in social abilities of children depending on their emotional regulation abilities?

Answer 27

• high ER kids are well-adjusted and liked by their peers and adults
• poor-regulated kids are at higher risk of becoming victims of bullying
• well-regulated kids do better in school

Question 28

Do all kids respond to regulation techniques in the same manner? what causes they to respond the same or differently?

Answer 28

• no, differing temperaments cause differences in responses

Question 29

Define temperament

Answer 29

individuals differences in emotion, activity level, and attention

Question 30

Describe the findings of the Stella Chess and Alexander Thomas (1977) study on child temperaments

Answer 30

Three general categories for baby temperaments:
1)Easy - excited, easygoing baby
2) difficult - opposite of easy
3) Slow to Warm - shy initially, but after some time they’re like the easy baby

Question 32

What did Mary Rothbart’s studies on temperament comprise of? How did they collect data? What questions/ categories did they investigate?

Answer 32

• gave surveys to parents about their baby’s behavior to categorize their temperament into 1 of 5 categories
• survey asked questions about fearful distress, irritability, attention span, activity level, positive affectivity (smiling and laughing)

Question 33

What are the researched differences in brain activity between different temperaments?

Answer 33

• people with overactive left frontal lobes are more social (associated with easy babies)
• people with overactive right frontal lobes are more withdrawn, fearful, and anxious (associated with difficult babies)

Question 34

Are temperaments stable over time?

Answer 34

yes, for the most part

Question 35

Do environmental factors effect a child’s emotional expression abilities?

Answer 35

yes, children from homes/ families where parents encourage emotional expression are better at it