infant emotional developement/expression Flashcards
(25 cards)
Why is emotional development important to study in infancy?
It helps us understand emotional wellbeing and how children learn to recognize, understand, and regulate emotions.
What are the three main aspects of children’s emotional development?
- Recognizing emotional expressions
- Understanding emotions
- Regulating emotions
What did Darwin (1872) suggest about emotional expression?
That the ability to communicate emotions through facial expressions is innate.
What evidence supports the universality of emotional expressions?
Ekman & Friesen (1971): Fore people of New Guinea interpreted Western facial expressions accurately.
Ekman (1973): Americans correctly identified Fore people’s facial expressions.
Are infants capable of expressing emotions?
Yes, infants show basic emotions early in life.
What is the difference between basic and complex emotions?
Basic emotions: Present early (e.g., joy, anger, fear).
Complex emotions: Involve self-awareness and emerge later (e.g., embarrassment, shame).
What do Reddy and colleagues argue about complex emotions in infants?
Infants as young as 2–4 months may show shyness and embarrassment, though this is debated.
Can adults accurately judge infant facial expressions?
Yes, adults can distinguish pleasant vs. unpleasant expressions (Izard et al., 1980), but struggle to differentiate negative emotions like fear vs. anger (Oster et al., 1992).
What method is used to test infant emotion recognition?
Habituation-dishabituation technique—infants look longer at new stimuli if they detect a difference.
What did Barrera & Maurer (1981) find?
3-month-olds can distinguish between smiling and frowning faces.
What did Caron et al. (1982) find?
4–7-month-olds could distinguish between happiness and surprise.
Does identifying expressions mean infants understand them?
No, recognition doesn’t mean they understand the emotional meaning.
When do children begin to show emotional understanding?
Evidence suggests some understanding by 18 months, with better performance by 2–3 years (Denham, 1986).
What did Repacholi & Gopnik (1997) demonstrate?
18-month-olds gave an adult broccoli (which the adult liked) despite preferring crackers themselves, showing understanding of others’ emotions.
What is social referencing?
Around 10 months, infants look to caregivers for cues on how to respond in uncertain situations.
How does social referencing differ from emotion contagion?
Social referencing is intentional; contagion is automatic mirroring of others’ emotions.
How do parents influence emotions?
Directly: Through language and actions.
Indirectly: Through modelling and observation.
What did Murray et al. (2008) find about maternal anxiety?
Infants of socially anxious mothers were more avoidant by 14 months, especially if behaviorally inhibited.
When do children start using emotion words?
As early as 18 months, with a rapid increase in vocabulary by age 3 (Bretherton et al., 1981).
What did Bretherton & Beeghly (1982) find?
28-month-olds could use emotion words about their own and others’ behaviors.
How do anxious parents affect fear learning?
They use more anxious language, communicate threats, and less positivity (Beidel & Turner, 1998; Moore et al., 2004; Suveg et al., 2005).
What did Pass et al. (2017) find?
Mothers worried about school used more anxiety-related language, which correlated with their children’s anxious representations of school.
Are young children good at hiding emotions?
Generally no, but by age 3, some can regulate mild negative emotions (Cole, 1986).
What social factor helps children learn emotion regulation?
Observing others’ reactions to emotional displays.
