Chapter 10, Part 1: Emotional Development

difficult child

10% of children; reacts negatively, cries frequently, irregular routines, and slow to adapt to change

slow-to-warm up child

15% of children; low activity level, somewhat negative, and low mood intensity

easy child

40% of children; positive mood, establishes routines, and adapts easily to new experiences

3 types of cries

Basic cry, anger cry, pain cry

Emotions

Feeling, or affect, that occurs when people are in a state or interaction that is important to them, especially in terms of their well-being

How is emotional expression reciprocal in infancy?

ability for infants to communicate emotions allows for coordinated interactions with their caregivers and for the development of emotional bonds; parents change emotional expression in response to infant and infant modifies emotional expression in response to parent

emotional regulation (ER)

ability to inhibit, or minimize the intensity/duration of emotions

Which temperament dimensions show continuity?

activity levels from age 4 to age 23

How does understanding change in early childhood?

at 2-4 years number of emotion terms increase and learn about causes/consequences of emotions; at 4-5 years learn that same event leads to different emotions in different people, ER impacts social relations; by 5 years can accurately identify emotions produced by certain situations and describe coping skills

How does smiling develop over time?

at 2-6 months social smiling increases, it is self-initiated and in response to others' smiles; at 6-12 months smiles that include Duchenne marker and mouth opening during play; in the 2nd year smiling continues with parents and increases with peer interactions; also in the 2nd year increasingly aware of social meaning of smile esp. with parents

What are the normative times when the various temperament dimensions emerge?

at early infancy there is smiling, laughter, positive affectivity (more stable later in infancy), by 2 months there is anger, frustration, negative affectivity, susceptible to distress, and overstimulation, by 4 to 12 months fear, irritability, inhibition, linked to unpredictable experiences, toddler extroversion/surgecy, and by toddler/preschool there is effortful control and self-regulation

effortful control

attentional focusing, inhibitory control, perceptual sensitivity, low-intensity pleasure, keep arousal low; utilize self-soothing strategies

core skills related to emotional competence

aware of own emotional states, detecting other's emotions, using the vocabulary of emotion terms, empathetic sensitivity to others' emotions, inner emotions do not equal outer expressions, adaptive emotional coping/self-regulation, emotional expression impacts relationships, viewing oneself as feeling the way one wants to feel

When does inhibition emerge and how stable is it?

begins around 7-9 months; inhibition shows stability from infancy into early childhood; both inhibited and uninhibited showed stability at 4 years and 7 years; a substantial number of inhibited children moved to intermediate group at 7 years

What type of contexts impact continuity?

caregivers, environment, peers, schools

anticipatory smiling

communicate positive emotion by smiling at an object and turning smile to an adult; anticipatory smiling at nine months linked to social competence at 2 and a half years

How can developmental contexts account for continuity/discontinuity in childhood temperament and adult personality?

developmental contexts help to account for continuities/discontinuties between child temperament and adult personality; stability of temperament may vary depending on context of an individual's experience

Biological areas most implicated in emotions

early developing regions: limbic system, brain stem; later developing: cerebral/frontal cortex

How does effortful control advance temperament theory?

early models emphasize stable level of arousal and reaction to positive/negative mood but effortful control stresses that individuals can develop self -regulatory skills to manage stress

negative affectivity

easily distressed, fret and cry often, negative emotional reactivity/irritability, (Chess/Thomas difficult)

Temperament dimensions are linked to which types of longitudinal outcomes?

easy temperament (3-5) leads to well adjusted adults, Difficult temperament (3-5) leads to less formal education, more marital conflict, Inhibition (3) leads to shyness at age 7, Fearfulness at (2) leads to higher anxiety in Kindergarten, Inhibition in childhood leads to less assertive, less support,, delay in stable job, and social anxiety as adults; low effortful control at (3) leads to emotionally effective as adults

How does emotion coaching impact ER, and how does child ER impact peer relations?

emotion-coaching parents have a less rejecting manner, use scaffolding and praise, and are more nuturant. They are better able to understand what distresses/comforts child leads to coping, empathy, and prosocial behavior. Children are better able to self-soothe, regulate, be focused, socially competent, and have less behavioral issues. Children with greater ER are more popular and less likely to experience peer rejection

Emotional knowledge is linked to what types of positive and negative outcomes?

emotional knowledge in young children linked to higher social competence and prosocial behavior, lower internalizing/externalizing symptoms

primary emotions

emotions that are present in humans and other animals and appears in the first 6 months of infant's development; joy, anger, sadness, fear, disgust, surprise, interest

self-conscious emotions

emotions that require self-awareness, especially consciousness and a sense of "me"; jealousy, empathy, embarrassment, pride, shame, guilt

How can parenting interventions improve goodness of fit and infant outcomes?

extra support and training for parents of high-distress infants improved quality of mother-child interaction, mothers altered their demands, improving goodness of fit, and high levels of parental sensitivity and responsivity decreases negative emotionality (parents often neglect the influence of temperament until the birth of their second child)

3 broad temperament dimensions in Rothbart and Bates theory

extroversion/surgency, negative affectivity, and effortful control

How does competence change in early childhood?

facial expressions indicate specific emotions and one's own emotions can be used to influence others' emotions

stranger anxiety

fear and wariness of strangers; wary reactions first appear at around 6 months and becomes more intense at 9 months and continues to increase through 1st birthday; context is important

separation protest

fear of being separated from caregiver, crying when they leave; peaks at 15 months; prevalence varies by culture, but not peak

Kagan's Behavioral Inhibition

focuses on differences between shy, timid child and sociable, extroverted, bold child

functionalist view of emotions

holds that emotions are the result of a person's attempts to adapt to specific contextual demands, and cannot be separated from the context

basic cry

hunger-induced; rhythmic pattern; cry, brief silence, higher-pitched whistle, brief rest, next cry

How are emotions linked to a person's goals?

if a goal is unattainable a person feels sadness, when they obtain a goal, happiness, and facing difficult obstacles to a goal, frustration; motivation to feel positive emotions

social smile

in reaction to an external stimulus; emerges between 4-6 weeks and typically in response to faces or a caregiver's voice

temperament

individual differences in behavioral styles, emotions, and characteristic ways of responding; emotions lead to individual differences in reactivity, strength, duration, and time to dissipate

What is the broad temperament category in Kagan's theory?

inhibition to the unfamiliar

emotional competence

involves developing a number of emotional competence skills across a variety of social contexts; being able to effectively manage emotions and become resilient in the face of stress and develop more positive relationships

How stable is temperament?

moderately stable across development; quality of child care moderates effect of difficult temperament on problems experienced

Which temperament dimensions show discontinuity?

mood swings, responsibility, risk-taking from teenager to adult

Emotional Regulation (ER) in the second year

more ability to self-regulate; redirect attention or distract themselves; also can use language to express their emotions and context

What role does crying play?

most basic mechanism newborns have for communicating

reflexive smile

no external stimulus; emerges in first month, mainly during sleep

fear

one of an infant's earlier emotions; typicaly appears at around 6 months and peaks at 18 months but abused and neglected infants can show fear as early as 3 months

emotion-coaching

parenting style that monitors child's emotions, views them as teaching opportunities, helps them to label emotions, and coaches them in how to regulate the emotions; associated with positive child outcomes

emotion-dismissing

parenting style; deny, ignore, or try to change negative emotions; leads to poor emotional regulation

How does culture impact the way parents respond to or shape temperament?

parents may react differently based on culture. For example, behavioral inhibition is more values in China than in North America, US infants showed more fearfulness, and Finish infants more positive affect/effortful control

How does gender impact the way parents respond to or shape temperament?

parents may react differently to temperament based on gender. For example, mothers are more responsive to crying of irritable girls than irritable boys

extroversion/surgency

positive anticipation, impulsivity, activity level, sensation-seeking, (like Kagan's uninhibited)

How does context influence ER in the second year?

process of learning to emotionally regulate to different contexts; fatigue, hunger, time of day, people around them, location; also a process of learning to respond to new demands, as parents change expectations

consensus on soothe vs. not to soothe

quick, comforting response helps to develop bonds, trust, attachment. It is recommended to soothe an infant before they become highly agitated; when mothers responded quickly in the first 3 months infants cried less in the rest of the 1st year

How does emotional expression change in early childhood?

range expands; self-conscious emotions become more common, as self-awareness emerges at 18 months

goodness of fit

refers to the match between a child's temperament and the child's environmental demands, Example: active child forced to sit still for long periods of times is not a good fit; lack of fit can produce adjustment issues

2 main types of smiles

reflexive smile and social smile

Why do self-conscious emotions develop later on in infancy?

self conscious emotions require thought and the infant brain is too structurally immature

3 main functions of emotions

signal to others how we feel, regulate/motivate our own behavior, and play pivotal roles in social exchanges

How are social relationships related to emotion development and expression?

social relationships provide the setting for emotion development. For example, parents quarreling: distress and sadness, family tension: relieve w/ humor, joking, caregiver role: soothe infant, help child to regulate emotion

Emotional Regulation (ER) in the first year

some gradual self-regulation such as sucking the thumb but mostly dependent on caregiver soothing such as lullabies, rocking, holding. Soothing helps with neurobiological regulation and reducing stress hormones

How is parenting involved in goodness of fit?

some temperament dimensions produce parenting challenges; Example: negative affectivity and distress/ crying can lead parents to ignore or "force" the issue

pain cry

sudden, long, loud cry followed by breath holding

what is the contemporary view on the role of biological influences on temperament?

temperament is biologically based but evolves over time, particularly self-regulatory and effortful control dimensions

How is culture related to emotion development and expression?

there are cultural variations in emotion display rules. For example, east Asian infants display less frequent/intense positive and negative emotions; Japanese parents try to prevent child from experiencing negative emotions; non-latino white women more likely to respond to distress and help child cope

What is the heredity of temperament?

twin adoption studies have shown there is moderate heredity in temperament

What emotional competence skills develop in middle and late childhood?

understanding of self-conscious emotions, more self-generated, less reliant on parents, more than one emotion can be experienced at the same time, awareness of events leading to emotional reactions, ability to suppress/conceal negative emotions, use of self-initiated strategies to cope with emotions, and capacity for genuine empathy

anger cry

variation of basic cry in which more excess air forces through vocal cords

How does children's greater cognitive ability influence their ability to appraise and cope with stress?

with age, greater ability to appraise a stressful situation, evaluate control, and cope; by age 10 children can use cognitive strategies to cope with stress, shift to thoughts that are less stressful, reframe or change their perception of a stressful situation