Test 2 Study Guide Chapter 6 Developmental scientists interested in o Emotions feelings that give strong and informative cues about one s current state o Temperament the biologically based source of individual differences in behavioral o Attachments infants specific lasting social relationships with others especially parents functioning and caregivers Infants Emotions o Two sides to emotional behavior Emotional expression the communication of feelings to others through facial expressions gestures and vocalizations Emotional understanding the interpretation reading of the emotional expressions of others o Development of emotional expressions Primary emotions feelings of joy surprise anger fear and shyness that appear to be deeply rooted in human biology and develop early in life Secondary emotions feelings of embarrassment pride guilt shame and envy that emerge in the second and third years of life Depend on higher level mental capacities Charles Darwin observed that certain expressions are remarkably consistent across age and culture To the extent that they are culturally universal some emotional expressions may be innate Suggests that they are biologically adaptive patterns that evolved early in the development of the human species to foster survival Ex crying is programmed in babies the response is programmed in us The face which is full of muscles that can convey a broad range of expressions with subtle variations is one of our primary means of evaluating another person s emotions Systems to measure facial expressions of emotions in infants Maximally Discriminative Facial Movements Code MAX allows users to identify 27 distinct facial patterns that specify particular emotions BabyFACS Facial Action Coding System for Infants and Young Children 92 facial components useful in studying the baby s emotional reactions to social events Measurements carry considerable face value since we rely on facial expressions in our everyday estimates of others emotions Infants express different emotions as well by cooing and babbling versus by fretting and crying Become very still when interested in something Turn away when afraid Slumped posture when sad Look intently often double take when surprised Try to repeat experiences they find joyful Expressions of fear and anger have been observed as early as 3 4 months o The development of sensitivity to emotional signals Sadness has been observed as young as 2 5 months Infants with depressed mothers are at special risk Show depressed social expressions when interacting with their mothers as well as strangers Social interaction can elicit smiles in the first month of life Ex high pitched voice nodding head Clear expressions of joy have been observed by 2 5 months Laughing around 3 or 4 months especially when engaged in play with parents Cognitive development contributes to emotional growth by enabling infants to evaluate situations in more sophisticated ways Infants social experiences play a significant role in shaping their emotional expressions Around 25 of the time mothers respond to infants positive emotions and ignore the negative ones reinforcing the expression of positive emotions and muting the expression of negative emotions Mothers who smile more have infants who smile more As infants become self aware or self conscious secondary emotions arise Emotional development involved reading as well as sending emotional signals To read an emotion signal you need to be able to see it Visual acuity in infancy is limited in newborns Infants begin to discriminate among different facial expressions around 1 5 2 months Infants seek emotional cues from others and are upset when they don t find them Infants respond to adults emotions by resonating or matching expressions they see some of the infants earliest responses to the form of social contagion The baby spontaneously imitates another person s emotional expressions Mirror neurons cells in the brain that are activated both when we do something and when we see someone else doing the same thing Play a special role in the development of empathy allowing the infant to feel what others are feeling Infants also respond differently to different vocalizations of emotions and coordinate their vocal and facial expressions Social referencing the tendency to use others emotional expressions to interpret uncertain of ambiguous events Arises around 8 or 9 months Emotional expressions are among the most important social signals for a baby s well being In the 2nd year infants increased skill at reading the emotions of others enhances social competence and sensitivity Sensitivity to others can lead to prosocial behavior ex sharing toys Infant Temperament o We view temperamental attributes as foreshadowing the child s later personality o Temperament is the biologically based source of individual differences in behavioral functioning Emerges early in life and appears moderately stable over time o Insights into the biological origins of temperament come from twin studies Activity level and sociability are highly heritable Correlation between identical twins around 0 8 Correlation between fraternal twins around 0 5 or less o Temperament is affected by the interaction between innate predispositions and experience o Culture also matters Infants of Asian descent are less easily upset and easier to soothe than Caucasian babies o Systematic studies have not revealed many strong or consistent gender differences in temperament although some research suggests that boys have a higher activity level than girls o Measuring infant temperament Two basic ways to measure temperament Ask people who know the infant best what he or she is usually like o Parents are likely to provide highly insightful reports of their child s temperamental attributes based on their long term intimate experience with the child o Parent s reports may be biased by their subjective views their own personality dispositions unique experiences etc Observe infants ourselves o Less biased accounts but more limited sampling observer effects context effects observer s preconceptions about gender o Approaches to characterizing infant temperament Two dimensions have received considerable attention Positive affectivity a dimension of temperament that reflects the extent to which a person feels enthusiastic and alert o Ex cheerful outgoing Negative affectivity a dimension of temperament that reflects the extent to which a person feels distressed o Ex sad angry Two types of