Child Psychology Unit 4 Learning Objectives DEP 3103 Fall 2013 Chapter 10 10 1 Describe the functionalist approach to emotion What are emotions How do emotions affect cognitive processing social behavior and health Provide examples The functionalist approach to emotion emphasizes the broad function of emotions that is to energize behavior aimed at attaining personal goals Emotions are the rapid appraisal of personal significance of a situation which prepares you for action Emotions affect cognitive processing because they allow you to learn essential skills for survival EX parent yelling at child teaches the child to not perform that action again Emotions affect social behavior because it can affect the behavior of others along with regulating your own behavior EX in a study that researchers had the parent assume either a still faced unreactive pose or a depressed emotional state two to 7 month olds tried facial expressions vocalization and body movement to get the parent to respond again Emotions affect health because it can influence well being and growth and can also cause stress related to diseases EX can cause growth faltering and psychosocial dwarfism in kids because of emotional deprivation o Another example is a study researchers did on orphans adopted into Canadian homes exposed to chronic stress and they lacked adult attention and stimulation and then suffered from infectious and dietary diseases 10 2 Discuss changes in emotion from infancy into adolescence What are the basic emotions that are universal in humans What are self conscious emotions What is emotional self regulation and how does it change over the course of development What are emotional display rules Happiness social smile general reactive smile to the human face 6 to 10 weeks Anger Interest Disgust Surprised Sadness less common than anger and Fear stranger anxiety fear of unfamiliar adults also use caregiver as secure base in which they use the caregiver to point them out where to explore venturing into the environment and then returning for emotional support are the universal emotions in humans Self conscious emotions are a set of a second higher order set of feelings including guilt shame embarrassment envy and pride It is called self conscious emotions because each involves injury or enhancement of our sense of self o These emotions emerge middle of second year not universal it s taught o Need adult instruction about when to feel them o Linked to self evaluations of one self Emotional self regulation refers to the strategies we use to adjust our emotional state to a comfortable level of intensity so we can accomplish our goals o This changes over the course of development because in infancy it develops over 1st year with brain development and caregivers are important In early childhood strategies are learned for self regulation Personality affects ability fears can be common have to teach child to not let fears impede their life In middle childhood adolescence there are rapid gains Fears may be shaped by culture and coping skills lead to emotional self efficacy o o o Emotional self regulation shows how strong your emotions are Emotional display rules are rules that all societies have that specify when where and how it is appropriate to express emotions Coping strategies Problem Centered Coping Kids identify situation as changeable and figure out what they need to do about it EX If you have a lot of fears abut doing poorly on exam decide to not go out on weekend to study hard for it Emotion Centered Coping Kids use when problem centered don t work or when they realize a situation is not changeable Changeable situations Identify the difficulty o o o Decide what to do about it o Used if problem centered coping does not work o Unchangeable situation o Internal private control of distress EX A death in family 10 3 Discuss changes in emotional understanding from infancy into adolescence What is social referencing Compare and contrast empathy and sympathy Social referencing is when a child relies on someone else to react on an uncertain situation Caregivers can use this to teach children how to react Empathy is feeling same or similar emotions as another person Current theorists agree that empathy involves a complex interaction of cognition and affect the ability to detect different emotions to take another s emotional perspective and to feel with that person or respond emotionally in a similar way o This is prosocial altruistic behavior actions that benefit another person without any expected reward for the self In some children empathizing with an upset adult or peer does not yield acts of kindness and helpfulness but instead escalates into personal distress In trying to reduce these feelings the child focuses on his own anxiety rather than on the person in need As a result empathy does not lead to sympathy which is feeling concern or sorrow for another s plight As with the development of empathy o o o o newborns sense other babies distress requires self awareness increases over school years adolescence can empathize with general life conditions 10 4 Describe the development of temperament How is temperament structured How is it measured How do genetic and environmental factors influence the development of temperament Temperament is an early appearing stable individual differences in reactivity and self regulation It is structured by o o Difficult children 10 Don t have predictable daily routines or sleeping patterns Don t like change and when there is Easy children 40 Quickly establish daily routines generally cheerful and learn to adapt to new situations o change they have intense negative reactions Slow to warm up children 15 Aren t as willing to accept new experiences but don t show negative reactions like difficult children May be thought of as really shy o Unclassified 35 Temperament is measured by interviews or questionnaires given to parents Behavior ratings by pediatricians teachers and others familiar with the child and laboratory observations by researchers have also been used Researchers have found that children may fall opposite extremes of the positive affect and fearful distress dimensions of temperament o Inhibited shy children React negatively and withdraw from new stimuli High heart rates stress hormones and stress symptoms o Uninhibited social children React positively approach new stimuli Low heart rates stress hormones and stress symptoms Genetic influences are responsible for about
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