Chapter 10 Emotional Development Any lecture material we covered For many years emotion was neglected in the study of children s development overshadowed by cognition Know the Functions of Emotions section particularly the functionalist approach to emotion and the different domains emotions are involved in e g cognitive processing social behavior a rapid appraisal of the personal significance of the situation which prepares you Emotion for action an emotion expresses your readiness to establish maintain or change your relation to the environment on a matter of importance to you o Triggered because important to individual o I e happiness leads you to approach sadness to passively withdraw fear to actively move away and anger to overcome obstacles Functionalist approach to emotion energize behavior aimed at attaining personal goals emphasizes that the broad function of emotions is to o Emotions arise from ongoing exchanges between the person and the environment o Emotions are central in all our endeavors cognitive processing social behavior and physical health Cognition can impair learning emotional reactions can lead to learning essential for survival I e caregiver saying no when toddlers touch electrical outlet Evident in the impact of anxiety on performance high anxiety impairs thinking especially on complex tasks by diverting attention from cognitive processing to task irrelevant threatening stimuli and worrisome thoughts Emotions also powerfully affect memory Social reactions in turn regulate children s own behavior emotional signals affect the behavior of others whose emotional With age infants begin to initiate as well as respond to emotional expressions By the end of the first year babies become increasingly skilled at joint attention following the caregiver s line of regard infants and toddlers pick up on verbal and emotional information influence well being growth stress related to diseases Two childhood growth disorders resulting from emotional deprivation are nonorganic failure to thrive and psychosocial dwarfism Persistent psychological stress manifested in anxiety depressed mood anger and irritability is associated with a variety of health difficulties from infancy to adulthood o Elevated heart rate and blood pressure a depressed immune response and reduced digestive activity are all outcomes of psychological stress Emotions also contribute to the emergence of self awareness the interest and excitement that babies display when acting on novel objects help them forge a sense of self efficacy confidence in their own ability to control events in their surroundings Health Which of the following four babies who went to the doctor for the same vaccination will most likely remember it better Bella who was highly upset by the injection o By the middle of the second year when self awareness is sufficiently developed children begin to experience a new array of emotions with distinct functions pride and embarrassment are two self conscious emotions that have to do with evaluating the self s goodness or badness in relation to standards for morality social behavior and task mastery o The functionalist approach emphasizes that to adapt to their physical and social worlds children must gain control over their emotions and increase their emotional self regulation mastering their culture s rules for when and how to convey emotion Know the section including all key terms and developmental patterns if applicable in the Development of Emotional Expression section Basic Emotions happiness interest surprise fear anger sadness disgust are universal in humans and other primates and have a long evolutionary history of promoting survival o Dynamic Systems Approach children coordinate separate skills into more effective emotionally expressive systems as the CNS develops and the child s goals and experiences change o Earliest emotional life consists mainly of two global arousal states attraction to pleasant stimulation and withdrawal from unpleasant stimulation o Middle of first year expressions become well organized and specific and tell us a great deal about the infant s internal state o A characteristic of basic emotions is that they can be directly inferred from facial expressions o Happiness Facial expressions offer the most reliable cues of infant emotions Basic emotion expressed first in smiles from birth in social smiles from 6 10 weeks and in laughter from 3 to 4 months Smiling encourages caregivers to be affectionate and stimulating in response the baby smiles more In early weeks babies smile when full during REM sleep and in response to gentle touches and sounds By the end of the 1st mo infants smile at dynamic eye catching sights Social smile broad grin evoked by the stimulus of a human face o Seven week old LaDonna breaks into a broad grin at the sight of her father s face LaDonna is displaying a social smile Laugher appears around 3 4 mos and laughter reflects faster processing of information than smiling occurs at first to very active stimuli At the end of the first year the smile becomes a deliberate social o Anger and Sadness signal Basic emotions newborn babies respond with generalized distress to a variety of unpleasant experiences including hunger painful medical procedures changes in body temperature and too much or too little stimulation From 4 6 mos into the 2nd year angry expressions increase in frequency and intensity Expressions of sadness are less common than anger Older infants also react with anger in a wider range of situations o Fear Basic emotion arises during the second half of the 1st year into the 2nd year the most frequent expression of fear is to unfamiliar adults Stranger anxiety not universal but depends on temperament past experiences with strangers and the current situation A toddler s level of stranger anxiety is most likely affected by past experiences with strangers The rise in fear after 6 mos keeps newly mobile babies enthusiasm for exploration in check Once wariness develops infants use the familiar caregiver as a secure base or point from which to explore venturing into the environment and then returning for emotional support Self Conscious Emotions o Humans are capable of a second higher order set of feelings including guilt shame embarrassment envy and pride known as self conscious emotions as each involves injury to or enhancement of our sense of self Self conscious emotions are a second higher order set of feelings that involve injury to or
View Full Document
Unlocking...