Emotional Development

•Emotions are not just “feelings”

•Components: Desire to take action Physiological changes Subjective feelings Cognitions

Emotions

Why Emotions are so Important

Emotional Expressions

• Communicative

• Facilitates learning (e.g. social referencing)

Emotional Physiology

• Motivational (makes us want to change our state or keep it the same (i.e. operant learning)

• Strengthens memory for important events

Theories of Emotion• Common Sense View

– Stimuli Emotion Physiological Changes

• James-Lange View– Stimuli Physiological Changes Emotion– Support: Pen in mouth studies

• Interpretive View– Stimuli Physiological Changes Interpretation

Emotion– Support: adrenaline shot studies: known side-effects (no

emotional change), near happy guy (happy) vs. near angry guy (angry)

Theories of Emotion

• Discrete Emotions Theory– Innate– each emotion has a corresponding and distinct set of

bodily and facial reactions– Present very early in life

• Functionalist Approach– Emphasize the role of environment and the functions

emotions serve (e.g. anger-eliminate obstacle, disgust—reject item, fear—fight or flight)

• Some evidence for both sides

Emotional ExpressionPositive Emotions

Smile First month = reflex response By 3rd month = social smiles toward people

Laughing By 3rd or 4th month = during play activities (e.g bouncing)

Negative Emotions

Newborns: Generalized Distress (facially an undifferentiated distress state? But different cries)

Anger and Sadness: 2nd month = visible facial expression matches situation

Fear and Distress:

6–7 months to 2 years = stranger anxiety

8 months to 15 months = separation anxiety

~7–12 months = fear of novel toys, noises, sudden movements, heights (e.g. visual cliff)

Emotional Expression in Infancy

• Birth– interest, distress, disgust, contentment

Emotional Expression in Infancy

• 2-7 months

– sadness, joy, surprise and anger

Self-Conscious EmotionsEmbarrassment, pride, guilt, and shame (~ 2 years of age)

• Children show no signs of self conscious emotions until after they pass the mirror self-recognition test (e.g. ~21 months).

These emotions demonstrate self-awareness and consciousness of adult reactions

Shame vs. Guilt(Self vs. Other focus) Shame does not include concern for others Guilt includes empathy for othersParents can influence whether children are more likely to feel guilt

over shame:

a) Parental focus on the “badness” of the behavior rather than the child

b) If parents help the child understand the consequences of the child’s behavior

c) Teach them the need to repair the damage they’ve done

d) Avoid publicly humiliating them and communicate respect

Discrimination (~3mths) vs. Recognition (~7mths)

Recognition—understanding some meaninge.g. social referencing

Emotion KnowledgeMost 2-year-olds know words for the 6 universal basic emotions

– Happiness: Santa will be happy if I pee in the potty– Sadness: You sad, Daddy?– Fear: Bees everywhere. Scared me!– Anger: Don’t be mad, Mommy!– Surprise: Daddy surprised me.– Disgust: Tastes yucky, Mom!

They also understand something about the links between events emotions and actionse.g. “I give hug. Baby be happy.” “Grandma mad. I wrote on wall.”

They recognize that if someone felt a certain way there must be a reason for it:e.g. “You sad, Mommy? What daddy do?”

And they realize that you can tell something about how people feel by how they look:e.g. “Katie not happy face. Katie sad.”

Emotion Knowledge

• 18-month-olds understand that someone else’s desires don’t have to be consistent with their own AND

• They can use person’s facial expressions to interpret emotions

•E.g. Gross Cracker Study (video) •Similarly, 2-year-olds understand that it is not reality or the outcome per se that leads to an emotion but that the outcome must be consistent with someone’s desire.

• e.g. boy looking for rabbit would be sad if he found his dog, whereas a boy looking for dog would be happy

Understanding Emotions

Causes• abilities to understand that

memories of past events can causes emotions develops with age.

• 39% of 3-year-olds understood that memories might cause emotions… while all 5-year-olds did.

Understanding Emotions

Real vs. False Feelings

“Michelle is sleeping over at cousin Johnny’s house but she forgot her teddy bear. She is feeling sad inside but she doesn’t want to show it because he will call her a baby”.

3-4 years olds were about 50% correct. 5 year olds were about 80% correct

~10 years = mixed feelings; both positive and negative emotions can exist toward the same source or different source at the same time

Understanding Emotions

• The bottom-line is that the understanding of emotions continues to develop throughout childhood.• Those that understand emotions better also tend to engage in moreprosocial behavior• Those with limited emotional knowledge (e.g. mislabel expressions)tend to be angry, aggressive, and fearful.

• abilities that are key to competent social functioning

• Components:Persistence when frustratedIdentify (and express) one’s own feelingsIdentify other’s feelings (e.g. ability to read non-verbal cues)Empathy (an emotional reaction to another’s emotional state)Impulse control/Delay gratification Regulate emotionsUnderstanding of display rulesSecure attachment

Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

What’s involved in Delay Gratification?

• Comparison of rewards

• Inhibition

• Strategizing to simplify inhibition (e.g. distraction, imagination)

Masking Guilt

“i’m going out don’t look in the box”

•Lewis and colleagues set up a situation where a child was left alone in a room and told not to peek at a toy in a box…. If they peeked, could they lie and hide their guilt afterwards?

Emotional Display Rules• What is culturally and socially appropriate?• E.g., displaying happiness when you receive a

gift, even if it is very disappointing.

• children were better at generating positive behaviors in reaction to the disappointing gift as they got older.

• girls were better than boys at all ages

Early EQ predicts later social functioning

EQ is a better predictor than IQ of how well people do in life (though the 2 are related)!

e.g. single best predictor: early delayed gratification performance? related to later social functioning, academic performance, relationship success, self-esteem, drug-use, criminal behavior etc etc. up to 20 years later

How Parents Socialize Their Children

• Parents socialize their children’s emotional development through:– Their expression of emotion with their children and other

people (e.g. Expression of positive related to social competence, low aggression, high self-esteem; Negative expressions related behavioral problems and social and

learning difficulties). Correlational!!!

– Their reactions to their children’s expression of emotion

– Their discussions with their children about emotion and the regulation of emotion

Culture and Emotional Development

• Cultural differences in parenting practices and values contribute to differences in emotional expression– (e.g. more empathy in Japanese children)

• Sub-culture: parents’ ideas/values about the usefulness of particular emotions vary – (e.g. Mothers living in a dangerous

neighborhoods more tolerant of aggression, especially in girls)

Emotional Expression/Frequency of Experiencing Emotions

• In preschool and early school age increase in positive emotions and/or decrease in negative

• Typical adolescence experience a mild increase in negative emotions and/or a decrease in positive

• Minority (15-20%) experience a major increase (and clinical depression)– physiological changes + increase in stressful peer and

family interactions– More common in females

Depression by Gender and Age

Thought questions:

• Are gender differences in emotional dev. genuine?

• Is it a difference in level of “feeling” emotional or expression?

• What factors might be underlying this gender difference?

e.g. Temperament

Constitutionally based (i.e. biological) individual differences in emotion, motor, reactivity and self-regulation that demonstrate consistency across situations and over time

Individual Differences:

Biological Influences on Child’s Emotional Dev.

Measure a child’s activity level, attention span, persistence, approach/withdrawal behavior, mood, etc.

Easy babies (40% of original study)Difficult babies (10% of original study)Slow-to-warm-up babies (15% of original study)(The rest did not fit into a category)

• Children who are negative, impulsive, and unregulated tend to have poor peer relations and get in trouble with the law. They are difficult partners and roommates.

•Behaviorally inhibited children are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and phobias.

3 Temperament Types:

Historical Underpinnings• 1930s and 1940s children raised in orphanages, or

refugee camps during WWII or other institutions were, despite have their physical needs met…

• Seemed to have no concern for others• Withdrawn, isolated• Others overactive and abusive• Physically and mentally retarded• Sick, depressed, and more likely to die (37%) than at

institutions with daily contact with mothers (0%)

• Raised infant monkeys in isolation from birth• When placed with other monkeys at 6 months they had severe

disturbances• (biting and rocking themselves, avoiding other monkeys, unable

to communicate or learn from others, females had no interest in sex, if impregnated they did not know what to do with their babies (ignore, reject, or kill them)

• Weakness = total social isolation not just caregiver bond but…

• Strongly supports the view that normal development and social emotional competence is rooted in early social interactions

Historical Underpinnings...Harlow’s Monkeys

Wire Mothers?

Wire Mother Results• the monkeys spent significantly more time with the cloth

mother (15 hours) than the wire mesh mother (2 hours), regardless of who provided the milk

• goes against behaviorism and psychoanalytic theories which treated ‘food’ as the only reinforcement important to children.

• emphasized the need to emotional and psychological needs met in addition to physical needs, led to attachment research

Strange Situation Measure of Attachment Style

Patterns of Attachment• Secure (about 65%)

– Infants actively seek proximity to caregivers upon reunion– Communicate their feelings of stress and distress openly and then

readily return to play

• Insecure-Avoidant (about 20%) (Group A)– Infants who do not seem distressed during separation and ignore

caregiver upon return. (more angry and negative than other 2 groups)

• Insecure-Ambivalent (about 15%) (Group C)– Infants who become extremely distressed when the caregiver departs

but are ambivalent or resistent on her return. They run to her but then arch away or push her.

• Disorganized/Disoriented (~5% of insecurely attached)

– Changeable, confused behavior, exhibit fear toward mom but still approach

what determines attachment style?the care-giving hypotheses

“Secure” parenting• Sensitivity (responding promptly, consistently, and appropriately)• Positive attitude, affectionate• Support/attentiveness• Stimulation

“Avoidant” parenting• Less of “secure” attributes• Aversion to bodily contact• Rejecting • More angry and yet less emotional expression overall

“Ambivalent” parenting• Less of “secure” attributes• anxious• More evidence of difficult temperament

Long Term Effects?• Securely Attached

– age 2-6. Better problem solvers (persistent and enthusiastic), more complex creative play, more positive emotions, cooperative and sympathetic, more attractive playmates.

– age 11-15. Better social skills, better peer relations more likely to have more close friends

– Higher self-esteem– Do better in school despite same level of IQ as insecure

• Insecure– age 2-3. Socially and emotionally withdrawn, hesitant to initiate play behaviors with peers, less curious, less

interested in learning.– age 11-15. Poor peer relations, fewer close friendships, more likely to have psychopathological symptoms. – Avoidant = more likely to display ‘deviant’ behaviors (disruption/disobedience)– Ambivalent = easily frustrated, less competent

Nature and Nurture: Interactions

• “Goodness of fit” = compatibility between temperament and social environment.– E.g. If parents are supportive and consistent with difficult children,

negative behaviors may moderate. If parents are harsh and punitive, undesirable behaviors can worsen.

• The influence is bi-directional! Child’s temperament in turn can influence parents’ reaction