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EMOTIONS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

Definition:subjective reactions to the environment, experienced

cognitively as pleasant or unpleasant, accompanied by physiological arousal and expressed in behavior

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IMPORTANCE OF EMOTIONS

• To be able to navigate successfully in your own world• Social success• Occupational success

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SIDE EFFECTS OF SAD CHILDREN

• Poor concentration• Withdrawal• Low self-esteem• Poor physical health

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GENETIC-MATURATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

• Shows up at 46 weeks conceptual age• Individual differences in temperament play a role in how intensely children

react to emotional stimulation• Right brain controls joy• Left brain controls fear

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LEARNING PERSPECTIVE

• Parents can teach children to smile with rewards like smiling back• Can be taught with:

• Classical conditioning• Operant conditioning• modeling

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FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE

• Emotions serve a function of reaching a goal• Goals arouse emotions• Reflexed smile depends on internal state• Has adaptive value, caregivers respond accordingly

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DUCHENNE SMILE• Special kind of smile for their mother• Girls smile more than boys• Attachment steps

• Prefers humans over inanimate• Discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar• Chooses specific people to attach to.

• http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/health-wellbeing/babys-first-smiles-open-a-window-on-their-development/news-story/a4635948bd033e6cb2e2f85ad576b513

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AGE EMOTIONS SURFACE• 3 to 8 weeks

• Respond to external stimuli• Can differentiate between real and not real

• 3 to 4 monthsWarinessLook back and forth between stranger and mother

• 5 to 6 months• Sober stare at strangers • Stress

• 7 to 9 months• fear 3/7/2016

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AGE EMOTIONS SURFACE CONTINUED

• 14 to 22 months• Social referencing• Separation protest

• 3 or 4 years old• Match emotions with emotional script• Aware of more than one emotion existing simultaneously• Understand secondary emotions• Causal sequence• Communication with caregivers

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NEGATIVE EMOTIONS SURFACING AGE

• First negative emotions • Startle• wariness• Disgust• Distress• fear

• 1 and 2 years old, secondary emotions surface• pride• Shame • Guilt• jealousy 3/7/2016

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RECOGNIZING EMOTIONS IN OTHERS

• Producing comes earlier than recognizing• Positive before negative• Strengthens bond between parent and child• Matching emotions with emotional script

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REFERENCES• Park, Ross D. "Emotional Development and Attachment." Gauvain, Mary. Child Psychology; A Contemporary Viewpoint. Boston: Beth Mejia, 2009. 180-226.

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