Chapter 5
Emotional Development
5 components of an emotion
Subjective change in feelings
Physiological changes
Behavior Change
Cognitive Appraisal
Eliciting Event
Valence – how positive or negative is the emotion?
Arousal – how arousing is the emotion?
Emotion Terms
What is the valence and arousal?
Anger
Joy
Sadness
Contentment
Emotion Terms
MoodsNot an emotion
Not specific to a personally relevant event (objectless)
Generally longer-lasting
Occupy background of thoughts and consciousness (not immediate)
Basic Emotions Theory (biological)
Learning
Functionalist
Theories of Emotional Development
Basic Emotions Theory Specific emotions are innate, universal, and rooted in human
evolution
Each emotion has distinct bodily and facial changes◦ These bodily/facial changes are the same in different cultures◦ Can you tell?
Discriminable from early in life◦ All infants began to smile at 46 weeks post conception—regardless of
how long they have been exposed to smiling faces◦
Hemispheric Lateralization
◦ Left hemisphere = approach emotions (e.g., joy anger)◦ Right hemisphere = avoidance emotions (e.g., fear)
Genetics contribute to emotional development◦ Identical twins are more similar than fraternal twins in the age at
which they first smile, the amount they smile, the onset of their fear reactions to strangers, and their general degree of emotional inhibition
Learning TheoryClass Cond: Children may learn to fear an
object because the object was associated with a fearful stimulus
Operant Cond: Children may acquire fear after a negative experience
Observational Learning: Children learn to fear certain objects by observing other people’s reactions
Reciprocal Determinism: When adults respond to a baby’s smiles with positive stimulation, the baby’s rate of smiling increases
Functional PerspectivePurpose of emotions is to help people achieve
social and survival goals
Emotional signals provide feedback that guides other people’s behavior
Memories of past emotions shape how people respond to new situations
Newborns and very young infants do not display discrete emotions
Have global experiences e.g. excitement, distress
Type of EmotionsPrimary emotions
◦emerge early in life ◦do not require introspection or self-
reflection Secondary or self-conscious
emotions ◦emerge in the second year of life◦depend on a sense of self and the
awareness of other people’s reactions
How PE differ from NENegative Emotions
◦Strongly in the moment◦Generally thought to be evolutionarily adaptive in situations where immediate action is
needed (i.e, fear)
Positive Emotions◦ Influence occurs over the long-term◦Important for multiple aspects of well-being◦Generally do not occur in life-threatening situations◦Less need for them to have specific responses
Specific Positive Emotions
Joy• Urge to play, push the limits, be creative
Interest• Urge to explore, new information, expand
the self
Contentment• Urge to sit back and enjoy current
circumstances
Low-arousal vs. High-arousal positive
emotions
Appear over the first 6 months of age◦Anger (red-face)◦Sadness
Anger and sad expressions increase with age◦Loss of control
Realization that goals can be interrupted by people and objects in environment
◦Different response by caregiver
Negative Emotions
QUICK OVERVIEW: DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS
0 – 6 MONTHS
Positive Emotions: joy, contentment
Negative Emotions:
distress, sadness,
disgust, anger, fear
Baby and Puppy: First Meeting
0 – 6 MONTHSPositive
Emotions: joy, contentment
Negative Emotions:
distress, sadness,
disgust, anger, fear
InterestSurprise
Disinterest
Baby and Puppy: First Meeting
0 – 6 MONTHS
Positive Emotions: joy, contentment
Negative Emotions:
distress, sadness,
disgust, anger, fear
InterestSurprise
Disinterest
Baby and Puppy: First Meeting
General Bipolar Valence State
0 – 6 MONTHS
Positive Emotions: joy, contentment
Negative Emotions:
distress, sadness,
disgust, anger, fear
InterestSurprise
Disinterest
Baby and Puppy: First Meeting
General Bipolar Arousal State
First few
weeksShow, but not
aware of Basic / Distinct Emotion
s 6 weeksSmile for
people, but not objects
Around 6 mos.Separation
Anxiety; Distress; Anger and Surprise!
At 7 mos.Discriminate b/w
familiar unfamiliar
people; Fear appears
At 12 mos.Amusement/Happiness distinct PE;
Emotion Regulation
CHANGES IN YEAR 1
1.5 – 2 yrs↑ in Anger;
Show Empathy
2.5 – 3 yrsSelf-
conscious emotions
Middle ChildhoodShow and
experience mixed
emotions
CHANGES AFTER YEAR 1
Primary Emotion - JoyNewborns: Reflex smiles - Upturned mouth
◦ Spontaneous and due to on some internal stimulus
2-6 Months: Duchenne smile – upturn mouth + eye crinkles◦ Smile in response to external stimulus◦ Familiar vs. unfamiliar faces
Individual differences in smiling◦ Gender differences◦ Cultural differences
Laughing◦ Type of stimulus◦ Increases with age
3-7 mos: wariness
7-9 mos: genuine fear◦Stranger distress
Primary Emotion - Fear
Primary Emotion - Fear
Emde, R. N., Gaensbauer, T. J., & Harmon, R. J. (1976). Emotional expression in infancy: A biobehavioral study. Psychological Issues, 10 (37).
3-7 mos: wariness7-9 mos: genuine fear
◦Stranger distress◦Heights
Primary Emotion - Fear
Separation Anxiety/Distress
Primary Emotion – Types of Fear
Fear of Heights – Visual Cliff
Primary Emotion – Types of Fear
Newborns: First negative facial expressions = startle, disgust, distress
2-3 mos: facial expressions of anger
Eliciting event = frustration, pain
Primary Emotion - Anger
AGE
0 2 31
AN
GER
Babies show an increase in anger and assertiveness (Dunn, 1988)
◦This declines around age 3
Terrible Twos: 1 ½ - 2 years
Why would babies
experience more anger at
age 2?
Terrible Twos: 1 ½ - 2 years
Tantrum
Mother is neutral/positive
Toddlers more interested in environment
more positive emotions
favorable responses to strangers in
mother’s absence
Mother is negative/angry
Increased tantrums
noncompliant behavior
More negative emotions, lower
empathy
At 4 months, infants pulled a string to see a picture.
Later, babies learned that the pull no longer resulted in the picture (Lewis et al., 2006)
Anger Face → ↑ Pulling → ↑ ANS Sad Face → No Pulling → No ↑ ANS
Do babies show anger before 2?
Infancy◦Experienced less than anger
For young infants
For older infants
Primary Emotion - Sadness
Secondary EmotionsPride: feeling pleased with accomplishments
◦First signs◦7-years vs. 10-years
Shame and Guilt: moral violations◦Shame = more intense, unexpected
Embarrassment
Jealousy:◦Younger vs. older children
(Kagan, 1981; Lewis, 1993)
Secondary EmotionsEmpathy: sharing another person’s
emotions
Home Observations◦Parents express distress◦Siblings experience distress
Development of emotion shifts from reactions to others’ emotions to understanding others’ emotions.
Secondary EmotionsDevelopment of Empathy
◦Newborn◦Age 1◦13-14 months◦End Year 2◦Mid-Late Childhood◦Adolescence
Mixed Emotions: Middle ChildhoodUnderstand feelings of mixed
emotionsEarly School Years (Harris, 1989)
◦Children commented on vignettes in which protagonists were likely to experience ME
◦Children reported protagonist’s experience will elicit positive and negative emotions
Identifying others’ emotions
Emotional Regulation (ER)
Individual Differences in ER
Emotional Understanding
3-6 months: recognize positive emotions first◦Functionalist vs. Learning
3-4 years: recognize happiness, sadness, anger, fear
Identifying Others’ Emotions
Emotional Scripts: schema child uses to identify the emotion elicited by a certain event◦3-4 years◦5 years◦7 years
Identifying Others’ Emotions
Emotion Regulation
The managing, monitoring, evaluating, and modifying of one’s own emotionsemotional reactions to reduce the intensity and duration of emotional arousal
Reduce negative emotionsIncrease positive emotionsIncrease arousalDecrease arousal
Emotion RegulationIn womb: suck thumbs
Young infants simple ER tactics ◦ Turning away; self-distraction
Preschoolers◦ Self-distraction, orientation of attention toward or
away from a stimulus, approach or retreat from a situation, use of language skills
Elementary school children◦ Increasingly use cognitive and behavioral coping
strategies to regulate their emotions
Individual Differences in Emotion Regulation
Temperament and ER related
Emotion regulation abilities predict children’s later adjustment