define: emotions
- feeling or affect
- triggered in situations important to indiv.
- controlled by limbic sys.
⤷ amygdala - basic emo.:
⤷ happy, anger, surprise, disgust, sadness, fear, interest - subjective feelings
⤷ physiological or overt
explain: timeline of dev. of emotions (1 - 6 mths)
- 1 mth = infants smile (maybe reflex)
- 2 - 3 mths = social smiles
- 4 - 6 mths = anger
- 6 mths = fear
⤷ stranger anxiety
**least understood emo. = disgust
define: complex emo.
- self-conscious or secondary emo.
- ex. pride, shame, guilt, despair, jealousy
- involves feelings of success and failure
⤷ based on expectations/standards - around 18 - 24 mths
⤷ req. dev. of self
question: when does regret and relief develop?
- age 9
- need prefrontal cortex maturation to think abstractly
- regret + relief needs ability to think about what could have been + what should’ve been diff.
- context for emotions changes w/ more dev.
explain: effect of culture on emotion dev.
- cultures change extent to which expression is encouraged
- asian cultures = restraint > outward displays
- european cultures = showed crying and smiling more than chinese infants
- diff. cultural contexts for pride and shame
explain: timeline for recognizing emotions
- 6 mths = differentiate happy and sad faces
- use social referencing (look at caregiver to know)
⤷ 12 mths = less likely to play w/ toy is caregiver looks afraid
⤷ 18 mths = less likely to play w/ toy is adult says it’s annoying
explain: dev. of emotional regulation
- attention = divert attention to less emotional stim.
- use strat. to reappraise meaning of event so it’s less emotional
- greater cog. skills -> greater emotional regulation
- comes down to indiv. diff.
⤷ those who can’t regular have adjustment problems
explain: how self-soothing develops
infant signals distress -> care giver resp. by soothing -> parent models how to soothe -> infant learns that resp. in that way can reduce emo.
define: temperament
- infants’ emotional reactivity and regulation
- easy = happy, adjusts well to new sit., can stick to regular routines
- difficult = unhappy, irregular eating sleeping, responds intensely to new sit.
- slow-to-warm-up child = low activity level, low intensity of mood
^based on thomas and chess
**not all babies fit in a category, can fall in between
explain: kagan’s behavioural inhibition
- some kids are just naturally more shy
⤷ supports that temperament is more biological - diff. between introverted timid vs extraverted bold
- inhibition to the unfamiliar = initial avoidance, distress, subdued effect
⤷ begins 7 - 9 mths, consistent up to 7 years of age
explain: rothbart’s 3 dimensions
- most recent idea of temperaments
- babies show features of 3 domains (in diff. amounts):
1. extraversion/surgency = happy, active, seeks interesting stim.
2. negative affect = angry, fearful, frustrated, shy
3. effortful control = focus attention, not easily distracted, can inhibit resp. - supports biologically based diff. in temperament
- helps in parenting application
⤷ changing based on baby’s temperament
explain: heredity of temperament
- diff. dep. on dimension and age
- negative affect more influenced by heredity
- MZ more similar than DZ
⤷ shows biological evi. - temperament in childhood shows higher heritability than infancy
⤷ less variance in envrt. bc school
define: goodness of fit (for temperament)
- how well does a child’s temperament meet the envrt. demands
explain: drd4 gene
- dopamine
- involved in regulating attention, motivation, reward
⤷ all involved w/ temperament - some variants of drd4 make indiv. more susceptible to envrt. effects
explain: kitayama 2014 study on gene x culture on social orientation
- spectrum from interdependent to independent
⤷ inter = benefit the group (collectivist)
⤷ indep = independent person - non drd4 carriers for both europeans and asians = close to 0 (no pref. for either)
- asian carriers = more inter
- european carriers = more indep.
- shows that drd4 variant carriers = more susceptible to envrt. influence
**shows not only envrt but also genetics
⤷ genes change how envrt. influences indiv.
explain: gene x envrt. temperament loop
genes change the way we think -> changes interactions -> changes gene exp. -> changes beha. -> loop
define: attachment
- social-emo relationship between baby and caretaker
- lack of attachment -> detrimental effects
- touch = foundational for social-emo dev.
explain: john bowlby’s attachment stages
PRE-ATTACHMENT
- 0 - 2 mths
- recog. mother smell
- reflexes improve survival
ATTACHMENT-IN-THE-MAKING
- 2 - 7 mths
- recognize adults
- beha. diff. to diff. adults
TRUE ATTACHMENT
- 7 - 24 mths
- specific attachments w/ regular caregivers
RECIPROCAL RELATIONSHIPS
- >18 mths
- growing cognitive and lang. skills allow for true relationship
explain: strange situation exp.
- mary ainsworth 1979, 1993
1. free play
2. introduction to stranger
3. caregiver leaves infant w/ stranger
4. caregiver returns - observes infant caregiver relationship
- secure = baby cries when mom gone, relieved when mom returns
- avoidant = baby not upset when mom leaves, ignores mom when she returns
⤷ “mad” that caregiver left - resistant = baby upset when mom leaves and stays upset/shows anger when she returns
- disorganized = baby seems confused when they leave and return
explain: cultural diff. in attachment
- majority = secure
⤷ insecure attachments change w/ culture - german = value indep. so avoidant > resistant
- japan = value interdep. -> don’t leave infants w/ strangers so resistant > avoidant
explain: relation between infant attachment and interpersonal skills later in life
- show correlation
- overall shows relations
⤷ skills change w/ interactions but still correlated - secure = better friendships, higher self esteem, positive emo. health
- insecure = beha. difficulties
explain: effects of oxytocin and dopamine + HPA axis
- oxytocin = supports maternal behaviours
- dopamine = released in resp. to rewarding stim.
- HPA axis = hypothalamus, pituitary gland, amygdala
⤷ activated in stressful sit. to release cortisol
⤷ early insecure attachment develops HPA axis -> less likely to be able to control emo.
question: what about fathers in attachment?
- attachment measures do not differ between mothers and fathers
- fathers may engage in more physical play
- mothers engage in more parenting
question: how is trust developed?
- infants dev. an expectation that caregiver will resp. and come to their rescue when they’re distressed
- relates to learned helplessness
⤷ if think caregiver = unreliable -> impacts their internal working model of people and impacts later relationships
