Emotional Development

1
Emotional Development

• Introduction to Emotions
• Infant Expression of Emotions
• Infant Regulation of Emotions
• Emotions as Social Signals

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Emotions

• Def A state of feeling that arises when a
  person evaluates an event in a particular way

Events cognitive processes, ones own behavior,
and the behavior of others.
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Emotions - Basic

• Primary emotions

Happiness
Fear
Sadness
Anger
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Emotions - Basic

• Primary emotions

Happiness
Fear
Sadness
Anger
5
Emotions - Basic

• Primary emotions

Happiness
Fear
Sadness
Anger
6
Emotions - Basic

• Primary emotions

Happiness
Fear
Sadness
Anger
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Basic Emotions - Appearance
Happiness - social smile (2 to 3 months),
laughter 4 months
Fear stranger anxiety (6 months)
Sadness newborn gt discomfort, true sadness -gt
6-7 months?
Anger - 4 months (arm restraint test Stenberg
Campos, 1985)
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Emotions Happiness
Different Infant Smiles do they represent
different positive emotions? (Fogel, et al., 2000)
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Simple Smiles
Contraction of the lip corners
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Duchenne Smile
Lip corner contraction plus contractions of
muscles around the eyes.
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Play Smiles
Smiles with wide mouth opening and jaw drop
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Duplay Smiles
Mouth opening, jaw drop, and contraction of
muscles around the eyes
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Fogel et al (2000)
6- and 12-month-olds Tasks peek-a-boo and
tickle Features set up and climax
Coded smile type at each stage
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Play vs Duplay Smiles
Fogel et al (2000)
Found more duplay than play smiles. More often
in climax than set up for both peek-a-boo and
tickle. Enjoyment of build up after several
rounds of a game.
Conclusions Different smiles represent different
types of positive emotions. Different
smiles/emotions are context dependent.
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Emotions - Complex

• Secondary emotions
• Self Conscious emotions

Shame Embarrassment Guilt Envy Pride
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Emotions - Complex
Isnt always a clear facial expression.
Cultural variation to whether or when people
express these emotions.
Cognitive processes are involved.
Appear to be dependent on development of sense of
self.
VIDEO Rouge Test Michael Lewis

• Appearance 18-24 months (at the earliest)

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Emotional Regulation
We have emotions and we typically manage them as
well.
Test of infant emotional regulation Still Face
Procedure (Tronik, 1989)
VIDEO
Starting at 3 months, face to face interactions
between babies and adults are bidirectional
both parties play a role in the interactions
regulation.
Miscoordination is called interactive error and
the transition to coordination is interactive
repair.
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Emotions Social Signals
Background Anger signal for how to feel
Social referencing signal for how to act
VIDEO
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Percentage of Infants who Crossed the Visual Cliff