Emotional Development Module 5 pt 1 PDF

# Emotional Development - The years from ages 3 to 6 are pivotal in children's psychosocial development. Emotional development and sense of self are rooted in the experiences of those years - Emotional development is orderly; complex emotions seem to develop from earlier, simpler ones. Brain develo...

# Emotional Development - The years from ages 3 to 6 are pivotal in children's psychosocial development. Emotional development and sense of self are rooted in the experiences of those years - Emotional development is orderly; complex emotions seem to develop from earlier, simpler ones. Brain development is closely linked with emotional development. - Crying, smiling, and laughing are early signs of emotion. Other indices are facial expressions, motor activity, body language, and physiological changes. - Self-conscious and self-evaluative emotions arise after the development of self-awareness. ## Basic Emotions - There are six basic emotions universally experienced across all human cultures. These emotions are: 1. Happiness: Characterized by feelings of joy, contentment, and satisfaction. 2. Sadness: Associated with feelings of loss, disappointment, and grief. 3. Fear: Triggered by perceived threats, leading to feelings of anxiety and apprehension. 4. Disgust: A reaction to things that are considered unpleasant or offensive. 5. Anger: Elicited by perceived wrongdoings, leading to feelings of frustration and hostility. 6. Surprise: A response to unexpected events, which can be either positive or negative ## Self-Conscious Emotions - Self-conscious emotions, such as embarrassment, empathy, and envy, arise only after children have developed self-awareness: the cognitive understanding that they have a recognizable identity, separate and different from the rest of their world. This consciousness of self seems to emerge between 15 and 24 months. - Self-awareness is necessary before children can be aware of being the focus of attention, identify with what other "selves" are feeling, or wish they had what someone else has. By about age 3, having acquired self-awareness plus a good deal of knowledge about their society's accepted standards, rules, and goals, children become better able to evaluate their own thoughts, plans, desires, and behavior against what is considered socially appropriate. Only then can they demonstrate the self-evaluative emotions of pride, guilt, and shame ## Empathy, Altruism - By acting out of concern for a stranger with no expectation of reward, children show altruistic behavior. - Altruism- Behavior intended to help others out of inner concern and without expectation of external reward; may involve self denial or self-sacrifice. - Prosocial behavior- Any voluntary behavior intended to help others. Parents of prosocial children typically are prosocial themselves. They point out models of prosocial behavior and steer children toward stories, films, and television programs that depict cooperation, sharing, and empathy and encourage sympathy, generosity, and helpfulness - Empathy, a growing ability to imagine how another person might feel in a particular situation. This ability to "put oneself in another person's place" seems to arise during the second year and increases with age ## Sympathy, Social Referencing - Sympathy is a feeling of care and concern for someone, often someone close, accompanied by a wish to see them better off or happier. It is a complex emotional response that involves understanding and sharing the emotions and feelings of others. Sympathy involves feeling sorry or pity for someone, whereas empathy involves understanding and sharing someone's feelings. Sympathy is more of an external expression of emotion, while empathy is an internal emotional response. Simply put, sympathy is feeling for someone, while empathy is feeling with someone - Social referencing- Understanding an ambiguous situation by seeking another person's perception of it. Social referencing has been observed by 12 months. In social referencing, one person forms an understanding of how to act in an ambiguous, confusing, or unfamiliar situation by seeking and interpreting another person's perception of it. Social referencing-and the ability to retain information gained from it may play a role in such key developments of toddlerhood as the rise of self-conscious emotions (embarrassment and pride), the development of a sense of self, and the processes of socialization and internalization (*refer text for more information*) ## Emotional Self-Regulation - Emotional self-regulation in toddlers is a crucial developmental milestone. It involves the ability to manage and respond to an emotional experience in an appropriate manner. - Emotional self-regulation involves effortful (voluntary) control of emotions, attention, and behavior. Children low in effortful control tend to become visibly angry or frustrated when interrupted or prevented from doing something they want to do. Children with high effortful control can stifle the impulse to show negative emotion at inappropriate times - As children grow older, they are more aware of their own and other people's feelings. They can better regulate or control their emotions and can respond to others' emotional distress ## Aggression - In a longitudinal study of 383 preschoolers, 11 percent of the girls and 9 percent of the boys showed high levels of aggression between ages 2 and 5. Boys and girls who were inattentive at age 2, and girls who showed poor emotion regulation at that age, tended to have conduct problems at age 5 Children who, as preschoolers, often engage in violent fantasy play may, at age 6, be prone to violent displays of anger - Overt aggression- Aggression that is openly directed at its target. - Relational (social) aggression -Aggression aimed at damaging or interfering with another person's relationships, reputation, or psychological well-being ## Brain Growth and Emotional Development - The development of the brain after birth is closely connected with changes in emotional life: Emotional experiences not only are affected by brain development but also can have long-lasting effects on the structure of the brain. - Four major shifts in brain organization roughly correspond to changes in emotional processing ### SHIFT 1 - During the first three months, differentiation of basic emotions begins as the cerebral cortex becomes functional, bringing cognitive perceptions into play. REM sleep and reflexive behavior, including the spontaneous neonatal smile, diminish. ### SHIFT 2 - The second shift occurs around 9 or 10 months, when the frontal lobes begin to interact with the limbic system, a seat of emotional reactions. At the same time, limbic structures such as the hippocampus become larger and more adultlike. Connections between the frontal cortex and the hypothalamus and limbic system, which process sensory information, may facilitate the relationship between the cognitive and emotional spheres. As these connections become denser and more elaborate, an infant can experience and interpret emotions at the same time ### SHIFT 3 - The third shift takes place during the second year, when infants develop selfawareness, self-conscious emotions, and a greater capacity for regulating their emotions and activities. These changes, which coincide with greater physical mobility and exploratory behavior, may be related to myelination of the frontal lobes ### SHIFT 4 - The fourth shift occurs around age 3, when hormonal changes in the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system coincide with the emergence of evaluative emotions. Underlying the development of such emotions as shame may be a shift away from dominance by the sympathetic system, the part of the autonomic system that prepares the body for action, as the parasympathetic system, the part of the autonomic system that is involved in excretion and sexual excitation, matures. - Neurological factors also may play a part in temperamental differences