Social and Personality Development

CHAPTER 4 A. Emotions- a motivational construct that is characterized by changes in affect (or feelings), physiological responses, cognitions, and overt behavior. a. feelings (generally positive or negative in character) b. physiological correlates, including changes in heart rate, galvanic skin response (that is sweat gland activity), brain wave activity, and so forth. c. cognitions that elicit or accompany feelings and physiological changes, and d. oals, or the desire to take such actions as escaping noxious stimuli, approaching pleasant ones, influencing the behavior of others, communicating needs, or desires, and so on. B. Two theories of emotions and emotion dev e. Discrete emotions theory- a theory of emotions specifying that specific emotions are biologically programmed, accompanied by distinct sets of bodily and facial cues, and discriminable from early in life. i. Adults can tell positive emotions more easily than negative ii. @ birth- interest, distress, disgust, and contentment iii. -7 mos- primary basic emotions (the set of emotions present at birth or emerging early in the first year that some theorists believe to be biologically programmed. )- anger, sadness, joy, surprise, and fear iv. dev of pos emotion- happiness 1. begins to display social smile end of 2nd month to carergiver. 3rd mo smile at real ppl. 3-6 mos open mouth big smiles. 6-7 mos reserve smile for familiar. v. Dev of neg emotion

2. First 6 mos 3. Fear is one of last emotion to dev. 6-7 mos shows fear or threaten by something or someone. mos stranger anxiety (stranger anxiety- a wary or fretful reaction that infants and toddlers often display when approached by an unfamiliar person. ) 4. 6-8 mos- peaks 14-18 mos- separation anxiety- a wary or fretful reaction that infants and toddlers often display when separated from persons to whom they are attached. a. Evolutionary theorists- fear biologically programmed bc evolution b. Cognitive-developmental theorists view stranger anxiety and separation anxiety as natural outgrowths of an infant’s perceptual and cognitive development. . In sum, stranger anxiety and separation anxiety are complex emotional reactions that may stem in part from an infant’s general apprehension of the unfamiliar (the evolutionary viewpoint) and his inability to explain who a stranger may be or what has become of a familiar companion (the cognitive-developmental viewpoint). vi. Dev of self conscious emotions 5. 2-3 yrs- dev secondary or complex emotions- embarrassment, shame, guilt, envy and pride 6. mbarrassment, the simplest self-conscious emotion, will not emerge until the child can recognize herself in a mirror or a photograph, whereas self evaluative emotions such as shame, guilt, and pride require both self-recognition and an understanding of rules and standards for evaluating one’s conduct f. Functionalist perspective- a theory specifying the major purpose of an emotion is to establish, maintain, or change one’s relationship with the environment to accomplish a goal; emotions are not viewed as discrete early in life but as entities that emerge with age.