Emotional Development

When you're drawing up your list of life's miracles, you might place near the top the first moment your baby smiles at you …Today, she looked right at me. And she smiled …Her toothless mouth opened, and she scrunched her face up and it really was a grin …The sleepless nights, the worries, the crying—all of a sudden it was all worth it …She is no longer just something we are nursing and carrying along—somewhere inside, part of her knows what's going on, and that part of her is telling us that she's with us (Greene 1985, pp. 33-34).

Emotional Development Introduction B. Roles of Emotions in the Child’s Life 1. Emotions add pleasure to the child‘s experiences. 2. It also serve as a motivation to action. 3. Prove to be a handicap to the child. 

B. Kinds of Emotions 

1. Unpleasant emotions- harmful to the child’s development. a. Fear b. anger c. jealousy 2. Pleasant emotions- helpful and essential to normal development in the childhood years. a. affection b. happiness c. joy d. curiosity

Patterns of Emotional Development  A.

Genetic Sequence in Emotions - there are no pleasurable emotions at birth, only a state of quiescence. a.1st 2 months- pleasure & displeasure come in response to physical stimulation. b. after 6th month- negative emotions take the lead

c. 9th& 10th- jealousy can be aroused d. 10th to 12th month- disappointment, anger, love, sympathy, friendliness, enjoyment & a sense of property are all distinguishable.

How the Emotions Develop A.

Emotional development is due to:

Maturation 4. Learning a. Conditioning or learning by association b. Imitation 3.

Characteristics of Childhood Emotionality Children’s

emotions are:

a. brief b. intense c. transitory d. appear frequently

e. emotional responses are different f. can be detected by symptoms of behavior g. changes in strength of emotion h. changes in emotional expressions

Common Emotional Patterns of childhood  1.

Fear a. Fear is vulnerable to a child when not intense and it serves as a warning of danger. Types of fear: 1. learned fear 2. acquired fear through imitation 3. fear that comes as an aftermath of unpleasant experiences

Common fears of babyhood in general  1.

loud noises  2. animals  3. strange persons, places, or objects  4. dark rooms  5. high places  6. sudden displacement  7. being alone  8. pain

Effective ways of eliminating fears:  1.

Give the child an opportunity to become acquainted with the feared stimulus of his own accord.  2. Lead him gradually into contact with the thing he fears.  3. Encourage him to acquire skills that will be of specific aid to him in dealing with the feared situation.

 4.

Build up pleasant associations with the feared object.  5. Verbal explanations and reassurance, combined with a practical demonstration of the harmlessness of the feared object will be a help for the elimination of fears.  6. Social imitation in which the child is given an adult model of fearlessness.  7. Opportunity foe self-expression which will lead to self-scrutiny& personal reorientation.

2. Worry  a.

Worry is an imaginary form of fear.  b. Common worries center on: 1. Home & family relationships like scolding & punishment received by the children from the parents. 2. School problems c. Worries when intense 7 frequent may lead to anxiety.

3. Anger  a.

Anger is more frequent emotional response than fear.  b. As the child grows older, he displays more anger, while the fear reactions decrease.  c. stimuli to anger: 1. those involving body restraint 2. interference with movements 3. blocking of activities 4. thwarting of wishes, plans, and purposes child wants to carry out.

d.

Older children experience more frustration. Frustration is the feeling of helplessness, disappointment, inadequacy, or anxiety. e. Anger responses may be classified into two categories: 1. impulsive expression 2. inhibited expressions

4. jealousy  a.

jealousy is a normal response to actual, supposed, or threatened loss of affection. It is an outgrowth of anger.  b. stimuli to jealousy: 1. preparation for the arrival of new baby 2. age differences among siblings 3. schoolmates who are more successful in school work & sports or who have more friends than they have.

 4.”

Pets” of the teacher  5. As the child grows older, he is jealous of other children. c. Jealousy responses: 1. Aggression 2. identification with the rival 3. withdrawal from the beloved person 4. repression 5. masochism 6. sublimation & creative competetion

5. Joy, pleasure & delight  a.

Joy, which in its milder forms is known as pleasure, delight, or happiness, is a positive emotion.  b. Stimuli to joy are: 1. physical well-being 2. incongruous situation 3. play on words 4. slight calamities 5. sudden or unexpected noises

c.

responses to Joy: 1. smiling 2. laughing 3. relaxed state of the entire body

6. Affection  a.

Affection is an emotional reaction directed towards a person or a thing.  b. Child’s affections are learned and not innate.  c. Stimuli to affection: 1. parents who express their affection to the child 2. parents who play most with them 3. parents who punish the child the least

7. Curiosity a.

Curiosity of the child starts after the three months of life. b. responses to curiosity: 1. in case of young babies, it is expressed by tensing of the face muscles, opening the mouth, stretching out the tongue and wrinkling the forehead.

 2.By

the 2nd half of the first year, baby expresses hi s curiosity by stretching the body, leaning toward the object and grasping for it. And when the baby gets it, he holds, pulls, sucks, shakes, and rattles it.  3. At the age of 3, it is in the forms of questions already.  4. When the child is old enough, his curiosity is satisfied through reading.