Psychophysiology of Emotions - Essay Example

Emotion in Children Name Course Instructor Date Emotion can be described as a complex experience which happens to be psychophysiological in an individual’s mind state in the interactions with influences within the environment and also other biochemical influences (Craig, 2008). Emotion mostly in humans involves the arousal of the physiology, expressing behaviors and the experiences one has in his or her conscience (Wilson, 2003). Personality, mood, disposition temperament and motivation are some of the things that are associated with emotion (Myers, 2004). There is not one taxonomy of emotion that is definitive, that exists, however, it is important to note that there have been numerous taxonomies proposed by different individuals with some of these categorizations including; non-cognitive versus cognitive emotions, there is also the categorization with regards to the duration (Drake & Myers, 2006). There are some emotions that take place for a period of seconds for instance surprise, while others can last for years for instance love, there are also the instinctual emotions versus the cognitive emotions (Craig, 2008). One distinction that is related is the one that is found between the emotion itself, and the results that the emotion will yield, which are the emotional expressions as well as the behaviors that will be exhibited (Freitas-Magalhães, 2009). This can be seen in the manner in which people behavior in certain ways, and this can be attributed to their current emotional state, which could include fighting, running / fleeing or crying (Wilson, 2003). If an individual was to have an emotion minus the corresponding behavior then the behavior is considered not to be essential to that particular emotion (Craig, 2008). In the categorization of emotions, there are complex categories as well as basic categories with the basic emotions are modifiable to form complex emotions (Wilson, 2003). It is possible for complex emotions to arise from conditioning within the culture or even an association that is combined with the emotions that are basic. If we can take an example in the manner in which colours mix, also primary emotions are capable of combining to form a full spectrum of the emotional experience that a child can experience (Wilson, 2003). For instance disgust and anger as emotions can blend to form another emotion which is contempt (Craig, 2008). According to scientific research, newborn infants do not seem to exhibit or even experience fear or show preferences in their contact with specific people (Wilson, 2003). When these infants reach a age range of between 8 and 12 months, they begin to show rapid change and start to show fear for potential threats, and also start to prefer people who are much more familiar to them and exhibit anxiety whenever separated from these familiar people or even when approached by strangers (Craig, 2008). The preschool period is when the child begins to have the capacity to show empathy and social rules are much more understandable to them and this continues on up to the adult level of life. When the child reaches the middle stage of childhood, he or she starts to interact with age mates and thus emotions are connected with their sexuality, especially in the adolescent stage, and thus the capability to fall in love (Wilson, 2003). During this period, anger seems to manifest itself much more strongly just as it was seen during the toddler period (Drake & Myers, 2006). It is however important to note that there are some social emotional development aspects that develop gradually, for instance empathy, while others such as fear involves a much more sudden reorganization of the experiences that the child goes through emotionally (Freitas-Magalhães, 2009). Physical maturation in most cases is normally connected to the development of romantic and sexual emotions (Drake & Myers, 2006). Social emotional development can also be determined or even regulated by genetic factors. Some of the emotions that appear at the predictable ages such as fear and attachment to people are some of the emotions that can be regulated by genetic factors (Myers, 2004). It is also notable that experience ha a major role to play in determining which social rules are obeyed by the child in his or her development, which people are familiar and the manner in which anger is expressed (Craig, 2008). It is unusual to have individual differences in the emotional development of the developing child, but the intensity or even the manner in which the child expresses his or her emotions can vary by a huge margin from one child to another (Scherer, 2005). The understanding of these aspects of emotion in children help psychologists to be able to deal with the different crises that children in different age groups go through in their development (Freitas-Magalhães, 2009). It also aids teachers and parents to be able to assist these children in a specific manner given that if a child is faced by adversity, then it is important to first understand the age set he or she is in and deal with the emotional problem that they have according to the emotional development that they have achieved (Drake & Myers, 2006). There are four basic components that are found in an emotional episode (Wilson, 2003). There is the physiological aspect which involves the physical changes that are visible in the body and that are active, for instance; dilated pupils, tachypnoea and tachycardia (Myers, 2004). The other component of an emotional component is the cognitive component which its main emphasis lies in the importance that is accorded to the expectations, thoughts and beliefs in the determination of the intensity and the type of the emotional response (Freitas-Magalhães, 2009). The other component is the behavioral component which is the different forms of expressions that the emotions may shape in to such as bodily gestures, facial expressions and even the tone of the voice which normally depends with the emotion such as fear, anger, joy and sorrow (Wilson, 2003). Finally, there is the subjective experience which include elements of displeasure of pleasure and the intensity of feeling. What one individual may deem to be intensely pleasurable may not be the case in another individual (Craig, 2008). Emotions can be experienced at different levels of feeling, depending on the situation in which the child is presented with. For instance, if the emotion of fear is invoked by a factor that is grave or of a larger magnitude then the level of the emotion which in this case is fear will be experienced at a greater level. Equally, an emotion such as love has magnitudes depending with individuals and even depending with the person to whom the emotion of love is directed towards. For instance, some children may show more love for the mother as opposed to the father (Drake & Myers, 2006). Emotions normally vary and depend with the situation that the individual is faced with and they could be either pleasant or unpleasant. For instance, some of the pleasant emotions include; anticipation, joy, acceptance, love and optimism (Wilson, 2003). Some of the unpleasant emotions can include, disappointment, remorse, contempt, aggression, fear, sadness, anger and disgust (Myers, 2004). It is also important to note that there are different types of emotion, with Robert Plutchik classifying emotions in to two groups which are basic; primary emotions and secondary emotions. Some of the primary emotions include: Acceptance, anticipation, joy, anger, fear, surprise, sadness and disgust (Wilson, 2003). Primary emotions when combined just in the similar manner in which primary colours are mixed to get secondary colours, can lead to the production of secondary emotions which include; submission, love, optimism, disappointment, awe, contempt, remorse and aggression (Drake & Myers, 2006). Emotions are in fact not independent of other mental systems but rather they depend on the type of emotion. As mentioned earlier in the beginning of the essay, emotions normally vary and depend with the situation that the individual is faced with and they could be either pleasant or unpleasant. For instance, some of the pleasant emotions include; anticipation, joy, acceptance, love and optimism. Some of the unpleasant emotions can include, disappointment, remorse, contempt, aggression, fear, sadness, anger and disgust (Freitas-Magalhães, 2009). There are some social emotional development aspects that develop gradually, for instance empathy, while others such as fear involves a much more sudden reorganization of the experiences that the child goes through emotionally (Craig, 2008). Physical maturation in most cases is normally connected to the development of romantic and sexual emotions. Social emotional development can also be determined or even regulated by genetic factors. Some of the emotions that appear at the predictable ages such as fear and attachment to people are some of the emotions that can be regulated by genetic factors (Myers, 2004). It is also notable that experience has a major role to play in determining which social rules are obeyed by the child in his or her development, which people are familiar and the manner in which anger is expressed (Drake & Myers, 2006). Some emotions are not always present in everyone as the emotional development of human beings differ from person to person depending on many underlying factors especially the social factors (Wilson, 2003). Some of the developmental conditions that produce adversity for children include adolescence, social factors such as the environment in which they develop in and the people that they interact with (Freitas-Magalhães, 2009). Such conditions tend to shape the emotional development of the child, considering that the environment in which they are brought up in give them the experience of dealing with certain situations in a certain manner (Craig, 2008). Genetics also plays a big role in the emotional development of the child and thus, the understanding of this will go a long way in assisting in the understanding of emotional development (Wilson, 2003). Bibliography Craig, A. D. (Bud) (2008). "Interoception and emotion: A neuroanatomical perspective". in Lewis, M.; Haviland-Jones, J. M.; Feldman Barrett, L.. Handbook of Emotion (3 ed.). New York: The Guildford Press. pp. 272–288. Drake, R. A., & Myers, L. R. (2006). Visual attention, emotion, and action tendency: Feeling active or passive. Cognition and Emotion, 20, 608-622. Freitas-Magalhães, A. (Ed.). (2009). Emotional Expression: The Brain and The Face. Porto: University Fernando Pessoa Press. Myers, David G. (2004) "Theories of Emotion." Psychology: Seventh Edition, New York, NY: Worth Publishers, p. 500. Scherer, K. (2005). What are emotions and how can they be measured? Social Science Information Vol. 44, No. 4: 695-729. Wilson, Lewis R. (2003). The emotional life of children. :Keon Publications Read More