Emotional Development: The Organization of Emotional Life in the Early Years

by L. Alan Sroufe

• ISBN13: 9780521629928
• ISBN10: 0521629926
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-09-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

In the past, researchers have treated the development of the emotions and the task of emotional regulation as two separate topics, the former emphasizing 'normative' questions and the latter emphasizing 'individual' differences. Until now, understanding the first topic has never been seen as relevant for the second. This is the area pioneered by Emotional Development. This book presents the early phases of emotional life from a developmental perspective. It argues that emotional generation hinges on the developing ability to express arousal or 'tension' in accordance with one's context. It reveals the common core processes underlying the emergence of specific emotions and the capacity for emotional regulation. It explains the timing of emotional emergence, why emotions function as they do, and also explores individual styles of emotional regulation. Close ties between emotional development, cognitive, social and CNS development are discussed, too.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Part I The nature of emotional development	3	(52)
1 A developmental perspective on emotions	3	(8)
Developmental questions	4	(3)
Guiding assumptions	7	(2)
The plan of the book	9	(2)
2 Conceptual issues underlying the study of emotion	11	(27)
Defining emotion	11	(5)
Theoretical issues	16	(10)
Conceptual and methodological issues for studying emotional development	26	(8)
Moving toward a synthesis	34	(2)
Conclusion: a developmental perspective on classic issues	36	(2)
3 Emotion and the organization of development	38	(17)
The unity of development	39	(2)
The nature and organization of development	41	(2)
Themes in the organization of infant development	43	(8)
Conclusion	51	(4)
Part II The unfolding of the emotions	55	(96)
4 An organizational perspective on the emergence of emotions	55	(22)
Emotions as constructs	56	(1)
Ontogenesis of the emotions	57	(9)
"Stages" in the developmental of affect	66	(9)
Conclusion	75	(2)
5 The development of joy: a prototype for the study of emotion	77	(24)
The ontogenesis of smiling and laughter	78	(13)
The tension modulation hypothesis	91	(5)
Other explanations of infant smiling	96	(3)
Conclusion: principles of development revealed by smiling research	99	(2)
6 The development of fear: further illustration of the organizational viewpoint	101	(16)
"Stages" in the development of early fear reactions	102	(4)
The role of meaning in infant aversive reactions	106	(3)
Reactions to strangers	109	(4)
Arousal modulation in aversive situations	113	(3)
Conclusion	116	(1)
7 The interdependence of affect and cognition	117	(14)
Coordination in the sequencing of cognitive and affective development	118	(2)
Cognitive underpinnings of emotion and emotional development	120	(8)
The reciprocal influence of affect on cognition	128	(2)
Conclusion	130	(1)
8 Meaning, evaluation, and emotion	131	(20)
Determinants of joy or fear in the face of novelty	133	(2)
The role of evaluation	135	(8)
Implications for the role of the caregiver-infant relationship	143	(3)
Conclusion: a general developmental approach to individual differences in emotional development	146	(5)
Part III Emotional development and individual adaptation	151	(88)
9 The social nature of emotional development	151	(21)
Becoming an emotional being	152	(3)
Early experience and later emotional functioning	155	(2)
The developmental issues framework	157	(2)
Issues for infant and caregiver in infancy	159	(11)
Conclusion: the unity of development	170	(2)
10 Attachment: the dyadic regulation of emotion	172	(20)
Attachment as an organizational construct	174	(6)
Assessing individual differences in the quality of attachment	180	(5)
Research support for attachment as an organizational construct	185	(5)
Conclusion: causality in an organizational perspective	190	(2)
11 The emergence of the autonomous self: caregiver-guided self-regulation	192	(22)
Normative development in the toddler period	195	(5)
The context of toddler emotional development	200	(3)
Individual differences in the toddler period	203	(9)
Conclusion	212	(2)
12 The growth of self-regulation	214	(21)
Normative aspects of emotional development in the preschool years	216	(2)
Individual differences in the preschool period	218	(14)
Conclusion	232	(3)
13 Summation	235	(4)
References	239	(20)
Index	259