Читать книгу Lifespan Development - Tara L. Kuther - Страница 416

Donald begins to cry as his mother leaves, dropping him off at preschool. Watching Donald, Amber explains to her mother, “Donald is sad because he misses his mommy,” and she brings Donald a toy. “Don’t be sad,” she says. By 3 to 4 years of age, children recognize and name emotions based on their expressive cues. By age 4, children begin to understand that external factors (such as losing a toy) can affect emotion and can predict a peer’s emotion and behavior (such as feeling sad and crying or feeling angry and hitting things) (Goodvin, Thompson, & Winer, 2015).

The emergence of theory of mind has profound implications for emotional development. As children begin to take other people’s perspectives, they can apply their understanding of emotions to understand and help others, such as recognizing that a sibling is sad and offering a hug. Children’s growing understanding of the mind leads them to appreciate the role of internal factors, such as desires, on emotion and behavior (Wellman, 2017). By age 5, most children understand that desire can motivate emotion, and many understand that people’s emotional reactions to an event can vary based on their desires.

Theory of mind influences the development and expression of self-conscious emotions, such as pride and guilt. Self-conscious emotions emerge as children become aware of rules and standards that define socially appropriate behavior and that others have expectations for their behavior (Muris & Meesters, 2014). For example, in response to success, children’s joy may be accompanied by the self-conscious emotion of pride. Likewise, shame results from recognizing that poor outcomes are the result of their behavior.

Interactions with others play an important role in advancing children’s understanding of emotions. When parents talk to their preschoolers about emotions and explain their own and their children’s emotions, the children are better able to evaluate and label others’ emotions (Camras & Halberstadt, 2017). Preschool teachers also engage in emotion coaching, helping young children to understand the emotions they feel and see in others (Silkenbeumer, Schiller, & Kärtner, 2018). Young children often discuss emotional experiences with parents and peers. They also often enact emotions in pretend sociodramatic play, providing experience and practice in understanding emotions and their influence on social interactions (Goodvin et al., 2015). Pretend play with siblings and peers gives children practice in acting out feelings, considering others’ perspectives, and implementing self-control, improving the children’s understanding of emotion (Hoffmann & Russ, 2012). In one study, preschoolers’ engagement in sociodramatic play predicted their expressiveness, knowledge, and regulation of emotion 1 year later (Lindsey & Colwell, 2013). Children’s interactions with siblings offer important opportunities to practice identifying emotions, decoding the causes of emotions, anticipating the emotional responses of others, and using their emotional understanding to influence their relationships and affect the behavior of others (Kramer, 2014).