We all develop primary emotions: disgust, happiness, anger, sadness, surprise and fear. Babies less than a week old can distinguish happy, sad and surprised expressions and they seem to try and imitate them. By 11 weeks, babies are affected by their mother’s facial expressions; they freeze in response to fear and show interest in response to a happy face. At three months of age, a baby will react positively to positive speech and negatively to negative talk, so even though they don’t understand what we say they understand how it’s said. By the age of two, children can talk about emotion in themselves and others, and they can change emotional states through comforting or teasing. At this stage, toddlers also begin to understand that behaviour relates to feelings, that crying might mean someone is sad and that hugs can make people feel better. By five, children can work out how external events have affected others’ emotions, that someone might be sad if their hamster has died. However, they may still be perplexed when verbal and non-verbal cues are at odds with each other, so someone saying they feel fine when they look ill will confuse them.
As well as innate ability, emotional attachment and the development of thinking skills are important factors in the development of emotions. Children learn by observing others, considering their own feelings and by talking about them.
Sunil Kumar Jayasudha Kamaraj
Clinical Psychologist Counseling Psychologist
Founder co-founder
MIND ZONE
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