EMOTIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Infancy to childhood

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Introduction
The word emotion is a derivative of the
Latin word ‘emovere’ which means ‘to stir up
or agitate or excite’.
The mental thinking or feeling of a
person at a particular instant of time knowingly
or unknowingly is called emotion.
Emotions are complex psychological and
biological responses consisting of subjective
feelings, physiological reactions and expressive
behaviors to internal and external stimuli.

What is emotion?
• “Emotion is the all around state of the
organism marked by increased bodily activity
and strong feelings directed to some subject.”
Kimball Young
• According to crow and crow
“An emotion is an affective experience that
accompanies generalized inner adjustment
and, mental and physiological stirred up states
in the individual and that shows itself in his
overt behavior” 3

Emotional development
Emotional development is a process
that a child develops from dependence to a
fully functioning adult and applies to most
life forms.
Emotional development refers to the
ability to recognize, express, and manage
feelings at different stages of life and to
have empathy for the feelings of others.
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Characteristics of emotions
• The core of an emotion is feeling.
• Emotional experiences are associated with some instincts or
biological drives.
• Emotions are the products of perception.
• Every emotional experience involves several physical and
physiological changes in organism.
• The basic ways of expressing emotions are inborn and it
develops through maturation.
• Emotions rise abruptly and die slowly.
• Same emotion can be aroused by a number of different
stimuli.
• Emotions have the quality of displacement. 5

Common emotional patterns in
childhood
• Fear
• Anger
• Jealousy
• Greif
• Curiosity
• Joy, pleasure and delight
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Kinds of emotions
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• Positive emotions:
Pleasant emotions which are helpful and essential to
the normal development of individual are termed a
positive emotions
Eg: love, amusement, curiosity, joy,…
• Negative emotions:
Unpleasant emotions, which are harmful to the
individual’s development are termed as negative
emotions
Eg: fear, anger, jealousy, guilt, …

How the emotions develop?
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As Spitz (1949) has observed,
“Emotions are not present ready-made
from birth. Like any other sector of the
human personality they have to develop.”
Emotional development is due to
1. Maturation
2. learning
not to either one alone.

Stages of emotional development
• During infancy
• During childhood
• During adolescence
• During adulthood
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Bridge’s chart
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• It is a chart proposed by K.M. Bridges in 1931
• It shows the scheme of emotional development
in children.
• In the chart, she gives an account of the
approximate age at which the different
emotions appear first.

Bridge’s chart
D i s t r e s
s
D e l i g h
t
E x c i t e m e n
t
A n g e
r
D i s g u s
t
F e a
r
A f f e c t i o n f o r
c h i l d r e n
A f f e c t i o n
A f f e c t i o n f o r
a d u l t s
E l a t i o n
F e a
r
A n x i e t
y
S h a m e
E n v
y
D i s a p p o i n t m e n
t
H o p
e
J o
y
J e a l o u s
y
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During infancy:
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• According to her new born infants have
no differentiated emotional response but
show only a generalized excitement. By
this she means that specific reactions,
even as responses to strong stimuli,
cannot be detected during the first weeks,
only very general and uncontrolled
muscle reactions can be observed.
This stage is over in a very short time.

• At 3 months, excitement develops into distress
and delight. In this distress dominates more.
• At 6 months the negative emotions take the
lead and distress develop into fear, disgust
and anger.
• At 12 months positive emotions enter in the
field and delight is differentiated into elation
and affection.
• At 18 months jealousy develops from distress
and affection differentiates into affection for
adults and affection for children.
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During childhood
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Early childhood:(2-5yrs/3-6yrs)
• At 24 months, delight was further
differentiated and joy appears.
• At 5 years(60 month), fear is again
differentiated into shame and anxiety.
Anger is again differentiated into
disappointment and envy.
From delight, hope is again differentiated.

Factors affecting childish emotionality
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• Health and physical development:
The children weak in somatic structure or
suffering from illness are more emotionally
upset and unstable than children having better
health.
• Intelligence:
An intelligent person, with his reasoning and
thinking powers, exercise control according to
the situation and make proper use of their
emotions

• Family:
Where the cordial atmosphere prevailed
at home, children develop positive
emotions; while conflicts and tensions in
family relationship give birth to negative
emotions. The size of the family,
socioeconomic status of the family,
parental attitude etc also influence the
emotional development of children
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• School atmosphere:
The healthy and conductive atmosphere
of the school always results in the
balanced emotional development of
children.
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Thank you
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