THE DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF AN EMOTION-RECOGNITION TASK
FOR EARLY-SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN
Carla Croft
Thesis presented to the Faculty o f Science o f the University o f London
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The first aim of this thesis is to establish reliability for a new measurement of emotional expression and recognition in early childhood, the Emotion-
Recognition Task. The second aim is to examine the possibility that it is the quality o f the attachment relationships within the family which are influencing individual differences in children's understanding o f emotions as revealed by this task.
Reliability for the task and coding system was established with a sample of American school children at ages five and six years. Further, the thesis draws on data collected in the context of a longitudinal study o f attachment patterns among a sample of first-born children in London, spanning a period of six years. These children were assessed in the sixth year using the Emotion-Recognition Task. Attachment relationships with both mother and father were assessed in infancy by the Strange Situation, and in the sixth year by a modified Strange Situation procedure. The nature of parents' attachments was examined antenatally by the Adult Attachment Interview and the Reflective-Self Function scale.
The function o f attachment constructs in children's emotion task
performance is examined through multivariate analyses. Also considered within these analyses is the influence of other parent and child variables on emotionality, such as, demographic factors, temperament, mental development, and expressive language skills. The analyses reveal attachment quality o f mother (as measured by the Reflective-Self Function scale) and mother-infant attachment as the primary predictors of the combined majority o f Emotion Recognition Task variables. Two variables, however, are revealed to have other primary predictors: overall
Many people have supported me in the work presented here. I would, firstly, like to thank Dr. Howard Steele for his continued encouragement and guidance, and for showing faith from beginning to end that I had what it takes. Furthermore, this investigation would not have been possible without the London Parent-Child Project, created by Drs. Howard and Miriam Steele and Professor Peter Fonagy, and upon whose data this thesis is based. To Miriam and Peter also, I give special thanks for their guidance and support.
Through three years o f data collection, coding, and analysis the research team o f which I have been a part has been a great source of learning and encouragement. Thank you to these hard-working researchers: Drs. Jo Alves, Jacques China, Juliet Holder, Matthew Woolgar, and Susan Yabsley. Thank you also to Merrit Parker for assistance in data collection in America, and to Kerry John for her hard work as a second coder. To the mothers, fathers and children who volunteered to participate in this project I thank you for your time and devotion. I would also like to thank Briggs Elementary School and Oakdale Baptist Church Kindergarten in Florence, South Carolina and Mrs. Frances Parker, Mrs. Chic Mecuri, Mrs. Bobbie McElveen, Mr. Martin Smith, Mrs. Annie Grant, and Mrs. Annie Croft for allowing me to interrupt classroom schedules at two busy times in the school year and for introducing me to such interesting groups of children. Credit should go also to Tom Price, the artist responsible for the Emotion-Recognition Task illustrations, whose insight and talent made the 'cartoons' fun and interesting to every five- and six-year-old who saw them.
academically and emotionally by many good friends, teachers, and colleagues. There are too many people who fall into this category to list on a page, but those that especially come to mind are: Graham Pickup, Jackie Smith, Shalini Bhatia, Rabia Malik, Stephen Nowicki, Pasco Fearon, Michael Marland, Sharon Lewis, Jeri Hatchell, Jerry Wise, John and Jennifer Barlow, Daphne Hoyles, and the late Spencer Hoyles.
My mother, Annie Croft, father, Edwin Croft Sr., and brother, Edwin Croft Jr., deserve a special mention for unlimited love and support. Thank you to them for providing me with the 'secure base' that I needed to get through these years. To mom especially for unconditional love and friendship, to dad for having quiet faith in me, and to Edwin for taking the 'heat' in my absence and for becoming a BIG- little brother just when I needed one. My grandmother, Annie Grant, should be thanked as well for fostering my interest in children. She gave me my first job working with children, is the strength behind our family, and her own talents with children are a constant inspiration. Thank you to all of my extended family, the Grants, Parkers, and Crofts, for never-ending praise and encouragement.
For financial support, I am indebted to Rotary International (with a special thank you to Florence West Rotary Club and the Rotary Club o f Tooting), the Overseas Research Scheme, and to my family.
Chapter One-Emotionality and attachment: a review of theoretical and empirical
lite ra tu re... 20
Defining emotion and age-related differences in emotionality ... 21
Individual differences in em otionality... 41
The aims o f this study ... 62
Chapter Two-The Emotion-Recognition Task: procedure, reliability and coding ... 67
Introduction ... 68
M eth o d ... 75
R e s u lts ... 107
Discussion ... 115
Chapter Three-The influence of demography, verbal ability, temperament, and intellect ... 124
Introduction ... 125
R e s u lts ... 142
Discussion ... 159
Conclusion ... 167
Chapter Four-The role of concurrent quality of attachment to mother and father ... 168
Introduction ... 169
Method ... 172
R e s u lts ... 181
Discussion ... 192
Conclusion ... 198
Chapter Five-The role of quality of attachment to mother and father in in fa n c y ... 199
Introduction ... 200
M eth o d ... 204
R e s u lts ... 208
Discussion ... 225
C o n c lu sio n ... 244
Chapter Six-The role of parents' adult attachment and Reflective-Self Function abilities... 246
Introduction ... 247
M eth o d ... 252
R e s u lts ... 257
Discussion ... 275
Chapter Seven-The relative contribution of the correlates: multivariate
analyses ... 285
Introduction ... 286
R e s u lts ... 293
Discussion of results: the predictors ... 309
C o n c lu sio n ... 317
Chapter Eight-Final conclusions... 319
Summary o f the present investigation and fin d in g s... 320
A theoretical model of the central findings ... 325
Alternative acco u n ts... 343
Directions for future research ... 349
Appendix 2.1a
The Ice Cream Scene (fe m a les)... 387
Appendix 2.1b
The Bicycle Scene (fem ales)... 389
Appendix 2.1c
The Puzzle Scene (fem ales)... 391
Appendix 2 .Id
The Suitcase Scene (females) ... 393
Appendix 2 .le
The Sibling Scene (females) ... 396
Appendix 2 .I f
The Biscuit Scene (females) ... 399
Appendix 2.1 g
The Separation Scene (fem ales)... 402
Appendix 2.1h
The Paint Scene (fem ales)... 405
Appendix 2.1i
The Juice Scene (fem ales)... 408
Appendix 2.1j
The Building Block Scene (fem ales)... 412
Appendix 2.1k
The Reunion Scene (females) ... 415
Appendix 2.1/
The Marble Scene (females) ... 418
Appendix 2.2a
The Ice Cream Scene (males) ... 421
Appendix 2.2b
The Bicycle Scene (males) ... 423
Appendix 2.2c
Appendix 2.2d
The Suitcase Scene (m a le s)... 427
Appendix 2.2e
The Sibling Scene (males) ... 430
Appendix 2.2f
The Biscuit Scene (m ale s)... 433
Appendix 2.2g
The Separation Scene (males) ... 436
Appendix 2.2h
The Paint Scene (m a le s )... 439
Appendix 2.2i
The Juice Scene (m a le s )... 442
Appendix 2.2j
The Building Block Scene (m a le s)... 446
Appendix 2.2k
The Reunion Scene (m ale s)... 449
Appendix 2.21
The Marble Scene (m ales)... 452
Appendix 2.3
Emotion f a c e s ... 455
Appendix 3.1
A short vocabulary s c a le ... 456
Appendix 3.2
The Bus S to r y ... 458
Appendix 3.3
Infant attachment classifications as a function of temperament ... 460
Appendix 3.4a
Mother's postnatal questionnaire... 463
Appendix 3.4b
Father's postnatal questionnaire ... 465
Appendix 3.5
Appendix 3.6
Bayley (Mental Development Index) Scoring Sheet ... 470
Appendix 3,7a
Emotion-Recognition Task performance as a function o f demography: A g e ... 472
Appendix 3.7b
Emotion-Recognition Task performance as a function o f demography: Sex ... 475
Appendix 3.7c
Emotion-Recognition Task performance as a function o f demography: Parents' education ... 480
Appendix 3.7d
Emotion-Recognition Task performance as a function of demography: Parents' socio-economic s ta tu s ... 489
Appendix 3.7e
Emotion-Recognition Task performance as a function of demography: Family s i z e ... 498
Appendix 3.8
Emotion-Recognition Task performance as a function of verbal
abilities ... 502
Appendix 3.9
Emotion-Recognition Task performance as a function of
tem p eram en t... 513
Appendix 3.10
Emotion-Recognition Task performance as a function o f intellect . . . . 531
Appendix 4.1
Emotion-Recognition Task performance as a function of childhood
attachment ... 536
Appendix 4.2
Stability and change in attachment p a tte rn s ... 546
Appendix 5.1
Emotion-Recognition Task performance as a function o f infant
attachment ... 547
Appendix 5.2
Emotion-Recognition Task performance as a function of
Appendix 6.1
The Reflective-Self Function s c a le ... 561
Appendix 6.2
Emotion-Recognition Task performance as a function of parent
attachment ... 571
Appendix 6.3
Emotion-Recognition Task performance as a function of parents'
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1
Overall coherence at five (American sam p le)... 104
Figure 2.2
Overall coherence at six (American sample) ... 104
Figure 2.3
Skill in discussion of multiple emotion at five (American sample) . . . 105
Figure 2.4
Skill in discussion of multiple emotion at six (American sample) . . . . 105
Figure 7.1
Overall embellishment of justification as a function of mothers'
expressive la n g u a g e ... 295
Figure 7.2
Mean overall coherence scores as a function o f family s i z e ... 299
Figure 7.3
Matching o f character emotions as a function o f mothers'
Reflective-Self Functioning... 303
Figure 7.4
Matching o f character emotions as a function o f mothers' expressive
language a b ilitie s ... 303
Figure 7.5
Total emotion faces correctly identified as a function o f infant-mother attachment ... 307
Figure 7.6
Number o f emotions discussed over the task as a function o f infant-
mother a ttac h m e n t... 307
Figure 7.7
Multiple emotion skill as a function of infant-mother attachment . . . . 307
Figure 8.1
Figure 8.2
Two models: the antecedents to the emotion 'talk' task variables (Model A) and to the emotion understanding task variables
(Model B ) ... 334
Figure 8.3
Theoretical model of possible routes taken to form the existing link between childhood emotionality and attachment security: a direct route from mother's Reflective-Self Function to childhood
emotionality and an indirect one by way o f infant-mother
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1:
Standardised Protocol for Emotion-Recognition T a s k ... 77
Table 2.2:
Examples from the Emotion-Recognition Task in the Sixth Y e a r 87
Table 2.3
Frequencies and percentages with respect to spontaneous labelling of nine emotion faces for the participants at age five and s i x ... 92
Table 2.4:
Frequencies and percentages of "correct" responses on each of the nine emotion faces for the participants at age five and six... 93
Table 2.5:
Correlations between responses at five years and responses at six years to phase one o f the task... 94
Table 2.6:
Frequencies and percentages with respect to the range of emotions
discussed by each child at age five and s i x ... 95
Table 2.7:
Frequencies and percentages with respect to the range of faces chosen by each child at age five and six... 96
Table 2.8:
Frequencies and percentages with respect to overall justification
embellishments given by each child at age five and six... 97
Table 2.9:
Frequencies and percentages with respect to overall coherence score for each child at age five and six... 98
Table 2.10:
Frequencies and percentages with respect to the 'matching' o f character emotions in the family scenes by each child at age five and s i x ... 99
Table 2.11:
Frequencies and percentages with respect to the use o f multiple emotion on the overall task as discussed by each child at age five and six. . . 100
Table 2.12:
Correlations between phase two responses at five years and at six
Table 2.13:
Frequencies and percentages with respect to total number correct on
spontaneous labelling of nine emotion faces for the participants 108
Table 2.14:
Frequencies and percentages o f participants' "correct" responses for
each o f the basic emotion faces... 109
Table 2.15:
Frequencies and percentages o f participants' range of emotions
discussed on overall task... 110
Table 2.16:
Frequencies and percentages o f participants' overall responses to the justification question, considered for plausibility and level of
embellishment... I l l
Table 2.17:
Frequencies and percentages o f participants' overall coherence
ratings... 112
Table 2.18:
Frequencies and percentages with respect to discussion o f multiple
emotion on the task... 113
Table 2.19:
Frequencies and percentages of participants who discussed 'matched' emotions for characters in the family scenes (the Bicycle scene, the
Sibling scene, the Separation scene)... 114
Table 3.1:
Afraid face label given (correct/incorrect) BY father's socio-economic group: observed (and expected) frequencies, percentages, and
chi-square re s u lts ... 144
Table 3.2:
Number of emotions discussed over the task (ER) BY family size at time o f testing: Means, standard deviations, and Analysis of
Variance re s u lts ... 145
Table 3.3:
Overall coherence score (OCO) BY family size at time o f testing:
Table 3.3a:
Matching of character emotion for the Separation scene (match/mismatch) BY mother's socio-economic group: observed (and expected)
frequencies, percentages, and chi-square r e s u l t s ... 148
Table 3.4:
Matching o f character emotion for the Bicycle scene (match/mismatch) BY family size at time of testing: observed (and expected)
frequencies, percentages, and chi-square r e s u l t s ... 149
Table 3.5:
Afraid face label given (correct/incorrect) BY mother's expressive language score: observed (and expected) frequencies, percentages,
and chi-square re s u lts ... 151
Table 3.6:
Number o f emotions discussed over the task (ER) BY father's expressive language score: Means, standard deviations, and T-test results ... 152
Table 3.7:
Overall justification rating (OJUS) BY mother's expressive language
score: Means, standard deviations, and T-test r e s u lts ... 153
Table 3.8:
Matching of character emotion for the Bicycle scene (match/mismatch) BY mother's expressive language score: observed (and expected) frequencies, percentages, and chi-square r e s u lts ... 154
Table 3.9:
Afraid face label given (correct/incorrect) BY mother's rating o f infant temperament at 12 months: observed (and expected) frequencies,
percentages, and chi-square re s u lts ... 155
Table 3.10:
Surprised face label given (correct/incorrect) BY mother's rating of infant temperament at 12 months: observed (and expected) frequencies,
percentages, and chi-square r e s u lts ... 156
Table 3.11:
Mischievous face label given (correct/incorrect) BY father's rating o f infant temperament at three months: observed (and expected) frequencies,
percentages, and chi-square r e s u lts ... 156
Table 3.12:
Table 4.1:
Observed (and expected) frequencies of children's performance on the labelling phase o f the Emotion-Recognition Task (for sad face) in relation to the different modified attachment groups (as assessed at five years with mother) ... 183
Table 4.2:
Observed (and expected) frequencies o f children's performance on the labelling phase o f the Emotion-Recognition Task (for sad face) in relation to the different attachment groups as traditionally classified (as assessed at five years with m o th er)... 184
Table 4.3:
Observed (and expected) frequencies of children's performance on the labelling phase o f the Emotion-Recognition Task (for sad face) in relation to the different attachment groups considered dichotomously (as assessed at five years with m o th er)... 185
Table 5.1:
Observed (and expected) frequencies of children's performance on the labelling phase o f the Emotion-Recognition Task (for the happy face) in relation to the modified attachment groups (as assessed at 12 months with mother) ... 211
Table 5.2:
Observed (and expected) frequencies of children's performance on the labelling phase of the Emotion-Recognition Task (for the mischievous face) in relation to the modified attachment groups (as assessed at 12 months with m o th e r)... 211
Table 5.3:
Observed (and expected) frequencies of children's performance on the labelling phase o f the Emotion-Recognition Task (for the surprised face) in relation to the modified attachment groups (as assessed at 12 months with mother) ... 212
Table 5.4:
Mean (and standard deviation) for total correct on the labelling phase of the Emotion-Recognition Task grouped by the modified attachment groups (as assessed at 12 months with m o th e r)... 212
Table 5.5:
Table 5.6:
Observed (and expected) frequencies of children's performance on the labelling phase o f the Emotion-Recognition Task (for the mischievous face) in relation to the different attachment groups as traditionally classified (as assessed at 12 months with m o th e r) ... 214
Table 5.7:
Observed (and expected) frequencies o f children's performance on the labelling phase o f the Emotion-Recognition Task (for the surprised face) in relation to the different attachment groups as traditionally classified (as assessed at 12 months with m o th e r)... 214
Table 5.8:
Mean (and standard deviation) performance rating on the labelling phase of the Emotion-Recognition Task (for total correct) grouped by the different attachment groups as traditionally classified (as assessed at 12 months with mother) ... 215
Table 5.9:
Observed (and expected) frequencies o f children's performance on the labelling phase o f the Emotion-Recognition Task (for the mischievous face) in relation to the different attachment groups considered dichotomously (as assessed at 12 months with m o th e r) ... 215
Table 5.10:
Observed (and expected) frequencies o f children's performance on the labelling phase o f the Emotion-Recognition Task (for surprised face) in relation to the different attachment groups considered dichotomously (as assessed at 12 months with m o th e r)... 216
Table 5.11:
Mean (and standard deviation) for total correct on the labelling phase of the Emotion-Recognition Task grouped by the different attachment groups
considered dichotomously (as assessed at 12 months with mother) . . . 216
Table 5.12:
Mean (and standard deviation) number o f emotions discussed on the Emotion-Recognition Task grouped by the different attachment groups
considered dichotomously (as assessed at 12 months with mother) . . . 217
Table 5.13:
Participants' mean range (and standard deviation) in discussion o f emotion on the Emotion-Recognition Task grouped by the different attachment groups traditionally classified (as assessed at 12 months with
Table 5.14:
Participants' mean (and standard deviation) for multiple emotion rating grouped by the different attachment groups traditionally classified (as assessed at 12 months with m o th e r)... 221
Table 5.15:
Participants' mean and standard deviation for multiple emotion rating grouped by the different attachment groups considered dichotomously (as assessed at 12 months with mother) ... 221
Table 6.1:
The link between infant attachment patterns and adult attachment
patterns ... 255
Table 6.2:
Observed (and expected) frequencies o f children's performance on the labelling phase of the Emotion-Recognition Task (for mischievous face) in relation to mothers' different modified AAI attachment g ro u p s 260
Table 6.3:
Observed (and expected) frequencies o f children's performance on the labelling phase of the Emotion-Recognition Task (for mischievous face) in relation to mothers' different AAI attachment groups as traditionally
classified ... 261
Table 6.4:
Observed (and expected) frequencies o f children's performance on the labelling phase of the Emotion-Recognition Task (for mischievous face) in relation to mother's different AAI attachment groups considered
dichotom ously... 262
Table 6.5:
Mean (and standard deviation) Reflective-Self Function ratings for mother, grouped by matching of character emotions for the bicycle scene
(matched/unmatched) ... 266
Table 6.6:
Mean (and standard deviation) multiple emotion ratings grouped by mothers' different attachment groups, considered dichotom ously... 267
Table 6.7:
Table 6.8:
Mean (and standard deviation) Reflective-Self Function ratings for father, grouped by labelling of surprised face (correct/incorrect)... 269
Table 6.9:
Mean (and standard deviation) number of emotions discussed on the Emotion-Recognition Task grouped by fathers' different attachment groups, as traditionally classified... 270
Table 6.10:
Mean (and standard deviation) number o f emotions discussed on the Emotion-Recognition Task grouped by fathers' different attachment groups, considered dichotom ously... 271
Table 6.11:
Mean (and standard deviation) multiple emotion rating grouped by fathers' different attachment groups, as traditionally classified... 274
Table 6.12:
Mean (and standard deviation) multiple emotion rating grouped by fathers' different attachment groups, considered dichotom ously... 274
Table 7.1:
Multiple Regression Analysis: Coherence on Emotion-Recognition Task with predictors (infant IQ and family size) ... 297
Table 7.2:
Matching character emotions: Means, Standard Deviations, and Intercorrelations between predictor variables (mothers' Reflective-Self Functioning, mothers' expressive language abilities. Family Size) . . . . 301
Table 7.3:
Results of four between-subjects multivariate analyses of covariance performed on three global emotion task variables (total emotion faces correctly labelled, range of emotions discussed over the task, and skill in discussion o f multiple emotions), adjusted for father's expressive language skills and family s i z e ... 305
Table 8.1:
Two dimensions o f the child's abilities reflected in Emotion-Recognition Task v a ria b le s... 333
Table 8.2:
I
Emotionality and attachment: a review of theoretical and empirical literature
Chapter summary:
In the past, research and theories o f emotion have concentrated on investigating differences among groups, primarily age groups. The first part of this review aims to address this expansive area of enquiry, and to present many age-related
expectations yielded from the search for a normative sequence in children's
acquisition of a concept of emotions. This part serves as an introduction to section two, which examines the more contemporary consideration of individual differences with respect to this area of development. This second section reviews several accounts of factors potentially influential upon the individual's emotional
1.1. Defining emotion and age-related differences in emotionality
1.1.1. Relevant founding theories o f emotion and emotional development
In this first section the author wishes to introduce various traditional lines
of thinking with respect to enquiry into emotion and emotional development. The
theories and work outlined below illustrate the great diversity in this field. The
author hopes, however, to simplify this review by not attempting to cover the entire
area o f intellectual thought regarding emotions, but, rather, simply to identify a few
pioneers whose interests and insights are most relevant as background to the work
presented in this thesis.
Enquiry into the origins and function of emotions has a long history.
Several comprehensive theories have had great historical influence on the study of
emotion and on theory o f emotional development as it stands today; the theories of
James, Schachter, Lazarus, Izard, Tomkins, and Freud, are but a few. Each of
these theories of emotion has made its own unique contribution to the
understanding of human emotion, and each one makes a unique direct or indirect
contribution to the ideas which are manifest in the present research work.
First are the theories of emotion from the work of James (1884) and
Schachter (1963). James put forward one of the first definitions of 'emotion,' and
is mentioned here, in the introduction to this thesis, as one of the founders of
thinking with regards to emotionality. In an attempt to define the phenomena of
emotion, James first proposed that bodily changes follow the perception of a
stimulus, and our feeling of these changes is emotion. We feel sorry because we
cry, afraid because we tremble. In this theoretical approach, each emotion is the
recently, Schachter's (1964) work is another attempt to define emotion, and
furthermore, illustrates the influence o f James's original ideas. Following the
theoretical line of James, Schachter asserts that the same state o f arousal underlies
all emotions. This state of arousal is, however, followed by a cognitive search,
according to Schachter. Following arousal, if a non-emotional explanation is
available through this cognitive search (i.e. exercise) then emotion is not
experienced. If an emotional explanation is available, the individual searches the
context in which the arousal has been produced until he/she is able to label the
arousal as a particular emotion. "Like" states o f arousal, within this theory, could
be labelled as opposite emotions. Thus, here, emotion is experienced only when
both physiological arousal and emotional context, used as a label, are present.
Emotion is not experienced when one of these is absent.
This notion has also been considered by Lazarus (see, for example, Lazarus,
Averill, & Opton, 1970), who looked at emotion as a cognitive function, as an
appraisal of environment. In Lazarus's view, every stimulus is appraised and
classed as either threatening or non-threatening, and is then subject to a continuing
process of reappraisal. In this way, our emotional reactions constantly change with
reappraisal o f changing stimulus conditions. Stimuli appraised as non-threatening,
and reappraised as harmless, give rise to positive emotional states, the particular
emotion experienced depending on the other circumstances, such as the removal of
threat (elation), the existence of a sense of security (euphoria), or a sense of
belonging, warmth and identity (love). Stimuli appraised as threatening may lead to
direct action (such as attack, avoidance, or inaction) together with the subjective
respectively. If direct action is impossible, threatening stimuli may be reappraised
as benign, by way of coping strategies that may be either realistic, or distorting.
Lazarus, then, sees cognition (appraisal) as important not simply for providing an
emotional label for arousal, as does Schachter, but as the central mechanism of
emotional arousal. Physiological arousal only occurs as a consequence of certain
types of appraisal. Emotions are, in principle, differentiable by the identification of
specific patterns o f cognitive, physiological and behavioural patterns. One
important feature of Lazarus's approach directly related to this thesis is that cultural
factors are seen as important, as they affect our perception o f social relationships
and emotional stimuli, and influence our expression of emotion. Lazarus's theory,
unlike the previous two (though deriving from a similar theoretical line),
acknowledges that influence from one's social surroundings may affect
development of emotional concepts: our appraisal is affected by our environmental
experience.
Izard's work on emotions (1971, 1977; see also Izard, Kagan, & Zajonc,
1984) has set out to provide a more general, formal theory than the other founding
theories discussed so far. He considers emotions to be the primary motivational
system for human beings, and proposes a theoretical effort to understand their
nature and importance in every aspect o f life and development. He describes
personality as a set of interrelated systems: homeostatic, motor, emotion,
perceptual, and cognitive. He makes the distinction that within this structure,
emotions are the primary motivational system for humans, organising action in the
rest of the systems. Izard puts forth the 'differential emotions theory:' the
emotion system and the cognitive system interact with two goals in sight, to
facilitate the functioning of the complex individual, and to facilitate bonding in
social relationships. Izard (see Izard et al., 1984) maintains that the individual
must have systems which will produce behaviours that adapt to the environment.
With concern to primitive evolution, he sees the formation o f emotion in terms of
motivating approach and avoidance, providing nurturance and escape/defense for
the individual. Izard (see Izard et al., 1984) holds that there are fundamental
emotions which are present at birth, acknowledging, however, that further
development is required for the infant to actually have a symbolic representation of
the relationship between emotion and feeling. He maintains that not all emotions
are seen being expressed at birth, as anger seems to emerge at four months in
expression, fear at seven or eight months, and guilt in the second year o f life.
Having labelled the fundamental emotions (interest-excitement, enjoyment-joy,
surprise-startle, distress-anguish, disgust-contempt, disgust-revulsion, anger-rage,
shame-humiliation, fear-terror, contempt-scom), Izard (1971) iterates his theoretical
belief that all emotional experiences derive from them separately, from blends, or
from interactions among them. With an evidently strong orientation towards a
biological basis for emotions, Izard still recognises, however, that there is an
element o f socialisation which must be considered, particularly with concern to
those emotions which emerge after the first month o f life:
I suspect that emerging emotions, [like] the ones present at birth, are on a
biological clock...just largely a function of maturation...but even a biological clock can be speeded up, slowed down or rendered defective by trauma, deprivation, and even less dramatic circumstances.
Izard cites a major influence on his own theory of emotions, and, further,
on the history o f the subject in general (Oatley & Jenkins, 1996), and that is the
work of Tomkins (1962). Tomkins proposed the idea that gave priority to research
on emotional expressions of the face. He, as did Izard in his tradition, saw
emotions as central to human life. Tomkins's writing is difficult to summarise, but
several of his concepts continue to be accepted and are still widely followed and
discussed\ The most largely effectual one is his idea that emotion is the primary
motivational system. The central concept of this idea is that emotions are overall
'amplifiers.' This notion can be noted as directly influential in the theoretical line
taken by Izard, discussed above. Tomkins' unique contribution to the study of
emotion which is most relevant to this thesis, however, is his argument that
specifically the face and its expressions are the primary amplifiers of emotions in
humans. Tomkins (1962) suggested that the psychological changes of blood flow
and muscle movements unite to direct attention to some particular need or goal.
Subsequent to Tomkins's proposals, the face and its expressions became, and have
continued to be, a major focus of research regarding emotions. Researchers, such
as Paul Ekman, who followed in this tradition will be considered later in this
chapter.
Sigmund Freud did not propose a formal theory of emotion, but must also
be mentioned briefly here as he is the pioneer o f many ideas which have since
been instrumental for the theorists and researchers most relevant to this thesis
(Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980; Stem, 1985; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall,
1978). Three theories about the effects of emotionality are contained in Freud's
diverse works: his theory of emotional traumas; his theory of inner conflicts
(Freud, 1915-16); and his theory of repetition compulsions (Freud, 1920).
Several aspects o f Freud's theories may be used here simply to represent the
impact of psychoanalytic thought on psychological understanding of emotions.
Most importantly, Freud's work leaves a tradition whereby talk about emotions,
childhood experience, and consideration of the unconscious mind and unconscious
motivations are considered important in emerging emotionality. For instance, one
of Freud's many ideas about emotions was that certain life events (specifically in
childhood) can have such impact that the repercussions may be felt for our entire
emotional lives (Freud & Breuer, 1895). Freud's work puts forth the idea that
emotions are more complex than the cognitive theorists discussed previously may
suggest. In his discussions of the unconscious he implies that emotions are often
felt vaguely, or with effects that we do not consciously understand. According to
Freud some emotions and their meanings become clear only by expressing them, or
talking about them to another person, or reflecting upon them such as through the
process of talking in psychoanalytic therapy, wherein, Freud proposed, a person
will realise things about his or her emotions that were previously unknown or
unconscious (Oatley & Jenkins, 1996). Freud's overall concentration on listening
carefully to what people say about emotional experiences can be seen not only as
influencing therapeutic processes to date, but also as affecting research
Further to his impact upon understanding about emotions through 'talking-
therapy,' Freud's work in this field also established the idea that, whether
consciously or unconsciously, the mind appears to guard against negative or
undesirable emotions. Freud called such processes mechanisms of 'defence.' His
daughter Anna Freud developed this idea further and is an important source to
consider with respect to the impact of defence mechanisms on the developing
emotional lives of children (Freud, 1937, 1965). This theory o f defence
mechanisms, in general, contends that defending against unpleasant emotions is
'normal' while doing so to the extreme is indicative o f having experienced trauma
or difficulty with respect to the given emotion. With relevance to the present
work, the psychoanalytic discussion surrounding defence mechanisms is of
theoretical importance as they could be an influencing factor, along with Freud's
other ideas summarised here, in early childhood discussion of emotive family
scenes, the research focus of this thesis.
1.1.2. Empirical evidence with respect to emerging emotionalitv: expression and
recognition
Many empirical observations have been conducted to attempt to unravel the
pattern of development that emotion expression, recognition, and understanding
take. These investigations and resulting conclusions began with, and have
continued since the work of Darwin (1872, 1877). Through research in various
areas and cultures involving infants, children, adults, abnormal groups, and animals,
Darwin concluded that the expressive behaviour of humans was innate and evolved
from more primitive forms. He observed that most of the complex facial
suggested that the acquisition of these is less dependent on learning and more
dependent on the realisation of innate tendencies, within the course o f evolution.
Darwin identified basic emotions: pleasure, displeasure, anger, joy, sorrow, and
disgust. He maintained that his theory held true primarily for these basic emotions,
but that in the case of complex emotions, varying social and cultural environments
could cause differences in expression.
In 1976 Emde, Gaenssbauer, & Harman lent support to this idea that infant
emotion is undifferentiated at birth. Emde et al. (1976) observed a limited number
of particular emotional expressions. Crying, of course present at birth, occurs in
response to hunger, pain, and other discomfort. Crying was also seen to occur in
the absence of any identifiable stimuli and is in this case labelled fussiness. The
observations of Emde et al. show a characteristic pattern o f development which is
virtually unaffected by styles of caregiving and other environmental influence up to
one month, but which sees these characteristic and unaffected patterns dissipating
by month six. It is argued here that fussiness is an innately determined behaviour,
serving the adaptive behaviour of increasing proximity and attention o f caregivers.
Smiling was also observed by Emde et al. Endogenous smiling (smiling without
stimulus) was seen to appear in REM sleep at birth, and gradually decrease,
disappearing at six months. Exogenous smiling (smiling in response to a stimulus)
appears after the first month in response to various stimuli. From six to eight
weeks smiling was seen to be best elicited by the sight of a human face, and after
three to four months best by the primary caregiver's face. Fraiberg (1971) shows
is that exogenous smiling was observed as being in response to caregiver's voice,
not face. Fraiberg's observations support Darwin's theoretical stance, that
expressive behaviour in humans, at the basic level at least, is innate.
Oster, in 1978, investigated the development of emotional expression by
way of the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), basing it on identification of
movements in facial muscles from videotape. She demonstrated that infants are
capable of displaying most facial movements which occur in adults. Oster claims,
in addition, that these movements occur in integrated patterns that would be
described as emotional in adults, and which are also observed in social exchanges.
For example, Oster observed alternating brow-knitting and smiling in infants as
they watched a face leaning over them, and claims from this observation that the
origin of social smiling is at birth rather than after one month as Emde
documented. The FACS makes an important qualitative distinction here between
brow-knitting and the 'frowning' that is associated with negative affect or crying:
Oster proposes that infant brow-knitting is representative o f the cognitive effort to
make sense of the human's environment. This notion shows the influence of
Darwin, who first recognised the frown in adults as representative of being intent
on a difficult subject.
It seems clear that within the first few months of life infants do have skills
of expression. In addition to research into infants' capacity to produce emotional
expressions is research into capabilities in recognising emotional expression.
Although there is a wealth of infancy data on the expression of emotion, research
on the recognition of emotion has mostly been conducted on older children and
difficult to understand. Thus, the progression of knowledge in this field of study
has been slow, beyond the simple idea that with increasing age a child gains more
skill in the realm o f identifying emotions, established by such early researchers as
Gates (1925, 1927).
The main method of research looking into the emotion recognition of
infants is that o f habituation, based on the established finding that infants will look
at new patterns longer than they will look at familiar ones. The assumption is that
if an infant recognises an expression change he/she will gaze at the new expression
for longer. Field, Woodson, Greenberg, and Cohen (1982) used this method to see
whether infants could discriminate between emotional expressions. Infants who
were 36 hours old saw an adult who made expressions of happiness, surprise, and
sadness. The infant first looked at one expression, then saw a new one. When the
infant had looked at the second expression, a third was presented. Infants in this
study showed the ability to habituate and dishabituate to the three different
expressions, and showed some ability to imitate the expressions as well. Haviland
and Lelwicka (1987) confirmed these findings in babies who were ten weeks old.
The conclusion was that before much opportunity for learning has occurred infants
can discriminate among emotions shown and can also imitate the expressions that
they see. Combined with much of the purely 'expression' evidence discussed
above, this implies a genetic mechanism for both recognition and expression of
emotions.
Caron, Caron, and Myers (1985) have demonstrated, however, that infants
cannot necessarily differentiate among emotional expressions. They presented four-
expressions, in both toothy and non-toothy versions. Infants could discriminate the
toothy from the non-toothy faces, but if both angry and happy expressions showed
teeth, they could not discriminate between them. Thus, infants can recognise
conspicuous features of the face, whether or not these features distinguish
emotions. Caron, Caron, and Maclean (1988) have gone on to show that infants do
not discriminate different emotional expressions made by different people before
four months, and they probably discriminate emotions in the voice before they are
able to distinguish them by sight. These researchers introduced infants to an
emotion expression and voice sound of six different adults. Then infants saw and
heard two new adults presenting both a new expression and the familiar expression.
Five-month-olds could discriminate when shown a happy or sad expression and
then presented with a new one (sad or happy), but fbur-month-olds could not.
Five-month-olds could not differentiate between happy and angry, while seven-
month-olds could. When voice was removed and the infants were just shown the
adults' expressions, the five-month-olds could still tell happiness from sadness, but
not even the seven-month-old infants could distinguish happy faces from angry
ones. Femald (1989, 1993) has further shown the importance o f the voice in infant
discriminations of emotion. This study showed that from five months infants can
discriminate between emotional messages from their parents indicating 'approval'
and 'prohibition,' and showed more positive expressions to the approvals, and
It is clear that by one year of age infants are skilled enough in the
expression and recognition of emotion to participate in social interactions. From
the begiiming of life they can express distress through crying, and soon afterwards
are able to display happiness, as well as recognise both happiness and sadness.
In terms of assessing recognition outside of the pre-verbal phase of life,
Darwin was one of the first to use photographs in the investigation o f adults' ability
to recognise facial expressions, and Gates (1925, 1927) was the first to use this
technique in a study of the development of recognition. Gates assessed children
between the ages of three and 14 years (n=458) and also 36 adults. The subjects
were asked to identify the facial expressions displayed on six photographs. The
children were asked, "What's this person doing?," and further, "What is this person
thinking?" or "How does this person feel?" A developmental trend was expected,
and found, with the adults having nearly perfect accuracy (84-100%). Gates's
results showed that laughter and pain were easier to identify for the younger
children, and that with surprise and scorn they had less accuracy. Fifty percent or
more o f the children below three years of age could recognise laughter, but not
until five to six years of age were the majority able to recognise pain. Using the
same criterion, recognising anger appeared next at seven years. Fear followed at
nine to ten years, and surprise one year later. Recognising scorn was the most
difficult, being identified by fewer than fifty percent of the children at 14 years of
age. In general, the results show an overall increase with age in the ability to
recognise emotions. Ekman and Friesen (1971), more recent pioneers in the area,
used a technique which required less of the verbal skills of the children, in that
experimenter. Six emotions (happiness, anger, sadness, surprise, fear, and disgust)
were described to each child whose task was then to pick one o f two photographs
of faces — one photo depicted the emotion related to the story and the other an
unrelated emotion. To test for age/developmental differences, Ekman and Friesen
compared the performance of six to seven-year-olds with that of 14 to 15-year-olds,
and found no difference, lending support to the notion that there is an early
appearance of an ability to recognise certain emotions as being related to certain
expressions. The children studied in 1971 were children in the highlands of New
Guinea, virtually isolated from the world in which the pictures were taken, yet able
to associate the facial expressions with emotions. This supports the aforementioned
view o f Darwin that these type of emotional associations have an innate origin.
The above evidence strongly supports the view that humans are predisposed
to discriminate between different emotions and emotional expressions. The
contemporary view, however, acknowledges that humans still require considerable
instruction to further develop complexity in these skills, primarily with concern to
emotions outside the basic ones and issues such as the social significance of
particular emotion expressions (Harris, 1989). The current research trend, thus, is
to focus on not simply the child's ability to identify facial expressions, but also the
child's ability to recognise such expressions as a reflection of a person's internal
states (Harris, 1989), and, further, to investigate individual differences (considered
later in this chapter) to determine what factors exist that influence qualitative
differences in these emerging skills (Brown & Dunn, 1996). The present work is
1.1.3. Other research concentrations in emerging emotionalitv
In addition to a long history o f study concerning the general patterns of
expressive and receptive abilities in children, there is a large body o f work
investigating the development of other specific emotional concepts. The specific
areas o f enquiry the author has chosen to discuss below are the domains most
relevant to the present work, namely, the development of an understanding and
recognition of complex emotions (such as sympathy and empathy, and mixed
emotions) and the development of a language of emotion.
1.1.4. The development o f an understanding and recognition of complex emotions
1.1.4.a. Empathy and sympathy
Lois Murphy in 1937 made the first ground-breaking observations of
preschoolers' display of sympathy to peers in distress, along with the observation
that this display varies markedly in frequency. Ongoing research continues to ask
Murphy's questions: are there stable individual differences in sympathetic response
and in understanding the emotional state of another; how does a child come to
develop the ability to feel the same emotion as another (empathy) and react in the
appropriate manner? Contemporary enquiry, however, has broadened the scale of
these questions, as children's understanding of emotion is being looked at rather in
terms of how accurately children at various stages decipher the emotional state of
another in general, not just simply in terms of sympathy and empathy. Further,
according to contemporary researchers such as Strayer (1989) and Dunn, Brown,
and Beardsall (1991a), research looking solely at empathy (understanding of others'
emotions) is in need of expanding its enquiry from simply investigating children's
Stray er (1989) maintains that the 'matching' or understanding of another's emotions
can be achieved in many different ways, and, therefore, to see children respond in
varying ways to emotional states of others does not necessarily mean that some are
empathie and some are not. By presenting five, eight, and 13-year-olds with films
depicting people describing or encountering emotional experiences, she found that
in subjects' descriptions of the emotions of the protagonist and o f how they
themselves felt and why, affect matching was quite frequent at all ages but that its
prevalence and the choice of emotion for the protagonist varied with age. Most
importantly, Strayer found that though 'matching' was seen to occur, the 'route' by
which this occurred was largely varied. A majority of five-year-olds failed to
explain empathie feelings, described irrelevant reasons for the feelings or focused
on other aspects o f the film, ignoring the emotional situation. The majority o f the
older children had accurate matches with the emotional state of the protagonist and
concentrated on the emotional situation at hand in their reasoning. The present
investigation seeks to contribute to this body o f work by considering 'matching' o f
emotion (and justifications given by participants fo r this) within the fam ily context,
among early-school-age children.
1.1.4.b. Mixed emotions (i.e. multiple emotions, ambivalence)
One of the significant developmental achievements in children's
understanding o f emotions is their appreciation of the experience o f mixed or
ambivalent emotions (Fischer, Shaver, & Camochan, 1990; Harris, 1989). From
about three years of age, children identify individual basic emotions and situations
that elicit them (Borke, 1971; Denham, 1986; Brown & Dunn, 1996). Children of
elicit negative feelings (Harris, 1989). This divide between the positive and the
negative seems to be universal (Lutz, 1982) and there is a vast amount of literature
on this type o f emotion 'separation' (e.g. Fischer & Pipp, 1984). The literature
determines, however, that it is not until the early school years that children begin
to acknowledge that their own and others' experiences may arouse a mix of both
the positive and the negative,
that the last day o f school is an occasion for both happiness at the prospect of vacation and sadness in anticipation of missing friends and teachers...that those we love may anger us or hurt our feelings; [that] our conceptions about our personal relationships entail a complex mix of feelings...
(Brown & Dunn, 1996, p. 789)
The expression o f a conscious recognition that positive and negative
feelings can exist together appears to be a developmental achievement associated
with higher levels of integration within the context of maturation. Many
researchers propose that such knowledge is central to other developments in
children's understanding of the world around them, enabling the child to achieve a
more complete understanding o f the complex actions o f others and the
motivations/feelings behind those actions (Arsenio & Kramer, 1992). The
acquisition of knowledge about multiple emotion is considered to be an integral
part of childhood emotional experience that yields grounded self-understanding
(Brown & Dunn, 1996; Harter, 1986).
In a pivotal study by Meerum Terwogt, Koops, Oosterhoff, and Olthof
(1986), a sample of 80 children, 40 six-year-olds and 40 ten-year-olds, were
considered with respect to this aspect of emotional development. 12 short stories
were presented to the children, accompanied by pictures containing figures with
combination o f different emotions (for example a clown asking a child to help at a
circus might evoke both happiness and pride but also some fear or embarrassment).
Some included feelings with the same valence, others with opposite valence. Two
same valence emotions are either both positive or both negative (e.g. sad and angry
or happy and grateful), whereas two opposite valence emotions are one o f each
(e.g. happy and sad). All children were asked to describe how they might feel if
the situation in a particular story happened to them. The younger group were
seldom able to distinguish the dual character o f the opposite valence stories but
were able to produce more than one emotion for the majority o f the same valence
stories. Older children did not have the same difficulties. There was also a trend
showing that girls more frequently gave answers which included multiple emotion
than did boys, but this finding was not significant. Significant sex differences have
since been documented, however. Brown and Dunn (1996), for example, show that
girls outperform boys in their understanding of mixed emotion at age six.
Research suggests that the understanding of consecutive emotions is a
building block for that o f simultaneous emotions (Harris 1983, 1985; Donaldson &
Westerman, 1986). Harter and Buddin (1987) elaborate further on stage/age-related
differences in the development of a concept of mixed emotions, and identify five
different levels. Level zero represents no recognition of mixed feelings. Levels
one to four are defined in terms o f valence and targets. Targets refer to whether or
not both emotions are felt towards the same person (or situation). The different
levels are defined as follows:
1. same valence towards single target (average age 7.3)
3. opposite valence towards a set o f targets (average age 10.1)
4. opposite valence towards a single target (average age 11.3)
These age-limits are higher compared to what other studies and models have
suggested (Fischer et al., 1990; Stein & Trabasso, 1989; Brown & Dunn, 1996).
For instance, six- to seven-year-old children have been documented as
understanding that two concurrent feelings can be elicited by two distinct events
(Harris, 1983; Donaldson & Westerman, 1986). This recognition of ambivalence is
precocious relative to the Harter studies (Harter & Whitesell, 1989; Harter &
Buddin, 1987). Perhaps this is due to more stringent passing criteria in this work,
or perhaps it is due to less stringent criteria or differences in measurements used in
other studies' assessments. It has been argued that results suggesting lower age
limits with regards to this complex understanding are found when the stories used
in assessment contain two consecutive events, as there is evidence to suggest that
children of this age have no difficulty in recognising that emotions do not always
disappear quickly (Harris, 1985). Further research with respect to these
discrepancies is needed.
A substantial body o f research has explored developments in children's
understanding o f ambiguity (Donaldson & Westerman, 1986; Harris, Olthof, &
Meerum Terwogt, 1981; Harter & Buddin, 1987; Peng, Johnson, Pollock,
Glasspool, & Harris, 1992). However, as can be seen from the above discussion,
these efforts have been directed almost exclusively at describing a normal, age-
related sequence in children's acquisition of a concept o f mixed emotions. The
dominant issues in the literature, as have been highlighted, are age-related
simultaneous versus sequential emotions. Research that has addressed the question
o f individual differences in this aspect of development is uncommon. A very
recent study completed by Brown & Dunn (1996) seeks to open this line of
research. The findings of this study suggest that precursors of individual
differences in possessing an understanding of mixed emotions at six years old
involve individual variables such as positive interactions with siblings, participation
in family discussions o f the causes o f people’s behaviours, language ability, and
children’s concurrent reports o f negative experiences at home and at school.
Furthermore, Brown & Dunn (1996) found that significant stability in individual
differences exists between ability to express an understanding of basic emotions
assessed at three years old and understanding of ambiguous or multiple emotions at
six. Harris (1989; Harris & Lipian, 1989) adds to this evidence. He states that,
although ’intuition’ may have it that children’s concepts o f emotion are largely
dependent on their cognitive maturity, children in hospital do not show the normal
age pattern with regard to mixed feelings, and concludes, therefore, that a child’s
environment may contribute directly to such emerging understanding (Harris &
Lipian 1989). Harris (1994) considers at least four specific factors, all aspects of a
child’s family environment, that contribute to variability among normal groups’
understanding o f multiple emotions. These include: the ease with which emotion is
shared and communicated, the frequency with which feelings are discussed, the
frequency or intensity o f social interactions, particularly with siblings, and the
existence of shared, co-operative activity such as pretend play. Both the extent of
its association with individual differences in experience, as exemplified by these
studies and suggestions, are intriguing issues which warrant further concentration.
The present thesis aims to contribute to the literature in this way.
1.1.5. The development of the language of emotion
Children start talking about internal states around 18 months, and the
proportion o f time they spend talking about emotions gradually increases with age
(see Bretherton, Fritz, Zahn-Waxier, & Ridgeway, 1986). Dunn and her colleagues
(Dunn, Bretherton, & Munn, 1987; Dunn et al., 1991a; Dunn, Brown, Slomkowski,
Tesla, & Youngblade, 1991b) recorded "talk" of feeling states between mothers,
children, and their siblings in their homes when the children were three years old,
in an effort to ’follow' the pattern o f emotion-talk in the family. Mothers and
children tended during these sessions to discuss the themes o f pleasure and pain
most frequently. Other very frequent themes (5 percent or more of turns taken by
mothers) involved specific emotions such as anger, distress, concern, sympathy,
and disgust.
A language of emotion is an essential tool for children to develop in order
to participate in social interactions. Dunn et al. (1987) claim that the early
function o f emotion-talk is simply 'comment,' but that by three years o f age the
function of emotion language seems much more complex. Dunn et al. (1991a)
found that half o f the conversations about emotions by the age o f three are
complex exchanges about the causes o f feelings, quite obviously moving towards
the use of these more complicated emotion-skills in relationships. Children's
emotion-talk within the family to children between 13 and 28 months old.
Beeghly, Bretherton, and Mervis (1986) found that by 28 months, 60 percent of
mothers' speech to their children involves references to internal states.
The evidence with respect to this pattern of developing understanding and
verbal expression of emotion yields another area of enquiry which is important to
this thesis, and that is the implicit influence of parents over the child's emerging
language of emotion. Through increasing emotion-talk over the span of
development, primary caregivers are quite obviously also primary teachers to their
children with respect to their understanding of emotional states. Parents enlighten
children about the motivations and emotions of self and other, creating with them a
model o f how emotions are expressed, regulated and discussed. The parental
influence through language upon the child's emotional development will be taken in
the next section of this chapter which deals specifically with qualitative differences
in emotional development.
1.2. Individual differences in emotionality
This discussion will now turn from its consideration of ideas put forth
supporting an age/stage-related progression of emotionality in children, and will
move to the main investigative concentration of this thesis: individual differences
in children's abilities with respect to this emerging understanding. A number of
studies have demonstrated individual differences in children's understanding of
basic emotions, including both the labelling and expressing of those emotions. With
particular interest to this thesis, substantial variability has been observed across
children in the onset of their appreciation of, and extent to which they correctly
