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CHILDREN'S KNOWLEDGE OF EMOTION
Author(s) -
Harris Paul L.,
Olthof Tjeert,
Terwogt Mark Meerum
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1981.tb00550.x
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , identification (biology) , cognitive psychology , focus (optics) , emotion classification , affective science , expressed emotion , emotionality , biology , physics , botany , optics
SUMMARY Children of 6, 11 and 13 years were interviewed regarding their concept of emotion. Questions were posed about the cues and the accuracy with which emotion may be identified, the strategies by which both the display and the experience of emotion may be regulated, and the effects of emotion on other psychological processes The replies indicate a marked shift in the child's concept of emotion between 6 and 11 years, but no marked changes thereafter. The youngest children focus on publicly observable components of emotion–the eliciting situation and overt behavioural reactions—while the two older groups also consider the hidden mental aspect of emotion. This changing conception of emotion manifests itself in the children's replies to questions concerning the identification, the regulation and the effects of emotion.