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Children and Emotion: The Development of Psychological Understanding (Understanding Children's Worlds)
Children and Emotion The Development of Psychological Understanding - Understanding Children's Worlds Author:Paul L. Harris If we are to love, help, persuade or oppose other people, we must gauge what they think and what they want. Human interaction depends on what has been called 'a theory of mind'. One crucial component of that theory is an understanding of emotion. If we cannot understand what will upset or delight another person, we cannot fully participate in so... more »cial life. This book traces the development of that understanding in the child. Even before they speak, babies show some appreciation of emotion; they react appropriately depending on whether a parent smiles or looks angry. By four or five years of age, their understanding takes an imaginative leap. They start to grasp that people's feelings might depend not just on external circumstances but on mental states - the beliefs and desires - they bring to those circumstances. They learn that what makes one person happy may distress another. Eventually, children appreciate the place of emotion in our conscious experience. They understand that an emotional state - such as being homesick - can flood consciousness, making it difficult to think of anything else, or it can be anaesthetized by redirecting thoughts away from painful reminders of home. This book will be of interest to psychologists, educators and philosophers. It highlights the child's increasing insight into the complexity and subtlety of our mental life.« less