• 308 Padnos Hall (PAD)

October 17th -- Pamela Cole (Penn State University):  Developing self- regulation in early childhood: Attention control and language as tools

Abstract:

Developing self-regulation in early childhood:
Attention control and language as tools for regulating emotion

Pamela Cole
Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA

In early childhood, children begin to engage in deliberate regulation of their emotion (e.g. anger) and behavior (e.g. waiting for something).  Theory indicates that this early ability is aided or enhanced by two other aspects of child development:  attention control and language.  This talk focuses on the widely assumed but infrequently studied relation between language development and the development of self-regulation.  In addition to discussing current views on this topic, the talk provides illustrations of how young children use language when their capacity for self-regulation is taxed, such as expressing their feelings verbally or self-directing their behavior.  Preliminary findings relating such verbalizations to children’s nonverbal emotion expressions and actions are discussed in light of the complexity of the issues and directions that research will need to go.

Dr. Kristy Dean - Psychology Department, deankr@gvsu.edu

Dr. Mike Wolfe - Psychology Department, wolfem@gvsu.edu

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