2-061 - Emotional Development: Past, Present, and Future

Session Type: Conversation Roundtable

Integrative Statement

The last several decades have seen an explosion of research and interest in emotion and emotional development. Traditional views about the nature of emotion are being challenged in the adult literature and may have implications for developmentalists in terms of basic research, our understanding of culture and psychopathology, and applied intervention programs. The proposed Roundtable is designed to engage a broad audience of developmental scholars as well as emotion researchers in a conversation about the present state of the science and productive directions for future research in emotional development. Moderated by Dr. Linda Camras, the Roundtable’s three panelists (Drs. Pamela Cole, Wolfgang Friedlmeier, and Seth Pollak) and the audience will discuss five questions: 1.) What is the nature of emotion (i.e., is it an emergent property of interactions with the environment or a set of discrete, modularized biologically-based entities)? 2.) How do humans come to understand and use emotion signals and categories? 3.) What is the role of contextual factors (including cultural factors) in how we learn about emotions? 4.) Are the neural mechanisms underlying these changes general or specialized? 5.) Can we define a set of universal “healthy” emotional outcomes that we might choose to encourage given cultural differences in emotion-related values?

Sub Unit

• Social, Emotional, Personality

Moderator

• Linda Camras, DePaul University

Panelists

• Pamela M. Cole, The Pennsylvania State University

• Wolfgang Friedlmeier, Grand Valley State University

• Seth D Pollak, University of Wisconsin-Madison