Abstract
Language plays a crucial role in developing emotions. Diverse investigations studied the relationship between different components of emotional understanding and language skills. Specifically, we want to find out if this modulation is uniform or if there are variations in the different components of emotional understanding. The goals of this study were to compare the responses to tasks with different cognitive demands and different emotional information processing modalities and to demonstrate any variations in function to the language performance. For it, this paper analysed the responses to tasks with an emotional and neutral valence of preschool children grouped by different language performances. The children performed three tasks related to different emotional understanding components (video and images emotional appraisal, and an emotional memory task) and a language test that evaluated different language skills in a single sample of participants. Language skills are associated with different emotional appraisal task performances but only for dynamic visual stimuli and emotional valences (positive and negative). According to the type of stimulus used, the differences in emotional processing tasks’ performance align with the literature about using dynamic and ecological stimuli for studies with children. Language comprehension would play an essential role in assessing dynamic emotional stimuli, while other language skills would not affect the assessment of static or neutral dynamic stimuli during preschool.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aguinaga, G., Armentia, M. L., Fraile, A., Olangua, P., & Uriz, N. (2005). PLON-R: Prueba de Lenguaje Oral Navarra—Revisada: Manual.
Beck, L., Kumschick, I. R., Eid, M., & Klann-Delius, G. (2012). Relationship between language competence and emotional competence in middle childhood. Emotion, 12(3), 503–514. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026320.
Channell, M. M., & Barth, J. M. (2013). Individual differences in preschoolers’ emotion content memory: The role of emotion knowledge. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 115(3), 552–561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2013.01.012.
Conte, E., Ornaghi, V., Grazzani, I., Pepe, A., & Cavioni, V. (2019). Emotion knowledge, theory of mind, and language in young children: Testing a comprehensive conceptual model. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2144. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02144.
Cordon, I. M., Melinder, A. M., Goodman, G. S., & Edelstein, R. S. (2013). Children’s and adults’ memory for emotional pictures: Examining age-related patterns using the developmental affective photo system. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 114(2), 339–356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2012.08.004.
Coutinho, E., Gentsch, K., van Peer, J., Scherer, K. R., & Schuller, B. W. (2018). Evidence of emotion-antecedent appraisal checks in electroencephalography and facial electromyography. PLoS One, 13(1), e0189367. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189367.
Eisenberg, N., Sadovsky, A., & Spinrad, T. L. (2005). Associations of emotion-related regulation with language skills, emotion knowledge, and academic outcomes. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2005(109), 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.143.
Fernando, J. W., Kashima, Y., & Laham, S. M. (2017). Alternatives to the fixed-set model: A review of appraisal models of emotion. Cognition and Emotion, 31(1), 19–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2015.1074548.
Fivush, R. (2019). Sociocultural developmental approaches to autobiographical memory. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 33(4), 489–497. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3512.
Fivush, R., McDermott Sales, J., & Bohanek, J. G. (2008). Meaning-making in mothers’ and children’s narratives of emotional events. Memory, 16, 579–594. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658210802150681.
Forrest, C. L., Gibson, J. L., Halligan, S. L., & St Clair, M. C. (2020). A cross-lagged analysis of emotion regulation, peer problems, and emotional problems in children with and without early language difficulties: Evidence from the millennium cohort study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63(4), 1227–1239. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_JSLHR-19-00188.
Frazier, T. W., Strauss, M. E., & Steinhauer, S. R. (2004). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia as an index of emotional response in young adults. Psychophysiology, 41(1), 75–83. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1469-8986.2003.00131.x.
Frijda, N. H. (2016). The evolutionary emergence of what we call “emotions”. Cognition and Emotion, 30(4), 609–620. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2016.1145106.
Grazzani, I., Ornaghi, V., Agliati, A., Brazzelli, E., & Lucarelli, M. (2019). Enhancing mental state language and emotion understanding of toddlers’ social cognition: The role of narrative and conversation. In E. Veneziano & A. Nicolopoulou (Eds.), Narrative, literacy and other skills. Studies in intervention (pp. 109–127). John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/sin.25.06gra.
Guo, R., & Wu, Z. (2020). Empathy as a buffer: How empathy moderates the emotional effects on preschoolers’ sharing. British Journal of Psychology, 112, 412–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12466.
Guzmán-Ramos, K., Venkataraman, A., Morin, J. P., Osorio-Gómez, D., & Bermúdez-Rattoni, F. (2018). Differential requirement of de novo Arc protein synthesis in the insular cortex and the amygdala for safe and aversive taste long-term memory formation. Behavioural Brain Research, 342, 89–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2018.01.006.
Harris, P. L. (2008). Children’s understanding of emotion. In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland-Jones, & L. F. Barrett (Eds.). Handbook of emotions (pp. 320-331).
Harris, P. L., Donnelly, K., Guz, G. R., & Pitt-Watson, R. (1986). Children's understanding of the distinction between real and apparent emotion. Child Development, 57, 895–909.
Harris, P. L., de Rosnay, M., & Pons, F. (2000). Understanding emotion. In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland-Jones, & L. F. Barrett (Eds.). Handbook of emotions (pp. 281-292).
Hinojosa, J. A., Moreno, E. M., Ferré, P., & Pozo, M. A. (2018). Aspectos emocionales del lenguaje. ANALES Real Academia Nacional de Medicina de España, 135(02), Suplemento 01, 41-46. 10.32440/ar.2018.135.02.supl01.art04.
Kensinger, E. A., & Ford, J. H. (2020). Retrieval of emotional events from memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 71, 251–272. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-051123.
Köeckeritz, M., Klinkhammer, J., & von Salisch, M. (2010). The development of emotional understanding and behavioral self-regulation in kindergarten children from German and immigrant families. Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie, 59(7), 529-544. https://doi.org/10.13109/prkk.2010.59.7.529.
Lindquist, K. A. (2017). The role of language in emotion: Existing evidence and future directions. Current Opinion in Psychology, 17, 135–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.07.006.
Lindquist, K. A., MacCormack, J. K., & Shablack, H. (2015). The role of language in emotion: Predictions from psychological constructionism. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 444. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00444.
McDowell, D. J., O'Neil, R., & Parke, R. D. (2000). Display rule application in a disappointing situation and children's emotional reactivity: Relations with social competence. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 1982, 306–324.
Michelini, Y., Acuña, I., Guzmán, J. I., & Godoy, J. C. (2019). LATEMO-E: A film database to elicit discrete emotions and evaluate emotional dimensions in Latin-Americans. Trends in Psychology, 27(2), 473–490. https://doi.org/10.9788/TP2019.2-13.
Nelson, K., & Fivush, R. (2019). The development of autobiographical memory, autobiographical narratives, and autobiographical consciousness. Psychological Reports, 123(1), 71–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294119852574.
Ornaghi, V., & Grazzani, I. (2013). The relationship between emotional-state language and emotion understanding: A study with school-age children. Cognition and Emotion, 27(2), 356–366. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2012.711745.
Parsafar, P., & Davis, E. L. (2018). Intrapersonal emotion regulation processes influence what children remember about their emotional experiences. Child Development, 90(6), 1935–1951. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13070.
Pérez-García, E., & Sánchez, M. J. (2020). Emotions as a linguistic category: Perception and expression of emotions by Spanish EFL students. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 33(3), 274–289. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2019.1630422.
Pons, F., Harris, P. L., & Doudin, P. A. (2002). Teaching emotion understanding. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 17(3), 293–304. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173538.
Pons, F., Lawson, J., Harris, P. L., & De Rosnay, M. (2003). Individual differences in children’s emotion understanding: Effects of age and language. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 44(4), 347–353. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9450.00354.
Pons, F., Harris, P. L., & de Rosnay, M. (2004). Emotion comprehension between 3 and 11 years: Developmental periods and hierarchical organization. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 1(2), 127–152. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405620344000022.
Pons, F., Giménez-Dasí, M., Daniel, M. F., Auriac-Slusarczyk, E., Businaro, N., & Viana, K. (2019). Impact of a low-cost classroom dialogue-based intervention on preschool children’s emotion understanding. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 27(5), 630–646. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2019.1651961.
Ramírez, V. A., Lipina, S. J., & Ruetti, E. (2021). Individual and socioenvironmental differences in autobiographical emotional appraisal of preschoolers. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 201, 104982. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104982.
Rieffe, C., & Wiefferink, C. H. (2017). Happy faces, sad faces: Emotion understanding in toddlers and preschoolers with language impairments. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 62, 40–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2016.12.018.
Rivers, S. E., Brackett, M. A., Omori, M., Sickler, C., Bertoli, M. C., & Salovey, P. (2013). Emotion skills as a protective factor for risky behaviors among college students. Journal of College Student Development, 54(2), 172–183. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2013.0012.
Ruetti, E., Segretin, M. S., Ramírez, V. A., & Lipina, S. J. (2019). Role of emotional appraisal in episodic memory in a sample of Argentinean preschoolers. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2556. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02556.
Ruffman, T., Slade, L., Rowlandson, K., Rumsey, C., & Garnham, A. (2003). How language relates to belief, desire, and emotion understanding. Cognitive Development, 18(2), 139–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2014(03)00002-9.
Schaefer, A., Nils, F., Sanchez, X., & Philippot, P. (2010). Assessing the effectiveness of a large database of emotion-eliciting films: A new tool for emotion researchers. Cognition and Emotion, 24(7), 1153–1172. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930903274322.
Scherer, K. R., & Fontaine, J. R. (2018). The semantic structure of emotion words across languages is consistent with componential appraisal models of emotion. Cognition and Emotion, 33(4), 673–682. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2018.1481369.
Scherer, K. R., & Moors, A. (2019). The emotion process: Event appraisal and component differentiation. Annual Review of Psychology, 70, 719–745. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011854.
Sette, S., Bassett, H. H., Baumgartner, E., & Denham, S. A. (2015). Structure and validity of Affect Knowledge Test (AKT) in a sample of Italian preschoolers. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 176(5), 330–347. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2015.1075466.
Smith, R., Braden, B. B., Chen, K., Ponce, F. A., Lane, R. D., & Baxter, L. C. (2014). The neural basis of attaining conscious awareness of sad mood. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 9(3), 574–587. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-014-9318-8.
Smith, J. P., Glass, D. J., & Fireman, G. (2015). The understanding and experience of mixed emotions in 3–5-year-old children. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 176(2), 65–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2014.1002750.
Sprung, M., Münch, H. M., Harris, P. L., Ebesutani, C., & Hofmann, S. G. (2015). Children's emotion understanding: A meta-analysis of training studies. Developmental Review, 37, 41–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2015.05.001.
Steiger, B. K., Kegel, L. C., Spirig, E., & Jokeit, H. (2019). Dynamics and diversity of heart rate responses to a disaster motion picture. International Journal of Psycho-physiology, 143, 64–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2019.06.015.
Stenson, A. F., Leventon, J. S., & Bauer, P. J. (2019). Emotion effects on memory from childhood through adulthood: Consistent enhancement and adult gender differences. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 178(1), 121–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2018.09.016.
Talmi, D., Lohnas, L. J., & Daw, N. D. (2019). A retrieved context model of the emotional modulation of memory. Psychological Review, 126(4), 455–485. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000132.
Thompson, S. F., Zalewski, M., & Lengua, L. J. (2014). Appraisal and coping styles account for the effects of temperament on pre-adolescent adjustment. Australian Journal of Psychology, 66(2), 122–129. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12048.
Tomasello, M. (2009). The usage-based theory of language acquisition. In E. L. Bavin (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of child language (pp. 69–87). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511576164.005.
Valera-Pozo, M., Adrover-Roig, D., Pérez-Castelló, J. A., Sanchez-Azanza, V. A., & Aguilar-Mediavilla, E. (2020). Behavioral, emotional and school adjustment in adolescents with and without developmental language disorder (DLD) is related to family involvement. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(6), 1949. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17061949.
Wang, X., Liu, X., & Feng, T. (2021). The continuous impact of cognitive flexibility on the development of emotion understanding in children aged 4 and 5 years: A longitudinal study. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 203, 105018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2020.105018.
Widen, S. C. (2013). Children’s interpretation of facial expressions: The long path from valence-based to specific discrete categories. Emotion Review, 5(1), 72–77. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073912451492.
Yih, J., Uusberg, A., Taxer, J. L., & Gross, J. J. (2018). Better together: A unified perspective on appraisal and emotion regulation. Cognition and Emotion, 33(1), 41–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2018.1504749.
Funding
This research was supported by CONICET, Ministry of Research (Buenos Aires City Government); and the National Fund for Scientific and Technical Research (Grant PICT 2014–3134).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed were approved by the Ethics Committee of CEMIC (Protocol N ° 961) and by the Responsible Conduct Committee of the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Buenos Aires. The study was conducted following the ethical standards of the American Psychological Association and international and national child rights laws.
Inflormed Consent
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to permission for this was not requested in the informed consent.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
ESM 1
(DOCX 29 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ramírez, V.A., Ruetti, E. Language modulation on emotional valence tasks in preschoolers. Curr Psychol 42, 5327–5336 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01868-4
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01868-4