You are here

EEG in preschool children and the development of empathy

Download pdf | Full Screen View

Date Issued:
2009
Summary:
Empathy has been shown to have many positive outcomes in individuals at every stage throughout life. It promotes sociability, helping behaviors, and can protect against the development of psychopathology. Evolutionary theorists have hypothesized that humans have a biological predisposition for empathic response. Temperament, as well as parental interaction with children, account for individual differences in empathic response levels. Much research has also looked at maternal depression as a key factor in children's negative emotional responding. We used EEG to measure individual differences in children's empathic emotional responding, as well as parental interaction and its impact on empathy and prosocial development. Results show that children rated as being more sociable are more likely to show outward expressions of empathy. Also, those with greater right frontal asymmetry are more likely to assist others in a prosocial manner.
Title: EEG in preschool children and the development of empathy.
214 views
126 downloads
Name(s): Almeida, Amanda N.
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Department of Psychology
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Issued: 2009
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Physical Form: electronic
Extent: v, 49 p. : ill.
Language(s): English
Summary: Empathy has been shown to have many positive outcomes in individuals at every stage throughout life. It promotes sociability, helping behaviors, and can protect against the development of psychopathology. Evolutionary theorists have hypothesized that humans have a biological predisposition for empathic response. Temperament, as well as parental interaction with children, account for individual differences in empathic response levels. Much research has also looked at maternal depression as a key factor in children's negative emotional responding. We used EEG to measure individual differences in children's empathic emotional responding, as well as parental interaction and its impact on empathy and prosocial development. Results show that children rated as being more sociable are more likely to show outward expressions of empathy. Also, those with greater right frontal asymmetry are more likely to assist others in a prosocial manner.
Identifier: 432295262 (oclc), 228771 (digitool), FADT228771 (IID), fau:3471 (fedora)
Note(s): by Amanda N. Almeida.
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009.
Includes bibliography.
Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subject(s): Emotions in children
Parent and child
Developmental psychology
Socialization -- Psychological aspects
Child development
Helping behavior in children
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/228771
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU