User:Dhuston/sandbox/assignment

Before: Emotional self-regulation, also known as emotion regulation (at times abbreviated to ER when unambiguous) means the various conscious skills and unconscious processes a person uses, and the competences a person engages, to monitor and manage their experience and expression of, and responses to, emotion. Technically it has been defined both in terms of change in emotion (maintaining, changing, monitoring and modulating emotional stance emotional reactions, for example in light of cultural norms or desired goals), and more recently in terms of activity and processes engaged prior to change of emotion; there is continuing debate among experts as to the better definition. A simple definition was offered by Grolnick et al (1996, 2005) as broadly "the set of processes involved in initiating, maintaining and modulating emotional responsiveness, both positive and negative". Emotional regulation is a complex process that involves initiating, inhibiting, or modulating one's state or behaviour in a given situation – for example the subjective experience (feelings), cognitive responses (thoughts), emotion-related physiological responses (for example heart rate or hormonal activity), and emotion-related behaviour (bodily actions or expressions). Functionally, emotional regulation can also refer to processes such as the tendency to focus one's attention to a task and the ability to suppress inappropriate behavior under instruction. Emotional regulation is a highly significant function in human life.[citation needed] Everyday people are continually exposed to an extreme variety of potentially arousing stimuli. Inappropriate, extreme or unchecked emotional reactions to such stimuli would impede functional fit within society, therefore at a practical level people must engage in some form of emotion regulation almost all of the time. People are usually flexible in dealing to dealing with emotions and can effectively manage more extreme emotional states, but it is not uncommon for people to lack basic skills or awareness of emotional regulation at a cognitive level, or be impaired in usual regulation due to clinical or developmental reasons.[citation needed] For example, a number of brain injuries, traumas, and developmental, psychological and psychiatric conditions can also lead to poor emotional regulation.[citation needed] Such people are at times described as poor self-regulators. They may be people who get angry and take their frustration out on other people or themselves, and may also often unknowingly exhibit facial expressions that seem contrary to what is normative in a given situation. Poor self regulators are often deemed to be socially awkward because they are unable to control their (happy or sad) emotions properly.[citation needed]

First Paragraph:

We propose to delete: Emotional self-regulation, also known as emotion regulation (at times abbreviated to ER when unambiguous) means the various conscious skills and unconscious processes a person uses, and the competences a person engages, to monitor and manage their experience and expression of, and responses to, emotion. Technically it has been defined both in terms of change in emotion (maintaining, changing, monitoring and modulating emotional stance emotional reactions, for example in light of cultural norms or desired goals), and more recently in terms of activity and processes engaged prior to change of emotion; there is continuing debate among experts as to the better definition. A simple definition was offered by Grolnick et al (1996, 2005) as broadly "the set of processes involved in initiating, maintaining and modulating emotional responsiveness, both positive and negative".

And add: Emotional regulation is the ability to respond to the ongoing demands of experience with the range of emotions in a manner that is socially tolerable and sufficiently flexible to permit spontaneous reactions as well as the ability to delay spontaneous reactions as needed. It can also be defined as extrinsic and intrinsic processes responsible for monitoring, evaluating, and modifying emotional reactions.

We also added links to the words experience, spontaneous, intrinsic, and extrinsic.

Second paragraph:

Emotional regulation is a complex process that involves initiating, inhibiting, or modulating one's state or behaviour in a given situation – for example the subjective experience (feelings), cognitive responses (thoughts), emotion-related physiological responses (for example heart rate or hormonal activity), and emotion-related behaviour (bodily actions or expressions). Functionally, emotional regulation can also refer to processes such as the tendency to focus one's attention to a task and the ability to suppress inappropriate behavior under instruction.

We propose to remove the link to ‘physiological responses’ because it does not lead to an existing page. We propose to add links to the words initiating, inhibiting, and modulating.

Third paragraph:

We propose to delete due to its extreme nature: Everyday people are continually exposed to an extreme variety of potentially arousing stimuli. And add: Everyday, people are continually exposed to a wide variety of potentially arousing stimuli.

We propose to remove the link to ‘functional fit’ because it does not lead to an existing page.

We propose to delete ‘at a practical level’ in this sentence: Inappropriate, extreme or unchecked emotional reactions to such stimuli would impede functional fit within society, therefore at a practical level people must engage in some form of emotion regulation almost all of the time.[4] So it becomes: Inappropriate, extreme or unchecked emotional reactions to such stimuli would impede functional fit within society, therefore people must engage in some form of emotion regulation almost all of the time.

Fourth paragraph:

We propose to delete due to its opinionated tone: People are usually flexible in dealing to dealing with emotions and can effectively manage more extreme emotional states, but it is not uncommon for people to lack basic skills or awareness of emotional regulation at a cognitive level, or be impaired in usual regulation due to clinical or developmental reasons. And add: Generally speaking, emotional dysregulation has been defined as difficulties in controlling the influence of emotional arousal on the organization and quality of thoughts, actions, and interactions.

We propose to add: Individuals who are emotionally dysregulated exhibit patterns of responding in which there is a mismatch between their goals, responses, and/or modes of expression, and the demands of the social environment.

We propose to delete due to its lack of validity: For example, a number of brain injuries, traumas, and developmental, psychological and psychiatric conditions can also lead to poor emotional regulation. And add: For example, there is a significant association between emotion dysregulation and symptoms of depression, anxiety, eating pathology, and substance abuse.

We propose to delete: Such people are at times described as poor self-regulators.

We propose to delete due to its opinionated tone: Poor self regulators are often deemed to be socially awkward because they are unable to control their (happy or sad) emotions properly. And add: Higher levels of emotion regulation, including emotional overarousal or underarousal, expression of emotions are likely to be related with both high levels of social competence and expression socially appropriate emotions.

We propose to add links to the words competence, emotional dysregulation, depression, anxiety, eating pathology, substance abuse, and arousal.

Before: Importance: Humans are highly attuned to detecting the appropriateness of (various) facial expressions. They easily notice inconsistencies, and form judgments accordingly. People intuitively mimic facial expressions and can detect when behavior is out of the ordinary. When one wishes to mask true emotion, and thereby control what others see, one needs to be able to properly regulate emotion and facial expression. Humans have control over our facial expressions both consciously and unconsciously. This is why a young child will look utterly devastated when receiving a pair of underwear on Christmas morning, but a teenager is often able to muster a weak grin and even say thank you when that is not what they are truly feeling. He has learned the importance of masking his emotions in order to achieve a goal. Emotional self-regulation focuses on providing the appropriate emotion in the appropriate circumstance. If someone laughs at a funeral people will take notice of the odd behavior. If a man cries while watching something with his friends, he will be judged. If a woman acts cold and distant to her crying child, her friends will be taken aback. These are all instances when emotion regulation would be proper precautionary techniques, by knowing the appropriate reaction to a situation that won't arouse suspicions. Regulating emotions can also be used in a way to calm one's self down, or to refrain from contentious behavior or getting into a fight. ER is also a way to help relieve stress, one example: one might write in a journal about the significant parts of one's day. Healthy self-regulation reflects the capacity to tolerate the sensations of distress that accompany an unmet need. The first time an infant feels hunger, she feels discomfort, then distress and then she cries – until an attuned adult responds. After thousands of cycles of hunger, discomfort, distress, response, and satisfaction, the child (usually) learns that this feeling of discomfort, even distress, will soon pass. An adult will come. The attuned, responsive teacher helps the child build in the capacity to put a moment between the impulse and the action.[5] Therefore, young children who have yet to become successful self-regulators will yell and scream when they do not get their way over any number of things, for instance, taking turns. Over time children normally learn that everyone will get a turn, they just may have to wait a little longer than they'd like. The absence of yelling or throwing a fit in situations like these, is indicative of a child who has learned to 'self-regulate'. A still more complex instance of emotional self- regulation would be a teenager who masks disappointment (over a birthday gift that he or she did not like) with feigned gratitude. At this point, the teenager has regulated his emotions to avoid hurting his parents feelings. In addition to the smile and the "thank you", this involves a complex cognitive response. As one gets older one generally learns the advantages of appropriately self-regulating one's behaviors. Proper emotion regulation can help us mask our intentions or feelings and help us achieve our goals in the social realm. Proper regulation can also serve as a way to cool down after an argument. A failure to properly self-regulate can be associated with ineptitude, ingratitude and can be negatively correlated with 'liking' and 'acceptance' by peers.

I propose to delete most of this paragraph, keeping only one sentence, and adding citations. Also throughout the paragraph I will link towards other wiki pages for the words nonverbal communication, universal language, facial expressions. Before: Humans are highly attuned to detecting the appropriateness of (various) facial expressions. They easily notice inconsistencies, and form judgments accordingly. People intuitively mimic facial expressions and can detect when behavior is out of the ordinary. When one wishes to mask true emotion, and thereby control what others see, one needs to be able to properly regulate emotion and facial expression. After: People intuitively mimic facial expressions; it is a fundamental part of healthy functioning. Similarities across cultures in regards to nonverbal communication has prompted the debate that it is in fact a universal language. It can be argued that emotional regulation plays a key role in the ability to emit the correct responses in social situations.

I propose to delete a majority of this paragraph. I will link to the wiki articles for phenomenon, and add several citations. Before: Humans have control over our facial expressions both consciously and unconsciously. This is why a young child will look utterly devastated when receiving a pair of underwear on Christmas morning, but a teenager is often able to muster a weak grin and even say thank you when that is not what they are truly feeling. He has learned the importance of masking his emotions in order to achieve a goal. After: Humans have control over facial expressions both consciously and unconsciously, an intrinsic emotion program is generated as the result of a transaction with the world, which immediately results in an emotional response and usually a facial reaction. It is a well documented phenomenon that emotions have an effect on facial expression, but recent research has provided evidence that the opposite may also be true. This notion would give rise to the belief that a person may not only control his emotion but in fact influence them as well.

I propose to delete this section excluding one or two sentences.

Emotional self-regulation focuses on providing the appropriate emotion in the appropriate circumstance. If someone laughs at a funeral people will take notice of the odd behavior. If a man cries while watching something with his friends, he will be judged. If a woman acts cold and distant to her crying child, her friends will be taken aback. These are all instances when emotion regulation would be proper precautionary techniques, by knowing the appropriate reaction to a situation that won't arouse suspicions. Regulating emotions can also be used in a way to calm one's self down, or to refrain from contentious behavior or getting into a fight. ER is also a way to help relieve stress, one example: one might write in a journal about the significant parts of one's day.

Healthy self-regulation reflects the capacity to tolerate the sensations of distress that accompany an unmet need. The first time an infant feels hunger, she feels discomfort, then distress and then she cries – until an attuned adult responds. After thousands of cycles of hunger, discomfort, distress, response, and satisfaction, the child (usually) learns that this feeling of discomfort, even distress, will soon pass. An adult will come.

After: Emotional regulation focus on providing the appropriate emotion in the appropriate circumstances some theories elude to the thought that each emotions serves a specific purpose coordination organismic needs with environmental demands (cole 1994). This skill, although apparent throughout all nationalities, has been shown to vary in successful application at different age groups. In experiments done comparing younger and older adults to the same unpleasant stimuli, older adults were able to regulate their emotional reactions in a way that seemed to avoid negative confrontation. These findings support the theory that with time people develop a better ability to regulate their emotions. This ability found in adults seems to better allow to react in what would be considered a more appropriate manner in some social situations, permitting them to avoid adverse situations that could be seen as detrimental.

I propose to delete the rest of this section due to the fact that it seems biased in it’s nature.

The attuned, responsive teacher helps the child build in the capacity to put a moment between the impulse and the action.[5] Therefore, young children who have yet to become successful self-regulators will yell and scream when they do not get their way over any number of things, for instance, taking turns.

Over time children normally learn that everyone will get a turn, they just may have to wait a little longer than they'd like. The absence of yelling or throwing a fit in situations like these, is indicative of a child who has learned to 'self-regulate'. A still more complex instance of emotional self- regulation would be a teenager who masks disappointment (over a birthday gift that he or she did not like) with feigned gratitude.

At this point, the teenager has regulated his emotions to avoid hurting his parents feelings. In addition to the smile and the "thank you", this involves a complex cognitive response. As one gets older one generally learns the advantages of appropriately self-regulating one's behaviors. Proper emotion regulation can help us mask our intentions or feelings and help us achieve our goals in the social realm. Proper regulation can also serve as a way to cool down after an argument. A failure to properly self-regulate can be associated with ineptitude, ingratitude and can be negatively correlated with 'liking' and 'acceptance' by peers.

We believe that the biological aspect of emotion regulation was not properly addressed. To correct this we suggest adding the section Neural Basis.

The development of functional magnetic resonance imaging has allowed for the study of emotion regulation on a biological level. Specifically, research over the last decade strongly suggests that there is a neural basis. Sufficient evidence in multiple studies has correlated emotion regulation to particular patterns of prefrontal activation.These regions include the orbital prefrontal cortex, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.2 Additional brain structures that have been found to contribute are the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex. Each of these structures are involved in various facets of emotion regulation and irregularities in one or more regions and/or interconnections among them are affiliated with failures of emotion regulation. An implication to these findings is that individual differences in prefrontal activation predict the ability to perform various tasks in aspects of emotion regulation.