Your EQ
The concept of emotional intelligence through the exploration of their own emotional awareness. In 1990, Daniel Goleman published a book in which he introduced a new concept he called emotional intelligence. It involves four primary areas: (1) emotional self-awareness,
(2) managing emotions, (3) reading emotions, and (4) handling relationships.
Instructions: Review Goleman’s categories of emotional intelligence, and discuss your level of functioning in each area. Be open and honest in your evaluation of yourself, and delineate your strengths and weaknesses in each category. How have your weaknesses in particular areas affected you? What might you do to improve your emotional functioning in these areas? How motivated are you to change?
Don’t Be Such a Cry Baby!
In this exercise, assess your perceptions of a common infant emotional state: crying. Crying is the most important mechanism newborns have for communicating. We also know that babies have a minimum of three different cries, all indicating a different need (although many mothers would say there are even more!). Developmental psychologists differ in their beliefs about the importance of responding to infants’ cries and the implications it has for subsequent crying. Regardless, it is something inherent about being an infant and in being around infants for any period.
Instructions: Think about when you encounter crying babies in a public place. When was the last time you were in a restaurant and had your dinner interrupted by the loud cries of an infant? How about standing in line at the grocery store? The movie theater? How did you feel upon hearing the crying? Be honest! What is most people’s reaction to a crying infant? Discuss this with regard to what you’ve learned about the significant role crying plays in development.
