TABLE OF CONTENTS
Synopsis
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Chapter 1. The Emergence of Empathy

Human Development Video Activity
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You must read each slide, and complete any questions on the slide, in sequence.
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THE EMERGENCE OF EMPATHY

Estimated Completion Time:

Approximately 5 minutes.

Synopsis:

The capacity of young toddlers to experience and express empathy is quite evident in the following video, which is based on research conducted by Marian Yarrow and Caroline Waxler.

Toward the end of their first year, infants may become distressed themselves when they see another person in distress, evidencing what may be the first signs of an emerging ability to feel empathy. As they near their second birthday, a shift occurs
as many children try to comfort, or seek help for, someone who appears to be in distress. The capacity of young toddlers
to experience and express empathy is quite evident in the following video, which is based on research conducted by Marian Yarrow and Caroline Waxler.

Mother and young child gaze at each other and hold hands.
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1.

Although many toddlers appear to have the capacity for empathy, their behavioral expressions of empathy are often egocentric. Explain.
Young children’s early empathic expressions are often egocentric in the sense that they reflect the kind of comfort or help that the children themselves want when they are distressed, not necessarily the kind of comfort or help the distressed person needs.

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