SELF-REGULATION, EMOTION EXPRESSION & CLASSROOM ...

each other, instead, together the functioning of the hippocampus and the amygdala
comprise a central nervous system component that is activated by sensory input (i.e.,
external stimuli) and internal/emotional information such as fear, anger or joy
(Charmandari, Tsigos, & Chrousos, 2005; Metcalfe & Jacobs, 1998; Miller et al., 2004;
Zelazo et al., 2010). A potential linkage of these systems might stem from the anterior
cingulate cortex (ACC), which has been historically shown to function as the brain’s error
and correction device. More specifically, the ACC serves as a component of attention
that works toward controlling cognitive and affective features of one’s regulatory
experience (Bush, Luu, & Posner, 2000).
Many of the findings from the neuroscience literature are easily translated into an
applied developmental perspective. For example, although cool executive control is
more likely to be elicited by relatively abstract, decontextualized problems, both hot
and cool executive control are required for problems that involve the regulation of
motivation (Zelazo & Cunningham, 2007). Consequently, we find that hot executive
control primarily comes into play when a child really cares about the problems they are
attempting to solve. Both hot (control processes centered on reward) and cool (higherorder
processing of more abstract information) executive control play a significant role
in a child’s self-regulation in such situations.
Another group of theorists have attempted to better understand the foundations of
self-regulation through the lens of a child’s early classroom experience. Although the
roots of self-regulation are still being debated, it is commonly understood that the
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