Temperament theories and Sense of self

Temperament

Early genetically based tendencies to respond in predictable ways; the foundation of personality

Temperament theorists

• Chess and Thomas

• Buss and Plomin

• Jerome Karen

Chess and Thomas sense of self (5 areas of assessment)

• 5 questions they asked that allowed them to put babies into these categories

1. Typical mood

2. Regularity/ predictability of biological function

3. Approach or withdrawl from stimuli

4. Intensity of emotion

5. Adaptability to change in routine or to knew things

Easy children

• Positive mood (level tempered; usually happy)

• Regular routines

• Easily adapts to new experiences

40% of children

Difficult children

• Reacts negatively often irritable

• Cries frequently

• Irregular routine

• Slow to accept new experiences

10% of children

Slow-to-warm children

• Inactive

• Slow to adapt to new experiences but do eventually warm up

• Low intensity of mood

• Respond madly

15% of children

Sense of Self: Buss and Ploman

• what’s the pneumonic for this?

• Emily: emotionality

• Acts: Activity

• Social: Sociability

Buss and Ploman: Emotionality

• Tendency to be distressed

• Same as “easy or difficult” in Chess and Thomas

• Sympathetic arousal

• 2 forms of distress

  • Fearful: try to escape

  • Angry: protest

HIGH= distressed

LOW= calm

Buss and Ploman: Activity

• Tempo and vigor of movement

• High

  • Walk fast, jumps or bounce alot, high energy games

• Low

  • Placid (not moving, calm)

Buss and Ploman: Sociability

• Tendency to prefer the company of others to being alone

• Extroversion/ introversion (remember OCEAN)

HIGH= Extroversion; likes to be around people

LOW= Introversion; doesn’t like to be around people

Sense of self: Jerome Kagan behavioral inhibition

• High emotionality

• Low sociability (Buss and Ploman)

• Any, restrained or distressed with unfamiliar situations or new people

Behavioral inhibition ages

• 4 mo. = anxious/ wriggle/ fretful

• 21 mo. = long to warm up, retreat and fret

• Correlated to temperament @

  • 5 ½

  • 7 ½

  • 13

  • But only about 50% in adolescence

• Genetic bases:

  • ID twins: +.82

  • Frat twins: .47

Sense of self

Sense of self is an internal representation of yourself as an individual person

Effortful control

Some babies who can get themselves calm again easier like sucking their thumbs

• Dr. Hamilton’s Hold: Showing parents how to hold babies to get them to calm down

Defining/ developing sense of self

• Infants recognize they can cause things to happen (sense of agency)

• Infants recognize they can share a thought or perspective with someone else

• Infants visually recognize themselves as a distinct individual personal (self- recognition in the Rouge test)

Categorical self

Lewis and Brooks - Gunn

• Classify themselves into categories: what is like me, not like me

• Age: 1 year- “I’m not a baby, Susie”

• Gender: 18 mo.-“I am a boy. Those are girls, I’m not like them”

• Visible characteristics: 18-24 mo.- “I’m taller, have freckles, blonde hair, etc”

**** ALL BY 2****

Rouge test and when does this happen

• Putting a spot of red on a child's face and having them lookin a mirror

• This tests to see if they recognize themselves

  • positive Rouge test= Kids display self- recognition by wiping off red mark

  • Negative Rogue test= child doesn’t recognize themselves and thinks it’s another kid

  • This happens around 2 years old

Who developed the Rouge test?

Lewis and Brooks-Gun in 1979

What factors are associated with having a sense of self?

• Having lots of social experiences

• Having trust / secure attachment with their caregiver

Which animals show self-recognition w/ a mirror? Bonus question on exam

1. Humans

2. Magpies

3. Orangutans

4. Elephants

5. Dolphins

6. Gorillas

7. Chimpanzees

8. Bonobos

Sense of Agency

a sense that they can cause things to happen in the world

Emotional Regulation

The ability to manage and respond to emotions in a healthy and effective way

Self- regulation

The ability to control your thoughts, emotions and behaviors

Effortful control

the ability to focus and shift attention, inhibit responses, and appreciate low-intensity activities such as sitting on a parent’s lap

• Rothbart and Bates

Who developed the self perception scale?

Susan Harter

Susan Harter’s self perception scale (Aspects of self-worth)

1. scholastic competence (feeling smart or doing well in school)

2. social acceptance (being popular or feeling liked)

3. behavioral conduct (staying out of trouble)

4. athletic competence (being good at sports)

5. physical appearance (feeling good-looking)

Levinson claimed that all adults go thru building a life- structure, then questioning and altering it every __ years.

7

Selective Optimization with compensation

The concept that older people cope with aging through a strategy that involves focusing on the skills most needed, practicing those skills, and developing ways to avoid the need for declining skills