Studied by 1 person
Temperament
________: individuals have a general emotional style that guides their tendency to respond in certain ways to a variety of events in their environment.
Easy child (40%)
a positive mood, quickly establishes routines, and easily adapts
Difficult child (10%)
irritable, reacts negatively and cries frequently, resists change, and shows irregular behaviors
Slow-to-warm-up child (15%)
low mood intensity, low activity level, and slow to adapt to new people and situations
Stability of temperament is
low to moderate in infancy and toddlerhood and moderate from the preschool years on.
Heritability estimates suggest a
moderate role for genetic factors in temperament and personality, but environment is also powerful.
Temperamental characteristics do not, however,
typically go from one extreme to another
A child’s initial approach to the world can be
intensified or lessened by experience.
Differences in early temperament may have
genetic roots but also supported by cultural beliefs and practices.
Goodness-of-fit model explains how
temperament and environment can together produce favorable outcomes
The fit between parent and child temperament is also moderated by
cultural value, parental mental health, marital happiness, and favorable economic conditions.
**The goal is not to CHANGE the child, but rather
nurture their strengths, help them feel supported, accepted, and confident when faced with new or unfamiliar situations or challenging tasks
Parents should recognize
their own temperament and styles, may be difficult to parent a child who has a temperament different than one’s own. Be aware of their own limitations, influences
Individual way of approaching the world, in turn shapes
behavior and development
NY Longitudinal Study , Thomas & Chess studied
133 infants into adulthood
Thomas and Chess asked parents about
activity level, excitability, response to novel situations and people, food, bowel, and sleep patterns, mood, sensitivity
Easy child (40%):
a positive mood, quickly establishes routines, and easily adapts.
Difficult child (10%):
irritable, reacts negatively and cries frequently, resists change, and shows irregular behaviors.
Slow-to-warm-up child (15%):
low mood intensity, low activity level, and slow to adapt to new people and situations
Temperament is thought to be
more hard-wired
One reason why we see change is that
the ethnicity and culture the child is growing up in may value and encourage certain child characteristics over others.
Neurobiological research has focused on
inhibited, or shy, children and uninhibited, or sociable, children (introversion and extroversion).
Heart rate higher in
shy children, speeds up further during unfamiliar events
Shy children have higher
cortisol concentration in saliva, rises more when stressed
Shy children have greater
pupil dilation, rise in blood pressure, and lower skin surface temperature when faced with novelty
Long-term prediction from early temperament is best achieved
after age 3.
An intense, reactive child may need more time to
calm down and soothe
A slow to warm child may need more preparedness for
new situations and time to adjust to transitions or new routines
