child developement: temperament

NYLS (New York Longtitudanal study)

Tested children at ages 3, 8 and 13

Important categorization: a.) easy’ child b.) the ‘slow to warm up’ child andc.) the ‘difficult’ child

Concept of "the difficult child"

children rated high on Intensity and Reaction and on NegativeMood and low on Adaptability, on Rhythmicity and on Approach

increased risk of later behaviour disorders.(confirmed by Earls and Jung) and others

mood, approach-withdrawal, intensity, threshold, rhythmicity, distractibility, attention span, persistence, and adaptability

5 robust factors

resemble the "big 5"

2 inconsistent ones

threshold and biological rhythmicity

Problems

Validity of construct: Substantial overlap between factors

5 are enough

emotionality

strenght and duration o

activity

= how active (motorwise)

sociability

= friendlieness towards peoeple

advantages

reducess complexity (onyl 3 vs. 9)

Relatedness to Eysenck's dimensions of "extroversion" (sociability) and "neuroticism" (emotionality)

temperament =

Reactivity

activation of motor, affective, autonomic, and endocrine systems

Processes that regulate reactivity

attention, approach-withdrawal, inhibition, and self-soothing

Kagan identified behavioural types accroding to their inhibition to unfamiliar events and people(shyness) as one of the most stable temperament dimensions.

15 per cent or so of children aged 2–3 years of age are very shy and timid when faced with the unfamiliar. 15% are uninhibited and socially responsive when confronting unfamiliar people. These 2 groups show a high degree of stability into middle childhood with the children becoming quiet and cautious, and talkative and sociablerespectively. Rest 70% normal

Those 15% seem similar to the "difficult child"

75% of the first 2 groups show high stability of behaviour

Dick Day: "Neurtoic introverts"

Found important physiologicaldifferences in reactivity (e.g.autonomous nervous system)

suggests differnces in brain sites concerned with emotinal regulation and long term memory

Heart rate

Heart Rate variabilty

Blood Pressure

Pupil dilation

cortisol secretion

Bad memory performance after emotional experience

Temperament is also context/relation dependent

Stability of relation guaranteesstability of temperament

"behavioural style that a child will show in a particular setting will be consistent. This consistency is a property of the relationshipbetween the child and the other person"

Somehow similar to ...

Stability of attachment

Stable only if family situation is stable

Sameroff's Transaction (nature vs. nurture)

Keogh

influence of temperament in school

3 temp. factors

-Task Orientation,-Personal–Social Flexibility -Reactivity

All effect performance and (via attention or shaping of social context)

Sameroff

Child actively creates his experiences

directly

child selects preferred environments

indirectly

Transactional Model

Child influences behaviourof caretakers

Thomas and Chess(their transactional concept)

Goodness of fit

"If a person’s characteristics of individuality match, or fit, thedemands of a particular social context then positive interactions andadjustment are expected"

Factors not comparable

Temeperament = dimensions of personality grounded in biology

Personality determines

Personality = central organizer of behaviour

Content (what)

Purpose (why)

experession of temperamental traits (the "how")

Temperamental = basis of Personality?

similarity of t&c 5 robust factors with big 5

Similarity of EAS with Eysenck's Dimensions

Personality = more experience/ envrionmentally based

Temperament = based in biology

Adultness vs childhood

differnt traits surface

differnt asessment mehthods

kids can't fill out question.

what factors are relevant

3 versus 5 versus 9?

How to measure them (problem of (mis) interpreting questions)

Who should measure them (mothers?)

Type

qualitatively distinct types

i.e. MBTI

thinkers, feelers, intuiters, sensers

Trait

People varying on dimensions

biological / nativist

EPI 3 (Eysenck)

extroversion/introversion, neuroticism/stability, psychoticism/stabilization)

Amalgam of genes, chosices & experience

Big 5 (Costa & McCrae)

Cattell 16-PF (Catell & Kline)

Temperament occuring so early that it is assumed that no learning has occurd (hinshaw)

stable: over > 2 years

Caspi et al: similarities between 3 and 26 y

overall: genetic influencewill decrease with more environmental difference

Temperament possibly the building block of personality (hinshaw)

genetics

environmental i.e. goodness of fit

other biolgogical factors

premature birth

low birht weigth

illness

General

Reininforcement of temperament

a) through a parental environment which is genetically similar

goodness of fit

introverted kid raised by introverted mother

b) by determining response of others

nice and easy behaviour get more positive attention

c) by self-selecting environmentsthat fit temperament

d) temperament determines impact of environment

i.e. stress response

temperamental predispositions influence information processing / cognition

emotion influences memory

attention influences learning and memory

temp. diff. can however be overcaome with maturation and by experience

Specific applicability

Early indicator of adjustment problems

Learning and Attention problems

Behaviour / peer problems

Possibly influencing resistance to stress

i.e. more stress (i.e. when hospitalized) experienced with certain temperament?study: true for children from poor background

reasearch is ongoing

Temperament and Attachment are the 2 earliest influences on the creation of the childs mind (s.hinshaw)

The soothability is related to the type of attachement (s. Hinshaw)

The amount the baby cries is related to temperament