Temperament

General Patterns & Individual Differences

Stable Personality - All have good support, limited set of stable traits.

Types -

• HIPPOCRATES - 4 humours (body fluids)
• MYERS-BRIGGS Type Inventory - thinkers, feelers, sensers, intuiters.

Traits -

• EYSENCK (Nativist) - 2 + secondary traits, Biological, Measured by EPI
• BIG 5 - 5 traits
• CATTELL - 16 Factors

Adult Personality = Stable, gentic, it's a disposition, constant, not cognitive

3 Questions - What are the characteristics, how many & what influences.

Temperament - Quantitative research - Dimensions, causes and variation.

3 Differences:

• Emotional Response (Mood)
• Attentional Orientation Patterns (Speed)
• Motor Activity (frequency)

Stability - Regularity of characteristic (New behaviours emege by 5 years)

Continuity - Similarity of behaviour range.

Behavioural Inhibition - Develops by end of 1st year

Effortful Control - Develops late infancy and beyond.

Extent to which it's heritable - BUSS & PLOMIN

High correlation for EAS in MZ twins and practically none in DZ twins.

AUBERBACH et al - 7r variant of gene, dopamine receptors, pathways

SCHMIDT et al - Link problems, attention, risk taking & aggression.

Temperament has direct influence on child development and indirect.  Indirect could be parents reaction to child's temperament.

Colorado Adoption Project - High Correlation for E & S from 1-4yo but less so for A. - Data from parents so could be biased.

CASPI et al - Adults in Big 5 questionairre - clear relationship to childhood. Variation seen though.

HINDE & TOBIN - coherence of temperament (behaviours in different contexts) - Gender differences found (shy girls, good mother relationship)

Temperament emerge in early life unlike like strong genetic characteristics.

Parental Observations - Extensive across time but biased

Interviews - Direct and Accourate but still with reliability and validity issues.

HAGEKULL et al - Found parent reports have good validity.

1) THOMAS & CHESS - 9 Dimentional Framework

• May not be independent, validity questions, difficult to replicate.
• EASY - SLOW TO WARM UP - DIFFICULT
• Difficult child - high scores on intensity of reaction, low on adapability.

BATES & BALES - Link of temperament reported by mother at 2 years and behaviour problems from 3-6 years.

VAUGHAN et al - Mothers decide on childs temperament before birth and this affects her attitue to child from birth onwards. Bias. Parents can shape temperament.

PAULI-POTT et al - Parental perception of infant emotion at 4 months predicts predicted measures at 8 months

2) BUSS & PLOMIN - EAS Framework

                  EMTIONALITY            ACTIVITY          SOCIABILITY

                               (Possiblly Impulsivity & Shyness too)

• Links with adult personlaities, EYSENCKS Traits linked, Genetic Influences, rests on statistical analysis.

3) KAGAN - Inhibition to the unfamiliar

• Categorical approach NOT dimensional like others
• Emphasise Qualitative differences between types.
• Distiction on basis of behavioural inhibition
• How child is when meeting new people
• Physiological differences - linked to limbic system.
• Measured in reactivity
• Says that CHANGE IS POSSIBLE with effort.

4) DUNN & KENDRICK - Embedding temperament in social relationships

• Influence of social context on behaviour.
• Arrival of new sibling not only related to temperament but also QUALITY of interaction between mother and child.
• Stability of temperament reflects stability of relationship NOT Genetic Influences

DIRECT EFFECTS 

• EFFECT OF TEMPERAMENT ON DEVELOPMENT - TIZARD & HUGHES -Can affect learning, impulsivity & poor attention, problems at home and school. KEOGH - Task orientation in older child has implications for learning.
• EFFECT OF CHILD TEMPERAMENT ON PARENTS - SAMEROFF's TRANSACTIONAL MODEL - child directly influence own development, not actively selecting activities but influence carer behaviour.

INDIRECT EFFECTS

• VIA SUSCEPTIBILITY TO ADVERSITY - Temperament may be linked to vunerability to stress.  DUNN & KENDRICK - Child with new sibling showing disturbed behaviour scored higher on Intensity and Negative Mood.
• EFFECT ON THE RANGE OF EXPERIENCE - Mobile child can select to avoid particular experiences which can exaggerate existing characteristics.
• VIA 'GOODNESS OF FIT' - Impact of temperament can be related to features of environment such as the behaviour to child by others.

SCARR & MCCARTNEY - 3 ways temperament impact environment of child.

• PASSIVE - Child & carer have similar temperament
• EVOCATIVE - child evokes response from carer
• ACTIVE - child selects best environment, more prominent with age.

No link between temperament or caregiver personality diffences linked to secure/insecure attachment.

BELSKY & ISABELLA - combination between carer and child did predict security of attachment which supports transactional model

METHODS

• Difficulties with measuring temperament, strengths and weaknesses of parental observation and interviews

PERSPECTIVES - NATIVISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM

• Temperament is Innate by definition.  Although reserach suggests that change may be possible.  Environmental factors need to be taken in to account, not just genetic ones

NATURE-NURTURE & TRANSACTIONAL MODELS

• Although temperament is innacte, transactional models suggest whole range of factors highlighting that nature/nurture is oversimplistic and not an appropriate question