Temperament

1. Temperament • “Early patterns of observable behavior that are presumed to be biologically based and that distinguish one child from another.” • The “how” versus the “why” or “what” of behavior • Child’s personal “style” of behavior Sturm

2. History of Temperament • Drs. Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess • New York Longitudinal Study • Analysis of parent interviews about infants and their characteristic responses to daily events • Followed children from infancy to adulthood • Nine traits of temperament and four broad categories or “profiles” were created

3. Nine Temperamental Traits • Activity Level • Biological Rhythms or Regularity • Approach/Withdrawal • Intensity of Reaction • Sensory Threshold • Adaptability • Distractibility • Persistence • Mood

4. Temperament Traits • Behavior should reflect overall style • Present across settings, not situational • Stable across time • Behavior identified in all children • Not redundant with another trait • Trait should have functional significance • Behaviors that reflect characteristics alter with development

5. Activity Level • Motor component of behavior • Amount of active vs. sedentary periods • Child’s “idle speed” or general activity level

6. Biological Rhythms • Predictability of biological functions • Appetite • Sleep • Toileting

7. Approach/Withdrawal • Initial response to new stimulus • Child’s characteristic response to new situations or people

8. Intensity of Reaction • Energy level of response • Child demonstrates upset strongly and dramatically or by just getting quiet?

9. Sensory Threshold • Intensity of sensory stimulation required to evoked a detectable response • Sounds • Taste • Touch • Temperature changes

10. Adaptability • How easily the child adapts to transitions and changes • Ease of which behavior can be changed from negative to positive

11. Distractibility • Effectiveness of extraneous stimuli in drawing attention away from ongoing behavior

12. Persistence • Length of time child continues an activity in the face of obstacles

13. Mood • Tendency to react to world in a primarily positive or negative way • Amount of pleasant vs. unpleasant behavior

14. Broad Categories • Easy • Slow to warm • Difficult • “Other”

15. The “Easy” Child • Regular, predictable biological rhythms • Positively approaches new stimuli • Easily adapts to change • Mild to moderate mood expressions—predominately positive • Easy to manage • Represent about 40% of children

16. “Slow to Warm” Child • Biological functions may or may not be regular • Initial negative withdrawal to new stimuli • Adapt slowly to change • Many negative mood expressions • Mood expressions are mild • Problems mostly with adapting to new stimuli • Often considered shy • Represent about 15% of children

17. The “Difficult” Child • Irregular, unpredictable biological rhythms • Negative withdrawal to new stimuli • Poor adaptability to change • Negative emotional expressions and loud intensity • Difficult to manage • Represent about 10% of children

18. The “Other” Category • Many children show a mixture of traits • These children don’t clearly fit into the three major temperament categories • Represent 35% of children

19. www.childdevelopmentinfo.com

20. Role of Temperament • Can determine caregivers’ reactions to the child • Affect how the child interprets and makes sense of life experiences • Shape the child’s active choices of certain activities and environments • Above may reinforce child’s temperamental ways of being Sturm

21. “Disabilities may affect a child’s temperament. Children with disabilities are more likely to have difficult temperaments than children who are not disabled. Thus, interventions have to be tailored to adequately address temperament.” Chess & Fernandez, 1976; Coll et al. 1986