Temperament Flashcards
What are the three theories of identifying temperament in children?
Chess and tomas - identified three distinct categories for children
Kagans behaviour inhibition - shy kids grow up weird
Rothbart and bates clarification I three dimensions
What are the categories in chess and tomas theory?
Easy children
Difficult children
Slow to warm up child
What defines an “easy child”
Easily adapts to new environment, good with routines and generally positive mood
What defines a “difficult child”
Hard to adapt to change, hard to follow routines and tend to react negatively and cry
What defines a “hard to warm up child”
Low activity, low intensity of mood and relatively negative but not to the extent of dificult children
What does kagens behavioural inhibition theory say about temperament?
Children have more or less inhibition to the unfamiliar beginning at 7-9 months. Aka initial avoidance and distress when confronting new things.
Why are shy children shy according to kagen?
Their amygdala activation is much more sensitive.
What is a physiological reaction noticeable in shy children?
Higher heart rate and more cortisol in saliva
What are the three dimensions of Roth and bates theory?
Extroversion, negative affect and efortfull control.
When according to chess and Thomas does “goodness of fitt” occur?
When the opportunities, expectations and environment are in accord with child’s temperament
In Rothbars model, what is reactivity?
The intensity of emotional reaction to stimuli
Effortful control can be divided into three pieces. What are they?
- Inhibitory control - regulate impulses
- Attention control - focus and switch attention
- Activation control - self activate to pursue goals
What is the best way to assess temperament?
Have the parents keep diaries on the kids and their temperament.
What is a problem with laboratory measurements of temperament and how can they be remedied?
Laboratory studies might only have time to study one occasion and that is not enough information on the child’s temperament to make any decisions. This can be remedied by studying children enough times and in enough situations. Perhaps also make these observations in the child’s home going further away from a “laboratory study”
What is a cultural aspect that can be important when studying temperament?
The observing parents value of the actions taken by the child might differ on cultural values.
