Temperament Flashcards
What is temperament?
Biologically based individual differences in emotional characteristics and other behaviors
- shows consistency across situations
- shows relative consistency over time
What are the specific temperament dimensions?
-Fearful distress/behavioral inhibition
-irritable distress
-attention span and persistence
-activity level
positive affect/approach
Measurement of Temperament
- Questionaires: typically completed by parents, child care providers, or teachers
- Structured Observation
- Psychophysiological Methods: heart rate, brain activity, cortisol levels
Difficult Temperament is correlated with adjustment problems later in life. What is difficult temperament?
high irritable distress or fearful distress, low attention span/persistence, high activity level, low positive affect/approach
What is Goodness of Fit?
The degree to which an individual’s temperament is compatible with the demands and expectations of his/her social environment.
What does the research show about parenting and temperament?
Kids that are high on irritable distress are less likely to have behavior problems if their parent’s engage in high levels of positive/supportive/sensitive parenting and low levels of hostile/negative parenting