Summary of Temperament Studies - Coursework Example

Temperament by Summary of Papalia, Duskin, and Feldman According to Papalia and colleagues, temperament is a relatively stable way bywhich people are used to react on certain situations. In most cases it is hereditary and biologically stipulated. Genetics can even influence child`s temperament and his/her appearance. Moreover, the authors also claim that temperament can be culturally affected. The research of children`s temperament helped to distinguish its three different types in toddlers. Easy children are generally positive and calm. They are adaptable and react peacefully to new experiences and people. Easy children have mostly stable habits, for instance, they eat at the same time normally and can generally stick to some schedule without anxiety and stress. Difficult children are mostly emotional and reactive; they easily switch from crying to laughing. They cannot eat regularly and show negative emotions, distress, and anxiety if have to face new routines and people. Slow-to-warm up children demonstrate both positive and negative emotions but mildly and in a reserved way. They are adaptable but need more time than easy children to get used to new people and situations. The degree of regularity in habits is middle as well. The authors also explain in the article that for effective temperament measurement parental questionnaires are combined with laboratory experiments. The material is extremely valuable for parents and caregivers who have to take into account child`s temperament to provide kids with good care and attention. Among the limitations of the study it is possible to distinguish low stability measurement and the cases when children demonstrate mixed behavioral patterns. For instance, a child can be rhythmical in daily routines but absolutely hostile to new people and experience. Summary of Kagan In his article Temperament and the Reactions to Unfamiliarity Kagan studies children`s responses to external events in different age periods from birth to five years. Temperament in his article is regarded as a typical way of conduct which is observed in the tempo, vigor, and frequency of response. The whole research is aimed to explore temperament, its manifestation in early childhood and the peculiarities of its development with time. According to temperamental biases children with low threshold of distress become fearful and submissive more easily while those with high threshold are prone to have good level of sociability in older age. Since the temperament patterns do not change with time sufficiently there may exist certain possibility to predict child`s behavior development and coordinate caregiving of the children appropriately. During the research experiments children of the same age and similar background were exposed to different stimulants, which included visual, auditory, and sensory. Later the differentiation between low reactive and high reactive was elaborated. This division was proved in several years after the experiment as children who were classified as low reactive were much more sociable in the dialogues with a stranger than high reactive, which was evident from the quantity of smiles and spontaneous answers. The results of the experiment are valuable for children consulting and predicting of anxiety and conduct disorders in teenagers. The author underlines, that it is extremely important to take care of the child taking into account the type of reactivity as it can reduce anxiety and help the child to feel right. Among the limitations of the study it is possible to mention that the results were based on the biological and neurological data since authors considered amygdala excitement in anxiety formation in high reactive children. Thus, the study helps to connect psychology to biology, nevertheless, substantial research is needed to provide with persuasive data proving reactivity assumptions. Summary of McNeil In the study described by McNeil the stability of temperament was measured. The research aimed to distinguish to what degree child`s temperament interacts with the environment and is modified by it as there existed assumption that temperament cannot be traced during long period of time especially in childhood. In the course of the experiment parents were completing questionnaires which evaluated nine basic temperament characteristics such as Rhythm, Activity, Mood, Approach, Adaptability, Intensity, Threshold, Attention-Persistence, and Distractibility for six years in the behavioral patterns of their children. To guarantee consistent results parents were not told about their children`s temperament till the end of the experiment. The study demonstrated good results in stability and the most persistent characteristics turned out to be Rhythm, Activity, Approach, Adaptability, and Mood. The least stable characteristics were Threshold and Attention-Persistence. However, certain intervals were marked in the course of the study. During first two years of life children were prone to preserve stability in characteristics. The stability from early childhood to six years of age, while still generally statistically significant, was typically lower in magnitude. However, the study had its necessary limitations. There were numerous cases when low and moderate level of temperament manifestation did not permit to forecast child`s development as a maximum of only about 25% (and typically much less) of the variance in subsequent scores is accounted for by earlier measures of the same variable. According to the author, variables relatively low degree of stability would suggest that greater consideration be given to the specific time at which these changeable characteristics are to be measured, if they are to bear meaningful relationships to other phenomena (McNeil et al., 2012).Nevertheless, the authors claim that there are no pure types and subtypes of the temperament in people. Most attributes in these classifications intermingle between common categories and coincide with the categories of the other classification. It is important to take into account that temperament is changeable especially in early childhood. Analysis Link 1: Papalia, Duskin, and Feldman to Kagan Kagan as well as Papalia and the colleagues distinguish similar temperament types in children based on their reaction to the events, objects, and people. These categories when linked together allow understanding each of them more broadly; however, it is not possible to substitute one with the other to the full extent. It is possible to refer Easy children to the category of low-reactive as new things do not irritate and excite them to the extent when they become worried. Such children are open to new experience and people and do not get stressed of it. Thus, obviously, Difficult children will be referred to the category of high-reactive children with more than average degree of responsiveness to any stimulus. Both categories of kids are described as emotional, irritable, and unstable. Slow-to Warm-up children subsequently will be in the middle between high-reactive and low-reactive categories and will need more time distinguishing their type of temperament as their reactions are mostly retarded and less visible. In terms of biological explanation these two categories coincide as well. Low reactivity correspond to Easy children which can mean that amygdala excitement in such children is low due to biological factors that is why that do not perceive stimulus with a lot of anxiety and distress. Difficult children on the other hand must have such brain structure when their amygdala responds fast to the events and people and cause much excitement in children. It is interesting that probably Slow-to Warm-up children probably have mitigated reactions due to specific brain structure. Analysis Link 2: Papalia, Duskin, and Feldman to McNeil Papalia` s temperament categories can be included in the already discussed subtypes of children`s temperament distinguished by McNeil: Easy, Difficult, and Slow-to-Warm-up characteristics. Among the most persistent and most evident characteristics it is possible to distinguish Rhythm, Activity, Mood, Adaptability, and Distractibility. The rest of the variables, such as Intensity and Attention-Persistence, Threshold will most likely have low stability and will vary greatly from child to child. The Difficult Child subtype will probably have the most evident categories. In terms of Rhythm and Activity such children will be unstable and unpredictable. In the terms of Mood and Activity it is possible to describe The Difficult Child as easily irritable and spontaneous. Ease children have to be characterized as adaptable and open-minded in terms of Adaptability and Mood. The variable of Attention –Persistence suggests that Difficult Children require much attention from the caregivers while Easy children are more self-sufficient and do not require a lot of personal attention. In terms of Approach Easy children are open and responsive while difficult children are exigent and cautious. The measurements of Threshold cannot guarantee accuracy as they are quite subjective and difficult to capture. Slow-to Warm-up children will most probably show middle results of all the variables except Adaptability as they accept new routine very reluctantly and need numerous repetitions and persistence. Slow-to-Warm-up children, however, could be more distinctive in Threshold measurements commonly. Analysis Link 3: McNeil to Kagan Connecting McNeil`s results of the study with Kagan`s observations reveals interesting correlations. Low reactivity in children refers to high indexes in Adaptability and Rhythm since they perceive set routines of feeding and having rest easily without distress. Children of this type will be stable in Mood and will have high Threshold for stressful situations. Attention-Persistence and Distractibility will be less active in Low Reactive children since they do not need external support to calm down as much as High reactive kids do. High reactivity would suggest that children can be easily affected by external factors and have dramatic Mood change. The Threshold for anxiety will be low as these kids can easily laugh and cry and have difficulties keeping their emotions, which is connected to the level of amygdala excitement. In terms of Adaptability high reactive children can be characterized as poorly adaptable and they would have higher Attention-Persistence and Distractibility while these factors will be opposite for low reactive. High reactive kids cannot perform good Rhythm as well due to changeable Mood factor. Conclusions All the three sources aim to distinguish different temperament subtypes in children and follow its development. All the authors agree upon the fact temperament is formed in early childhood, and is biologically and genetically stipulated. The first article differentiates between three types of children (Easy, Difficult, Slow-to-warm-Up) temperament on the basis of the children`s emotional stability, reactivity, and adherence to certain routines. The second research distinguishes between low reactive and high reactive on the basis of children response to different stimulus and follow the consequences of this division for further social interaction. The third study evaluates children`s behavioral patterns from nine different characteristics (Rhythm, Activity, Mood, Approach, Adaptability, Intensity, Threshold, Attention-Persistence, and Distractibility) and explores the degree of their stability in children during particular perios. All the articles are positive regarding the fact that most children can be categorized into several types according to temperament variables and these characteristics coincide and intermingle often. All the articles underline the necessity to provide children with care giving according to their temperament types. References Papalia, D., Duskin, R., & Feldman, A. (2010). A child’s world infancy through adolescence 12th edition. Psychosocial Development during the first Three years. Kagan, J. (1997). Temperament and the Reactions to Unfamiliarity. Child Development, 68, 139-143. McNeil, T. (1988). Stability of Temperament Characteristics in Childhood, PhD American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 58, 622-626. Read More