Temperament Seminar

Temperament seminar

Oct 14, 2000

10 pages: intro/Lit. review/summing up/conclusion/biblio

-->Interesting topic:

• connection b/w a temperament style and abnormal b/h
• attachment/temperament

Temperament

Kagen:

Inhibition: withdrawal in new situations

Uninhibition:

Temperament: Genetic endowment +experience

àno one agrees h.m. of each is involved

-Romans also referred to temperament, as 1 of 4:

• Phlegmatic: slow
• Melancholic: sorrow/anxiety (depression and anxiety go together, sometimes interchangeably)
• Choleric: irritable
• Sanguine: outgoing

-fields of infl.: Genetics/education/psychology/medicine

àeach discipline has a slightly diff. definition, and thus diff. tools of measurements (and thus might have diff. names.)

àImp: thus must look at how things were measured.

-at age 2, the experimenter also adds an element of social situations (i.e. w/ mom)

àin short, in diff. situations (i.e. age), need diff. tools.

-b/c of physiology measures, you can compare b/w animals and humans in temperament studies

-Imp: temperament is a predisposition/profile of b/h in certain way: not a specific b/h

àat least somewhat infl. by biology

• each theory gives diff. weight to bio, though they all give it some weight
• continuity of temperament àit doesn’t change drastically

-Thomas/chase: 9 temperament measures: their collective graph = the temperament constellation

-it is easier to measure kids’ temperament: less broad environment

Kagen: (others agree) limbic system (+motoric) is responsible for temperament

àindividual diff. = genetic, though not 1 specific gene.

-problem: all peripheral sights (i.e. EEG/heart rate = lower correlation to temperament!!!)

-theories disagree on ‘behavioral style’

-i.e. if baby kicks the stimuli hard/weakly/a lot/a little

àthat is called b/h style (temperament)

-not all agree that emotion is part of temperament

Question: how does temperament dev.?

Answer: environmental infl. (though each theory differs as to its weight)

Parental issues:

Kagan:

-there are disagreements about how to measure temperament:

• observe kids
• ask parents
• physiological measurements

-low correlation b/w parent’s answers and observation

Prob. w/ asking parents:

• social desirability
• reference point
• kind of relationship w/ kid/expectations
• only in presence of parents

->you have to get parent to answer in a dichotomy was in something that really isn’t

lie scale: many q. and he can’t remember what he answered: more stable score of lying to parental report!!!

Fertility treatment: -Kid came to world w/ problems -->easier to assume that he is problematic

-parents asked in ambiguous way: i.e. shy: could mean several things

-->need a more operational definition

-diff. reports across cultures:

• Thailand people report when there even isn’t
• Americans don’t report when there is

Parental factors

• more education = think that their kids are more adaptable
• depressed parents = their kids are more irritating

-Kagen only deals w/ inhibition

-->at first, only physiological

-->w/ age, more social/new situations

-very inhibited kids: are intrinsically diff, physiological reactions

-->there is stability of temperament

-assymetry in the EEG/sympathic system

-->diff. face structure/eye color

Questions

1. what is contained in temperament
2. how does it dev.?

answer

goldsmith

• anger
• sad
• fear
• happiness
• interest
• disgust

-motoractivity =shows emotional arousal

-facial expressions = that express bio needs = temperament

-temperament is largely inherited

buss&Plumin

• emotionality: distress
• activity: 2 elements:
• Tempo
• Vigor
• Sociability: h.m. person initiated being w/ others

- Those 3 factors are quite uncorrelated

Thomas/Chess

Alexander Thomas/Stella chess

3 Kinds of Babies: easy/slow-to-warm-up/difficult

1)Easy: biological regularity/readily approaches new people/objects/highly adoptive/mostly positive mood

2)Slow-To-Warm-Up: mildly negative reactions to new experiences/adapt on after repeated exposure

3)Difficult: biologically irregular/withdrew from new situations/intense negative feelings/poor adaptability

Temperament: broadened to alse mean:

1) tendency to express certain emotions i.e.: wariness/proneness of distress

2)capacity to regulate one own's behavior.

Rothbard

‘bio-behavioral regulation’

-temperament: relatively stable primarily biologically-based individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation

• excitability
• arousal
• responsivity

2 componants of self

2. Reactivity: (positive vs. negative)

• Responsivity:

• Excitability

-->incl. motoric/affect/endocrinology/autonomic reactions

2) self-regulation

-->b/h and neurological reactions

• soothability
• attention
• approach/withdrawal
• inhibition

• constitution: stable bio structure, that will also be navigated by experience an maturation

-->combination of bio and b/h

--

-parent might think that she knows what the infant want

-->insecure parents might be angry when the kid doesn’t listen to her/look at her the whole time

-->secure parent might look for things that will comfort the kid

Question: how does Temperament dev?

Answer: maturation allows environment to channel temp.

-->W/ self-regulation tools, temperament b/c more stable

-->diff. tools i.e. for fustration/happiness dev. at diff. times

Rothbard

• inhibition @ ½ yr.
• Focus @ 1 yr.

-w/ time, diff. things change

-stimulus barriers change/smiling goes up -->upto 3 and from 6 onwards: dev. (b/w 3 and 6 months: brain reorganization

Behavioral inhibition: hard to deal w/ new stimulus (upto 3 or 4)

-->go to center w/

Goldsmith

-primary emotions

• Goal of emotion
• Evaluation of the goal
• Tendency to action of that emotion

-->we want to protect the body/self of baby = body

-->later, b/c s.e.

-w/ time, 5 things dev

• Expression of emotion is more correlated to the real feelings -->in the beginning, he just cries -->no differentiation of reaction
• The stimulus is more specific: The stimulus which brings to the emotion is more specific -->differentiation/specification of stimulus
• More socially related reactions
• Short-circuit: exploding (instead of speaking about the issue) -->i.e. inhibited person = won’t react to his own actions -->goes down w/ time
• Emotional reception gets better

Individual diff in those reactions

-latency of those 5 aspects: when they happen

-intensity of reaction

-->the older the person is, the reaction is either inhibited/enhanced, but do not reflect true feelings

Buss/Plomin

-temperament: dev/differentiation of the components of the temperament

• Emotionality: at first: bad/good. Later: I am lonely/hungry/fear/angry/happy
• Activity: tempo/vigor -->the more the baby dev, the more you see the diff. b/w tempo and vigor
• Sociability: will react faster to people. The older, the more he can distinguish b/w people

-->temperament has stability: they maintain their position, as compared to ranking of other babies

Thomas/Chess

-inborn features, though could be modified by experience

-->though relatively stable

-->it is a b/h style

Question

why is temp. And how does it organize b/h

Buss/Plomin

Temp. are those stable things over time

-->they thought impulsivity was also part of it, but they took it off, b/c it wan’t stable/heredity

Things that are key to their theory.

-->it’s got to be hereditary

-->the emotionality/activity/sociability has got to be related.

Thomas/chess

-the best way to get rich/objective info is through parents (?!?!?!?)

-->the best way to info is in a naturalistic way, not in a superficial way, i.e. in a lab

-->what will contradict their theory:

• underlying psych motives for temp.
• all based on interactions w/ parents (and not innate)

Rothbart:

-also wants to take the psych/physiological

• hormonal
• neurophysiological dev. in maturation
• interaction w/ environment

factors of Temp:

• latency of response -->how long it takes to respond
• peak
• total strength
• recovery (b/c peaks
• beyond specific

Goldsmith:

-temp= bio

-Temp. is not imp! Emotionality is.

--

Hard kids:

Thomas/chess

• No rhythmicality
• Withdrawal from the new
• Slow adaptation
• High intensity of reactions
• Lots of negative reactance
• Higher chance for prob. b/h

B/h inhibition in young age = social anxiety in adolescants

Buss/Plomin

Too high:

Emotionality: if too high: many tantrums

Activity: always jumpy/never settled -->harder fit w/ environment

-->it too low, inhibited? Or at least not as hard on the environment

Rothbard

No such thing as bad/good kid -->only cost-benefit element

-->i.e. distractability: can always play w/ toy, yet can’t learn well. Too little: can’t sit down for dinner, if doing homework.

Goldsmith

-Only deals w/ individual

--

kagen

-in new situations, there is correlation b/w b/h and physiological reaction = stressful

-->assumption: ind. diff is in the limbic system: i.e. amygdala/hippocampus

threshold

-->sympathetic oversitulation

-->reticular overstimulation

-->hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenalin pathway is overstimulated (stress pathway)

--

Winnicot: maternal preoccupation: at first month after birth: total preoccupation w/ kid

-->more attuned to kid = more understanding kids

attrunic

Rothbard’s: Measures

• latency of response -->how long it takes to respond
• peak
• total strength
• recovery (b/c peaks

observations in infants:

• smile
• distress to limitations
• orienting

Observations in adolescents:

Questionnaires:

• Autonomic response
• Susceptibility to discomfort (i.e. fears/sadness/tiskul) vs. pleasure
• Relief
• Changes in attention
• Behavioral inhibition

Adults: 4 factors:

• Orienting sensitivity
• Extroversion
• Thoughtful attention
• Negative affect

Things other than temperament that infl. B/h

• Motivation
• Expectation
• Knowledge structures

-->thus you must look at wider situations to really see temperament

Personality: wider structures. I.e. also includes cognitive (i.e. self-concepts), perception

Summing up: bio root, experience/maturation/genetics channel it.

Question

-is temperament changing or stable?

Answer

both

--

Kagen behavioral inhibition:

‘the physiology and psychology of behavioral inhibition in children’ Child Development: 1987 58:1459-1493

-Is is continuous or discrete?

• continuum: a line w/the more inhibition = more withdraw

àafter he called inhibited shyness

• discrete: inhibited is qualitatively diff.

àthe diff. is how you treat it: the more descrete views = more mendable the kid is to changes in environment (i.e. how we treat him)

-correlation b/w physiology/unknown situation

-this can show inhibited/uninhibited

-change in threshold of limbic system: hypothalamus/hippocampus

àinhibited’s limbic system threshold is lower àthey react faster to the unknown

activation of

• hypothalamusàpituitaryàadrenal
• skeletal-muscular
• sympathetic system

study shows:

• hypothalamusà…cortisol goes up if kid separated from mom
• Skeletal-muscular: larmex/vocal chord
• Sympathetic: heartbeat/epinephrine

-Some kids start at 21 months some start at 31 months

àup to 5½

• hard tasks
• interviewer
• talking robot (scary)
• temporary leaving of mom
• speech
• latency to react
• sensation to play/vocalize
• at 31month , adding kids of same age/gender
• risk room: some kids are scared. Others withdraw to mom

**

• 0.52 correlation b/w 21 and 5 ½ yrs.
• 0.57 b’/w 31 and 5 ½
• 0.62 b/w 4 and 5

-correlation b/w rater and reality kid being inhibited

-latency of 2^nd spontanic vocalization: h.m. fast he reacts to a stranger 2^nd time = best measure of inhibition

• unhibited: w/I 3 minutes: 40 spondaic
• inhibited: w/I 10 min, not even 1
• maybe shows discrete diff.

• 40% of inhibited b/w unhibited by 5 ½ (and more boys than girls) àmore first-borns
• 10% of uninhibited b/c inhibited (more girls than boys) àmore later-borns
• cultural? àgive reinforcements to boys

theory: in times of change (puberty/adolescence/highschool/army), regression to past states

Inhibited: physiological arousal/colicky/prob. in infancy: i.e. diarrea/allergies

--

impulsivity: not temperament b/c it is not stable: it always changes

TypeA = soc. psych. might be the same, though type A is in adulthood, and not from infancy

Gunnar/Nachmias: speaks of goodness of fit.

--

-laterborn w/ predisposition to inhibition= more likely to be inhibited

àb/f they are scared of what the older kids do to them

physiological:

-heart rate:

heart period: interbeat interval/variability of this space

àcorrelation b/w heartbeat interval/variability

• inhibited: shows a lot of stability
• inhibited person slower functioning

-pupils enlarge:

àremember obj./listen to stuff àmore sympathetic àmore reaction to the unknown

muscular voice: pitch period of vocal utters :h.m. their voice break (4 sec.) àless change w/ stress àin inhibited, less fluctuations in voice

cortisol: higher in inhibited kid àbest differentiation of inhibited vs. uninhibited

ànot all inhibited show higher cortisol: 9 of 60 inhibited kids had stable high cortisol: those are the 15% extremely inhibited. Those are the discretely, qualitatively diff. inhibited kids

-all 4 yr. can play w/ kid of diff style of temperament: will at first stay w/ mom (all kids show some inhibition). Not so at 5½

àthose 15% extreme kids will stay w/ mom

-those low in the physiological signs: changed more

àkids at 4 how can express what they feel (i.e. fear) = they seem also able to start seeking solutions/regulations to deal w/ them

àno proof that bio changes àjust b/h/feelings/physiological

Toteism: Freud: oedipal conflict

Levi-strauss

Toteism: totem rep. interpersonal/intergroup relations