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Temperamental factors in human development.

J Kagan¹, N Snidman

¹Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.

The American Psychologist

|August 1, 1991

Summary

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Early childhood temperament, specifically approach or avoidance of the unfamiliar, shows moderate stability. Infant motor activity and crying predict later temperamental profiles, suggesting brain excitability influences these traits.

Area of Science:

Developmental psychology
Behavioral genetics
Neuroscience

Background:

Temperament, characterized by approach or avoidance tendencies towards novelty, is a key aspect of child development.
These temperamental profiles exhibit moderate temporal stability and are linked to distinct physiological patterns.
Evidence suggests a partial genetic basis for these temperamental characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the predictive relationship between early infant behavior and later temperamental profiles.
To explore the potential role of brain excitability in the development of inhibited and uninhibited temperaments.

Main Methods:

Longitudinal observation of infant behavior, including motor activity and crying, in response to unfamiliar stimuli.
Assessment of temperamental profiles (approach vs. avoidance) in toddlerhood.

Related Experiment Videos

Correlational analysis to link early behaviors with later temperamental classifications.

Main Results:

High levels of motor activity and crying in 4-month-old infants predicted specific temperamental profiles in the second year of life.
These findings suggest a continuity between early reactivity and later dispositional tendencies.
The results imply a connection between the excitability of brain regions controlling motor activity and crying, and the manifestation of temperamental categories.

Conclusions:

Infant motor activity and crying serve as early indicators of later temperamental styles.
Variation in the neural excitability underlying motor and crying responses may contribute to the development of inhibited and uninhibited temperaments.
These findings underscore the importance of early behavioral markers in understanding the origins of temperament.