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The Long Shadow of Temperament

The authors studied children from infancy to adolescence to identify temperaments. They identified two main temperaments: high-reactive infants who tended to become shy, timid children ("inhibited"); and low-reactive infants who tended to become bold, sociable children ("uninhibited"). As adolescents, the inhibited children displayed dour moods while the uninhibited children displayed exuberant, sanguine moods. The authors conclude these temperaments are rooted in inherited differences in brain structure excitability. While experiences can influence temperament, their longitudinal study shows how deeply temperamental biases shape psychological development from infancy through adolescence.

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594 views2 pages

The Long Shadow of Temperament

The authors studied children from infancy to adolescence to identify temperaments. They identified two main temperaments: high-reactive infants who tended to become shy, timid children ("inhibited"); and low-reactive infants who tended to become bold, sociable children ("uninhibited"). As adolescents, the inhibited children displayed dour moods while the uninhibited children displayed exuberant, sanguine moods. The authors conclude these temperaments are rooted in inherited differences in brain structure excitability. While experiences can influence temperament, their longitudinal study shows how deeply temperamental biases shape psychological development from infancy through adolescence.

Uploaded by

stilaria
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The long shadow of temperament-

After decades of watching children in and outside the laboratory, the authors were persuaded
to believe that each infant is born with a profile of temperamental biases, and some are not easily
eliminated by life events. The authors have spend the last twenty-five years probing two of the
larger number of temperaments that, they believe, will eventually be discovered. They have
learned that some features of these biases stubbornly resist extinction and continue to affect a
person's private moods. This book presents the evidence for this claim. The infants whose
temperament the authors identified as high-reactive were more likely to become shy and timid
children; the authors called thme inhibited. Those infants whose temperament they identified
as low-reactive were more likely to become bold and sociable children; they called
them uninhibited. Chapter 1 provides an overview of what the authors have learned from
studying children between the ages of 4 months and 11 years. Chapters 2 and 3 explain the
intellectual framework and historical background of their work. Chapters 4 and 5 focus on the
behavior and biology of their 11-year-olds, supplying technical details and statistical analyses
that will allow other scientists to judge the validity of their claims. And finally, Chapter 6 offers
some broader speculations invited by the evidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA,
all rights reserved)

We have seen these childrenthe shy and the sociable, the cautious and
the daringand wondered what makes one avoid new experience and
another avidly pursue it. At the crux of the issue surrounding the
contribution of nature to development is the study that Jerome
Kagan and his colleagues have been conducting for more than two
decades. In The Long Shadow of Temperament, Kagan and Nancy
Snidman summarize the results of this unique inquiry into human
temperaments, one of the best-known longitudinal studies in
developmental psychology. These results reveal how deeply certain
fundamental temperamental biases can be preserved over development.
Identifying two extreme temperamental typesinhibited and
uninhibited in childhood, and high-reactive and low-reactive in very
young babiesKagan and his colleagues returned to these children as
adolescents. Surprisingly, one of the temperaments revealed in infancy

predicted a cautious, fearful personality in early childhood and a dour


mood in adolescence. The other bias predicted a bold childhood
personality and an exuberant, sanguine mood in adolescence. These
personalities were matched by different biological properties. In a
masterly summary of their wide-ranging exploration, Kagan and
Snidman conclude that these two temperaments are the result of
inherited biologies probably rooted in the differential excitability of
particular brain structures. Though the authors appreciate that
temperamental tendencies can be modified by experience, this
compelling workan empirical and conceptual tour-de-forceshows
how long the shadow of temperament is cast over psychological
development.

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