SED Task 7. Behavioral styles
Learning goals:
1. Temperament styles
2. Influence of biology and meurological underpinnings of behavioral styles
3. Predictive value of behavioral styles
4. Heritability of aggression
5. Apply knowledge to cases in course manual
1. Temperamental styles
Multifinality: same life event but different results. Temperament might play an important role
in the etiology, manifestation and even maintenance of the most common emotional and
behavioral disorders in children. Temperament precursor for personality.
Temperament
Temperament can be defined as “biologically rooted individual differences in behavior
tendencies that are present early in life and are relatively stable across various kinds of
situations and over the course of time”. Chess and Thomas identified nine temperamental
categories: activity level, rhythmicity (predictability), approach or withdrawal, adaptability,
threshold of responsiveness (intensity of stimulus for response), intensity of reaction, quality
of mood, distractibility, and attention span and persistence.
Specific combinations of these categories yield three fundamental temperament types.
“Easy temperament”: regularity, positive approach responses to new stimuli, high adaptability
to change, and mild to moderate intense mood that is preponderantly positive. These children
are quickly at ease in a new environment or with new people, good-natured and helpful.
“Difficult temperament”: irregularity in biological functions, negative withdrawal responses
to new stimuli, nonadaptability or slow adaptability to change, and intense mood expressions
that are frequently negative. Prolonged adjustment periods to new routines, people, or
situations, and relatively frequent outbursts of crying and aggression.
“Slow-to-warm-up”: combination of negative responses to new stimuli with slow adaptability
after repeated contact.
Two thirds of all children fit into these three temperament groups.
Emotionality-Activity-Sociability (EAS) model (Buss and Plomin): 3 basic dimensions to
which many models of temperament are related.
Emotionality: psychological instability and proneness to fear, anger, and sadness.
Activity: tempo, vigor, and endurance.
Sociability: tendencies to affiliate and to be responsive to others.
These dimensions are comparable to current theories of personality, like the Big Five and
Giant Three. Neuroticism can be viewed as an equivalent for emotionality, whereas
extraversion can be regarded as a mixture of activity level and sociability.
There are 3 basic brain systems for understanding behavior in response to environment:
1. The behavioral inhibition system (BIS) consists of subcortical structures such as the
ippocampus, the septum, and parts of the limbic system, and has projections to the
frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex. The BIS serves to alert the person to the possibility
of danger or punishment, thereby enhancing avoidance behavior. Activity in the BIS is
Learning goals:
1. Temperament styles
2. Influence of biology and meurological underpinnings of behavioral styles
3. Predictive value of behavioral styles
4. Heritability of aggression
5. Apply knowledge to cases in course manual
1. Temperamental styles
Multifinality: same life event but different results. Temperament might play an important role
in the etiology, manifestation and even maintenance of the most common emotional and
behavioral disorders in children. Temperament precursor for personality.
Temperament
Temperament can be defined as “biologically rooted individual differences in behavior
tendencies that are present early in life and are relatively stable across various kinds of
situations and over the course of time”. Chess and Thomas identified nine temperamental
categories: activity level, rhythmicity (predictability), approach or withdrawal, adaptability,
threshold of responsiveness (intensity of stimulus for response), intensity of reaction, quality
of mood, distractibility, and attention span and persistence.
Specific combinations of these categories yield three fundamental temperament types.
“Easy temperament”: regularity, positive approach responses to new stimuli, high adaptability
to change, and mild to moderate intense mood that is preponderantly positive. These children
are quickly at ease in a new environment or with new people, good-natured and helpful.
“Difficult temperament”: irregularity in biological functions, negative withdrawal responses
to new stimuli, nonadaptability or slow adaptability to change, and intense mood expressions
that are frequently negative. Prolonged adjustment periods to new routines, people, or
situations, and relatively frequent outbursts of crying and aggression.
“Slow-to-warm-up”: combination of negative responses to new stimuli with slow adaptability
after repeated contact.
Two thirds of all children fit into these three temperament groups.
Emotionality-Activity-Sociability (EAS) model (Buss and Plomin): 3 basic dimensions to
which many models of temperament are related.
Emotionality: psychological instability and proneness to fear, anger, and sadness.
Activity: tempo, vigor, and endurance.
Sociability: tendencies to affiliate and to be responsive to others.
These dimensions are comparable to current theories of personality, like the Big Five and
Giant Three. Neuroticism can be viewed as an equivalent for emotionality, whereas
extraversion can be regarded as a mixture of activity level and sociability.
There are 3 basic brain systems for understanding behavior in response to environment:
1. The behavioral inhibition system (BIS) consists of subcortical structures such as the
ippocampus, the septum, and parts of the limbic system, and has projections to the
frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex. The BIS serves to alert the person to the possibility
of danger or punishment, thereby enhancing avoidance behavior. Activity in the BIS is
