Temperament and the reactions to unfamiliarity.
The behavioral reactions to unfamiliar events are basic phenomena in all vertebrates. Four-month-old infants who show a low threshold to become distressed and motorically aroused to unfamiliar stimuli are more likely than others to become fearful and subdued during early childhood, whereas infants who show a high arousal threshold are more likely to become bold and sociable. After presenting some developmental correlates and trajectories of these 2 temperamental biases, I consider their implications for psychopathology and the relation between propositions containing psychological and biological concepts.
Kagan
J
J
Harvard University, Department of Psychology, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. JK@WJH.HARVARD.EDU
D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D001143:Arousal; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012792:Shyness; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D012951:Socialization; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D013694:Temperament