Preschoolers' inhibition in their home: relation to temperament.
Researchers assessed 58 preschoolers' reactions to an unfamiliar person and unfamiliar objects in their familiar home environment. Children participated in a 30-min procedure designed to elicit behavioral inhibition, including (a) a free-play period with a stranger present, (b) a structured interaction with the stranger, and (c) uncertainty-eliciting tasks. Behaviors representing the child's reactions toward the mother, stranger, and novel objects were coded. Mothers completed a temperament scale. Preschoolers exhibited behaviors indicative of inhibition toward unfamiliar social and nonsocial stimuli; behaviors remained stable across increasingly intrusive episodes. The approach/withdrawal component of temperament was related to behavioral inhibition. Individual differences in mood did not appear to be related to differences in inhibition. Parent reported temperament was related to researcher-observed behaviors.
Ullrich
Anja
A
Department of Psychology, St. John's University, Jamaica, NY 11439, USA.
Carroll
Marjorie
M
Prigot
Joyce
J
Fagen
Jeffrey
J
D000339:Affect; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009518:New York; D015588:Observer Variation; D010290:Parents; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013694:Temperament; D014743:Videotape Recording