Temperament

Introduction

Most researchers in the domain of temperament agree that temperament refers to basic, relatively stable, personality traits present from early childhood and they have their counterpart in animals. There is, however, no consensus about such issues as the biological bases of temperament, the quality and number of traits of which the structure of temperament is composed, and hence there does not exist a commonly accepted view on how to measure temperament, and what has to be measured (see Strelau, 1998; Teglasi, 1998). Whatever the difference between researchers on temperament, three methods have been applied in assessing this phenomenon: observation, interview, and questionnaires (inventories), whereby the latter gained the highest popularity.

ASSESSMENT OF TEMPERAMENT BASED ON OBSERVATIONAL DATA

One of the methods for assessing temperament, applied mainly to infants and children not exceeding kindergarten age, is observation of behaviour in natural settings, of which the home environment is most typical (e.g. Ricciuti & Breitmayer, 1988). Home observations are based on the assumption that home is the most natural and influential environment for children until they reach school age. Parent-child interactions, with the distinctive role of the mother, are essential for the behavioural expression of the child's temperament and for the way it is perceived by parents.

Depending on the goal of the study home observation procedures differed. Several studies have shown high inter-rater agreement depending on the kind of behaviour being assessed. On the average, inter-rater agreement of temperament characteristics based on home observation is about 0.80 (Frankel & Bates, 1990). Intersession stability, as well as split-half reliability of temperament measures based on observational data, was usually much lower, probably not exceeding on average scores between 0.20–0.30 (Ricciuti & Breitmayer, 1988; Rothbart, 1986).

The fact that home observation is conducted under the most natural environment has its price, mainly in lack of or little control of the situation in which children's behaviour is recorded. Coding behaviour is imprecise, and biased by the observer's limited capacity to grasp the whole range of relevant behaviour (see Rothbart & Goldsmith, 1985).

Observation under laboratory conditions that allow for control not only of behaviour but also of the specific stimuli and situations expected to provoke behaviour in which temperamental characteristics reveal themselves has recently gained considerable popularity among child-oriented temperament researchers.

In laboratory assessment of temperament, different episodes are arranged depending on child age and specific goal of the study. These [Page 950]episodes are often divided into smaller units during which infant responses (e.g. smiling, crying) are recorded. The assessment procedure is conducted in a typical developmental research laboratory with standard settings and equipment (see Kagan, 1994; Matheny, 1991).

Observation in the laboratory setting has also several shortcomings (see Rothbart & Goldsmith, 1985). For the child, a laboratory setting is a new environment that may evoke avoidance behaviour or inhibit typical reactions. Some parents are reluctant to agree to laboratory assessment, which results in selected samples of children for study.

Observational methods, whether at home or in the laboratory, are based on the premise that temperamental characteristics are revealed in behaviour typical for natural or semi-natural settings. This assumption is only partially satisfied because behavioural observation is biased by so-called reactivity effects which occur when the observing process alters the behaviour of individuals observed. Observation is a time-consuming procedure, requires individual contacts between observer and observant. The variety of behaviours available for assessment during observation is very limited. Reliability estimation can be properly done only when more than one observer takes part in the assessment procedure (for details, see Rothbart & Goldsmith, 1985).

...