<p> Temperament and Personality</p><p>The following nine dimensions of temperament are those outlined by Thomas and Chess in their studies of infant personality characteristics. Thomas and Chess were convinced that temperament continued to play a role throughout a child’s later development. 1. Activity Level: This category assesses motor activity. It includes mobility during bathing, eating, and playing. It includes the amount of reaching, crawling, and walking exhibited by the child. It also assesses the sleep-wake cycle. High-activity children wiggled, squirmed, kicked, and were generally “on the go.” Low-activity children were quiet, still, and placid. 2. Rhythmicity: This category assessed the regularity of children’s sleep, wakefulness, eating, and elimination. Children high in rhythmicity showed regular, predictable patterns of biological functioning. Children low in rhythmicity showed unpredictable and irregular biological patterns. 3. Approach or Withdrawal: This category assessed a child’s initial response to new stimuli. As new stimuli were introduced, some children approached the stimuli readily and quickly engaged in the stimuli. Other children displayed very negative reactions to new stimuli: crying, fussing, avoiding, or withdrawing. 4. Adaptability: This category focused on later reactions to new stimuli. After the initial response, researchers observed later reactions and behaviors. Nonadaptive children did not change their initial reaction to the stimulus. Adaptive children either responded positively initially or, after initially displaying a negative response, began to gradually adapt to and engage with the stimulus. 5. Threshold of Responsiveness: This category assessed the stimulus threshold needed to elicit a response. Higher thresholds indicated that larger amounts of stimuli were required to get a response. Lower thresholds indicated that a minimal amount of stimulus elicited a response. 6. Intensity of Reaction: This category assessed the energy level with which the child responded to the environment. A high-intensity reactor might scream or express extreme rage when frustrated. A low-intensity reactor tended to take things “more in stride.” 7. Quality of Mood: This category assessed overall mood state as positive or negative in quality. Positive-mood-state children smiled more often, were friendly, and laughed frequently. Negative-mood-state children were unpleasant to others, unfriendly, and displayed a sad affect. 8. Distractibility: This category assessed how easily a child could be distracted by influences in the environment. A distractible child’s behavior was easily interrupted by external stimuli, whereas a nondistractible child’s behavior was not influenced by extraneous environmental cues. 9. Attention Span and Persistence: This category assessed both attention span (how long a child would pursue a particular activity) and persistence (the continuation of the activity when obstacles were placed in the way). Some children were high in attention span but not in persistence. Some children were assessed to be low in both attention span and persistence. Sources: Thomas A., & Chess, S. (1977). Temperament and development. New York: Bruner/Mazel; and Thomas, A., Chess, S., Birch, H., Hertzig, M., & Korn, S. (1963). Behavioral individuality in early childhood. New York: New York University Press.</p>