Galen's prophecy : temperament in human nature by Kagan Jerome

Author:Kagan, Jerome
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Temperament in children, Inhibition in children, Temperament in children, Inhibition in children, Children and the environment, Nature and nurture
Publisher: New York, NY : Basic Books
Published: 1994-09-05T16:00:00+00:00

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GALEN'S PROPHECY

phrase as Laura reached for the moving toy, she withdrew in her chair and turned away. The mother reported that Laura cried a lot at home when the mother left the room even temporarily and that she consistently cried on encountering strangers.

Laura was extremely inhibited at fourteen months. She fretted when put down on the rug during the initial warm-up period; less than 5 percent of infants cry during this initial procedure. She cried as the examiner tried to put electrodes on her chest and on the first trial of the wheel, even before any noise was produced. She cried at the application of the blood pressure cuff, refused to put her hand into the cups of liquid, and would not accept any liquid into her mouth. She fretted in response to the examiner’s first nonsense utterance accompanying the moving toy and became so upset when the examiner spoke in a stern voice that we had to stop the procedure. In the large playroom, when the stranger entered she retreated immediately to her mother and refused to approach.

At twenty-one months, Laura was still a small, wiry girl with a pale complexion. She touched only two of the five novel toys during the initial five minutes, and she would not imitate any of the examiner’s acts. During the warm-up session in the testing room she was talkative and accepted the electrodes and blood pressure cuff. When the examiner modeled the different block constructions, however, she said, U I can’t do it” and tried to get out of the chair. When the stranger entered she retreated to her mother and remained close until the stranger left, as she had done at fourteen months. At the clown’s entrance, she ran immediately to her mother and, hugging her, sobbed repeatedly, “No, no, no.” When the examiner reentered the room with the metal robot, she again ran to her mother, crawled up on her lap, and would not approach.

The mother reported that Laura woke up frequently at night, was still fearful of separation and of strangers, and was shy with most unfamiliar adults.

Anna is a typical example of a low reactive, relaxed, uninhibited girl. At both two months and four months of age, Anna showed infrequent limb activity and no fretting. She was relaxed and minimally fearful at nine months, and the mother reported no problems—neither fear of strangers nor crying at separation.

Anna had no fears at fourteen months. She accepted the electrodes and blood pressure cuff, put her hand quickly into the cups of liquid, laughed

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