Infant Temperament, Essay Example

Temperament refers to those aspects of individual personality like the extroversion or introversion that are innate rather than learnt. It is usually very hard to determine exactly what normal behavior or temperament of an infant is. Infants have behaviors, needs and wants which differ from one another greatly. Due to this wide range of infant behaviors in infants, parents find it hard to know exactly where their infant’s behavior falls. Temperament is determined through some specific profiles of behavior that are testable and measurable very early in the childhood (David, 2008).

Fearfulness effect in an infant is the tendency of an infant to fear everything and everybody around. This behavior is usually observed by looking at the infant tendency towards objects and even people who gets near or to him. Fearfulness effect can be assessed after sometime by observing infant keenly. This can be well be analyzed well by the mother of the child although she can be biased sometimes. Infant who have fearful character are likely to retain it even after they grow up. The infants with fearful effect tend to cry when they are touched or even when one attempts to put something near the infant that may look unfamiliar. According to research, the infants who have a fearful effect usually tend not to get even closer to someone who is strange to their eyes. They even fear to go closer to the things that are strange to them. The reports also say that most mothers are biased when it comes to reporting the behavior of the children. This report is consistent to what I observed in most infants.

Positive effect is that tendency of the child to like things they see around them. This can usually be observed when an infant has that tendency of wanting everything they see around them. This can also be an indication that the infant is not fearful. These infants usually cry when they are denied a chance to touch what they wanted. According to research, these infants appreciate most of the things around them by touching and critically looking at them. This becomes consistent with my observation and the research I have seen or observed (David, 2008).

Reference

David, R. (2008). Social and Personality Development. New York: Cengage Learning Press.