Questions: Temperament and Individual Differences in Infants

Question 1

According to the goodness-of-fit model, which infant is most likely to have positive developmental outcomes despite a 'difficult' temperament classification?

• A. An infant whose parents maintain consistent, rigid routines that override the child's cues
• B. An infant whose caregivers adapt their parenting style to accommodate the child's high reactivity and low rhythmicity
• C. An infant placed in a highly stimulating daycare environment to build adaptability
• D. An infant whose difficult temperament is treated as a medical condition requiring intervention

Answer: (B)

The goodness-of-fit model holds that outcomes depend on the match between a child's temperament and environmental demands. When caregivers adapt to a difficult infant's characteristics — offering extra predictability, gentler transitions, and responsive handling — they create fit that supports positive development. The problem is not the temperament itself but the mismatch between it and caregiving.

Question 2

A 'difficult' temperament in infancy is a stable, intrinsic trait that reliably predicts behavioral problems in childhood regardless of parenting quality.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

Temperament interacts bidirectionally with experience. While difficult infants have a biological predisposition toward negative reactivity and low rhythmicity, outcomes depend heavily on the caregiving environment. Sensitive, responsive parenting can buffer biological risk. Temperament does not determine destiny.

Question 3

How does temperament differ from personality, and why does the distinction matter developmentally?

Model answer: Temperament is the biologically based, early-appearing substrate of behavioral reactivity and self-regulation, observable from infancy. Personality is the broader, later-developing pattern of traits shaped by temperament interacting with experience over time. The distinction matters because temperament reflects constitutional differences that caregivers must adapt to, while personality reflects the cumulative product of those interactions.

Confusing temperament with personality leads to either over-biologizing child behavior (ignoring how environment shapes it) or under-appreciating constitutional differences (assuming all children respond identically to the same parenting). The developmental sequence — temperament as substrate, personality as outcome — is the more accurate framing.