Kochanska (1997)

Looked at moral development as a function of attachment theory, not cognitive development

“Mutually responsive orientation” refers to warm bond between parent and child; develops out of “interactional synchrony”

Morality depends on this mutually responsive orientation (MRO)

Mutually Responsive Orientation: Two key components

Responsiveness of parent to child’s needs and responsiveness of the child to the parent’s caregiving

Shared positive affect: good times shared by parent and child

MRO exerts influence in two ways

By promoting child’s positive mood – “happy disposition,” which makes him want to behave

Promoting child’s “responsive stance” toward parents—they want to comply with their requests

Lingering questions Is it not easier to have MRO with a temperamentally easy

child? What about maternal temperamental differences?

(Differences in empathy) Studies show that more empathy in the mom predicts an

easier MRO bond Depression & negative mood in the mom reduce

responsiveness & positive behavior toward children.

Temperament

A person’s behavioral style and characteristic emotional response to situations

The biological and emotional foundations of personality

A stable way of responding, both emotionally and physically, to environmental events.

Seems to exist from birth.

Thomas & Chess’ New York Longitudinal Study (1956)

Longest and most comprehensive study of temperament to date; still the most influential

Followed 141 children from infancy to adulthood to look at stability of temperament.

Three (four?) types of temperament (Thomas & Chess)

Easy children—40% of the sample Difficult children—10% of the sample Slow-to-warm-up—15% of the sample The leftovers—35% did not fit neatly into any one

category and showed a unique blend of temperaments.

Difficult children are at risk for future behavior problems.

Kagan’s Behavioral Inhibition Inhibition to the unfamiliar—Kagan’s term to refer

to how a child copes with new situations. Can respond with fear, avoidance, subdued affect,

excitement, etc. Inhibition shows a lot of stability from infancy to

early childhood. Many severely inhibited children will move to a

more moderate group by age 7.

Rothbart & Bates’ Classification (2006)

Extraversion/surgency—correlates with Kagan’s uninhibited children (impulsive, sensation-seeking, happy, high-energy)

Negative affectivty—correlates with Kagan’s inhibited kids (fearful, frustrated, sad, distressed)

Effortful control—self-regulation; focuses attention when needed, has good inhibitory control, low-intensity pleasure; have strategies to soothe themselves. Kids low on this dimension are easily agitated & intensely emotional.

Different temperaments & physiological reactions

Inhibition associated with high and stable heart rate, high cortisol levels, high activity in the right frontal lobe of brain

Low levels of serotonin may increase one’s vulnerability to fear & frustration; may contribute to negative affect and depression.

Heritability index How much is temperament inherited vs. acquired through

environmental factors? Twin & adoption studies show a heritability index of .5

to .6, a moderate level. Temperament is thought to be a “biologically based but

developmentally evolving feature of behavior.” Children can learn to modify their temperament somewhat

due to experience.

Longitudinal studies of temperament Kids who were active at age 4 were very outgoing at age

23. Easy children have an easier time adjusting to life than

difficult children do. Boys with difficult temperaments are LESS likely to

continue formal education. Girls with difficult temperament are more likely to

experience marital difficulties as adults. Inhibited kids tend to be less assertive adults & less likely

to experience social support.

Conclusions

Temperament seems to predict ability to adjust to situations as adults. There is some continuity between temperament and adjustment.

This continuity can vary based on gender (moms respond more to irritable girls than to irritable boys) and culture (active temperament is valued in some cultures but not as much in others).

Goodness-of-fit model (Thomas & Chess, 1977)

Found that temperament is NOT fixed and unchangeable; there is some room for modification.

Parents can change child’s temperament somewhat by using different parenting styles.

Difficult children need warm, sensitive, and consistent parents who are gentle but who make firm & reasonable demands.

Harsh parenting leads to conduct problems in difficult children.

Parents must respond sensitively and consistently to their difficult children’s needs to avoid behavior problems.

Tips for coping with a “spirited” child (Kurchinka, 1991)

Soothe the child by letting him/her play with water (take a bath, play in sink, etc.)

Play imaginative games to help moderate their intensity. (Play “Dress up” to get your child in a better mood.)

Sensory activities—play with Play Dough, sand, Silly Putty, finger paint, etc.

Read to the child. Use humor.

Time-outs for the spirited child Taking a break is good for a difficult child, but it

shouldn’t be used as punishment. Let them go to a “quiet place” to relax. Punishing a spirited child for having a tantrum doesn’t

really work because most psychologists think that they can’t control a tantrum once it starts. Your job is to help them ride out the tantrum.

Parents need to take a break, too. It’s hard dealing with a spirited child!

Spillover vs. Manipulative Tantrums

A manipulative tantrum is one that a child deliberately has in order to get something h/she wants. The child has control over the tantrum.

A spillover tantrum is one that a child (usually a spirited child) can’t help. They lose all control and can’t stop the tantrum from occurring.

During a “Spillover” Tantrum Stop the flood, if possible. Get the child to a quiet place. Stay with or near your child (unless you’re about to lose it

yourself). Touch your child if he can tolerate it (stroke his back, give

a firm hug, etc.) After 10-15 minutes, gently tell child to stop tantruming in

a soft, firm voice. Spanking does NOT work with a child having a spillover

tantrum. It makes things worse.

Ross Greene’s “Explosive Child” (2005)

Explosive child is basically the same as a spirited child. Greene says that “children do well if they can.” An explosive outburst occurs when cognitive demands

being placed on a person outstrip his ability to cope. Explosive kids lack certain “executive skills” (organizing,

planning, separating emotional reactions from the thinking you need to do, controlling impulses, etc.)

Common in children with ADHD, autism, and other developmental disorders.

Parents’ role (Greene) Parents have to function as their child’s executive center

during explosive tantrums. First: Avoid triggers for the tantrum if possible, even if it

means “giving in” to the child. Standard “behavioral management approach” (like Dr.

Phil’s “going commando”) does NOT work with explosive children. Need a gentler approach.

Inflexibilty + inflexibility = explosion. Child can’t be flexible, so parent has to be until child learns those executive skills.

Plan A, C, and B Plan A: telling child “You must” or “You will.” “Do what

I said because I said so.” Works with easy children but not difficult ones.

Plan C: opposite from Plan A; dropping the expectation completely, at least temporarily. E.g., Don’t take explosive child to the grocery store.

Plan B: “Collaborative Problem Solving.” Present problem to the child and ask for his input in how it should be solved. You’re being child’s “surrogate frontal lobe” here.

Key to success with difficult/explosive/spirited children

Empathy—you must be able to see the world from the child’s perspective and have empathy for how he’s feeling. (Refer to Kochanska’s article about MRO: empathy in mothers played a key role in establishing MRO.)

Another key—staying calm as much as you can. A reactive tantrum from the parent just makes the child’s tantrum worse.

Active genotype-environment interaction (Scarr & McCartney)

Child’s genotype determines what kind of activities she finds enjoyable.

Niche-picking: being drawn to certain activities because of inborn temperament and abilities.

Athletic children are naturally drawn to sports; musical children are drawn to music, etc.

Passive genotype-environment interactions

Biological parents pick the rearing environment for the child.

Genetically intelligent parents read to the child often & encourage reading and scholastic pursuits.

Outgoing parents arrange playdates and encourage sociability.

Parents select child’s environment based on their own (the parents’) genetic traits/interests.

Parents’ behaviors and interests shape those of the child.

Evocative genotype-environmental interaction

Child’s characteristics elicit certain types of environments and behaviors from others.

Outgoing, friendly children have more friends because others are naturally drawn to their friendly dispositions.

How these interactions change over time (Scarr)

Infancy and early childhood: parents have most of the control—passive genotype-environment correlations are most important.

Late childhood/adolescence: active genotype-environment correlations are more common.

Plomin (1993) Plomin is a behavior geneticist who found that shared

environments (SES, childrearing practices, intelligence of parents, etc.) account for LITTLE of the variation in children’s personality or interests.

Personalities of siblings are often very different. Their shared environments don’t seem to be as important as nonshared environments (child’s own experiences within and outside the family), which are drawn in large part from genetic influences (see Scarr & McCartney).

Epigenetic view Development results from an ongoing, bidirectional

interchange between genetics & environment. Relative contributions of both heredity & environment are

not additive; they’re interactive. Current view is that we have “genetic loading” that gives

us a predisposition for certain traits, behaviors, disorders, etc., but actual development depends on environmental influences (family you’re raised in, schooling, neighborhood, friendships, etc.)

Reiss article: Interplay between Genotypes & Family Relationships

Genetic factors make people susceptible to bad environments (hardiness gene?)

At some point, unfavorable social factors bring on behavioral problems in genetically predisposed kids.

Genetic characteristics in children evoke highly specific responses from parents (easy children evoke warmth; difficult children can evoke exasperation).

Parental responses then further shape child’s behavior. Genetic factors that influence parenting styles may be

genetically transferred to children.

Reiss cont. Two studies predicted adoptive parents’ degree of harsh

discipline and hostility toward their children from the level of aggression shown in the birth parents. Evidence for evocative genotype-parenting correlation.

Other studies: children’s genetic intelligence predicted how much intellectual stimulation their parents provided; parental behavior correlated much higher toward nonadoptive siblings than toward adoptive ones.

Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development study

Combined a twin design with a stepfamily design Looked at identical & fraternal twins, full siblings,

half-siblings, and step-siblings. Genetic factors that evoke maternal warmth are

different from those that evoke paternal warmth. Genetic influences in both parent and child

influence parenting styles & children’s behavior in a complicated interaction pattern.

Reiss cont. Genotypic differences in parents influence their parenting

styles; these differences are transmitted to their children and predict development of psychiatric symptoms.

Maternal rapport & affection were linked to adolescent autonomy and sociability, no matter what the child’s genotype (NEAD study).

Mothers are relatively consistent in the positive feelings they show to children in their family, and all children benefit, no matter what their genotype.