PSYCH 2B03 Lecture 21: Psych 2BO3 Lecture 21 Behavioral Inhibition
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18 Mar 2016
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Jerome Kagan - Behavioral Inhibition
Identifying Behaviorally Inhibited Children
• 117 Caucasian 22-month old boys in playroom
◦Introduced them individually into a toy filled playroom
• Mom and examiner join child on floor, act out behaviors of varying complexity
• Examiner leaves, stranger (female adult) enters, asks child to join her.
• Examiner returns reveals noisy robot,
• Examiner leaves, mother leaves, child alone
• Examined fear, hesitation, crying, withdrawal
◦Classified as uninhibited, all the way to middling
Distribution
• 10% inhibited
• 70% Middling
• 20% uninhibited
"
• Kids who were extremely inhibited at age 2, seem to remain inhibited later on
(roughly equivalent to the "difficult" infants in previous classification of
temperament)
• This suggested biological bases of personality
Behaviorally Inhibited Children
• Slow to start conversation with unfamiliar adult or per
• Seldom smile spontaneously with unfamiliar other
• Slow to relax in unfamiliar situations
• Memory impaired following stress
• Cautious decision makers
• Unusual fears or phobias
Physiology of Inhibited Children
• HR up during stress, or when standing up - stronger than regular kids
• Diastolic BP up when they stand up
• Pupillary dilation under stress
• Higher muscle tension
• Higher right frontal cortex activation
◦This is the area associated with negative emotions, maybe leads to higher
level of neuroticism
• More allergies
• More activity in HPA axis, RAS, ANS (sympathetic branch)
*** at age 2 he already identifies these people like a neurotic introvert as Eysenck would
go by
Inhibition and "somatotype"
People used to identify body types with personality
• 60% of inhibited children have blue eyes
• 60 of uninhibited children have brown eyes
• More kin of inhibited children have blue eyes/ of uninhibited have brown
• Inhibited boys have narrow faces, thin builds