Running head: WRITTEN SUMMARY OF A RESEARCH ARTICLE

Written Summary of a Research Article
Dasani Smith
Psychology, 100
Professor Smith
February 5, 2012

Written Summary of a Research Article
Early childhood professionals have individual preferences about how they like children to behave (Eddowes, Aldridge, & Culpepper, 1994). Early childhood professionals also play a critical role in helping children accept themselves as unique (Aldridge, 1993). While students preparing to work with young children learn about cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development, they often neglect to study personality development (Aldridge & Cowles, 1990). The study of personality is important because a child's temperament influences the teacher more than the child's intelligence (Lerner & Lerner, 1986). In fact, teachers often give grades and implement classroom management strategies based upon specific children's temperaments (Pullis & Cadwell, 1982).
Temperament is the part of the personality with which each child is born. According to Chess and Thomas (1987) temperament refers to individual differences in physiological responsiveness. It includes the characteristic way that an individual responds emotionally to people and objects. Chess and Thomas (1977) found nine temperament categories which they believed were present at birth.
These categories include the following: Activity Level. Does the child display mostly active or inactive stress? Rhythm city or Regularity. Is the child predictable or unpredictable regarding sleeping, eating, and elimination patterns? Approach-Withdrawal. Does the child react or respond positively or negatively to a newly encountered situation? Adaptability. Does the child adjust to unfamiliar circumstances easily or with difficulty? Responsiveness. Does it take a small or large amount of stimulation to elicit a response (e.g., laughter, fear, pain) from the child? Reaction Intensity. Does the child show low or high energy when reacting to stimuli?
Written Summary of a Research Article
Mood Quality. Is the child normally happy and pleasant, or unhappy and unpleasant? Distractibility. Is the child's attention easily diverted from a task by external stimuli? Persistence and Attention Span. Persistence-How long will the children continue at an activity despite difficulty or interruptions? Attention Span-For how long a period of time can the child maintain interest in an activity?
I agree with the findings of this article because children’s temperaments form their outcomes, in part by forming the ways that children engage and evoke responses from their environments. Children interpret their environmental experiences differently depending on their temperaments. For example, anxious and irritable children tend to perceive negative events as more threatening than do children with a lower level of negative emotions.
This article will help parents better understand their children and what they’re going through. Temperaments are a part of shaping children’s’ personalities. Parents also need to get a clear picture of their own temperament traits and pinpoint areas in which conflicts with their child arise due to temperament clashing. When there is temperament friction between parent and child, it is more reasonable to expect that the parent will make the first move to adapt. When a parent or caregiver understands the child's temperament, he or she can organize the environment so that they will be able to match the child’s temperament with learning styles.

Written Summary of a Research Article
References
Aldridge, J. (1993).Self-Esteem: Loving yourself at every age. Birmingham, AL: Doxa.
Aldridge, J. & Cowles, M. (1990).The development of significance in students through the acceptance of personality, cognitive, and language differences. Education, 110 (3), 323-325.
Chess, F. & Thomas, A. (1987).Know your child. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Cowles, M. & Aldridge, J. (1992).Activity-oriented classrooms. Washington, DC: National Education Association.
Eddowes, E.A., Aldridge, J., & Culpepper, S. (1994).Primary teachers' classroom practices and their perceptions of children's attention problems. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 79, 787-790.
Lerner, J.V., & Lerner, R.M. (Eds.) (1986).Temperament and social interaction in infants and children. San Francisco: Josey-Bass.
Pullis, M.E., & Cadwell, J. (1982).The influence of children's temperament characteristics on teachers' decision strategies. American Research Journal, 19 (2), 165-180.
Thomas, A., & Chess, S. (1977).Temperament and development. New York: Brunner/Mazel. The Temperament Trap: Recognizing and Accommodating Children's Personalities