Exploring the Role of Temperament in Human Development Across the Lifespan
How do children’s biologically based traits shape their development, and what can parents, teachers and others do to support them?
The Department of Educational Psychology at Texas A&M University (EPSY) hosted more than 100 scholars and practitioners from around the world to address the issue of Temperament in human development at the 25th Occasional Temperament Conference.
Temperament research examines biologically based individual differences in emotional reactivity, self-regulation and behavioral style that many researchers view as the building blocks for personality traits later in life.
Dr. Jeffrey Liew, who leads EPSY, said understanding these differences helps teachers and parents work better with children.
“Temperament research can inform and guide how parents and educators create home and classroom environments that support and nurture children’s individual characteristics as they grow from early childhood through adolescence and into adulthood,” he explained.
Liew and his research team at Texas A&M published findings in Early Childhood Research Quarterly demonstrating that students who struggle with self-regulation can achieve academic test scores comparable to their peers when supported by teachers who intentionally foster nurturing, responsive classroom environments tailored to their needs.
Dr. Xinyin Chen of the University of Pennsylvania gives a keynote presentation on developmental processes at the OTC.
The November conference explored connections between research and practice across multiple dimensions, including keynote presentations on temperament and socioemotional development in a cultural context and temperament foundations of early cognitive development.
More than 40 institutions across the United States, Canada, Italy, Switzerland and Asia were represented at the event.
For media inquiries, contact Ruben Hidalgo.
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