Temp Self-Reg & Education

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School PsychologyReview1998,

Vol.

27, No. 4,pp.479-491

Temperament, Self-Regulation, and Education

Mary K. Rothbart and Laura B. JonesUniversityof Oregon

Abstract: In recent years, advances in the study of temperament have identified a short listof temperament dimensions. These include positive

emotionality/approach,

fear,irritability/

frustration, attentional persistence and activity level. In this article, we review research onthe first four of these dimensions, briefly linking them to underlying biological systems.We then apply our knowledge of temperament to teachers approaches tochildrens masterymotivation, fear of novelty, and ego based anxiety. We argue that educators training shouldinclude a basic understanding of the development of temperament as well as methods forassessing individual differences in childrens emotional reactivity and attentional self-regulation.

Recent increases in our understanding oftemperament have created new ways for ap-proaching the education of the child. Theseapproaches allow us to appreciate the ways inwhich children differ from another, and thepositive contributions of this variability to theclassroom and society. In this article, we beginwith some introductory remarkson temperamentand schooling. We then review results of studiesidentifying basic dimensions of temperament thatcan affect childrens exploration, discovery, and

learning as well as their discouragement, anger,and avoidance of potential sources of knowledge.We describe the structure of temperament as ithas emerged from research during the past twodecades, briefly linking this structure to theoriesof underlying biological systems. The structureof temperament that has emerged includes indivi-dual tendencies toward fear, angedfrustration,positive affect and approach, activity level, andeffortful or executive attention. These emotional,energetic, and attentional systems have beenconserved in evolution and are associated intheories of temperament with underlying neural

networks and neurotransmitter activity.We consider implications of individual

variability in these tendencies for the childs

experiences in school. We discuss ways in whichmastery motivation may be related to childrensfear and avoidant tendencies, approach, andeffortful control of emotion and action. Finally,we review implications of a temperamentalunderstanding of children for the training ofeducators and the assessment of children.

Temperament and Schooling

In theories of temperament, early individual

differences in emotionality, activity level, andattention are seen as based on a set of brainsystems underlying childrens reactivity and self-regulation (Rothbart, Derryberry, & Posner,1994).When there is variability in the sensitivityof these systems, the same stimulus does not havethe same effect for all: children differ in howeasily and intensely they become fearful, frus-trated, orpositively excited. They differ in capa-cities for attentional self-regulation.By the timeof school entry, temperament affects the natureof the childs adjustment to the requirements andchallenges of the educational setting. Experiences

of success and failure in the school related to theseadjustments influence the childs representationsand evaluations of self, school, teachers and peers.

This work has been supported with NIMH GrantNo. 43361 awarded to the first author.

Address all correspondenceconcerning

this article to Mary K. Rothbart, Department of Psychology, 1227University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1227.E-mail: [email protected].

Copyright 1998 by the National Association of School Psychologists, ISSN 0279-6015

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Although temperament researchers hadoriginally believed that temperament systemswould be in place very early in development andchange little with the passage of time e.g., Buss

Plomin, 1984), we have since learned that

temperament systems follow a developmentalcourse (Rothbart, 1989; Rothbart Bates, 1998).Childrens reactive tendencies to both experienceand express negative and positive emotions, andtheir responsivity to events in the environmentcan be observed very early in life, but childrensself-regulatory executive attention developsrelatively late and continues to develop through-out the early school years. Because executiveattention is involved in the regulation of emotions,some school children will be lacking in controlsof emotion and action that other children candemonstrate with ease.

The influence of temperament upon person-ality and schooling and contributions of theschool to personality can be considered innumerous ways. Temperament refers to therelativestrengthof childrens emotional reactionsand related behaviors as well as their capacitiesfor self-regulation. Emotional reactions and self-regulatory capacities are important in childdevelopment. Children differ, however, in thestrengths of their temperamental tendencies andcapabilities. Some children are at the extremesof temperament; for example, some children tendto approach new situations rapidly and im-

pulsively, are less subject to fear and have lesscapacity for attentional control than others. Somechildren are easily overwhelmed by stimulation;some show powerful tendencies to irritabilityandfrustration. Children at the extremes clearlydemonstrate the power of temperament in theclassroom, and it is important to take thesetemperament characteristics into account.

While childrens individual differencesinfluence their own adaptation to the classroom,these characteristics also have an importantinfluence on how students are viewed and treated

by their teachers. Thomas and Chess (1977)developed the concept goodness-of-fit to

describe how well childrens characteristics,capacities and temperament meet theexpectationsand demands of the environment (Keogh, 1994;Thomas Chess, 1977; Thomas, Chess, &Birch,1968). The goodness-of-fit concept provides aframework for thinking about interactions

between children and the classroom environment.Maintenance of classroom order isa priority forteachers. When teachers are presented with

behavior potentially disruptive to classroomroutine, they must make quick decisions abouthow to manage and respond to this behavior. Poorfit can result when childrens characteristics failto meet teachers expectations of acceptable

behavior.Teachers have a priori ideas about thequalities of a model student (Keogh, 1989); thesequalities include temperament variables such ashigh attention span, adaptability and approach,and low activity and reactivity. Students areviewed as more teachable when they closelymatch this set of variables, and less teachable thefiuther they are from the set. The quality of theteacher-child interaction also is related to thismatch. In one study, Martin (1989) reported thatchildren distractible and low in attention receivedmore criticism from their teachers. Pullis (1985)

discovered that when teachers thought childrenwere capable of, but not practicing, self-control,they were more likely to discipline the childrenwith more punitive and coercive disciplinetechniques.

Increasing teachers understanding ofchildrens individual differences and their relationto adaptations or problems can be extremelyhelpful in shifting the focus from teachersnegative attributions of purposeful misbehaviorto active problem-solving. Increasing teachersawareness of how childrens temperamentdimensions might contribute to the situation canlead to reduced conflict (Pullis, 1985) and to thedevelopment of appropriate strategies specific tothe temperament dimensions involved. Whenchildren feel accepted and respected as indivi-duals, the focus moves from one of accusation toone of support; children feel less compelled toexpend energy defending their positions and theyare more inclined to consider alternatives forresolving problems.

While individual differences play a role inchildrens initial goodness-of-fit to the classroomenvironment, especially for children at theextremes of temperament, it also is helpful toconsider how these processes underlie adjustment

and adaptation to the school environment forallchildren. For children generally, punishment canlead to inhibition and avoidance; failure can leadto defense or frustration. Positive affect and goalorientation are related to curiosity and energy formost children, and executive attention supportschildrens flexible response. The dynamics ofthese systems are important in maintaining andenhancing childrens motivation in the classroom,


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Temperament, Self-Regulation, and Education 481

not just for children at the extremes, but for allchildren, and we consider these dynamics in thenext section of this article. Finally, temperamentdoes not account for all aspects of schoolexperience. Childrens reactions to success and

failure in the classroom are subject to powerfulsocializing influences in the home and during

previous schooling. For example, temperamentaffects self-evaluations, but children will enterschools with differing degrees of preparation forclassroom learning, and with personalities thatvary in their vulnerability and resilience tochallenge and disappointment. Children whose

parents have given unconditional support aremore likely to have more stable positive self-evaluations; children whose parents have beenrejecting or conditional in their acceptance arelikely to be less resilient (Harter, 1998).

DimensionsofTreatment

Although temperament theory has an ancienthistory, its application to child study has beenrelatively recent (see review in Rothbart Bates,1998). In the great normative developmentalstudies of the 1920s and 1930s, Gesell (1928)and Shirley (1933) identified what Shirley calledthe early core of personality. Gesell and Shirleyargued that although childrens emotionalreactions change with development (for example,children decrease in their expressed negativeemotion with age), childrens individuality can

neverthelessbe observed in such reactionsas fear,positive affect, humor, and irritability. Gesellnoted that for any set of temperament character-istics, alternative pathways for development alsowill exist, dependent upon the childs socialexperiences.

To illustrate this principle, he used lhe caseof CD, who had maintained her tendencies topositive emotions, beginning at the time that shewas nine months old

She is now five years of age, and in spiteof a varied experience in boarding homesand institutions she has not lost these

engaging characteristics. They are part andparcel of her makeup.. . .

It can be predictedwith much certainty that she will retain herpresent emotional equipment when she isan adolescent and an adult. But more thanthis cannot be predicted in the field of

personality. For whether she becomes adelinquent, and she is potentially one, willdepend upon her subsequent training,

conditioning, and supervision. She ispotentially, also, a willing, helpful,productive worker. (Gesell, 1928, cited inKessen, 1965,p. 223)

Parents and educators employ training, condi-tioning and supervision of children in the hopeand expectation of positive developmentaloutcomes. To do this well, it is helpful when thechilds reactive and regulative equipment istaken into account.

Researchers with the greatest impact onstudies of temperament in childhood are

psychiatrists Stella Chess and Alexander Thomasand their colleagues in the New York Longitu-dinal Study, (NYLS); (Thomas Chess, 1977,Thomas, Chess, Birch, Hertzig, Korn, 1963).The NYLS researchers initially conducted acontent analysis on mothers reports of their

childrens behavior during the first six monthsof life, identifying nine dimensions of tempera-ment variability. The dimensions they identifiedincluded childrens activity level, threshold forreaction, rhythmicity of eating, sleeping andbowel movement patterns, intensity of response,approach versus withdrawal to new situations,general mood, adaptability to change, distracti-bility and attention spadpersistence. Recentresearch however, suggests important revisionsof this list (Rothbart Bates, 1998).

In part, revisions of the list are requiredbecause temperament develops. The NYLScontent analysis was based on individual

variability in young infants. The dimensionsidentified characterizechildren early in life; later-developing dimensions were not considered. Onemajor area undergoing development is effortfidor executive attention (Ruff Rothbart, 1996):the orienting and distractibility observed in younginfants early months of life is chiefly reactive andautomatic. Beginning late in the first year anddeveloping through the grade school years,however, executive attentional control allowsincreasing self-regulation of behavior andemotion.

A second reason why revisions of theNYLS

dimensions are needed is that the nine NYLSdimensions, devised for clinical and not psycho-metric purposes, show considerable conceptualoverlap (Rothbart Mauro, 1990). For example,NYLS mood and adaptability dimensions overlapwith each other and with the approach-withdrawalconstruct. This conceptual overlapisreflected inresearch findings. Measures of someof the ninedimensions are so strongly intercorrelated that a

I


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482 School PsychologyReview, 1998, Vol. 27,No. 4

single dimension is indicatede.g., approach-

withdrawal and adaptability); for other dimen-sions, different aspects of a postulated dimensionare not sufficiently related to each other. For

example, a child may not be intense in both fearand positive reactions, thereby lowering internalreliability for an intensity scale (see reviews byMartin, Wisenbaker, Huttunen, 1994; Rothbart

Mauro, 1990). Factor analytic work reviewedby Martin et al. (1994) and Rothbart and Mauro(1990) suggests that the dimensions identified bythe NYLS can be described by a smaller numberof factors.

For school-age children, this shorter list oftemperament dimensions includes negativeemotionality assessed in fear and irritability/

frustration as well as approacWpositive affect,attentional persistence, and activity level(Rothbart Bates, 1998). Two much smallerfactors, rhythmicity and threshold, have beenfound in some studies. In the next section, we

briefly review the first four of these dimensions,includmg emotional reactivity dimensions and thelater developing executive attentional self-regulatory system. We also briefly refer to linksmade between these systems and underlying brainsystems. The references to brain systems will not

be clear to all readers, and can be skipped, but

they are important. For readers who desire anintroduction to some of the ideas presented here,books by Posner and Raichle (1

994),

LeDoux(1996), and Panksepp (1998) are recommended.

Positive AffectIApproach

This cluster of temperament dimensionsincludes positive affect and rapid approach ofrewarding objects or events. Individual differ-ences in positive affect canbeobserved very earlyand they show considerable stability across thefirst year of life. Smiling is related to the rapidityof infants approach to novel objects as early as6 months of age (Rothbart, 1988). Smiling andlaughter in the laboratory during infancy also

predict activity, approach, and impulsivity atseven years of age as reported by childrensmothers (Rothbart, Derryberry, Hershey,1995). In our research assessing temperament inchildren3 to 7 years of age, using the ChildrensBehavior Questionnaire (CBQ; Rothbart, Ahadi,Hershey, Fisher, 1997),we found activity levelto be related to a broad factor that also includesapproach and positive affect and we have called

this factor Surgencyor Extraversion.

Gray (1987) described a similar BehavioralActivation System (BAS), which responds tosignals of reward. It involves the recruiting ofdopamine systems facilitating action. Depue and

Iacono (1989) also described a doparnine-relatedBehavioral Facilitation System (BFS). Blockageof this system is seen to lead to imtative andaggressive behavior to remove the obstacle orthreat. A similar approach system is Panksepps(1986a) Expectancy-Foraging System, whichincludes motor and autonomic responses toemotional states such as desire, curiosity,anticipatory eagerness, and locomotion. All ofthese models posit neural systems linked to

positive affect and related to facilitated behavior,particularly in the form of approach (Rothbart,

Derryberry, Posner, 1994). As discussedbelow, the approach system is of centralimportance to schooling, in its associations withcuriosity, eagerness, and energy toward goalsatisfaction related to the construct of masterymotivation. When it is not controlled, however,the child may show failure of self-regulation inthe classroom.

Fear

Fearfulness can be defined as a tendency to

negative affect and inhibition or withdrawal inresponse to novelty, challenge, or signals ofpunishment. This dimension has been calledwithdrawal in the NYLS studies (ThomasChess,

1977),

fearfulness (Rothbart, 1989) andbehavioral inhibition (Kagan, 1994). Individualdifferences in fearfulness to novelty can be seen

by the last quarter of the first year of life, andfear reactions in older infants are predictable fromfour-month-olds negative affect and activity inresponse to stimulation at four months of age(Kagan, 1998). Individual differences in children

behavioral inhibition and shyness show consider-able stability with time, and infants fear reactionsin the laboratory during the first year of life are

predictive of their mothers reports of childrensfear and shyness at age seven years (Rothbart etal., 1995).

Of all the temperament systems, fear hasprobably been the most studied by neuroscientists

e.g., Davis, 1992; LeDoux, 1996; review byRothbart, Derryberry, Posner, 1994). Fearresponses are rapidly recruited in the amygdala,

part of the brains limbic system. Gray (1982)described fear or anxiety reactions in terms of a

Behavioral Inhibition System or BIS. In Grays


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model, brain circuits underlying the BIS includehippocampus, subiculum, septum and relatedstructures. The BIS opposes the behavioral ap-

proach of the BAS. Because many situationsinvolve cues related to both reward and punish-ment, reward cues would trigger the BAS, punish-ment cues the BIS. Persons with stronger BAStendencies will thenbe more likely to act in agiven situation and be seen as extraverted; thosewith stronger BIS to become shy, inhibited orintroverted.

A fear reaction includes many responselevels (see Rothbart et al., 1994 for review), in-cluding arousal, recruitment of attention towardthe fear object and possible escape routes, auto-nomic nervous system effects (heart rate andrespiratory increases, sweaty palms), and somaticnervous system reactions (muscle tension, arrest

of ongoing behavior, tendency to startle).Influences of fear or anxiety in disruptingthinking,e.g., in childrens test anxiety, have beenan object of interest of school psychologists formany years e.g., Sarason, Lighthall, Davidson,Waite, Ruebush, 1960).

Irritability/Frustration

Irritability/frustrationis defined as affect inresponse to failure in goal attainment, removalof reward,orblockage of progress toward a goal.In some factor analyses of temperament data on

school-age children, this dimension forms partof a cluster of Negative Emotionality, combinedwith fearfulness, tendencies to discomfort, andsadness; in other studies, it emerges as a separatefactor (Rothbart Bates, 1998). Infant research,however, uniformly differentiates these twoforms of negative affect.InGrays (1982) theore-tical model, the amygdala, hypothalamus, andmidbrain support aggressive and defensivebehavior in response to frustration and form afighvflight

system. Earlyfiustration

reactions ofinfants in the laboratory are predictive of child-rens reactions to frustration (and their levels of

aggression) as reported by their mothers whenthe children are seven years of age (Rothbart etal., 1995). Like fear, frustration has importantimplications for school situations associated withfailure,

aggression, and defensive tendencies.

AttentionSpan/ Effortful Control

Attentional processes show considerabledevelopment from infancy through the early

school years (Ruff Rothbart, 1996). Infantsdemonstrate reactive orienting that, whensustained, appears to be related to interest in anobject. This orienting system is subject tohabituation, when repeated events no longerevoke as strong a reaction, but it also supportslearning, when an event indicates where some-thing interesting or important will appear next(Posner Raichle, 1994).The posterior orientingnetwork, including cortical, midbrain andthalamic areas, underlies early orienting (Posner

Raichle, 1994). Children differ in both theirlatency to orient and in their duration of orientingto novelty (Ruff Rothbart, 1996). Individualdifferences in duration of orienting in infancyarerelated to caregiver reports of smiling andlaughter and vocal activity (Rothbart Bates,1998).

By late in the first yearof life, a second, moreanterior brain system is developing that will allowdeployment of attention in the service of longer-term goals as well as planning and persistence inthe face of distraction (Ruff Rothbart, 1996).We have called this the executive attentionsystem, and it supports effortful control, that is,the ability to inhibit a dominant response toperform a subdominant response. Executiveattention has been the subject of considerablerecent study by neuropsychologists and cognitive

psychologists. Executive or effortful attention isrelated to the activation of midline frontal brain

areas, including the anterior cingulate andadjacent structures (Posner Raichle, 1994).

Effortful control constructs have becomeextremely important in understanding influencesof temperament on behavior. Until recently,almost all of the major theories of temperamenthave focused on its more reactive aspects relatedto reward, punishment, and arousal to stimulation.Thus, people have been seen to be at the mercyof their temperamental tendencies to approachor avoid a situation or stimulus, given reward orpunishment cues. More extraverted individualswere expected to be sensitive to reward and to

show tendencies to rapid approach; more fearfulor introverted individuals, sensitive to punish-ment, showing inhibition or withdrawal fromexcitement (Gray, 1975). Systems of effortfblcontrol, however, allow the approach of situationsin the face of immediate cues for punishment.,and avoidance of situations in the face ofimmediate cues for reward. The programming ofeffortful control is critical to socialization. Thework of Kochanska (1995) indicates that the


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development of conscienceisrelated to tempera-mental individual differences in effortful control.The home and the school are two of the majorsites for programming attention, effort, and

conscience. Using these dimensions of tempera-ment variability as a starting point, we nowconsider issues that relate temperament to theclassroom.

Applying Temperament Systemsto the Classroom

Rothbart, Ahadi, and Hershey (1 994)described some of the basic ways in whichtemperament can be seen to affect childrenssocial experience, and we would expect these toapply to the classroom as well as to the home.

First, individual differences in temperament meanthat the same environment will be processeddifferently by different children. Some childrenwill be more easily overwhelmed by intenselevels of stimulation e.g., noise, activity) thanothers; our data indicate that these children alsoare likely to be more fearful (Rothbart et al.,1997). The reaction we are referring to is notequivalent to fear, however; it is a feeling ofdiscomfort that may make processing comitivematerial more difficult. Other children havestronger tendencies to positive affect and

potentially out-of-control action; these childrenmay become especially excited about upcomingpositive events, and they are likely to be moresubject to contagious excitement. These tempera-mental reactions, in turn,will form the basis forchildrens affective memories and evaluations ofthe classroom and their classroom habits. Forsome children, a teachers actions that might beexpected togain the childs focus of attention alsowill not be sufficient, and these children may failto be influenced by what the teacher is sayingand doing.

Teachers can directly address some of thesetendencies. Fearful children, for example, can

benefit by gradual introductionof new informa-

tion and novel situations, until they are com-fortable with them. With higher comfort levels,inhibition of behavioral response is less likely,

permitting the child to have a relatively positiveexperience with novel situations. For childrenhighly sensitive to overstimulation, loud andboisterous activity can be stressful and fatiguing,and quiet places allowing them recover fromexcitement are helpful. Children who are veryactive may require motor outlets in opportunities

for exercise and movement. Motor activities(pointing, reaching, moving fkom one locationto another, retrieving objects) also can be usedas an adjunct to teaching.

Temperamental processes also are stronglyimplicated in the nature of social learning. Gray1975, 1982) described individuals with high

behavioral activation systems (BAS) as moresubject to reward; individuals with high beha-vioral inhibition systems (BIS) as more subjectto punishment. This has important implicationsfor the classroom. Much of what adults requireof children involves the inhibition of actions thechild might prefer to be doing, sothat for childrenwith a strongBIS,compliance will be much easierthan for children with a strong BAS and a weakBIS. For the latter children, it may be more

important to stress what the child cando in a givensituation rather than what a child shouldnotbedoing. On the other hand, children with a strongBIS can become more easily discouraged andmay benefit from frequent but accurate feedbackabout their performance, to counteract theirtendencies to discouragement. Attentionalswitching also may be so difficult for somechildren that both rewards and punishments mayhave little effect.

One temperament characteristic also can beused to moderate or control another. Childrenhigher in positive affectlapproach willbe morelikely to become excited about upcoming events,

but unless these reactions are controlled by theBIS (fear or inhibition) or by attentionalcapacities, they are likely to become excited abouttopics that are not part of the teachers agenda.When an outgoing chiId is deficient in executiveattentional control, it may be especiallydificultto shift the childs enthusiasms in the directionthe teacher has chosen. Fearfulnessorbehavioralinhibition to punishment or challenge (Kagan,1998) works in opposition to approach, with moreinhibited children more likely to be quiet andreserved, and to resist impulsive action. Althougheducators often attempt to motivate children

through positive means alone, in fact, classroomrules are often supported by childrens fear ofthe results of infraction. Fear of not receiving

potential rewardsor the possibility of poor gradesalso is a motivating force in children.Forthe childnot prone to temperamentally based fearorschoolanxiety, these influences may be less effective,and attentional control may be much moreimportant.

Both fear (the BIS) and effortful control also


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may moderate childrens risky, impulsive andaggressive behavior. For example, models byLytton (1990) and Quay (Quay, Routh, &Shapiro, 1987) implicate temperament in thedevelopment of aggressive and conduct pro-

blems. Quay et al. (1987) argued that aggressivechildren are likely to have lower levelsofthe BISas well as strongly reactive reward or approachsystems (BAS). Rothbart et al. (1994) found thatinfants with higher activity and positive affect(BAS) in the laboratory and stronger anger/frustration reactions were more likely to engagein aggressive behaviors at age seven; childrenwho had been more

fearful

and inhibited (BIS)were less likely to behave aggressively; theselatter children also showed more empathy toothers.

Children who tend to act quickly and

impulsively, or who explode with frustration,need practice in attentional control.Cognitive-

behavioral approaches for training rule-basedself-control in children with attentional deficitshave often not been effective

Cherkes-

Julkowski, Sharp, & Stolzenberg, 1997). Afterthe fact, this isnot too surprising. These strategiesoften subject children to intensified cognitivedemands as they attempt to invoke and applygeneral rules for their behavior that makecompliance even more difficult.

Cherkes-Julkowski et al. (1997) suggestedthat a master-apprenticecooperative approach tolearning can be helpful in training self-regulation

skills. In this approach, the teacher initially, hasthe executive function of organizing, regulating,and monitoring the process as a whole. It isthrough the joint efforts of repeated action andintersubjectivity that apprentices internalize theactions of the other (Cherkes-Julkowski et al.,1997,

p. 80). Apprenticeship approaches requirecareful task analysis. This analysis can be furtherimplemented by cooperative goal-directedlearning using teaching aides, who can help to

pace children who may work too fast or tooslowly because of self-regulation problems,including anxiety about their work.

Master-

apprentice activity can serve important social-emotional goals for children, providing adultacceptance and support in the context of requiringeffortful performance. Enlisting families andorganizing volunteers

e.g.,

middle and highschool students, retired adults, and even childrenfrom upper grades within the same school) willincrease childrens opportunities for thesevaluable one-on-one experiences.

While it is hard to miss the excitement andenthusiasm expressed by children high inapproach and positive affect, or the dramaticemotional displays of more highly reactivechildren, it also is important to identify and attend

to children who are trying very hard, but forwhom the process of learning does not generatesuch a noticeable effect. It is easy to overlookthe efforts of these more subdued children andconsequently, they may not experience the usualrewards of the classroom. This could lead todiscouragement. Attention to working withdiscouraged children is helpful even though theymay not be actively

stirring

up excitement ordisrupting the classroom. By rewarding effort itmay be possible to decrease childrens dis-couragement. Rewarding childrens efforts putsthe focus on the process of learning. With this

focus, students are less likely to compare theirperformance to that of others, and are more likelyto concentrate on their ownperformance goals.

Mastery Motivation

We now illustrate the applicationof tempera-ment ideas to an important system in support ofeducation, namely, mastery motivation. Masterymotivation is initially closely linked to the basicemotional-motivational systems seen in youngchildren, and hence to variability in functioningof the dimensions identified with temperament.It is further linked to childrens experiences of

reward and punishment in mastery-relatedsituations. Finally, however, with the passage oftime, mastery motivation becomes increasinglyaffected by the evaluations of others and

self-

evaluations reflected in ego involvement andpersonality.

Schooling takes advantage of basic dimen-sions of temperament in the creation of learningenvironments for children. One of the mostimportant of these is positive affect and approach.The positive

affecdapproach

system is an earlysupport for what has been called masterymotivation. Messer described mastery motiva-

tion as, bapsychological force that stimulatesanindividual to attempt independently, in a focusedand persistent manner, to solve problems andmaster a skill or task that is moderately chal-lenging to him or her (Messer, 1995, p. 319).McCall l995)

used the term disposition ratherthan force. He argued that mastery motivation isinborn, but influenced substantially by theenvironment.

Barrett and Morgan (1995) agreed


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486 SchoolPsychologyReview, 1998, Vol. 27,No. 4

that mastery motivation is intrinsic to theindividual. Instrumental aspects of masterymotivation include task persistence, preferencefor challenge or novelty, and an inclination to

control ones environment.Positive affect and approach tendencies arenot the only contributors to childrens masterymotivation. Tendencies to fear, frustration, andeffortful control are all likely additionalcontributors. We have previously discussed threetypes of selection processes linking temperamentand learning: childrens temperamentally basedresponse tendencies, their experience of theemotions and their attentional capacities(Derryberry Rothbart, 1997). Responsetendencies regulate the type of informationchildren are exposed to. Even during infancy,

children act to select the level of stimulation theywill experience, using self-soothing and self-stimulating behavior, or through their directionof attention (Ruff Rothbart, 1996). As noted,

positiveaffect/approach

isrelated to explorationand stimulus seeking, and to duration of interest.

The continuing power of interestorpositiveinvolvement to influence achievement is sug-gested by a meta-analysis of the studies involvingchildren in

grades

5 through 12 (Schiefele, Krapp,Winteler, 1992). In a review of 121 studies

conducted in 18 different countries, Schiefele etal. found that interest accounted for 10%of thevariability in childrens achievement. Interest also

was more strongly related to achievement in boysthan in girls. In ourresearch with college students,we have found that self-reported higher positiveaffect is related to higher scores on the personalitydimension of openness to experience, a likelycontributor to mastery motivation (EvansRothbart, 1998).

Children also differ in their direct emotionalresponses to events and related learning. Fearfulchildren and children who are easily frustratedare more prone to associate negative affect withevents, while children higher in approachexperience more positive affect (Rothbart, 1989).

These emotional responses further influencechildrens

fbture

reactions to challenge and thechilds tendency to approach or avoid challenge.Temperament variability affects the types ofinformation an individual stores in memory.Persons high in anxiety form stronger short-termmemory representations for attended negativewords (Reed

Derryberry,

1995) and theserepresentations can influence how a child viewshimself or others (Rothbart Ahadi, 1994). If

children are fearful, their estimation of theirabilities and likelihood of their success in a givensituation also may be affected, as may be their

perceptions about whether novel peopleorobjects

are a source of safety or of threat (Rothbart &Ahadi, 1994).Fearfbl

children who rely primarilyon

avoidant

strategies may find temporary relieffiom

their anxiety, but their ability to learn aboutperceived situations of threat will be limited. Theymay not learn they can effectively cope in thesesituations and may persist in representing the selfasvulnerable and ineffective (Cortez Bugental,1995).

With development, however, childrenscapacity for effortful control increases.

Atten-

tional control can strongly influence sources ofinput: children are increasingly able to shiftattention away from threatening stimuli and .internal feelings of inefficacy; at the same timethey can more readily focus on positive informa-tion, which can lead to improved self-evaluationsrelating to feelings of efficacy and success.Finally, they can overcome reactive tendenciesand persist in a task, even in the midst of negativeconsequences (Denybeny & Rothbart, 1997).

Attention is not the only route to morepositive experiences for vulnerable children. Itis important to remember that even the mostvulnerable and negative child also has capacitiesfor positive experiences. Accentuating the

positive in the childs experience can serve to

increase mastery motivation. Thinking abouttemperament in this way, we can considerinteractions among systems that can eitherfacilitateor inhibit childrens mastery motivation.Children high in approach and low in fear maylaunch into new situations with zeal; this behavioris useful in that the children are continuallyexposed to situations with the potential forreward, but the lack of fear controls can lead toimpulsive behavior. On the other hand, strongfear and weak behavioral activation can lead tooverregulation of approach; children may avoidnovel situations, resulting in missed opportunities

for the positive experiences of mastery.For thesechildren, accentuating the positive is important.

Mastery motivation will be sustained bychildrens experiences of reward or

non-

punishment in achievement situations (Harter,1980). With age, however, childrens responsesmove from taking direct pleasure in masteringtasks to added concerns about the results of theirefforts and the evaluation of others based on theseresults. Affect is still critically important to


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Temperament, Self-Regulation,and Education 487

mastery motivation, but it is now at least partiallymediated by childrens views of how others viewtheir performance, and by childrens relatedego-involvement, self-evaluation and sense ofcompetence (Harter, 1980). Harter observes thatthe initial purity of affective response to mastery

becomes diluted by the necessity to consider thereactions of significant others in the environment.

Ego-Involvement and Mastery

The development of ego involvementprovides an interesting perspectiveon childrensevolving reactions to success and failure, rewardand punishment. Toward the middle of the secondyear, children begin to show signs of self-consciousness about their appearance and

behavior (Lewis Brooks-Gunn, 1979). Theyincreasingly express pride in mastery and shamein failure to achieve a goal (Lewis Feiring,

1989; Stipek, Recchia, McClintic, 1992). Now,children are more likely to complete tasks, to

pause after completing a task, and to refuse help(Jennings, 1993), suggesting early linksbetweenego and success. Lewis, Alessandri, and Sullivan(1992) found that 33 to 36-month-old childrenshowed more pride upon success in a difficulttask compared to completion of an easy task.They also showed less shame upon failure in adifficult task compared to failureonan easy task.Children at this age are beginning to recognizethat exerting effort on a challenging task isimportant, and that they should persist until thetask is complete (Barrett Morgan, 1995).

Increased self-awareness also supports theemergence of later developing shyness. Buss(1985) argued that self-conscious shyness occurswhen children have attained an advanced,cognitive self (Buss, 1985, p. 43). This self-conscious evaluation isnot soheavily dependentupon temperament. Children who have beencriticized and punished by others may come todemonstrate later appearing shyness even thoughthey earlier showed little shyness (Asendorpf,1990).

It may be useful to distinguish between earlyappearing temperamental fearfulnessor shynessand ego-related anxiety. Temperament tendencies

to fear are seen in childrens inhibition ofexcitement and approach of new situations andchallenges. In addition, however, low orvulnerable self evaluation can lead children witha wide range of temperamental endowments tobecome anxious about the possibility of failure

andor to resist evidence that they have failed (cf.Ausubel, 1996; Ausubel, Sullivan, Ives, 1980).Evaluative reactions may nevertheless be affected

by temperamental fearfulness. Harter 1980), forexample, reported rudimentary signs of fearfulchildrens decreased interest in challenging tasks

and behavioral withdrawal when they arescrutinized and evaluated by others.

In our view, childrensego concerns reflectthe values of their society. In the United States,ego values exist for autonomous achievement,forthrightness and consistency between publicand private selves (Harter, 1998). Ego values havetraditionally varied for girls and boys, withindividual success more important for boys andsocial approval and physical attractiveness moreimportant for girls. As childrens representationsof self develop, their vulnerability and anxietyabout failure in these valued areas increases(Harter, 1998). Childrens temperamental

susceptibility to fear will be a contributor to thesereactions, but at least equally important willbechildrens ego needs for successfulperformance.

Anxiety is related to early experiences in thefamily. Children whose feelings of self-worthdepend chieflyupon their individual performancewill be more anxious about the possibility offailure than children who achieve vicarioussuccess from parental acceptance (Ausubel,1996). Temperamental tendencies to fearfulnesswill contribute to anxiety reactions, but under ego

pressures, even a temperamentally positive andapproaching child can become vulnerable toanxiety about the possibility of failure. In

addition, ego-involved children will be subjectto the frustration, defensiveness, avoidance, anddepression related to avoiding feelings of failureand decreased self-evaluation (Harter, 1998).

Asendorpf (1990) conducted an importantlongitudinal study of childrens shyness and

behavioral inhibition in a classroom setting. Inhis research, children who showed fear ofstrangers (early appearing shyness) were inhibitedin the classroom early in the year, but by the endof the year were likely to have made anadjustment to the class setting. Other children,however, became more inhibited during thecourse of the school year and increasingly isolated

from others. Asendorpf suggests that this laterdeveloping shyness occurs for children who havebehaved in ways that led to rejection from theirpeers. In Asendorpf and van Akens (1994)follow ups of the children, early appearingshyness (stranger fear) was not the major


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488 School Psychology Review, 1998, Vol. 27,No. 4

predictor of later self-esteem; the children likelyto develop lower self-esteem were those showinglater developing shyness.

It is important to note, however, thatAsendorpf research was conducted in German

classes where children remained in the same classfrom year to year, allowing stronger peerinfluence. Cross-cultural research also suggeststhat the value of outgoing versus shy behaviorwill differ from one cultural group to another. Inthe United States, early appearing shyness maycreate more problems of adjustment than it wouldin Germany. However, Asendorpf findingssuggest that punishment related concerns may beat least as important as initial temperament in thedevelopment of behavior problems with self-esteem. Teachers can be alert to peer rejection inthe classroom and work to create opportunitiesfor these children to become more involved with

their peers. Closely monitored small groupactivity in which the teacher or aide observes thegroup at play, models appropriate strategies forinitiating peer contact, and facilitates cooperative

play is one helpful way to ease children into peerrelationships and bolster their confidence in socialsituations.

Cicchetti and Tucker (1994)argue that earlyincompetence tends to promote later incom-

petence, because the person reaches successivestages of development with inadequate resources.Children high in fearand/or low in self-evaluationmay thus come to avoid achievement situations,

resulting in relative inexperience and possiblefeelings of inadequacy. With the development ofself-awareness, the child may experience feelingsof shame connected with feelings of inadequacy,leading to an even stronger fear or anxiety andavoidance in response to novel or challengingsituations. This developmental progression,however, isnot without recourse. Changes in theexternal and internal environment may lead toimprovements in an individuals ability to masterdevelopmental changes and to redirect thedevelopmental trajectory (Cicchetti Tucker,1994). Repeatzd opportunities for mastery innovel situations might alter the childs perception

of novel experiences as threatening and bad to aperception of the experiencesassafe and positive.The emergence of effortful control is anotherimportant internal element to mastery. Usingeffort, children now will have an increasedcapacity to modulate reactive systems.

In older children, two kinds of academicachievement goals have been identified, one

including intrinsic mastery motivation and taskinvolvement, the other extrinsic motivation,

performance evaluation, and ego involvement.Ina review of the relations between these twoorientations and cognitive engagement, Pintrich,

Marx, and Boyle (1993) reported that, afocuson mastery or learning goals can result in deepercognitive processing on academic tasks than afocus on the self (ego-involved)or a focus on

performance (grades, besting others), whichseems to result in more surface processing andless overall cognitive engagement (p. 173). Inturn, mastery motivation is affected by schoolstructure: children are more oriented towardmastery when the goals they are directed towardare meaningful and challenging, when thechildren themselves have some control of thedirection of their effort, and when evaluationsarenot highly focused on external rewards, compe-

tition or social comparison. When performanceis focused on reward and competition, childrentend to be more concerned about doing better thanothers orpleasing the teacher, than on under-standing the content of what is taught (review byPintrich et al., 1993).

External standards do, however, have theirplace in the classroom. Although it may appearthat external standards interfere with thedevelopment of intrinsic motivation, standards inthe classroom actually serve to maintain order inaddition to providing important learning goals forchildren to pursue. An optimal learning environ-

ment is one in which these external standardsserve as a scaffold for students as they work tocultivate their own approach to leamirig.Teachersbring vast knowledge about how to meet thesestandards to the classroom. This knowledge,coupled with an increased understanding ofchildrens individual differences permits thedevelopment of approaches that best matchstudents needs, thereby stimulating childrensintrinsic motivation.

What fosters the development of intrinsicmotivation? Recall that the definition of masterymotivation centersonan individuals attempts tosolve challenging problems. Childrens individual

differences contribute to their unique experienceof challenge, adjustment and mastery in school,but the classroom environment will have asubstantial impact on this experience. Providingextracurricular activities and multiple oppor-tunities in the classroom for young people with awide variety of temperament characteristics tolearn and to excel also promote feelings of


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mastery. Following this approach, almost allchildren can find a school activity they are goodat. In addition, many children will developmultiple interests, so that if one learning pursuit

is not going well, another will be available toshore up the childs self-evaluation and maintainmotivation for mastery. Education can do manythings to encourage students to find joy inlearning, to welcome new opportunities, and tofollow through on tasks.

Temperament: Training and Assessment

In this section, we apply topics we havediscussed to the training of educators and school

psychologists and to the use of broad-basedassessment in the classroom. Because tempera-

ment variability in emotion, motivation and self-regulation strongly influence childrens learningand failure to learn, itbecomes necessary for theeducator to follow the advice of educationalpsychologists to teach children, not subjectmatter (Sarason, 1993, p. 124). To do this,educators should understand childrens tempera-ment and personality characteristics as well asthey understand their cognitive-process ingcapacities. This means that programs for collegeand university training of educators shouldinclude state-of-the-art knowledge of childtemperament and development and their relation

to the classroom. In the creation and imple-mentation of this curriculum, collaborationsbetween educators and developmental psychol-ogists would have much to offer.

A second application of temperament ideasis to assessment.As in the assessment of cognitiveskills, a multidimensional approach to tempera-ment-related assessment is helpful. Informationabout temperament can be obtained from theparent, so that the teacher or school psychologistcan learn about aspects of the childs emotionalreactivity and attentional self-regulation as theyare shown outside of the classroom. Measures

such as the Childrens Behavior Questionnaire(Rothbart et al., 1997) for children from 3 to 8years of age or McClowry, Hegvik, and Teglasis(1993) measure for children from 8 to 12 yearsof age are useful for obtaining information abouttemperament from the parents. Another importantsource of information is the classroom teacher.In assessing temperament, Keoghs TeacherTemperament Questionnaire can assist teacherswith identifying childrens temperamentaltendencies (Pullis, 1989;Pullis Cadwell, 1985).

Assessment of classroom structure also isessential (Keogh, 1994). Keogh argued thattraditional assessment focuses upon the childwhile ignoring critical information about

contributions of the school environment to thechilds adaptations (Keogh Speece, 1996).Children high in activity, for example, may havedifficulty sitting for long periods of time; highlyreactive children may be bothered by noise andcrowding (Rothbart Jones, in press).

In assessment, one important distinction isbetween the childrens early appearing fearful-ness and their evaluation anxiety based on egoconcerns. Some shy and fearful children will beslow to adapt to new situations, including testing,and they need time and familiarity with the settingto do their best. Other problems are more related

to evaluation concerns. Variations in admin-istration of test items can be used to examineeffects of ego involvement and evaluation anxiety(Smith, 1988). Smith described an apparentlyanxious 10-year-old who is given accurateinformation that she orhe had responded to someof the questions at above a 16-year level; thisinformation led to increased confidence, allowingthe child to correctly perform items sheorhe hadpreviously failed. Other assessment variations caninvestigate sources of inattentive childrenserrors, for example, by looking for improvementwhen the childs attention is directed to relevant

features of a display, or when competingresponses are reduced, or when backgroundstimulation is increased or decreased (Smith,1988).

Sarason et al. (1960) noted that we oftenforget what a powerful figure a teacher is in thelives of children. All children benefit from aclassroom atmosphere created by the teacher thatfosters their desire to learn, and provides exposureto a challenging and meaningful cumculum. They

benefit from a place where efforts are encouragedand rewarded; an environment where childrencollaborate with peers, rather than compete with

them, and a climate in which children are acceptedand supported regardless of their intellectual andtemperament characteristics. A Zen story mayapply to this last point, One day Banzan waswalking through a market when he overheard acustomer ask a butcher for the best piece of meathe had. Every piece in my shop is the best, thebutcher said. Hearing the butchers explanation,Banzan became enlightened (Schiller, 1997).Acceptance benefits all children, helping themachieve classroom skills by taking on new


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