Who Is Bowlby's Temperamental Categories Of Childhood?

Thomas and Chess created temperamental categories based off of a study done on a large group of infants. These categories include “easy,” “slow to warm up,” and “difficult” babies. Ronan is very active, but is often fussy and irritable for no apparent reason. He also becomes upset and clings to me while sobbing when in new situations or meets new people. So, in terms of Thomas and Chess’s classical temperamental categories, Ronan is a difficult baby.

At 8 months, Ronan turns to me when he is in distress or needs comforting. Based off of Bowlby’s view, Ronan follows the same characteristics as many other babies because the special relationship is generally formed between the mother and child, which is what Ronan and I have. It is also clear
that Ronan shows preference for me over anyone else, with my husband a close second. At 8 months, it is noticeable that Ronan has a secure attachment pattern. The reason for this could be because I am usually the one to change his diapers, feed him, and play with him. So to balance out Ronan’s relationship attachment, my husband is going to spend more time doing those things with him. According to Feldman, Ronan could also feel “safer” with me because the way that fathers play with their children differ from the way mothers tend to play with their children. Fathers may like to play rough and physical activities and mothers play calmer, verbal games like peek-a-boo (pg. 183). At 12 months, Ronan still will turn to me when he is in distress, especially around new people or in a new environment. He doesn’t like to play at the park unless he knows I am there for him to run back to. However, after my husband received a pay raise, everyone is very happy and we notice that Ronan is becoming more emotionally attached to my husband. This could be because we are having Ronan spend more time with him, and also because everyone is still in a good mood about my husband’s raise. Ronan can see and feel the excitement, even though he doesn’t truly understand what is going on. According to Feldman, as fathers took a more active role in children’s lives, some infants formed their primary relationship with their father instead of mother (pg. 182). So, based off of this information, the more time spent with a parent, the stronger their relationship is. This shows in Ronan as well, because after having my husband spend more time with him, Ronan has become more emotionally attached to him; though I am still the person he prefers the most.
At 18 months, Ronan is still timid around adults and other children at daycare or at playgroup, but he has two or three adults that he relies on for emotion support.
According to Feldman, many babies at the age of 18 months have formed multiple relationships (pg. 182). At first, Ronan did not want to stay with his caregiver when my husband and I dropped him off at daycare. However, by the time he reached 18 months, he was less clingy and wanted to be put down more often to venture about new areas. This new change in Ronan is most likely from my husband and I pushing him to meet one new adult and their child for play dates and get to know them fairly well before introducing another new person to Ronan. Also we take the time to explain why we have to leave him at daycare and that we will be back to pick him up in a few
hours.

Ronan is a very active child. Since Ronan was born, he rarely slept and tended to be awake most of the time, this continued through the first 18 months. Also from the time he was able to crawl he was always on the go. It got to the point where we had to baby proof the entire house because he was constantly in motion. He is not a very sociable child, though. He tends to withdrawal from environments where there are unfamiliar faces and run back to me or my husband. We have to plan play dates with one adult and one child at a time with multiple meetings before Ronan will feel more relaxed and comfortable around them.
Ronan is also a highly emotional child. He has fluctuations in mood often. He shows a wide range of emotions, as well, including happiness while play games, anger when he can not figure a difficult problem out, and distress when new people are around.
He was a very cooperative child, but that behavior changed around the age of 18 months. He started to become resistant to my request for cooperation, and he will often say “no” to things that he used to accept willingly like bath time or eating some foods. Ronan has a strong sense of self-control. He is patient and likes to plan few steps ahead when making decisions. He listens fairly well to directions or when we tell him to wait. His temperament has stayed the same for the most part. The only difference that we have notice in the five aspects of temperament is his aggressiveness vs cooperativeness. He used to be willing to help when we asked and do what we say, but lately he hasn’t been willing to and will use “no” more often. One example of goodness of fit that we are using with Ronan is encouraging him to be more sociable with others by inviting people over to have play dates with him. We also are making him play with other children at the park while we watch from a distance instead of standing right next to him.

One of the implicit assumptions that are guiding my husband and I in our parenting practices is the theory of ethology.
I believe that some of the Ronan’s level of intelligence comes from having two well-educated parents whose genes were passed down to him, so we are able to teach him new ideas and games at a younger age due to the fact he is genetically “made” to be smart. Since he is showing us that he is slightly more advanced in many areas than the other children his age, we can see that this theory has been guiding us in our parenting practices. Another theory that is guiding us in our parenting practices is the classic learning theory. For example when we read a children’s book to Ronan before bed, that book is now associated with bedtime and going to sleep. The same goes for singing a bedtime song as he is lying down. I believe that if you associate one thing with another enough times, when they see or hear their stimulus, the response will follow almost every
time. The last theory that is guiding our parenting practice with Ronan is the social learning theory. I feel this one plays the largest role in Ronan’s development. This theory follows the saying “monkey see, monkey do.” I learned best through examples and watching others go through it, so I feel that is the best way for Ronan to learn, especially at such a young age. For example if I want him to help me with something, I will “model” or show him what to do first so that he knows how to do it. The same concept goes for how I treat other people while he is watching, so that he knows to always be kind to others.