Modern theories of child development are the result of centuries of change. At the time of the 17th century enlightenment, new philosophies and important conceptions of childhood emerged. Most prominent was John Locke¡¦s ¡¥tabula rasa¡¦ idea (Berk, 2003) of the child as a ¡¥blank slate¡¦ on entering the world and whose character was shaped by subsequent experiences. Today it is appreciated that social development reflects more than just environmental influences and furthermore, that children are individuals from birth on. Temperament is a conceptual tool for describing and understanding early-appearing individual differences in behaviour (Wachs & Bates, 2001). The word temperament comes from Latin and refers to the mixing of ingredients, and consequently, temperament is seen as a set of traits and not a trait itself. There is not a universally agreed upon definition of temperament although a working definition proposed by Bates (1989, as cited in Wachs et al, 2001)......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 2228
Approximate Pages: 9 (260 words per double-spaced page) |