Browsing by Author "Puro, Kaisa"

Objectives. Temperament refers to person’s innate and relatively stable tendencies to react and act. Previous studies suggest that various temperamental traits are associated with learning later in childhood but less is known about the effects of infant temperament on learning early in childhood, and the evidence is somewhat contradictory. In this study, temperament is examined via three dimensions, surgency, negative affectivity, and regulation. The dimension of regulation is related to processes of attention, of which involuntary attention shift is of interest in this study. The research question is whether the dimensions of temperament assessed in infancy either alone or through the mediating effect of involuntary attention shifting are related to a child’s information processing skills at 28 months of age. It is assumed that an easily distractible baby may not be able to benefit from learning situations with an adult as effectively as a baby with more stable temperamental traits. Methods. The research data was gathered in the Lukivauva follow-up study, which examines the child’s linguistic development and hereditary risks of reading difficulties from birth. Approximately 200 families were recruited to the Lukivauva project during 2015–2017 before the birth of their children, and 73 of these children were selected to participate in this study. At six months of age, parents assessed the child’s temperament with an IBQ-R-VSF questionnaire and children’s involuntary attention shift was assessed with an EEG auditory test of novel-sounds. When children were 28 months of age, their auditory information processing performance was assessed with Reynell’s test and visuo-spatial performance with WPPSI-III-test. Results. Of the three dimensions of temperament and the measures of cognitive performance the only statistically significant association emerged between stronger negative affectivity and poorer visuo-spatial performance. P300 response was not associated with any of the dimensions of temperament and it did not predict auditory or visuo-spatial information processing skills in toddlerhood. Conclusions. The temperamental dimensions of six-month-old infants do not appear to be associated with involuntary attention shifting. Similarly, the temperament of the infant or involuntary attention shifting do not appear to be related to information processing in toddlerhood. The associations between temperament, attention processes, and learning in early childhood require further research. It is important to consider other developmental factors as well and their effects on the relationship between temperament, attentional processes, and learning.