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Taxonic Structure of Infant Reactivity: Evidence From a Taxometric Perspective

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Abstract

Previously, we proposed a theoretical framework that classified infants into qualitative categories of reactivity, rather than on a continuous dimension. The present research used an objective statistical procedure (maximum covariance analysis, or MAXCOV) to determine if a qualitative latent structure, consistent with our theoretical conjectures, would be found to underlie quantitative indices of reactivity to stimuli in a sample of 599 four-month-old infants. Results of the MAXCOV analysis showed clear evidence of a latent discontinuity underlying the behavioral measures of infant reactivity. The base rate of the latent class (or taxon) was estimated at 10%. Infants within the putative high-reactivity taxon, compared with infants not in the taxon, were elevated on measures of behavioral inhibition at 4.5 years. These results provide objective empirical support for a central tenet in our theoretical model by supporting the taxonicity of infant reactivity.

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... First, while the original formulation was an empirical and intuitive approach to categorization, it may reflect only the most concrete and phenotypically extreme profiles. Rarer, or more subtle, combinations of behavior could be overlooked (Woodward et al., 2000). Second, the original cohorts were overwhelmingly demographically homogeneous, White, upper middle class, and well-educated. ...
... This third ANAYA ET AL. 2 group was also identified in the work of other laboratories (Fox et al., 2001;Hane et al., 2008), and is associated with later temperamental exuberance (Degnan et al., 2011;Putnam & Stifter, 2005). In a prior study (Woodward et al., 2000), Kagan and colleagues applied a maximum covariance analysis (MAXCOV; Meehl, 1995) to the same data as Loken (2004). They found that approximately 10% of infants fell into a latent high negative reactivity taxon. ...
... For instance, the class proportions for our high negative (10% of our sample) and low reactive classes (78%) were lower and higher, respectively, compared to the proportions previously reported in Kagan's sample (high reactive group 20% and low reactive group 40% of the sample; Kagan, 1994Kagan, , 1997. However, it should be noted that our proportion of high negative infants is remarkably similar to the 10% found by Woodward and colleagues (Woodward et al., 2000) using a MAXCOV approach. In addition, the class proportions for our high negative and high positive classes were comparable to the proportions reported by Fox and colleagues (Fox et al., 2015) when a more racially and ethnically diverse sample was examined. ...
Article
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This article examines the patterns, and consequences, of infant temperamental reactivity to novel sensory input in a large (N = 357; 271 in current analysis) and diverse longitudinal sample through two approaches. First, we examined profiles of reactivity in 4-month-old infants using the traditional theory-driven analytic approach laid out by Jerome Kagan and colleagues, and derived groups characterized by extreme patterns of negative reactivity and positive reactivity. We then used a theory-neutral, data-driven approach to create latent profiles of reactivity from the same infants. Despite differences in sample characteristics and recruitment strategy, we noted similar reactivity groups relative to prior cohorts. The current data-driven approach found four profiles: high positive, high negative, high motor, and low reactive. Follow-up analyses found differential predictions of internalizing, externalizing, dysregulation, and competence trajectories across 12, 18, and 24 months of life based on 4-month reactivity profiles. Findings are discussed in light of the initial formulation of early reactivity by Kagan and the four decades of research that has followed to refine, bolster, and expand on this approach to child-centered individual differences.
... This contrasts with the findings from a taxometric study of behavioral inhibition (BI), an early precursor for low E (i.e., introversion) (Caspi, Roberts, & Shiner, 2005;Kagan, Reznick, Clarke, Snidman, & Garcia-Coll, 1984;Nigg, 2000;Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000). A child with high levels of BI tends to be shy and fearful of novel situations; this tendency is likely subsumed by the sociability aspect of E (Nigg, 2000). ...
... The strong negative relationship of BI with E (r = − 0.58 to − 0.66) is supported by studies using self-report data from children (Muris & Dietvorst, 2006;Muris et al., 2009;van der Linden, Vreeke, & Muris, 2013). A previous taxometric analysis of observational data from several hundred infants yielded a distinct category of those who exhibited high levels of BI (Woodward et al., 2000). These conflicting findings about latent constructs strongly related to E suggest that its assumed dimensional structure should be examined more fully. ...
... Twenty years of taxometric studies have suggested that both normal range personality and psychopathology variables largely have dimensional, rather than categorical, latent structures (Haslam et al., 2012); despite this fact, several important exceptions to this general trend have been documented (e.g., Witte et al., 2016;Frazier et al., 2010). In addition, the two existing taxometric studies (Arnau et al., 2003;Woodward et al., 2000) examining constructs related to E produced conflicting results. In this study, we examined the prevailing, yet untested, assumption that normative personality traits are dimensional. ...
Article
The “big five” taxonomy, also called the five factor model, is a framework for personality that is ubiquitous in the literature of psychology. This organization is composed of five personality domains, Neuroticism (N), Extraversion (E), Conscientiousness (C), Openness to Experience (O), and Agreeableness (A). The accepted, but largely unexamined, assumption is that these personality domains are traits with dimensional latent structures. We carried out taxometric analyses on the five core domain because there have been no comprehensive latent structural analyses of all five and because the practice of discretizing continuous “big five” data is not uncommon. Data were from three large (Ns = 857, 1280, and 9935) undergraduate and community samples that competed one of three different measures of the “big five” (BFI, NEO PI-R, or Big Five Factor Inventory). Generally, results supported dimensional latent structures for each of the five domains and were largely convergent across measures and samples. We discuss the importance of empirically validating the underlying structure of these personality traits and the implications and importance that our findings have for personality and psychopathology.
... A second high-risk trait that has been identified as taxonic in very young children is behavioral reactivity. In a taxametric study of the responses of 599 4-month-old infant to a series of visual, auditory, and olfactory stimuli, Woodward et al. (2000) identified an extremely reactive taxon group who engaged in more arching, crying, hyperextension, and leg movements during stimulus presentations than other infants. Moreover, the 10% of infants who belonged to the taxon group scored high on measures of behavioral inhibition at age 4 V 2, suggesting a potential vulnerability to later anxiety and depressive disorders (Kagan, 1994). ...
... For vulnerability traits that are discrete, taxometric methods provide a means of characterizing homogeneous subgroups for such follow-up studies. As described previously, for example, Woodward et a!. (2000) identified a discrete behavioral reactivity taxon comprising 10% of 4-month-old infants in a large sample. Four years later, members of this extremely reactive group scored high on measures of behavioral inhibition. These findings provide a unique opportunity to explore developmental outcomes among qualitatively distinct subgroups of ch ...
... To date, CCKs have been used quite sparingly by developmental psychopathologists, yet their popularity continues to increase in other areas of psychopathology research. Although longitudinal taxometric studies remain exceedingly rare (for an exception, see , several authors have begun to consider the developmental sequelae of members of high-risk taxon groups (Erlenmeyer-Kimling et al., 1989;Woodward et al., 2000). Taxometric analyses of antisocial traits have also been conducted in separate samples spanning middle school through adulthood (Ayers et al., 1999;Harris et al., 1994;Skilling, Harris, et al., 2001;Skilling, Quinsey, et al., 2001 ). ...
Chapter
Our primary objective in writing this chapter is to describe the strengths and limitations of one class of person-centered techniques, often referred to collectively as taxometrics. A second objective of writing this chapter is to emphasize the importance of using endophenotypic markers when conducting both psychopathology and developmental psychopathology research. As we will demonstrate, carefully chosen endophenotypes are particularly advantageous when conducting taxometrics studies, both because they are located more proximally to the etiological substrates of psychopathology and because their psychometric properties offer significant advantages over those of strictly behavioral measures. We first describe the prevailing approach to construct validation in psychiatric research and the problems posed by that approach for identifying etiologically homogeneous diagnostic groups. Next, we outline the potential role that well-designed taxometrics studies could play in improving the construct validation process and the advantages of using taxometric methods compared with other person-centered techniques. Following this overview, we discuss the implications of using endophenotypes in taxometrics studies for (1) identifying premorbid latent vulnerabilities for psychopathology among at-risk children and (2) targeting children with such vulnerabilities for prevention. Finally, we discuss several additional questions that developmental psychopathologists can address in future taxometrics studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... The issue of the latent structure of social anxiety disorder is an area of some controversy, with initial (non-taxometric) findings providing potential support for either a taxonic or dimensional structure. For example, consistent with a taxonic (i.e., categorical) conceptualization of social anxiety disorder, behavioral inhibition (i.e., a temperament characterized by early manifested traits which endure over time; Kagan, 2001) and high infant reactivity (i.e., a proposed developmental precursor to behavioral inhibition; see Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000), have been suggested as discrete causal factors in the etiology of this disorder (Kagan, 2001). To illustrate, a high-reactivity taxon has been identified in 4-month-old infants wherein elevated behavioral inhibition has been demonstrated in taxon class members at 4-year follow-up (Woodward et al., 2000). ...
... For example, consistent with a taxonic (i.e., categorical) conceptualization of social anxiety disorder, behavioral inhibition (i.e., a temperament characterized by early manifested traits which endure over time; Kagan, 2001) and high infant reactivity (i.e., a proposed developmental precursor to behavioral inhibition; see Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000), have been suggested as discrete causal factors in the etiology of this disorder (Kagan, 2001). To illustrate, a high-reactivity taxon has been identified in 4-month-old infants wherein elevated behavioral inhibition has been demonstrated in taxon class members at 4-year follow-up (Woodward et al., 2000). Nearly two-thirds of adolescents classified as behaviorally inhibited at 13 years of age have been shown to meet diagnostic criteria for social anxiety disorder at 11-year follow-up; in contrast, only one-fourth of same-age peers initially classified as uninhibited later met criteria for social anxiety disorder at 11-year follow-up (Schwartz, Snidman, & Kagan, 1999). ...
... The current results do not exclude the possibility that graduated factors (e.g., genetic and environmental contributions) operate to reciprocally influence the severity of social anxiety-related symptoms (e.g., see Rapee & Heimberg, 1997); however, in contrast to graduated/additive etiological models, the present findings suggest that all-or-nothing genetic or environmental causes (e.g., see Haslam, 1997) may be associated with social anxiety disorder. For example, there is evidence of a high-reactivity taxon in infant temperament (Woodward et al., 2000) and indications of a social anxiety disorder phenotype for high reactivity/behavioral inhibition in infants (see Kagan, 2001;Schwartz et al., 1999;. ...
Article
Previous findings suggest that social anxiety disorder may be best characterized as having a dimensional latent structure (Kollman et al., 2006; Weeks et al., 2009). We attempted to extend previous taxometric investigations of social anxiety by examining the latent structure of social anxiety disorder symptoms in a large sample comprised of social anxiety disorder patients (i.e., putative taxon members) and community residents/undergraduate respondents (i.e., putative complement class members). MAXEIG and MAMBAC were performed with indicator sets drawn from a self-report measure of social anxiety symptoms, the Social Interaction Phobia Scale (Carleton et al., 2009). MAXEIG and MAMBAC analyses, as well as comparison analyses utilizing simulated taxonic and dimensional datasets, yielded converging evidence that social anxiety disorder has a taxonic latent structure. Moreover, 100% of the confirmed social anxiety disorder patients in our overall sample were correctly assigned to the identified taxon class, providing strong support for the external validity of the identified taxon; and k-means cluster analysis results corroborated our taxometric base-rate estimates. Implications regarding the conceptualization, diagnosis, and assessment of social anxiety disorder are discussed.
... This profile may be more comparable to the high reactive profile found in previous work. For example, Kagan and Snidman (1991) classified infants into high-and low-reactive groups at 4 months and another study of the same infants found evidence for a latent high reactivity profile that contained about 10% of the sample (Woodward, Lenzenweger, & Kagan, 2000). However, these classifications were based primarily on observations of motor activity and distress to novelty (Kagan & Snidman, 1991;Woodward et al., 2000), while the profiles estimated in this study are from questionnaires and contain additional information concerning positive affect, orienting, and soothability, making direct comparisons difficult. ...
... For example, Kagan and Snidman (1991) classified infants into high-and low-reactive groups at 4 months and another study of the same infants found evidence for a latent high reactivity profile that contained about 10% of the sample (Woodward, Lenzenweger, & Kagan, 2000). However, these classifications were based primarily on observations of motor activity and distress to novelty (Kagan & Snidman, 1991;Woodward et al., 2000), while the profiles estimated in this study are from questionnaires and contain additional information concerning positive affect, orienting, and soothability, making direct comparisons difficult. Infants in the Positive Reactive profile were less active and exhibited lower levels of negative reactivity and had higher levels of orienting and smiling and laughter compared to the rest of the sample. ...
Article
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This study used a data-driven, person-centered approach to examine the characterization, continuity, and etiology of child temperament from infancy to toddlerhood. Data from 561 families who participated in an ongoing prospective adoption study, the Early Growth and Development Study, were used to estimate latent profiles of temperament at 9, 18, and 27 months. Results indicated that four profiles of temperament best fit the data at all three points of assessment. The characterization of profiles was stable over time, while membership in profiles changed across age. Facets of adoptive parent and birth mother personality were predictive of children's profile membership at each age, providing preliminary evidence for specific environmental and genetic influences on patterns of temperament development from infancy to toddlerhood. © 2015 The Authors. Child Development © 2015 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.
... However, Kagan (1989;Kagan and Snidman, 1991) has argued that only some introverts are especially fearful. SpeciWcally, inhibited children constitute some 10-15% of introverted children who display considerable trepidation in approaching novel stimuli (see also Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000). This group of introverts also displays psychophysiological proWles indicative of fear such as elevated levels of cortisol, heart rate, and right frontal lobe activation (Kagan, 1989;Kagan & Snidman, 1991;Schmidt & Fox, 2002). ...
... It is particularly interesting, from the present perspective, that there also exists a sizeable group of introverts who do not exhibit fear of novelty, with respect to the same dependent measures (Kagan, 1989;Kagan & Snidman, 1991;Schmidt & Fox, 2002). Such research suggests that not all introverts are the same: Some introverts are particularly fearful, whereas some are not (Kagan, 1989;Kagan & Snidman, 1991;Woodward et al., 2000). We were capable of distinguishing these two groups of introverts in terms of their performance on the implicit task tapping post-error slowing tendencies. ...
Article
Three studies involving 176 undergraduates examined the personality-related correlates of tendencies to slow down following errors in choice reaction time tasks. Such tendencies were hypothesized to tap individual differences in threat reactivity processes and therefore be relevant to the prediction of phobic-like fear (Study 1) and displayed anxiety as rated by informants (Studies 2 and 3). However, on the basis of the idea that high levels of extraversion may suppress threat reactivity processes, it was hypothesized that extraversion and post-error slowing tendencies would interact in predicting the dependent measures. The studies supported the latter interactive hypothesis in that post-error slowing tendencies were predictive of displayed anxiety at low, but not high, levels of extraversion. The discussion focuses on the respective roles of error-reactivity processes and extraversion in predicting behavioral inhibition and displayed anxiety.
... These operating characteristics have led to an increasing use of MAMBAC and MAXCOV in recent years. MAXCOV, either alone or in conjunction with other CCK procedures, has been used to infer latent taxonic structure in antisocial behavior (Skilling, Quinsey, & Craig, 2001), dissociative experiences (Waller, Putnam, & Carlson, 1996;Waller & Ross, 1997), eating disorders (Williamson et al., 2002), endogenous depression (Haslam & Beck, 1994), hedonic capacity (Blanchard, Gangestad, Brown, & Horan, 2000), infant reactivity (Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000), psychopathy (Harris et al., 1994), schizotypy (Erlenmeyer-Kimling, Golden, & Cornblatt;Golden & Meehl, 1979;Korfine & Lenzenweger, 1995;Lenzenweger, 1999;Lenzenweger & Korfine, 1992;Meyer & Keller, 2001;Tyrka et al., 1995), sexual orientation (Gangestad, Bailey, & Martin, 2000), and Type A behavior patterns (Strube, 1989). ...
... In contrast, the taxometric status of schizotypy has been confirmed using not only selfreport data (e.g., Korfine & Lenzenweger, 1995;Lenzenweger, 1999) but also neuromotor performance and objective behavioral markers (Erlenmeyer-Kimling et al., 1989;Tyrka et al., 1995). In addition, Woodward et al. (2000) used objective behavioral frequencies in their taxometric analysis of infant reactivity. Thus, stronger cases can probably be advanced for schizotypy and infant reactivity as discrete behavioral syndromes. ...
Article
Full-text available
Taxometric procedures such as mean above minus below a cut and maximum covariance can determine whether a trait is distributed as a discrete latent class. These methods have been used to infer taxonic structure in several personality and psychopathology constructs, often from analyses of rating scale data. This is problematic given (a) well established biases in ratings, (b) the human tendency to think categorically, and (c) implicit typological models of personality and psychopathology among expert raters. Using an experimental method in which the cognitive sets of raters were manipulated as dimensional versus categorical, it is demonstrated that pseudotaxonicity can be created readily with rating scale measures. This suggests that researchers avoid an exclusive reliance on rating scales when conducting taxometrics investigations.
... Behavioral signs of BI in young children include long latencies to interactions with unfamiliar adults or peers, stopping of play and vocalization, and retreating from an unfamiliar person or object, as well as staying close to the caregiver and crying (Kagan & Snidman, 2004). Researchers have debated whether BI and other personality traits are best described categorially or on a continuous dimension (Kagan et al., 1989;Meehl, 1992;Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000). Research shows that the BI tendencies in children could be examined on a continuum from very low to very high with about 15-20% of preschool-age children exhibiting consistently high or low BI tendencies in laboratory assessments (Kagan & Snidman, 2004;Kagan et al., 1989). ...
Article
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether 3- to-6-year-old children who stutter and exhibit a higher degree of behavioral inhibition (BI), a correlate of shyness, stutter more frequently and experience greater negative consequences of stuttering (per parent-report) than their peers who stutter but have lower BI. Method: Forty-six children who stutter (CWS; 35 boys & 11 girls; mean age 4 years, 2 months) participated. Their degree of BI was assessed by measuring the latency to their 6th spontaneous comment during a conversation with an unfamiliar examiner (following Kagan, Reznick, & Gibbons's (1989) methodology). The frequency of stuttering and the negative impact of stuttering that CWS may have experienced was assessed using parent reports (i.e., Test of Childhood Stuttering (TOCS) Observational Rating Scale; Gillam, Logan, & Pearson, 2009). Results: We found that children's degree of BI was not associated with their speech fluency per parent report. However, children's degree of BI was significantly associated with greater negative consequences of stuttering. Specifically, among the four categories of TOCS Disfluency-Related Consequences, children's BI significantly predicted the occurrence of physical behaviors that accompany moments of stuttering (such as increased tension or excessive eye blinks). Other Disfluency-Related Consequences, such as avoidance behaviors, negative feelings, and negative social consequences, were not associated with children's behavioral inhibition tendencies. Additionally, children's stuttering severity (per the Stuttering Severity Instrument-4 scores) was significantly associated with increased physical behaviors that accompany moments of stuttering and greater negative social consequences of stuttering. Conclusions: This study provides empirical evidence that behavioral inhibition to the unfamiliar may have salience for childhood stuttering as it predicted the development of physical behaviors associated with stuttering (e.g., tension or struggle) in 3- to 6-year-old CWS. Clinical implications of high BI for the assessment and treatment of childhood stuttering are discussed.
... This proportion is mainly based on theoretical reasons and research evidence from other temperament traits which, as SPS, have been reported in association with an increased sensitivity to environmental influences (Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000). The assumption that only a minority of the population is high on sensitivity also has its foundation in biological and evolutionary explanations which suggest that a general sensitivity is an advantage for the community, worth its biological costs, only when a minority of individuals (around 20 to 25%) are high on this trait, as shown in computer simulation studies (Wolf, van Doorn, & Weissing, 2008). ...
Chapter
Markers of an increased sensitivity to environmental influences have been observed and investigated across several domains, phenotypically and endophenotypically. Currently, the most direct measures for capturing sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) are a series of questionnaires that cover the lifespan from middle childhood to adulthood; and more recently, an observational measure for preschoolers has also been proposed. This chapter provides an overview of theoretical perspectives of SPS within the environmental sensitivity framework and it introduces investigated phenotypic SPS markers and measures for assessing SPS in children and adults. It also provides the measures’ psychometric properties across cultures, their associations with other temperament and personality traits, and the interaction with environmental quality in predicting developmental outcomes and adjustment across the lifespan. Finally, the existence of sensitivity groups and how to assess group differences is discussed, together with new directions of research.
... Research suggests that BI is best characterized categorically rather than on a continuous dimension (Kagan, 1994;Kagan et al., 1989;Woodward et al., 2000). Thus, consistent with previous research, those participants whose latency to the sixth spontaneous comment were in the top and bottom 15% of the distribution were assigned to high and low BI groups, respectively. ...
Article
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Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate whether preschool-age children who stutter (CWS) were more likely to exhibit a temperamental trait of behavioral inhibition (BI), a correlate of shyness, than children who do not stutter (CWNS) and whether this temperamental trait affected preschool-age children's speech fluency and language complexity during a conversation with an unfamiliar adult. Method Sixty-eight preschool-age children (31 CWS, 37 CWNS) participated. The degree of BI was assessed by measuring the latency to their sixth spontaneous comment and the number of all spontaneous comments during a conversation with an unfamiliar examiner (following Kagan et al.'s [1987] methodology). Parent report of shyness from the Children's Behavior Questionnaire served as an indirect measure of BI. Children's language complexity was assessed by measuring their mean length of utterance and the number of words spoken. For CWS, the frequency of stuttering and the negative impact of stuttering were also assessed. Results First, we found no between-group differences in the degree of BI across the behavioral observation measures. However, CWS were rated shyer by parents than CWNS. Second, for CWS only, higher BI was associated with less complex utterances and fewer words spoken. Third, for CWS, higher BI was associated with fewer stuttered disfluencies produced. Conclusions This study provides empirical evidence that BI to the unfamiliar may have salience for childhood stuttering as it affected the quantity and quality of language spoken with an unfamiliar adult. Clinical implications of high BI for the assessment and treatment of preschool-age stuttering are discussed.
... These researchers categorised infants into qualitative groups of infant reactivity, based on a theoretical framework concerning differences in the excitability of limbic structures, and applied this model to observational judgments of motor and crying reactions in infants (Kagan, 1994a). Taxometric analyses, which are expressively designed to distinguish taxa from dimensions (Ruscio & Ruscio, 2004), supported their theoretical framework, by showing that a minority (around 10%) of infants were highly reactive to visual, auditory and olfactory stimuli, with the remainder falling into a less reactive group (Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000). Moreover, Kagan's work, empirical studies, and computer-based simulation on other temperamental traits related to sensitivity to environments in human and animals also provided support for the existence of individual traits associated with heightened sensitivity to the environment (e.g. ...
Article
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Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) is a common, heritable and evolutionarily conserved trait describing inter-individual differences in sensitivity to both negative and positive environments. Despite societal interest in SPS, scientific knowledge is lagging behind. Here, we critically discuss how SPS relates to other theories, how to measure SPS, whether SPS is a continuous vs categorical trait, its relation to other temperament and personality traits, the underlying aetiology and neurobiological mechanisms, and relations to both typical and atypical development, including mental and sensory disorders. Drawing on the diverse expertise of the authors, we set an agenda for future research to stimulate the field. We conclude that SPS increases risk for stress-related problems in response to negative environments, but also provides greater benefit from positive and supportive experiences. The field requires more reliable and objective assessment of SPS, and deeper understanding of its mechanisms to differentiate it from other traits. Future research needs to target prevention of adverse effects associated with SPS, and exploitation of its positive potential to improve well-being and mental health.
... This approach is consistent with a longstanding literature on individual differences in temperament dating back to original categorical conceptualizations by Thomas and Chess (1977). Measurement studies attempting to understand latent constructs that load on difficult versus other temperament support a categorical approach to temperament classification (Loken, 2004;Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000) as do neurobiological studies differentiating children with difficult or reactive temperaments from those with more average temperaments using a binary distinction (Chronis-Tuscano et al., 2009;Guyer et al., 2006;Pérez-Edgar et al., 2007;Schwartz et al., 2003). It is therefore not surprising that studies seeking to distinguish children with more extreme temperaments from those with average temperaments have also used a binary classification of "difficult" versus "average" or "easy" (see Bradley & Corwyn, 2008;Guyer et al., 2015;Rimm-Kaufman et al., 2002), including use of one standard deviation above the mean as a cutoff for difficult temperament (Bradley & Corwyn, 2008). ...
Article
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Publicly funded center-based preschool programs were designed to enhance low-income children’s early cognitive and social-emotional skills in preparation for kindergarten. In the U.S., the federal Head Start program and state-funded public school–based pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs are the two primary center-based settings in which low-income children experience publicly funded preschool. Although evidence suggests that these programs generally promote cognitive and social-emotional skills for low-income children overall, whether the benefits of program participation vary for low-income children with difficult temperaments is unexplored. Difficult temperament status is a source of vulnerability that connotes increased risk for poor early school outcomes—risks that may be ameliorated by public preschool programs known to promote kindergarten readiness among other vulnerable populations. Using a nationally representative sample of low-income children ( N ≈ 3,000) drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), this study tests whether associations between public preschool participation and children’s cognitive and social-emotional skills in kindergarten are moderated by difficult temperament status. We focus on Head Start and public school–based pre-k, comparing both with parental care and with each other. Results provide weak evidence that public preschool’s benefits on children’s cognitive and social-emotional skills in kindergarten are moderated by child temperament. School-based pre-k is significantly associated with better reading skills relative to parental care only for children with difficult temperaments. Additionally, for children with difficult temperaments, Head Start is significantly associated with better approaches to learning relative to parental care, and with reduced externalizing behavior problems relative to school-based pre-k.
... These researchers categorised infants into qualitative groups of infant reactivity, based on a theoretical framework concerning differences in the excitability of limbic structures, and applied this model to observational judgments of motor and crying reactions in infants (Kagan, 1994a). Taxometric analyses, which are expressively designed to distinguish taxa from dimensions (Ruscio & Ruscio, 2004), supported their theoretical framework, by showing that a minority (around 10%) of infants were highly reactive to visual, auditory and olfactory stimuli, with the remainder falling into a less reactive group (Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000). Moreover, Kagan's work, empirical studies, and computer-based simulation on other temperamental traits related to sensitivity to enviornments in human and animals also provided support for the existence of individual traits associated with heightened sensitivity to the environment (e.g. ...
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Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) is a trait describing inter-individual differences in sensitivity to environments, both positive and negative ones. SPS has attracted growing societal interest. However, (neuro)scientific evidence is lagging behind. We critically discuss how to measure SPS, how it relates to other theories of Environmental Sensitivity and other temperament and personality traits, how SPS interacts with environments to influence (a)typical development, what the underlying aetiologies and mechanisms are, and its relation to mental disorders involving sensory sensitivities. Drawing on the diverse expertise of the authors, we set an agenda for future research to stimulate the field. We conclude that SPS is a heritable, evolutionarily conserved trait, linked to increased risk for psychopathology and stress-related problems in response to negative environments, as well as to greater benefits (e.g., intervention responsivity, positive mood) in positive environments. We need advances in objective assessment of SPS, understanding mechanisms, differentiating it from (seemingly) related mental disorders, to exploit the potential of SPS to improve mental health, preserve human capital, and prevent adverse effects.
... This may have limited the power to find group differences when comparing with the average reactivity group, or to find moderation by reactivity group. Yet although the absolute number of highly reactive children was small, the percentage of highly reactive children was comparable to what has been found in previous studies on individual differences in reactivity (Aron et al., 2012;Ellis et al., 2016;Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000). Moreover, a candidate gene variant that has been repeatedly associated with increased susceptibility to negative as well as positive experiences (Belsky & Pluess, 2009;van IJzendoorn, Belsky, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2012) has a comparable frequency: 18.4% of a large Dutch sample were homozygous for the 5-HTTLPR short allele (Pluess et al., 2011), although the actual relation between this polymorphism and emotions remains unclear (Palma-Gudiel & Fañanás, 2017;Raab, Kirsch, & Mier, 2016). ...
Article
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This study used a combination of microlevel observation data and longitudinal questionnaire data to study the relationship between differential reactivity and differential susceptibility, guided by three questions: (a) Does a subset of children exist that is both more likely to respond with increasingly negative emotions to increasingly negative emotions of mothers and with increasingly positive emotions to increasingly positive emotions of mothers (“emotional reactivity”)? (b) Is emotional reactivity associated with temperament markers and rearing environment? (c) Are children who show high emotional reactivity “for better and for worse” also more susceptible to parenting predicting child behavior across a year? A total of 144 Dutch children (45.3% girls) aged four to six participated. Latent profile analyses revealed a group of average reactive children (87%) and a group that was emotionally reactive “for better and for worse” (13%). Highly reactive children scored higher on surgency and received lower levels of negative parenting. Finally, associations of negative and positive parenting with externalizing and prosocial behavior were similar (and nonsignificant) for highly reactive children and average reactive children. The findings suggest that children who are emotionally reactive “for better and for worse” within parent-child interactions are not necessarily more susceptible to parenting on a developmental time scale.
... Behavioral inhibition, a consistent display of restrained or fearful behaviors in response to unfamiliar social stimuli, is a risk factor for the development of social anxiety in adolescence (e.g. Schwartz, Snidman, & Kagan, 1999), and taxometric research suggests that high infant reactivity, a temperamental antecedent to behavioral inhibition and social anxiety (Kagan, 2001), has a categorical, or taxonic, latent structure (Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000). Evidence of taxonicity in a potential developmental precursor to SAD raises the possibility that social anxiety itself may also be taxonic. ...
Article
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Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is often treated as a discrete diagnostic entity that represents a naturally occurring class, though empirical evidence largely supports a dimensional conceptualization of social fears. Further, the inclusion of a “performance only” specifier in the DSM-5 implies that individuals who experience intense social anxiety exclusively in performance situations are distinct from those with broader social fears. The purpose of the present research was to examine the latent structure of SAD and the DSM-5 “performance only” specifier in a large nonclinical sample (n = 2019). Three taxometric procedures (MAXCOV, MAMBAC, and L-Mode) were applied to indicators derived from two commonly used measures of social anxiety. Results yielded convergent evidence indicating that social anxiety exhibits a dimensional latent structure. Further, social performance anxiety demonstrates continuous relationships with milder social fears, suggesting that the “performance only” specifier may not represent a discrete entity. The implications of these findings for the assessment, diagnosis, classification, and treatment of social anxiety are discussed.
... In Kagan's research, 4-month-old infants who reacted with intense negative affect when exposed to such stimuli as a moving mobile or the smell of a cotton swab dipped in dilute butyl alcohol were highly likely to be classified as inhibited during later childhood (Kagan & Snidman, 1991), implicating sensory processing sensitivity in the etiology of behavioral inhibition. Using formal taxometric methods, Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, and Arcus (2000) found that the trait of sensitivity distributed as a minority-majority; in other words, an approximately dichotomous category variable with the minority (in this study about 10%) having the trait. The biological underpinnings of sensitivity to context are also evident in animal science/comparative research, as this trait has been identified in over 100 other species (Wolf et al., 2008). ...
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and Keywords This chapter provides an overview of theory and research addressing temperament and personality, particularly as these are relevant to clinical applications. Our review begins with a brief history of influential frameworks and foundational constructs, including aspects they share in common and others engendering disagreement. Measurement approaches, development of temperament/personality, the biological underpinnings, and studies addressing cross-cultural and gender differences, are also noted in this review. The chapter concludes with problems in adaptation associated with temperament, focusing on ameliorating those difficulties through clinical applications of temperament and personality constructs with children and adults. Importantly, a developmental, empirically focused perspective informed this chapter, and as a result, this work includes references to developmental periods from early childhood to adulthood, emphasizing approaches that have received empirical support.
... Participants were allocated to one of two groups (high and low sensitivity) depending on their degree of SPS as measured using the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (see Measure subsection below). It has been suggested that between about 10% and 35% of any given population is highly sensitive (Aron & Aron, 1997;Woodward, Lenzenweber, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000), and psychology students have been observed to lie at the high end of this proportion (Aron, Aron, & Davies, 2005). Based on this, the high sensitivity group (n = 20) comprised individuals scoring in the top 35% on the Highly Sensitive Person Scale and the remaining participants were allocated to the low sensitivity group (n = 36). ...
Article
Our aim was to investigate whether or not highly sensitive persons experienced more nonordinary/altered states of consciousness (ASC) during 45 minutes of sensory isolation in a flotation tank, than did less sensitive persons. Psychology students (N = 57) were allocated to 1 of 2 groups (high and low levels of sensitivity) depending on their score on the Highly Sensitive Person Scale. Prior to the flotation session participants completed questionnaires to assess their degree of depression, anxiety, optimism, absorption, and how often they had experienced a mystical state. After the flotation session we assessed degree of ASC. The main finding was that the highly sensitive individuals experienced significantly more ASC during flotation than did the individuals in the low sensitivity group. Further, the highly sensitive participants had significantly more absorption and anxiety, and had experienced mystical states more frequently prior to flotation, in comparison to individuals with low-level sensitivity.
... Had we given each infant a score on a continuous index of arousal, none of these predictive relations would have emerged. A taxonic analysis of the infant data by Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, and Arcus (2000) and Loken's (2001) latent class analysis of the more extensive evidence gathered from 4 months to 7 years of age affirmed the wisdom of our decision to create categories of infants based on patterns of behaviors. In addition, Fox, Henderson, Rubin, Calkins, and Schmidt (2001) have replicated some of these results and confirmed the utility of basing the classification of these two infant temperamental biases on patterns of motor activity and crying. ...
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In this article, I describe varied observations from the past 60 years that motivated three significant changes in the assumptions I held as a young psychologist interested in the development of children. Aspects of these early assumptions penetrate a great deal of current research. The new beliefs are (a) a greater willingness to base concepts on patterns of measurements rather than single independent or dependent variables, (b) learning to include the physical features of the observational setting, including the procedure that generated the evidence, as well as the participants' gender, social class, and cultural background, as part of the concept, and (c) remaining aware of the possibility that the relations among continuous variables can change as a function of brain maturation during the early stages of childhood. © The Author(s) 2011.
... Additionally, the base rate estimate was 0.16, with a typical taxon distribution of a sample with a low base rate (Meehl & Yonce, 1996, p. 1107. Fifteen individuals had probability scores greater than or equal to 0.66 and were classified as "definite" members of the pathological dissociation taxon (following the example of Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000). Of the remaining 80 participants, 68 had probability scores less than or equal to 0.0004 and an additional 12 participants had probability scores between 0.024 and 0.063. ...
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Objective: Dissociative phenomena exist on a spectrum ranging from psychological absorption to highly symptomatic disruptions of identity and memory. A statistical methodology called taxometric analysis has established a set of indicators that identify patients who have pathological dissociation, a qualitatively different form of dissociative phenomena. Using taxometric methodology, this study examines the relationship of pathological dissociation to personality diagnosis and self-directed injury, including suicide and history of childhood abuse, in a sample of outpatients with personality disorders.Method: Patients were recruited from advertisements or referred from local clinicians. Participants completed a diagnostic interview and rating scales for dissociation, self-injury and childhood trauma. Pathological dissociation was identified using the Dissociative Experiences Scale-Taxon (DES-T; Waller, Putnam, & Carlson, 1996). Membership in the pathological dissociation taxon was established by calculating Bayesian posterior taxon membership probabilities; the method advocated by Waller, and compared to an approximation, used widely in the literature, based simply on the unweighted mean of the DES-T items.Results: Overlapping, but not identical groups of patients were identified, indicating that the two methods are not interchangeable in this sample of personality disordered individuals. Surprisingly, no associations were detected between indices of childhood trauma and membership in the pathological dissociation taxon nor for the high dissociators identified through the approximation method.Conclusions: This study serves as a replication of the ability to detect pathological dissociation as measured by the DES-T. Nonetheless, the failure to confirm our hypotheses regarding an association between pathological dissociation, childhood trauma, and personality diagnosis raise a challenge to some parts of existing etiologic theories.
... Kagan (1994) argued that inhibited and uninhibited temperament characteristics are qualitatively different attributes of children and described distinct behavioral and biological (e.g., differences in the excitability of the limbic structure) profiles. Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, and Arcus (2000) applied maximum covariance analysis to data from Kagan's sample of 599 infants and found clear evidence of latent discontinuity underlying infant reactivity, a precursor of the inhibited-temperament category. ...
Article
Objective. This study tested maternal sensitivity as a moderator of the stability of wary behavior between 15 months and the transition to school. Design. Observational data from 15-month-old children and their mothers, kindergarten teacher reports, and maternal reports during the transition to kindergarten from 215 children from 3 sites (North Carolina, Virginia, and Arkansas) of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD; 1994), Study of Early Child Care are used. Results. Findings indicate significant stability of inhibition from 15 months to the transition to kindergarten and a significant interaction between maternal sensitivity and 15-month wariness in predicting inhibition in the transition to kindergarten. Among children who displayed wariness at 15 months, greater maternal sensitivity was associated with less inhibition during the transition to kindergarten. For children who did not display wariness at 15 months, there was no relation between maternal sensitivity and inhibition in the transition to kindergarten. Conclusions. These findings suggest moderate stability of this early temperamental characteristic and point to the importance of responsive parenting in its modification.
... Maternal report of temperamental negative reactivity has been shown to be positively related to infants' displays of greater negative affect (i.e., fussiness, crying) when there was a violation of learned expectancy (Fagen & Ohr, 1985) suggesting that similar temperamental characteristics may predict infants' negative affect in responding to the expectancy violation produced by the SFP. It has been suggested that infants who display extreme levels of negative reactivity are categorically different in their temperamental profile than infants who display low levels of negative reactivity (Calkins et al., 1996;Kagan & Snidman, 1991) and that categorical models of temperamental negative reactivity are better predictors of later behavior than continuous models (Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000). Previous studies examining temperamental influences on the SFE have utilized continuous rather than categorical measures of temperament which may help explain why the vast majority of studies report no temperament-SFE relation, particularly when considering negative reactivity. ...
Article
Five-month-old infants characterized as low or high on temperamental negativity participated with their mothers in the still-face paradigm. Compared to low negative infants, high negative infants displayed greater negative engagement during reunion suggesting that infant temperament significantly contributes to individual differences in the still-face effect.
... 54 Kagan and colleagues have used a categorical approach based on an early finding suggesting that a categorical approach represented the data better than a continuum, 20 which was later confirmed by an empirical test of the data structure. 55 However, longitudinal studies that used continuous measures of BI and social anxiety, including that of Muris et al., 40 have demonstrated that parent report of childhood BI significantly predicted degree of social anxiety symptoms both at 1 year (r = 0.71) and 2 years (r = 0.72) later. The similarity in findings suggests that both categorical and continuous (dimensional) approaches can be used to measure the relationship between childhood BI and later social anxiety. ...
Article
Behavioral inhibition (BI) has been associated with increased risk for developing social anxiety disorder (SAD); however, the degree of risk associated with BI has yet to be systematically examined and quantified. The goal of the present study was to quantify the association between childhood BI and risk for developing SAD. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify studies that assessed both BI and SAD. Meta-analyses were performed to estimate the odds ratio (OR) of the association between BI and SAD in children. Seven studies met inclusion criteria. BI was associated with a greater than sevenfold increase in risk for developing SAD (odds ratio = 7.59, p < .00002). This association remained significant even after considering study differences in temperament assessment, control group, parental risk, age at temperament assessment, and age at anxiety diagnosis. Identifying early developmental risk factors is critical for preventing psychiatric illness. Given that 15% of all children show extreme BI, and that almost half of these inhibited children will eventually develop SAD, we propose that BI is one of the largest single risk factors for developing SAD.
... Further, this categorical approach is consistent with previous research (Calkins et al., 1996;Kagan et al., 1998;Kagan, Snidman, Zentner, & Peterson, 1999;Volling & Feagans, 1995). Kagan (1994) argues that inhibited and uninhibited temperament characteristics are qualitatively different attributes of children, describing distinct behavioral and biological profiles, and this work has been supported through analyses that show evidence for a latent discontinuity underlying the precursors of the inhibited and uninhibited temperament categories (Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000). Given the resemblance of the present constructs to these measures of inhibited and uninhibited temperament types, children were assigned to these extreme categories. ...
Article
The present study examines the importance of early social boldness and wariness as attributes that predict children's behavior in kindergarten. Two questions are addressed: (1) Is there a relation between children's early behavioral style (social boldness and wariness) and their behavior in a kindergarten classroom? and (2) Does kindergarten teachers' sensitivity differentially affect the kindergarten behavior of socially bold and wary children? Ninety-seven children were selected from a sample of 253 as being socially bold (n=60) or socially wary (n=37) at 15 months of age. Children identified early as socially bold showed more off-task behavior and were more likely to talk and make requests of the teacher in large-group classroom settings. Socially bold children with more sensitive teachers showed more self-reliant behavior, fewer negative behaviors, and less time off-task compared to socially bold children with less sensitive teachers. There was no relation between teachers' sensitivity and child behavior for socially wary children. The results show that teachers' sensitive responses to children (particularly bold children) were associated with positive classroom adjustment for this group of children.
... Tertiles were constructed to enable assessment of child emotion and adult CRP associations across three broad levels of childhood household income. To aid in interpretation, income categories were converted to 2010 dollars using the Consumer Price Index (Williamson, 2011): low Ͻ $36,900, middle $36,900 -$57,100, and high Ͼ $57,100. Parental occupation reflects the highest occupation level in the household. ...
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Identifying interrelationships among childhood social disadvantage, emotional functioning and adult health may help illustrate how health disparities may become embedded early in life, yet few have considered how these factors are associated. We examined whether the association of child emotional functioning and adult health risk was modified by child socioeconomic status (CSES), or whether child emotional functioning mediated the association of CSES and adult health risk. We studied 430 adult offspring (mean age 42 years) of Collaborative Perinatal Project participants, a cohort of pregnant women enrolled in 1959-1966 (Broman, Nichols, & Kennedy, 1975; Niswander & Gordon, 1972). Child emotional functioning was assessed by psychologist ratings at age 7 and included inappropriate self regulation (ISR) and distress proneness. CSES measures included parental education, household income, and parental occupation. Adult health risk was measured by the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP). Hypotheses were tested with multiple linear regression. Effect modification was evaluated via interaction terms and stratification of fully adjusted models by CSES. Mediation by child emotional functioning was evaluated via coefficient changes. There was no evidence that child emotional functioning mediated the association of CSES and CRP. Significant interactions were observed for ISR and low income (b = 1.67, SE = 0.70, p < .05), and distress proneness and low (b = 3.14, SE = 1.47, p < .05) and middle (b = 3.52, SE = 1.46, p < .05) income. Stratified models indicated that associations of child emotion with CRP varied significantly by level of parental education, household income and occupation. The highest levels of adult inflammation were observed among those with childhood emotional problems who were also exposed to low socioeconomic status as children. This study suggests adulthood disparities in CRP may have developmental origins in childhood adversity.
... They occassionally moved an arm or leg but but showed minimal arching behavior and spasticity, and rarely cried or fretted. The decision to define discrete groups based on the combination of motor activity and crying, rather than a continuum of reactivity was supported by a taxonomic analysis of the four month data that implied that the combination of the two variables fit a categorical model better than a continuous one 14,17 . ...
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One of the central questions that has occupied those disciplines concerned with human development is the nature of continuities and discontinuities from birth to maturity. The amygdala has a central role in the processing of novelty and emotion in the brain. Although there is considerable variability among individuals in the reactivity of the amygdala to novel and emotional stimuli, the origin of these individual differences is not well understood. Four-month old infants called high reactive (HR) demonstrate a distinctive pattern of vigorous motor activity and crying to specific unfamiliar visual, auditory and olfactory stimuli in the laboratory. Low-reactive infants show the complementary pattern. Here, we demonstrate that the HR infant phenotype predicts greater amygdalar reactivity to novel faces almost two decades later in adults. A prediction of individual differences in brain function at maturity can be made on the basis of a single behavioral assessment made in the laboratory at 4 months of age. This is the earliest known human behavioral phenotype that predicts individual differences in patterns of neural activity at maturity. These temperamental differences rooted in infancy may be relevant to understanding individual differences in vulnerability and resilience to clinical psychiatric disorder. Males who were HR infants showed particularly high levels of reactivity to novel faces in the amygdala that distinguished them as adults from all other sex/temperament subgroups, suggesting that their amygdala is particularly prone to engagement by unfamiliar faces. These findings underline the importance of taking gender into account when studying the developmental neurobiology of human temperament and anxiety disorders. The genetic study of behavioral and biologic intermediate phenotypes (or 'endophenotypes') indexing anxiety-proneness offers an important alternative to examining phenotypes based on clinically defined disorder. As the HR phenotype is characterized by specific patterns of reactivity to elemental visual, olfactory and auditory stimuli, well before complex social behaviors such as shyness or fearful interaction with strangers can be observed, it may be closer to underlying neurobiological mechanisms than behavioral profiles observed later in life. This possibility, together with the fact that environmental factors have less time to impact the 4-month phenotype, suggests that this temperamental profile may be a fruitful target for high-risk genetic studies.
... This cut-point reflects a higher level of dysfunction different from the rest of the distribution, which was hypothesized to be relevant for systemic inflammation. Theoretical and empirical work by Kagan and colleagues (37) suggest that domains of emotionality can be grouped into meaningful subgroups at the extreme ends of the distribution; emotional functioning is not necessarily a continuous construct. Given this theoretical perspective and that the distributions were skewed yielding fewer people with emotional dysfunction, we dichotomized the scale scores. ...
Article
Few have considered whether and how child emotional functioning is associated with inflammation later in life. Therefore, we evaluated whether child emotional functioning at age 7 years is associated with C-reactive protein (CRP), an indicator of systemic inflammation, in middle adulthood. We studied adult offspring (mean age 42.2 years) of participants in the National Collaborative Perinatal Project, a national cohort of pregnant women enrolled between 1959 and 1966. Three measures of child emotional functioning were derived from psychologist ratings of child behavior at age 7 years: inappropriate self-regulation (ISR), distress proneness, and behavioral inhibition. Multiple linear regression models were fit to investigate the association between childhood emotional functioning and adulthood CRP and also to evaluate potential mediators of this association. Model n's were from 400 for Model 1 to 379 for Model 4 depending on covariates included and missing data on those covariates. Children with high ISR and distress proneness at age 7 years had significantly higher CRP as adults (ISR: β = 0.86; standard error [SE] = 0.28; p = .002; distress proneness: β = 1.23; SE = 0.57; p = .03). In contrast, children with high levels of behavioral inhibition had lower CRP as adults (β = -0.58; SE = 0.38; p = .04). Furthermore, there was evidence that associations of ISR and distress proneness with CRP may be mediated in part by adulthood body mass index (Sobel significance tests of mediation: ISR: p = .003; distress proneness: p = .07). Findings suggest that poor childhood emotional functioning is associated with inflammation in adulthood. These results suggest a potential childhood origin of adult inflammatory risk.
... Moreover, one might consider mixture modeling (Lenzenweger, McLachlan, & Rubin, 2007;Lenzenweger & Moldin, 1990) and/or taxometric approaches (Lenzenweger, 2004;Waller & Meehl, 1998) to resolve more clearly any existing demarcations in the developmental landscape that makes up SZDPD in order to determine if the proposed cascade has general application or is but one potential cascade for SZDPD (cf. Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000). ...
Article
It is argued that personality pathology represents the final emergent product of a complex interaction of underlying neurobehavioral systems as well as environment inputs. A number of factors may be involved in the developmental pathway and a cascading of effects is plausible, although a unifying cascade for all personality disorders is not likely. The present study suggests a possible cascade relevant to one personality disorder: schizoid personality disorder in emerging adulthood. In brief, it is hypothesized that the absence of a relationship characterized by a rich degree of psychological proximal process in early childhood, which is associated with nurturance and the facilitation of more complex development, predicts impairment in the actualization of the affiliation system (i.e., that system that facilitates interpersonal connectedness and social bonds in human beings and is under substantial genetic influence), and this impairment in the affiliation system predicts the appearance of schizoid personality disorder symptoms in emerging adulthood (late teens/early 20s), which persists over time into emerging adulthood. The impairment in the affiliation system is argued to proceed through childhood sociality as reflected in temperament on through adult personality as reflected in communal positive emotion. Furthermore, it is also hypothesized that the relationship between proximal processes and the affiliation system maintains irrespective of other childhood temperament factors that might adversely impact early parent/caregiver and child relations. The data for a preliminary illustration of this possible cascade are drawn from The Longitudinal Study of Personality Disorders, which is a prospective, multiwave study of personality disorders, personality, and temperament in a large sample of adults drawn from a nonclinical population.
... Second, the suppressed physiological blushing pattern in SAD non-blushers may also result from being more inhibited (i.e., the tendency to avoid unfamiliar events and places) than SAD blushers. Inhibited individuals have been shown to have a lower physiological reactivity than uninhibited individuals (see for a theoretical framework Kagan et al., 1988 and for supporting evidence Woodward et al., 2000or Schwartz et al., 1999. Hofmann et al. (2004) also proposed a 'shyness' or 'inhibited' subtype in SAD. ...
Article
This study investigates whether social anxiety disorder (SAD) patients with blushing complaints show heightened physiological blushing and arousability in social situations than SAD patients without blushing complaints and healthy controls. SAD blushers (n=32), SAD non-blushers (n=34), and healthy controls (n=25) conducted two social tasks. The physiological responses cheek and forehead blood flow, cheek temperature, and skin conductance were recorded, as well as confederates-observed blushing. The SAD blushers showed more physiological blushing (cheek temperature and blood flow) than SAD non-blushers and observers detected this difference. This finding was also present in comparison to the controls, except for blood flow. For blood flow SAD blushers and controls did not differ but SAD non-blushers showed a 'suppressed response': a smaller cheek blood flow increase during the interaction and no recovery compared to the other groups. Furthermore, on skin conductance no differences between groups were observed. Discussed is to what extent SAD blushers and SAD non-blushers represent two qualitative distinct subgroups of SAD.
... Recent statistical analyses support the categorical (vs. dimensional) nature of these two temperamental types (Stern, Arcus, Kagan, Rubin, & Snidman, 1994;Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 2000). ...
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Brainstem auditory evoked responses (BAERs) were evaluated on 10-12-year-old children (N = 56) who had been classified as high or low reactive to unfamiliar stimuli at 4 months of age. BAER measurement was selected because high reactive infants tend to become inhibited or fearful young children, and adult introverts have a faster latency to wave V of the BAER than do extroverts. Children previously classified as high reactive at 4 months had larger wave V components than did low reactive children, a finding that possibly suggests greater excitability in projections to the inferior colliculus. The fact that a fundamental feature of brainstem activity differentiated preadolescent children belonging to two early temperamental groups supports the value of gathering physiological data in temperament research.
... MAXCOV (Maximum Covariance; Meehl, 1973;Meehl and Yonce, 1996) requires at least three indicators and has been used in psychopathology, personality, and developmental research (e.g. Haslam and Beck, 1994;Oakman and Woody, 1996;Woodward et al., 2000). ...
Article
A taxometric analysis was conducted to test the hypothesis that the latent structure of melancholia in adolescents is categorical. Two taxometric procedures were used: Mean Above Minus Below a Cut (MAMBAC) and Maximum Covariance (MAXCOV) analyses. Participants were 378 adolescents presenting for a depression evaluation. Indicators of melancholia were constructed using items from the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Aged Children (K-SADS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The indicators of melancholia were consistent with a categorical latent variable. The findings suggest that the latent structure of melancholia in adolescents is similar to its previously identified categorical structure in adults. Implications for clinical research are discussed.
... Twenty-four studies of nonpathological personality variables have been conducted to date (see Haslam & Kim, in press), and most favor the dimensional view. Taxonic findings were obtained for only seven variables (29% of the total), these exceptions being sexual orientation (Gangestad, Bailey, &amp; Martin, 2000), self-monitoring (Gangestad &amp; Snyder, 1985), infant reactivity (Woodward, Lenzenweger, Kagan, Snidman, &amp; Arcus, 2000), hypnotic susceptibility (Oakman &amp; Woody, 1996), type A (Strube, 1989), and certain response styles (Strong, Greene, &amp; Schinka, 2000). Three studies of broad personality dimensions such as the FFM traits (Arnau, Green, &amp; Tubre, 1999;Green, Arnau, &amp; Gleaves, 1999) and Jung's preferences (e.g., feeling vs. thinking; Arnau, Green, Rosen, Gleaves, & Melancon, in press) have consistently supported their dimensionality, and three studies of personality characteristics conceptualized as diatheses (hypomanic temperament, Meyer & Keller, in press; anxiety susceptibility, Taylor, Rabian, & Fedoroff, 1999; and vulnerability to alcoholism, Knowles, 1989) have also yielded nontaxonic findings. ...
Article
The dimensional view of personality disorders (PDs) represents these conditions as extreme variants of normal personality continua. This widely held view underpins efforts to characterize PDs in terms of established systems of personality description and to overhaul classification of PDs along dimensional lines. A review of 21 taxometric studies of PDs and related variables calls an unqualified version of this view into question. Analyses of the three PDs investigated to date strongly support taxonic (i.e., categorical or discontinuous) models. Implications for the conceptualization and classification of PDs are drawn.
Article
Shyness can manifest on behavioral, affective, and physiological levels, but little is known about how these components cluster. We coded behavioral expressions of avoidance/inhibition, collected self-reported nervousness, and measured cardiac vagal withdrawal in 152 children (Mage = 7.82 years, 73 girls, 82% White) to a speech task in 2018-2021. A latent profile analysis using these behavioral, affective, and physiological indicators revealed four profiles: average reactive (43%), lower affective reactive (20%), higher affective reactive (26%), and consistently higher reactive (11%). Membership in the higher reactive profile predicted higher parent-reported temperamental shyness across 2 years. Findings provide empirical support for the long-theorized idea that shyness might exist as an emotional state but also represents a distinct temperamental quality for some children.
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Taxometric procedures have been used extensively to investigate whether individual differences in personality and psychopathology are latently dimensional or categorical (‘taxonic’). We report the first meta-analysis of taxometric research, examining 317 findings drawn from 183 articles that employed an index of the comparative fit of observed data to dimensional and taxonic data simulations. Findings supporting dimensional models outnumbered those supporting taxonic models five to one. There were systematic differences among 17 construct domains in support for the two models, but psychopathology was no more likely to generate taxonic findings than normal variation (i.e. individual differences in personality, response styles, gender, and sexuality). No content domain showed aggregate support for the taxonic model. Six variables – alcohol use disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, problem gambling, autism, suicide risk, and pedophilia – emerged as the most plausible taxon candidates based on a preponderance of independently replicated findings. We also compared the 317 meta-analyzed findings to 185 additional taxometric findings from 96 articles that did not employ the comparative fit index. Studies that used the index were 4.88 times more likely to generate dimensional findings than those that did not after controlling for construct domain, implying that many taxonic findings obtained before the popularization of simulation-based techniques are spurious. The meta-analytic findings support the conclusion that the great majority of psychological differences between people are latently continuous, and that psychopathology is no exception.
Article
Objective The default assumption among most psychologists is that personality varies along a set of underlying dimensions, but belief in the existence of discrete personality types persists in some quarters. Taxometric methods were developed to adjudicate between these alternative dimensional and typological models of the latent structure of individual differences. The aim of the present review was to assess the taxometric evidence for the existence of personality types. Method A comprehensive review yielded 102 articles reporting 194 taxometric findings for a wide assortment of personality attributes. Results Structural conclusions differed strikingly as a function of methodology. Primarily older studies that did not assess the fit of observed data to simulated dimensional and typological comparison data drew typological conclusions in 65.2% (60/92) of findings. Primarily newer studies employing simulated comparison data supported the typological model in only 3.9% (4/102) of findings, and these findings were largely in the domain of sexual orientation rather than personality in the traditional sense. Conclusions In view of strong Monte Carlo evidence for the validity of the simulated comparison data method, it is highly likely that personality types are exceedingly scarce or non‐existent, and that many early taxometric research findings claiming evidence for such types are spurious.
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A large number of studies document that children differ in the degree they are shaped by their developmental context with some being more sensitive to environmental influences than others. Multiple theories suggest that Environmental Sensitivity is a common trait predicting the response to negative as well as positive exposures. However, most research to date has relied on more or less proximal markers of Environmental Sensitivity. In this paper we introduce a new questionnaire-the Highly Sensitive Child (HSC) scale-as a promising self-report measure of Environmental Sensitivity. After describing the development of the short 12-item HSC scale for children and adolescents, we report on the psychometric properties of the scale, including confirmatory factor analysis and test-retest reliability. After considering bivariate and multivariate associations with well-established temperament and personality traits, we apply Latent Class Analysis to test for the existence of hypothesized sensitivity groups. Analyses are conducted across 5 studies featuring 4 different U.K.-based samples ranging in age from 8-19 years and with a total sample size of N = 3,581. Results suggest the 12-item HSC scale is a psychometrically robust measure that performs well in both children and adolescents. Besides being relatively independent from other common traits, the Latent Class Analysis suggests that there are 3 distinct groups with different levels of Environmental Sensitivity-low (approx. 25-35%), medium (approx. 41-47%), and high (20-35%). Finally, we provide exploratory cut-off scores for the categorization of children into these different groups which may be useful for both researchers and practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record
Article
It is generally assumed that personality varies by degree along a variety of trait dimensions. Despite this default assumption, theorists have proposed a variety of discrete personality types. Taxometric analysis was developed as a rigorous method for adjudicating between these dimensional and categorical alternatives. The substantial body of taxometric research on personality is reviewed, applying the simple criterion that a personality type can only be inferred with any confidence if a categorical finding is replicated in a preponderance of studies. I conclude that the evidence for personality types is weak. Only 2 of the 21 constructs examined to date meet the criterion, and methodological artifacts may cast doubt on these exceptions.
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Taxometric methods were developed to ascertain which behavioral traits-particularly psychiatric syndromes-comprise discrete latent classes. Although individual differences in most forms of psychopathology are likely distributed along continua, knowing which are typologal may have significant implications for diagnostic precision, treatment development, early identification of latent vulnerability to psychopathology, and improved understanding of etiology. In practice, however, distinguishing types from continua has proved difficult because most behavioral measures include several sources of error, which obscures true scores. Furthermore, conflicting results have often been reported by different research groups studying the same or similar traits. This has led some authors to question the utility of taxometrics. In this chapter, I (I) outline the conceptual bases of taxometrics, (2) provide descriptions of several taxometric procedures, (3) discuss strategies for selecting valid indicator variables, (4) provide brief example analyses, and (5) discuss common pitfalls of the taxometric approach. Despite certain limitations, careful attention to the types of variables subjected to taxometric analysis can produce valid and replicable results.
Article
Mixture models are appropriate for data that arise from a set of qualitatively different subpopulations. In this study, latent class analysis was applied to observational data from a laboratory assessment of infant temperament at four months of age. The EM algorithm was used to fit the models, and the Bayesian method of posterior predictive checks was used for model selection. Results show at least three types of infant temperament, with patterns consistent with those identified by previous researchers who classified the infants using a theoretically based system. Multiple imputation of group memberships is proposed as an alternative to assigning subjects to the latent class with maximum posterior probability in order to reflect variance due to uncertainty in the parameter estimation. Latent class membership at four months of age predicted longitudinal outcomes at four years of age. The example illustrates issues relevant to all mixture models, including estimation, multi-modality, model selection, and comparisons based on the latent group indicators.
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This study examines infant temperament (inhibited and uninhibited styles) as a predictor of behavior in the kindergarten classroom. Thirty-one kindergarten children were observed in their classrooms for approximately 1.5 hours on each of four occasions between September and January. Fourteen children (8 girls, 6 boys) had been classified as high reactive at 4 months of age and inhibited at 14 and 21 months; 17 (7 girls, 10 boys) were low-reactive at 4 months, and uninhibited at 14 and 21 months. Modest evidence for continuity in temperament was found, and, as predicted, differences were most apparent for classroom behaviors that might be stressful for socially inhibited children. The results show some differences between girls and boys and describe trends in classroom behavior as children make the transition to kindergarten. These findings identify temperament as a factor that influences children's adjustment to kindergarten and contributes to a body of work that identifies early risk factors for later behavioral problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Taxometric methods have become increasingly popular in research on the structure of psychopathology. The majority of this research has entailed study of a single psychopathological construct that differentiates a conjectured taxon group (e.g., persons with the target disorder or vulnerability) from a complement group (e.g., normal controls, persons with disorders other than the target condition). Although indicator and sample selection are important in these endeavors, these issues are more critical to the extension of taxometrics to the study of comorbidity (simultaneous taxometric evaluation of multiple psychopathological constructs). Selected methodological and conceptual issues in the application of taxometrics to the understanding of comorbidity are discussed, as well as the implications of taxometric and comorbidity research on the categorical versus dimensional classification of mental disorders.
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The Definition and Dimensions of TemperamentMeasurement of TemperamentBrain Development and TemperamentOther Biological Influences on Individual Differences in TemperamentPsychosocial InfluencesConsequences of Individual Differences in TemperamentConclusions and Future DirectionsReferences
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The purpose of this follow-up study was to examine whether a group of 28 clinic-referred infants with colic, excessive crying, or both at 4 to 12 weeks demonstrated sensory processing, coping, and behavioral/attention regulation difficulties at 3 to 8 years of age. Seventy-five percent of the sample demonstrated atypical behavioral responses to sensory experiences. Hours of fussing during infancy significantly correlated with inattention, emotional reactivity, touch processing, environmental coping, and externalizing behavior at 3 to 8 years, but not hours of crying. The most striking result was that children with more hours of early fussing showed less efficient sensory processing, poorer coping with the environment, and more attention/hyperactivity problems compared to those with less hours of fussing. Results suggest that hours of fussing rather than crying could be an early marker for infants at risk.
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Behavioural inhibition in the second year of life is a hypothesized predictor for shyness, social anxiety and depression in later childhood, adolescence and even adulthood. To search for the earliest indicators of this fundamental temperamental trait, this study examined whether behavioural characteristics in early infancy can predict behavioural inhibition, as previously postulated. The results show that infant crying to unfamiliar stimuli at 4 months of age is a significant predictor (p = .002) of behavioural inhibition in the second year of life. These data implicate the possibility of measuring a temperamental anxiety disposition at a very young age simply by assessing crying in the face of novel stimuli.
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Systematically evaluating human performance and predicting important outcomes emerged in the far reaches of recorded history. For example, Gregory (2007) described that as early as 2200 BC Chinese emperors developed physical abilities, knowledge, and specific skill examinations for government officials and civil servants. However, assessment of children's abilities and behavior certainly predates even these distant instances of evaluation of adults. We contend that child assessment has taken place as long as parents and other adults have observed and tracked changes in children's development. Parents notice changes over time within a given child and differences among children in abilities and responses to circumstances. This type of informal evaluation process certainly is a far cry from the empirically based, standardized methods of child and adolescent psychological assessment that have developed over the past 150 years or so, but it is foundational.
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This article reviews the literature on sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) in light of growing evidence from evolutionary biology that many personality differences in nonhuman species involve being more or less responsive, reactive, flexible, or sensitive to the environment. After briefly defining SPS, it first discusses how biologists studying animal personality have conceptualized this general environmental sensitivity. Second, it reviews relevant previous human personality/temperament work, focusing on crossover interactions (where a trait generates positive or negative outcomes depending on the environment), and traits relevant to specific hypothesized aspects of SPS: inhibition of behavior, sensitivity to stimuli, depth of processing, and emotional/physiological reactivity. Third, it reviews support for the overall SPS model, focusing on development of the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) Scale as a measure of SPS then on neuroimaging and genetic studies using the scale, all of which bears on the extent to which SPS in humans corresponds to biological responsivity.
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Taxometric research methods were developed by Paul Meehl and colleagues to distinguish between categorical and dimensional models of latent variables. We have conducted a comprehensive review of published taxometric research that included 177 articles, 311 distinct findings and a combined sample of 533 377 participants. Multilevel logistic regression analyses have examined the methodological and substantive variables associated with taxonic (categorical) findings. Although 38.9% of findings were taxonic, these findings were much less frequent in more recent and methodologically stronger studies, and in those reporting comparative fit indices based on simulated comparison data. When these and other possible confounds were statistically controlled, the true prevalence of taxonic findings was estimated at 14%. The domains of normal personality, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, externalizing disorders, and personality disorders (PDs) other than schizotypal yielded little persuasive evidence of taxa. Promising but still not definitive evidence of psychological taxa was confined to the domains of schizotypy, substance use disorders and autism. This review indicates that most latent variables of interest to psychiatrists and personality and clinical psychologists are dimensional, and that many influential taxonic findings of early taxometric research are likely to be spurious.
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The term temperament refers to a biologically based predilection for a distinctive pattern of emotions, cognitions, and behaviors first observed in infancy or early childhood. High-reactive infants are characterized at age 4 months by vigorous motor activity and crying in response to unfamiliar visual, auditory, and olfactory stimuli, whereas low-reactive infants show low motor activity and low vocal distress to the same stimuli. High-reactive infants are biased to become behaviorally inhibited in the second year of life, defined by timidity with unfamiliar people, objects, and situations. In contrast, low-reactive infants are biased to develop into uninhibited children who spontaneously approach novel situations. To examine whether differences in the structure of the ventromedial or orbitofrontal cerebral cortex at age 18 years are associated with high or low reactivity at 4 months of age. Structural magnetic resonance imaging in a cohort of 18-year-olds enrolled in a longitudinal study. Temperament was determined at 4 months of age by direct observation in the laboratory. Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital. Seventy-six subjects who were high-reactive or low-reactive infants at 4 months of age. Cortical thickness. Adults with a low-reactive infant temperament, compared with those categorized as high reactive, showed greater thickness in the left orbitofrontal cortex. Subjects categorized as high reactive in infancy, compared with those previously categorized as low reactive, showed greater thickness in the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that temperamental differences measured at 4 months of age have implications for the architecture of human cerebral cortex lasting into adulthood. Understanding the developmental mechanisms that shape these differences may offer new ways to understand mood and anxiety disorders as well as the formation of adult personality.
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Measures of EEG spectral power, lateral asymmetry in the frontal and parietal areas, and social behavior with an examiner were analyzed on 166 children, 10 to 12 years old, who were participating in a longitudinal study of the temperamental contributions to social behavior. Loss of 8- to 13-Hz power (alpha band) on the right, compared with the left, frontal area (right frontal active) was most prevalent among children who were classified as high reactive at 4 months and were highly fearful at 14 and 21 months. Second, greater frontal power in the 14- to 30-Hz band (beta) at rest was correlated with the tendency to be right frontal active. Finally, spontaneous talkativeness with an unfamiliar examiner was associated with right frontal activation and high alpha power for boys, but with right frontal activation and high beta power for girls. Right frontal activation is most characteristic of children who begin life with a temperamental bias favoring high reactivity and who develop a fearful reaction to unfamiliar events in the second year of life.
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Developmental psychopathologists have criticized categorical classification systems for their inability to account for within-group heterogeneity in biological, etiological. developmental, and cultural influences on behavior. Dichotomizing continuous scores of symptom severity is also inadvisable statistically. Perhaps because of a resulting wariness of categorizing, few explorations into the ontological status of traits or disorders as dimensional versus discrete have been conducted. It is argued here that the limitations of categorizing have little to do with the ontological status of traits and that developmental psychopathologists should be concerned with identifying discrete behavioral syndromes. Common taxometric methods for resolving discrete traits are described, and questions of concern to developmental psychopathologists are outlined that can be addressed through taxometrics studies. These include (a) identifying children who are at risk for future psychopathology, (b) identifying discrete subtypes within current diagnostic classes, (c) locating sensitive periods in the development of discrete pathological traits, (d) discovering moderators of treatment outcome, and (e) elucidating mechanisms of equifinality and multifinality. Although most behavioral traits probably are distributed continuously, identifying those that are discrete will advance the science of developmental psychopathology. Disorders for which taxometric analyses might be applied include anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, conduct problems, depression, and schizophrenia.
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Meehl's (1962, 1990) model of schizotypy and the development of schizophrenia implies that the structure of liability for schizophrenia is dichotomous and that a “schizogene” determines membership in a latent class, or taxon (Meehl & Golden, 1982). The authors sought to determine the latent structure and base rate of schizotypy. They applied Meehl's (1973; Meehl & Golden, 1982) MAXCOV-HITMAX taxometric analytic procedures to a subset of items from the Perceptual Aberration Scale (PAS; Chapman, Chapman, & Raulin, 1978), a prominent psychometric index of schizotypy, derived from a randomly ascertained nonclinical university sample (N = 1,093). The results, in accordance with Meehl's conjectures, strongly suggest that schizotypy, as assessed by the PAS, is taxonic at the latent level with a general population taxon base rate of approximately. 10.
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Describes the Maximum Covariance (MAXCOV) taxometric procedure within the coherent cut kinetics method. Using MAXCOV, when given 3 quantitative indicators of a conjectured latent taxon, a statistical function defined as the covariance of 2 indicators (designated for the procedure as the "output" indicators) computed within successive intervals along the third (designated as "input") indicator reveals whether the latent structure of the data is taxonic or not. If it is taxonic, latent parameters (base rate, hit rates, complement and taxon means) can be estimated, the latent distributions drawn, and subjects assigned to the taxon or the complement group. Several consistency tests are presented, using Monte Carlo configurations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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The purpose of the present study was to determine whether lesions of areas projected to by the central amygdaloid nucleus (ACE) would disrupt the classical conditioning of autonomic and/or behavioral emotional responses. The areas studied included 3 projection targets of the ACE: the lateral hypothalamic area (LH), midbrain central gray (CG) region, and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). Lesions were made either electrolytically or by microinjection of ibotenic acid, which destroys local neurons without interrupting fibers of passage. Two weeks later, the animals were classically conditioned by pairing an acoustic stimulus with footshock. The next day, conditioned changes in autonomic activity (increases in arterial pressure) and emotional behavior ("freezing," or the arrest of somatomotor activity) evoked by the acoustic conditioned stimulus (CS) were measured during extinction trials. Electrolytic and ibotenic acid lesions of the LH interfered with the conditioned arterial pressure response, but did not affect conditioned freezing. Electrolytic lesions of the rostral CG disrupted conditioned freezing but not conditioned changes in arterial pressure. Ibotenic acid injected into the rostral CG reduced neither the arterial pressure nor the freezing response. Injection of ibotenic acid in the caudal CG, like electrolytic lesions of the rostral CG, disrupted the freezing, but not the arterial pressure response. Injection of ibotenic acid into the BNST had no effect on either response. These data demonstrate that neurons in the LH are involved in the autonomic, but not the behavioral, conditioned response pathway, whereas neurons in the caudal CG are involved in the behavioral, but not the autonomic, pathway. Different efferent projections of the central amygdala thus appear to mediate the behavioral and autonomic concomitants of conditioned fear.
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Classification in psychopathology is a problem in applied mathematics; it answers the empirical question "Is the latent structure of these phenotypic indicator correlations taxonic (categories) or nontaxonic (dimensions, factors)?" It is not a matter of convention or preference. Two taxometric procedures, MAMBAC and MAXCOV-HITMAX, provide independent tests of the taxonic conjecture and satisfactorily accurate estimates of the taxon base rate, the latent means, and the valid and false-positive rates achievable by various cuts. The method requires no gold standard criterion, applying crude fallible diagnostic "criteria" only in the phase of discovery to identify plausible candidate indicators. Confidence in the inference to taxonic structure and numerical accuracy of latent values is provided by multiple consistency tests, hence the term coherent cut kinetics for the general approach. Further revision of diagnostic systems should be based on taxometric analysis rather than on committee decisions based on clinical impressions and nontaxometric research.
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P.E. Meehl's model (1962, 1990) of schizotypy and the development of schizophrenia implies that the structure of liability for schizophrenia is dichotomous, hypothesizing that a "schizogene" determines one's membership in a latent class (or taxon; P.E. Meehl & R. R. Golden, 1982). The present study sought to replicate earlier findings concerning the taxonic latent structure and general population base rate of schizotypy (M. F. Lenzenweger & L. Korfine, 1992). P.E. Meehl's (1973; P.E. Meehl & R. R. Golden, 1982) MAXCOV-HITMAX taxometric analytic procedures were applied to a subset of items from the Perceptual Aberration Scale (PAS; L. J. Chapman, J. P. Chapman, & M. L. Raulin, 1978), a prominent psychometric index of schizotypy, derived from a new randomly ascertained nonclinical university sample (N = 1,646). Consistent with the authors' previous results as well as Meehl's conjectures, the data strongly suggest that schizotypy, as assessed by the PAS, is taxonic at the latent level with a low general population taxon base rate (i.e., < .10). Moreover, individuals falling within the putative schizo-taxon underlying the PAS present greater levels of schizotypic phenomenology than nontaxon members. The taxometric analysis of the psychological trait of femininity also reveals that the MAXCOV-HITMAX procedure can detect a latent dimension, when one is hypothesized to exist, and the procedure does not appear to generate "spurious" evidence for taxonicity as a function of the psychometric format (e.g., true-false) of the data under analysis. The statistical implication of a taxonic entity occurring at a low base is discussed with respect to results obtained using the MAXCOV-HITMAX technique.
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Prior research has suggested that the latent structure of the schizotypy construct (P. E. Meehl, 1990) may be qualitative in nature and have a low base rate (L. Korfine & M. F. Lenzenweger, 1995; M. F. Lenzenweger & L. Korfine, 1992). These studies relied on the application of maximum covariance analysis (MAXCOV) to 8 true-false format items from a schizotypy measure. The current study sought to examine the robustness of those prior findings through MAXCOV analysis of fully quantitative measures of schizotypy. Measures of perceptual aberration, magical ideation, and referential thinking were analyzed using MAXCOV in a sample of 429 persons. The results of these analyses strongly support a latent taxonic structure for schizotypy and a low base rate for the schizotypy taxon. Furthermore, the members of the putative taxon reveal an increased level of deviance on a psychometric measure known to be associated with schizophrenia liability. The possibility that the dichotomous item format of those items analyzed previously with MAXCOV lead to spurious pseudotaxonicity is greatly diminished in light of these results.
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One of the ultimate goals of neuroscience is to determine how the brain directs and changes behavior in man. Given the enormous complexity of this endeavor, an increasing number of neuroscientists have focused on invertebrates and lower vertebrates in an effort to simplify the problem. Eventually, however, it will be necessary to analyze the cellular basis of behavior in a complex mammalian brain. To approach the problem at this level, it would be useful to study a relatively simple behavior that can be elicited in mammals and that is sensitive to a variety of experimental treatments.
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Since the paper of Heimer and Wilson (1975), great interest has focussed on the anatomy of the ventral striatum, which includes the nucleus accumbens, the olfactory tubercle (or anterior perforated substance of primates), and the islands of Calleja. They showed that the ventral striatum receives inputs from limbic structures such as the amygdala and hippocampus, and projects to the ventral pallidum. The ventral pallidum may then influence output regions by the subthalamic nucleus / globus pallidus / ventral thalamus / premotor cortex route, or via the mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus / prefrontal cortex route (Heimer et al, 1982). The ventral striatum may thus be for limbic structures what the neostriatum is for neocortical structures, that is a route for limbic structures to influence output regions. The dopamine pathways are at a critical position in these systems, for the nigro-striatal pathway projects to the neostriatum, and the mesolimbic dopamine pathway projects to the ventral striatum (Ungerstedt, 1971). Indeed, Nauta and Domesick (1978) have provided evidence that the ventral striatum also provides a route for limbic information to influence the neostriatum, via the projections of the ventral striatum to the substantia nigra (A9), and thus via the dopamine pathways to the neostriatum. This pattern of connections of the ventral striatum appears to occur not only in the rat (Heimer and Wilson, 1975; Newman and Winans, 1980a,b), but also in the primate (Hemphill et al, 1981). In addition, it is now clear that the olfactory tubercle is in the anterior perforated substance in the primate (Heimer et al, 1977), and that while a small part of it related to the olfactory tract does receive olfactory projections, a much larger part of it receives a strong projection from the inferior temporal visual cortex (Van Hoesen et al, 1976, 1981), and could thus provide a link from temporal lobe association cortex to output regions.
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Many primate utterances are simple vocalizations that may be associated with brainstem activity and contain limited information about the internal state of the animal. Sequences of tone and amplitude modulated vocalizations which have associative content form the basis for more complex communication within a species. These complex vocalizations are organized at suprabulbar levels, including the cerebral cortex.
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Previous research on subjects showing the two temperamental profiles called inhibited and uninhibited to unfamiliar events suggests that the two groups differ in threshold of reactivity to novelty. Hence, variation among infants in behavioral reactivity to unfamiliar events might predict later display of the two profiles. In a longitudinal study of 94 four-month-old infants, those who displayed the combination of high motor activity and frequent crying to stimulation were more fearful to unfamiliar events at nine and 14 months than infants who displayed both low motor activity and infrequent crying. This result implies that the processes that mediate early reactivity to stimulation may also influence a later preparedness to avoid or to approach unfamiliarity.
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Six cluster methods were subjected to empirical trials evaluating their ability to solve a "dummy" problem, that of detecting an underlying taxonomy of biological sex. Each cluster method was applied to four sets of sex-discriminant self report personality-interest questionnaire items. The validity of each item-indicator was empirically determined using biological sex as a criterion variable. The four sets of item-indicators of biological sex were constructed so as to vary in their average item-indicator validity. Three of the cluster methods detected accurately the biological sex taxonomy in most of the trials; the other three methods were seldom accurate. It is argued that for detecting real empirical classes, the cluster methods are of questionable value since we typically lack assurance that the clusters are likely to be accurate and not spurious. It is suggested that use of internal validity or 'consistency' tests could eliminate this shortcoming.
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Described 2 cohorts of longitudinal data concerned with early predictors of inhibited and uninhibited temperamental types of infants. There were 93 Ss in Cohort 1 and 76 Ss in Cohort 2. Ss were tested at 4 mo and at 14 mo of age to determine their reactions to changes in the intensity and variety of sensory stimuli and to assess fear of unfamiliar events, respectively. A finite mixture model was used to analyze the data, and a measure of predictive efficacy was described for comparing the mixture model with competing models (linear regression analysis). The mixture model performed mildly better than the linear regression model with respect to this measure of fit to the data. However, the primary advantage of the mixture model relative to competing approaches was that it could be easily used to address improvements and corrections to the theory behind the research, and to suggest extensions of the research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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ABSTRACT A taxon is a nonarbitrary class whose existence is conjectured as an empirical question, not a mere semantic convenience. Numerous taxa are known to exist in nature and society (chemical elements, biological species, organic diseases, geological strata, kinds of stars, elementary particles, races, cultures, Mendelizing mental deficiencies, major psychoses, vocations, ideologies, religions). What personality types, if any, occur in the nonpathological population remains to be researched by sophisticated methods, and cannot be settled by fiat or “dimensional” preference. The intuitive concept of taxonicity is to be explicated by a combination of formal-numerical and causal criteria. Taxometric methods should include consistency tests that provide Popperian risk of strong discorroboration. In social science, latent class methods are probably more useful than cluster algorithms.
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Meehl's (1962, 1990) model of schizotypy and the development of schizophrenia implies that the structure of liability for schizophrenia is dichotomous and that a "schizogene" determines membership in a latent class, or taxon (Meehl & Golden, 1982). The authors sought to determine the latent structure and base rate of schizotypy. They applied Meehl's (1973; Meehl & Golden, 1982) MAXCOV-HITMAX taxometric analytic procedures to a subset of items from the Perceptual Aberration Scale (PAS; Chapman, Chapman, & Raulin, 1978), a prominent psychometric index of schizotypy, derived from a randomly ascertained nonclinical university sample (N = 1,093). The results, in accordance with Meehl's conjectures, strongly suggest that schizotypy, as assessed by the PAS, is taxonic at the latent level with a general population taxon base rate of approximately .10.
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The Maudsley Reactive and Non-Reactive strains have been developed as a model for the study of individual variations in stress-reactivity, and many differences in biobehavioral systems have been found between them. This review discusses limitations of the 'emotionality' construct in accounting for differences between the Maudsley strains and offers an alternative, theoretical approach. Amaral and Sinnamon have proposed that the locus ceruleus (LC) plays a stress-attenuating role in mediating behavioral, physiological and neuroendocrine response to prepotent, emergency-provoking stimuli and, building upon this formulation, it is proposed that the LC has been an important focus for gene action in the Maudsley model. It is suggested that the LC of the Non-Reactive strain is more strongly activated by stressful stimuli than the LC of Reactive rats, and is the basis of many of the behavioral and physiological differences between them. Behavioral and biochemical evidence consistent with this proposition is reviewed. Identification of the LC as a target for gene-action in the Maudsley model has an important advantage. It substitutes variations at a specific anatomic location in the brain for a loosely defined construct like emotionality, and the hypothesis is amenable to empirical tests by a variety of experimental approaches.
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The initial behavioral reaction to unfamiliar events is a distinctive source of intraspecific variation in humans and other animals. Two longitudinal studies of 2-year-old children who were extreme in the display of either behavioral restraint or spontaneity in unfamiliar contexts revealed that by 7 years of age a majority of the restrained group were quiet and socially avoidant with unfamiliar children and adults whereas a majority of the more spontaneous children were talkative and interactive. The group differences in peripheral physiological reactions suggest that inherited variation in the threshold of arousal in selected limbic sites may contribute to shyness in childhood and even extreme degrees of social avoidance in adults.
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A small Monte Carlo study was conducted to determine whether MAXCOV analysis, a taxometric method for testing between discrete ("taxonic") and continuous models of latent variables, is robust when indicators of the latent variable are skewed. Analysis of constructed data sets containing three levels of skew indicated that the MAXCOV procedure is unlikely to yield spurious findings of taxonicity even when skewness is considerable. However, care must be taken to distinguish low base-rate taxonic variables from skewed nontaxonic variables.