Temperament and the Reactions to Unfamiliarity

The begavioral reaction to unfamiliar events are basic pheomena in all vertebrates, Four month-old injants who show a low threshold to become distressed and motorically aroused to unfamiliar stimuli are likely than others to become fearful and subdued during early childhood, whereas infants who show a high arousal threshold are more likely to become bold and sociable. After presenting some developmental correlates and thrajectories of these 2 temperamental biases, I consider their implication for psychopathology and the relation between propositions containing psychological and biological concepts.