19.7: Temperament and Language Development

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Amanda Taintor

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The Influence of Language on Temperament

The developmental role of temperament has been primarily studied in the social-emotional domain, where it is usually associated with external and internal problems, challenging behaviors (i.e., Ullsperger et al., 2016; Rubin et al., 2017), and social competence (i.e., Baer et al., 2015; Penela et al., 2015). However, temperament also plays a role in language acquisition and partially accounts for the variability in how much language a child has and how language is acquired (e.g., the age of the first word and rate of vocabulary development and syntactic emergence) during the first 2 years of life (Bates et al., 1991; Lieven, 1997). Research in the language domain focused on caregiver (typically parents) contributions, with a large portion looking into the mother's quality and input of language. These studies find consistent results on the impact of those factors on infant language outcomes (see Soderstrom, 2007 for a review). Fewer studies exist on how a child contributes to language development, such as the influence of temperamental traits on language acquisition. One potential explanation for the differences in available research studies is the failure to consider an approach (Sameroff, 1975) which includes both the child's contributions to language development (i.e., temperament) and the caregiver's role (e.g., quality of the maternal input).[1]

The first year of life is characterized by the rapid emergence of the infant's ability to decode the streams of speech directed to them and begin to associate sounds with symbolic meaning. Two characteristics based on temperament, attentional control and the capacity for self-regulation, are thought to support or inhibit language development (Canfield and Saudino, 2016). However, research has not universally agreed on this point. Infants who demonstrated better attentional abilities also demonstrated higher language comprehension at the end of the first year (Dixon and Smith, 2000; Morales et al., 2000) and greater language vocabulary at 21 months (Dixon and Shore, 1997; Dixon and Smith, 2000; Salley et al., 2013). These findings suggest that greater sustained attention to the environment might facilitate a child's abilities to focus on events rich in language, contributing to vocabulary development. However, other research yielded contradictory findings (Kubicek and Emde, 2012; Pérez-Pereira et al., 2016). These disparities indicate a need for additional research. Overall, the literature suggests that greater expressions of positive affect may foster more significant social exchanges in infancy (a critical period of language development), helping facilitate language development in the infant and toddler period (See Pérez-Pereira et al., 2016, Morales et al., 2000, Laake and Bridgett, 2014, Slomkowski et al., 1992 and Kubicek and Emde, 2012). Another body of literature suggests that a difficult temperament is adversely associated with language development. McNally and Quigley (2014) found that infants rated as having a more difficult temperament at 9 months had lower global language scores at 3 years of age, with similar associations demonstrated for infants at 21 months of age (Dixon and Smith, 2000; Salley and Dixon, 2007). One potential explanation contends that an infant's difficult temperament may interfere with his ability to control the attention needed to process language-relevant information, affecting his development during a critical period of language acquisition. [1]

Despite research suggesting an association between emotion regulation and language development, additional literature has demonstrated contradictory findings. Some studies have failed to find an association between the negative affect in infancy (e.g., distress to limitations scale and difficult temperament) and language competencies in the toddler years (Dixon and Smith, 2000; Morales et al., 2000; Westerlund and Lagerberg, 2008; Canfield and Saudino, 2016). Adding to the complexity of the association between emotion regulation and language, Moreno and Robinson (2005) found that greater expressions of joy and greater expressions of anger at 8 months were associated with better expressive language at 30 months. This study indicates that emotional expression (both positive and negative) may facilitate language development by providing opportunities for the infant to develop language through exchanges with her caregiver (Molfese et al., 2010).[1]

These contradictory findings suggest that while attentional and emotional temperamental aspects may play a role in fostering interactions that enhance language development, further research is needed to clarify the association between attention, emotion regulation, and development of language competencies.[1]

[1] Spinelli M, Fasolo M, Shah PE, Genovese G and Aureli T (2018) The Influence of Early Temperament on Language Development: The Moderating Role of Maternal Input. CC BY.