ABSTRACT
Sue A. Woodward, Mark H. McManis, Jerome Kagan, Patricia Deldin, Nancy Snidman, Melissa Lewis, and Vali Kahn
Brainstem auditory evoked responses (BAERs) were evaluated on 10-to 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.
