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Temperament (an early-appearing, biologically based behavioural style present from infancy) matters because it explains why babies react so differently to the same environment from the very start, before parenting can have shaped them. Thomas and Chess's New York Longitudinal Study identified nine behavioural dimensions, such as activity level, adaptability, and mood, that cluster into three broad temperament types. For example, imagine two infants started on the same weaning food: one settles into the new taste within a day, the other resists and cries for a week. That gap reflects a difference in inborn temperament, not different parenting.

Thomas and Chess scored infants on nine dimensions, including activity level, regularity of biological functions, approach or withdrawal to new stimuli, adaptability, intensity of reaction, and mood, then grouped children into three types. The 'easy' type, about 40% of children, shows regular routines, easy adaptability, and a generally positive mood. The 'difficult' type, about 10%, shows irregular routines, intense reactions, and a predominantly negative mood. The 'slow-to-warm-up' type, about 15%, reacts mildly and withdraws at first from new situations but adapts gradually with repeated exposure. The remaining children show mixed patterns that do not fit neatly into one type. For example, imagine a difficult-type toddler who reacts to every minor frustration with intense crying; a calm, consistent caregiving approach can still produce a good outcome. In practice, this means a difficult temperament alone does not predict poor outcomes, the fit between the child's style and the caregiving environment does.

• Which infant temperamental trait most predicts later anxiety disorders?
• How many temperamental dimensions did Thomas and Chess describe?
• What did Thomas and Chess find about children who did not fit any of the three types?

• Temperament, an early-appearing, biologically based behavioural style present from infancy, unlike attachment, which is the quality of the emotional bond formed with a caregiver.
• Attachment, the relationship bond built through caregiving interactions, rather than temperament's inborn behavioural style.
• Personality, a broader, more stable pattern that consolidates later in childhood and adulthood, whereas temperament is present and measurable from infancy.
• Goodness of fit, the match between a child's temperament and their environment, unlike temperament type alone, is what predicts developmental outcome.

• Rapid adaptation is protective rather than a risk factor.
• Low emotional intensity is not the trait linked to later anxiety.
• High activity level relates more to later externalising problems.
• Regular rhythms characterise the easy temperament, with good outcomes.
• Five is the number of factors in the Big Five personality model.

• Identify the age, developmental task and theoretical framework in the stem.
• Place the behaviour in the correct sequence or stage.
• Separate normal variation from a milestone or construct that belongs earlier or later.
• Use the distinctive experiment, theorist or clinical implication as the final discriminator.