Development of inhibition during childhood: Evidence for situational specificity and a two-factor model.

Abstract

The inhibition of 99 children was observed from the start of preschool through Grade 1 in multiple settings: adult strangers, dyadic play with unfamiliar and familiar peers, and regular free play in class. A multisetting-multimethod-multioccasion analysis revealed (a) a high longitudinal stability of inhibition toward strangers and a medium stability of inhibition in class, (b) a decreasing consistency between inhibition in class and inhibition toward strangers, (c) an increasing consistency between inhibition in class and being ignored or rejected by classmates, and (d) no detrimental effect of children's inhibition toward strangers on their dyadic play with familiar peers. These results are discussed in terms of a 2-factor model of inhibition that is linked to Gray's concept of the behavioral inhibition system. It is assumed that both unfamiliarity and social-evaluative concerns contribute to individual differences in inhibition in childhood. When children encounter a new environment, a novel object, or a stranger, they often become inhibited. They are hesitant in exploring the environment or the object, or their social behavior is inhibited, resulting in long latencies of responding; in the presence of an unfamiliar peer, children tend to regress to less mature forms of play (Asendorpf, in press; Doyle, Connolly, & Rivest, 1980).