Temperament and language : relations from toddlerhood to middle childhood

This study examined contemporaneous and longitudinal relations between temperament and language in toddlerhood and middle childhood. Language was assessed using the Sequenced Inventory of Communicative Development in 229 children at age 2 and in 212 of these children at age 2. Observers rated dimensions of the children's temperament at age 2 on the Infant Behavior Record. In addition, 164 of these children were administered a battery of language measures after the completion of Ist grade. Affect-extraversion at age 2 made a unique contribution to individual differences in both receptive and expressive language at age 3 and to receptive language skills at age 7