Little Carl is being tested in an experiment of temperament. An experimenter puts electrodes on his chest and measures his heart rate. Compared to other infants, Carl's heart rate is not as variable. In terms of his temperament, Carl is probably

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When we consider temperament and physiological reactivity, heart rate variability is a proxy for how flexibly a child can respond to mild stressors. This helps evaluate both reactivity (how strongly they respond) and regulation (how well they modulate that response).
Option 1: 'highly active.' A child who is highly active would typically show higher overall activity levels and may exhibit more variable responses across contexts, but heart rate variability alone doesn’t automatically map to being highly active. So this choice doesn’t directly capture the specific pattern of reduced heart rate variability described.
Option 2: 'easy, predictable, and generally happy.' This descriptor refers to a temperament profile (easy child) characterized by adaptability and positive mood, but the measure given (less variability in heart rate) is about physiological regulation, not about general mood or predictability. Therefore this option misaligns with the physiological finding.
Option 3: 'slow-to-warm-up.' This category involves cautiousness and initial withdrawal or hesitation with novelty, which can relate to slower behavioral regulation in some contexts. However, the stem emphasizes quantified heart rate variability as a measure of regulation capacity to mild stressors, whereas the slow-to-warm-up label is more about approach/withdrawal tendencies rather than explicit regulatory capacity on stressors.
Option 4: 'not as able to regulate his response to mild stressors.' This statement directly ties reduced heart rate variability to diminished regulatory control in the face of mild stress, aligning with the interpretation that lower physiological fluctuation implies a less flexible (or weaker) capacity to modulate responses. The physiology described maps to regulation, making this option the most consistent with the given information.
In sum, each alternative links to temperament in different ways, but only the fourth option explicitly connects lower heart rate variability to a weaker regulatory response to mild stressors, matching the described finding. The other choices describe related temperament traits or patterns that don’t specifically address physiological regulation in response to stress as the primary implication of the data.

PSC 140V 001 SS1 2025 Mini Quiz: Temperament

Little Carl is being tested in an experiment of temperament. An experimenter puts electrodes on his chest and measures his heart rate. Compared to other infants, Carl's heart rate is not as variable. In terms of his temperament, Carl is probably

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