Temperament: Understanding Behavioral Individuality

TACTIC is a 97 item rating scale that assesses temperament and screens for attentional and behavioral problems in children 2 to 6 years of age.

The questionnaire is completed by the preschool teacher or other caregiver and rates the nine NYLS temperament characteristics while also screening for conduct, emotional and attentional problems. It is anticipated that TACTIC will be used by professionals who require unbiased ratings of behavior from a caregiver in an out-of-home setting, and will serve as a basis for both assessment of the child and consultation with the caregiver.

TACTIC will be unveiled in November at the Zero to Three National Training Institute in San Diego, California. Conference dates are 11/30-12/2. The TACTIC poster with information on standardization data and availability will be accessible throughout the conference.

Programmers at B-DI have identified a fix for Error 200, the bug in the programming language Turbopascal that prevented CTS software from running on computers with processors faster than 250 mhz. The fix involves applying a patch developed in Europe to circumvent the division by zero that afflicts all programs written in Turbopascal. Testing of the patched programs has been successful at processor speeds up to 1 gigahertz. New software produced after November 13, 2000 will be patched and labelled 'V 4.2P' The patched program provides new options for users of CTS questionnaires, as limited use diskettes will continue to be available. Version 5 is currently available only in unlimited use versions. Prices and product offerings for Version 4.2 will remain the same.

The Temperament Guides: Resources for Early Intervention Professionals

This manual by Kate Andersen, author of BDINews, has just been published by B-DI. The Temperament Guides provides an effective, temperament-based program ("Your Individual Child") for practitioners working with young children and their families. It includes a chapter on the practical aspects of temperament assessment by Sean McDevitt, PhD and a Foreword by William Carey MD.

Looking systematically at behavioral issues related to each of the nine temperamental characteristics, it also examines the role of temperament in 10 of the most common childhood behavior problems. In addition, The Temperament Guides includes 40 reproducible parent education handouts for use in early intervention.