Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

PSYC 315 Personality > 305 Lecture 4 > Flashcards

305 Lecture 4 Flashcards

1
Q

describe the nature-nurture debate

A
  • which matters more: inherited or acquired influences?
  • nativist approach: nature
  • empiricist approach: tabula rasa
  • who should be blame: nature or parents?
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

describe the nature/nurture debate in regards to Steve Jobs

A
  • Steve Jobs was adopted, but his biological parents were highly intellectual
  • his biological sister is an award-winning author –> both are driven, conscientious, creative, etc.
  • seems like nature might play an important role
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

describe the level at which the nature/nurture debate takes place

A
  • on the group level, not the individual level
  • inseparable intertwining of genes and environment –> genes are expressed in an environment, so can’t ask which is more important
  • we can only debate the degree of influence on specific behaviours/traits
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

describe the study on the 10,000 hour rule

A
  • one study found average practice time for elite violinists was 10,000 hours –> characteristics reflecting “innate talent” is actually just the result of intense practice
  • BUT there is evidence that not everyone can be accomplished in every field, and there is inconsistency in deliberate practice among experts
  • evidence that genes account for over 50% of variance in talents and abilities
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

what is heritability

A
  • proportion of observed variance in group of individuals that can be explained or accounted for by genetic variance
  • applied only to groups (not individuals)
  • not constant/absolute –> varies between populations
  • not a precise statistic –> errors in measurement
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

what is environmentality

A
  • proportion of observed variance in group of individuals attributable to environmental variance
  • greater environmentality = lesser heritability
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

what are the two assumptions of twin studies

A
  • equal environments
  • representativeness
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

what do adoption studies show

A

correlations between adopted children and genetic parents = genetic influence

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

what are the strengths and limitations of adoption studies

A
  • strength: genetic parents are providing no environmental influence (no confound)
  • limitation: potential for selective placement of adopted children (select children because they look similar to them, might share some genes)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

what study design is strongest in determining heritability

A

monozygotic twins reared apart

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

based on studies of MZ twins reared apart, what are the heritability estimates of personality

A
  • heritability estimates for many traits are >50% in correlational analyses, closer to 40% using linear modelling
  • neuroticism has a high heritability estimate based on correlational analyses, but less so in more advanced linear modelling formulas
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

what did a meta analysis on the heritability of the big 5 traits suggest

A
  • twin studies have an average heritability estimate of .48 for big 5 traits, .44 for Eysenck’s model
  • heritability across all traits is estimated as 49%
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

what are some examples of shared vs non-shared environmental influences

A
  • shared: parental beliefs/attitudes, neighbourhood, number of books in house
  • non-shared: birth-order, changes in parenting style, unique experiences
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

when looking at the effects of genetics, shared environment and non-shared environment on personality, what is observed

A
  • genetics and non-shared environment account for about 50% of variance each
  • shared environment has little influence on personality
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

what are some observed impacts on non-shared envrionment on siblings

A
  • youngest child is more likely to be gay in male siblings –> might be adaptive (less competition for mates)
  • intelligence decreases with each subsequent child –> less resources put into each child?
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

what aspects of a person are influenced by shared environment

A
  • attitudes
  • religious beliefs
  • political orientation
  • health behaviours (smoking, drinking)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

describe genotype-environment interaction

A
  • the environment has a different impact depending on genotype
  • e.g. abused children with genotype that produces less MAOA are more likely to develop antisocial personalities
  • e.g. Steve Jobs’s gnees predisposed him to low neuroticism so after being fired he started another business instead of just giving up
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

describe genotype-environment correlations

A

exposure to environmental conditions depends on the genotype –> can be passive, reactive or active

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

what are epigenetics

A

the study of changes in organisms caused by changes in gene expression due to environmental influences –> how nurture shapes nature (are genes expressed or silenced?)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

what have epigenetics been shown to have an impact on

A
  • risk-taking behaviour
  • anxiety and stress reactivity
  • sociability
  • people actively trying to display more kindness have epigenetic changes associated with greater resilience
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

what are the two genes that have been found to have direct links to personality

A
  • dopamine receptor gene (DRD4) –> novelty-seeking and extraversion, psychiatric conditions
  • serotonin transporter gene (5_HTTLPR) –> neuroticism, depressive/anxiety-related traits
22
Q

how many genes are involved in traits

A
  • many –> e.g. GWAS have found 9 neuroticism-associated loci
  • only dopamine receptor and serotonin transporter genes seem to have direct links to personality
  • almost everything is partially heritable
23
Q

how come most traits/behaviours are at least partially heritable

A
  • genes affect NTs, hormones and physiological arousal
  • these things can affect thoughts, feelings and behaviours over time, which form traits
  • traits influence our behaviours (e.g. relationship behavious, which can lead to divorce)
24
Q

what are the three main biological mechanisms of personality

A
  • individual differences in brain structure, function and connectivity (e.g. amygdala associated with neuroticism)
  • individual differences in optimal level of arousal (e.g. associates with extraversion)
  • individual differences in NT levels/regulation (e.g. serotonin levels associated with harm avoidance)
25
Q

describe some individual differences in NT levels/regulation

A
  • serotonin levels associated with harm avoidance
  • norepinephrine levels associated with reward dependence
  • dopamine levels associated with novelty-seeking
26
Q

what part of the definition of personality doesn’t apply to nonhuman species

A

“adaptations to the intrapsychic environment” –> how do we examine intrapsychic concepts like self-concept and self-esteem in nonhuman species

27
Q

describe the study on fish that showed evidence of personality

A
  • strategies of honesty and cheating differ in cleaner fish
  • individual exhibiting greater feeding effort and less exploration = less cheating
  • bolder and active = cheating
28
Q

what were the 5 personality traits found in Chimps

A
  • reactivity/undependability
  • dominance
  • openness
  • extraversion
  • agreeableness

–> suggests we share at least 60% of our personality traits with chips, suggesting an evolutionary basis to personality (must play a functional role)

29
Q

what is evolutionary continuity

A
  • all animal capacities and behaviours exist (to various degrees) in continuity with other species
  • there is no empirical justification for human exceptionalism
  • everything psychological in humans is in some way present in other species
30
Q

what is argued by evolutionary psychology

A
  • all humans today come from an unbroken line of ancestors who have survived and reproduced
  • we carry the adaptive mechanisms that led to our anestors’ success
  • human nature and personality are made of a collection of evolved traits and mechanisms
31
Q

what have been the two components to our evolutionary success as a species

A
  • getting ahead (agency) and getting along (communion)
  • communities with more sympathetic members flourish best and rear most offspring
  • need to engage with others AND pursue personal goals/distinctiveness, in that order –> without communion, we have no need for agency
32
Q

according to evolutionary psychology, what is instinctive to us

A
  • communion/cooperation, NOT competition/agency
  • e.g. Tomasello’s helping tasks, showing that it is instinctive to help without any reinforcement (and helping actually declines when there is reinforcement)
33
Q

from an evolutionary perspective, what are the two levels of analysis that need to be considered

A
  • human nature (what are all people like)
  • individual/group differences (how/why are people different from one another)
34
Q

describe the human nature perspective in evolutionary psychology

A
  • human nature is a product of evolutionary processes
  • over time, more successful psychological mechanisms and traits spread through the population –> eventually characterize all humans
  • e.g. helping/altruism, empathy
35
Q

describe why the need to belong is functional

A
  • we are safer in large numbers, have more resources and have more potential mates
  • we experience social anxiety because of this need to belong (except in schizoid PD)
  • Bonobo monkeys are our second closest relative and they are very affectionate, and don’t have inter-group conflict
36
Q

describe why empathy is functional

A
  • social cohesion and cooperation
  • taking perspectives increases chances of giving/receiving help
  • Rhesus monkeys will avoid eating to prevent another monkey from receiving a shock
37
Q

why is helping/altruism functional

A
  • direct function of recipient’s ability to enhance the inclusive fitness of the helpers
  • people are more likely to help others who are more closely related to them in survival situations (e.g. siblings)
38
Q

describe the universality of emotions

A
  • emotions and expressions must have an evolutionary basis is they are shared by all members of a species (e.g. monkeys and humans both react to cold stethoscope)
  • they are an adaptive psychosocial mechanism –> signal pain, pleasure, etc. to others
  • emotions can be used to manipulate others
39
Q

what are some “less desirable” traits that we all share that might still serve an adaptive function

A
  • jealousy, envy, narcissism, selfishness
  • these might result from evolutionary pressures to survive
  • tribal narcissism (in-group/out-group biases) might be a means of protecting those close to us
40
Q

describe the evolutionary basis of humans’ propensity for aggression and war

A
  • humans and chimps are the only primates who engage in lethal aggression/warfare
  • chimps have a lower expression of the ADRA2C gene (which inhibits fight or flight responses)
  • fight/flight less inhibited = better equipped to run into battle –> might have developed more recently as a result of intergroup aggression
41
Q

what is the naturalistic fallacy

A
  • tendency to believe that what is natural is what is “good/right/moral”
  • e.g. lobsters naturally develop dominance hierarchies, so hierarchies in human society must also be natural and thus right?
42
Q

what are the four leading explanations for the maintenance of individual differences over time

A
  • environmental triggers of differences
  • frequency-dependent selection of traits
  • contingencies among traits
  • optimal variance over time and space
43
Q

describe the environmental triggers of differences

A
  • individual differences result from environmental differences acting on species-typical psychological mechanisms
  • transgenerational epigenetic mechanisms have maintained these traits over time
  • e.g. individual differences in neuroticism may result from differences in stressors/demands in early life environments (e.g. childhood adversity leading to more aggression in adulthood)
44
Q

describe the “contingencies among traits” explanation for individual differences in traits

A
  • individual differences result from contingencies among traits
  • other traits (e.g. physical) may make the expression of certain psychological traits more/less adaptive
  • e.g. quick temper is more advantageous if you are big and strong, not if you are weak
45
Q

describe the “frequency-dependent selection” explanation for individual differences in traits

A
  • reproductive success of a trait depends on its frequency relative to other traits in a population –> as a trait becomes more common it may become less successful because of a loss of competitive advantage or social response
  • e.g. selection might favour cheaters in a cooperative population, but when cheating becomes too frequent (and people become more aware of it happening), then it’s too hard to cheat (frequency declines)
  • e.g. psychopathy in population is low so it goes more unnoticed
46
Q

describe the “optimal variance over time and space” explanation for individual differences in traits

A
  • different levels of a trait are optimally adaptive in different environmental conditions over time –> creates heritable differences in personality that are maintained
  • “balanced selection” to maintain diversity
  • e.g. during food scarcity selection favours risk taking, but during food security selection favours caution –> both traits become common in population over time
  • e.g. during pandemic selection favours low openness, during low disease risk selection favours high openness
47
Q

describe balancing selection in regards to the big 5 traits

A
  • no unconditionally optimal value of the big 5 traits, thus we should expect genetic diversity to be maintained
  • we should be able to identify both the benefits and the costs associated with the big 5 traits (e.g. neuroticism = increased vigilance to danger AND increased stress responses)
48
Q

describe balancing selection in regards to extraversion

A
  • benefits: mating success, social allies, exploration
  • costs: physical risks, family stability
49
Q

describe balancing selection in regards to the 7R allele and novelty-seeking

A
  • 7R allele of the DRD4 gene occurs at different rates in different geographical regions
  • favoured by evolutionary selection when people migrate to new environments or inhabit resource-rich environments (beneficial in migratory/nomadic populations, not sedentary populations)
  • could be caused by selective migration of individuals with those genes –> selectively favours genes in new environments, or both
  • DRD4 gene is a risk factor for ADHD
50
Q

describe why personality differences are most pronounced in social species (e.g. humans)

A

might be the social environment that provides an array of different adaptive niches in which different personality strategies can succeed –> we have developed the capacity to detect these traits in others

51
Q

describe our difference-detecting mechanisms

A
  • we have developed the ability to notice/remember individual differences that have relevance for solving adaptive problems
  • e.g. who is likely to risk in the hierarchy –> extraversion, dominance
  • e.g. who is likely to be a good cooperator –> highly agreeable

PSYC 315 Personality (16 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions