biological and genetic perspective

Question 1

Basic assumptions

Answer 1

personality traits:
1)reflect physiological differences between people

2)largely genetically determined

3)rooted in evolutionary history

Question 2

Pre-scientific approach: phrenology

Answer 2

physical features of head are associated with specific functions(sloping forehead=criminal prone)

Modern view:
1)its in the brain not the head

2)its not that specific

Question 3

Galen’s 4 humors

Answer 3

believed personality was a reflection of 4 fluids/humors that make up our bodies (if 1 fluid was dominant, personality would be associated with fluid)

Yellow bile: bad temper, irritability (Choleric)

Black bile: gloomy,pessimistic (Melancholic)

Phlegm:sluggish, non-excitable (Phlegmatic)

Blood:cheerful, passionate (Sanguine)

***modern view: neurotransmitters are responsible rather than fluids

Question 4

Modern Genetic Approach

Answer 4

genes are the building blocks of personality

*inherited through evolutionary processes

*shape personality and behavior by shaping physiological responses

*behavioral genetics=the study of how genes shape behavior

Question 5

Assumptions of Behavioral Genetics

Answer 5

1)nature vs. nurture(behavior is shaped by genes and environment)

2)genotypes are genetic potentialities(genes for eye color)

3)phenotypes are manifest (apparent) characteristics(actual eye color is influenced by mix of genes and environment)

**genetic determination(if you have a gene-> then phenotypes, nothing to do with environment)

**gene-environment interactions(if you have a gene and particular environments, then a particular phenotype)

Question 6

genetic heritability

Answer 6

heritability is the extent to which individual differences in a trait, within a group of people, are due to differences in genes
**heritability can only apply to groups->based on individual differences
**does not mean how much of a trait within a single person is due to genetics

Question 7

Behavioral genetics

Answer 7

*used to identify differences between individuals WITHIN a group

*allow researchers to determine extent to which individual differences in a trait are due to genetics and to environment

Question 8

Misconceptions about heritability

Answer 8

group differences are NOT explained by genetic differences

Question 9

avg IQ is lower in african americans than white americans, but not due to genetic differences but to__________

Answer 9

group differences are caused by environmental differences between groups

white and black people differ in socioeconomic status so their environment is different

Question 10

Twin studies

Answer 10

help us understand the importance of genetic and environmental influences on social development

Question 11

Twin study research diagram

Answer 11

Monozygotic twins and dizygotic twins have same environment

Monozygotic twins have same genetics, but dizygotics twins have different genes

Question 12

Twin studies: compare concordance (similarity) of trait in MZ vs DZ twins

Answer 12

If MZ twins are more similar than DZ twins, that means trait is partly heritable

Question 13

Adoption studies:

Answer 13

If biological kids are more similar to parents than adoptive kids, trait is partly heritable

Question 14

Equal environments assumption(Is the amount of shared environment really the same for DZ vs. MZ twins)

Answer 14

Not totally clear if the environment is completely the same because MZ are treated the same because they look the same, but DZ might be treated differently cus they look different

Question 15

Caveats of adoption studies

Answer 15

1)representativeness
-adopted parents treat kids differently from biological parents
2)selective placement
-adoptions centers try to pair kids with parents by matching genes

Question 16

certain genotypes and environments may be associated with each other(genotype-environment correlation)

Answer 16

selection of certain environments (Passive)

manipulation of environment (active)

reactions from others(reactive)

Question 17

twin studies have revealed 3 important influences on personality

Answer 17

1)genetic influences:genes individuals inherit from parents

2)shared environment

3)non-shared environment

Question 18

genetic effects

Answer 18

what parents pass on to children

100% shared in MZ twins

50% in DZ twins

Question 19

Environmental effects

Answer 19

shared:family and environmental influences that affect twins similarily

nonshared:family and enviornment influences that affect twin differently (ie: differnet teacher,diff friends)

Question 20

personality is influenced little by

Answer 20

shared environment

Question 21

what has strong impact on personality?

Answer 21

non-shared environment

Question 22

Do parents matter?

Answer 22

*Yes
*The unique relationship between mother and child predicts the unique self-esteem of each child(non-shared environmental effects)

Question 23

New zealand twin study:Does unique parenting(non-shared environmental effect) influence self-esteem?

Answer 23

does not affect self esteem at ages 5 and 7(largely due to genetics at that age)…. but there is small effect

Question 24

Conclusions

Answer 24

*All personality traits are at least partially heritable

*The effect of being raised in the same family is smaller than the effect of genes

*Much of the variance in personality is not due to genes or shared family experiences, but influenced by unshared, unique parent-child relationship

Question 25

Shared family environments does influence other aspects of a person

Answer 25

religion,attitudes,health behavior

Question 26

How can we explain heritability of personality

Answer 26

Genes lead to different patterns of neurotransmitters,hormones, physiological arousal, which influence thoughts and feelings, influencing personality-> leading to likeliness to divorce

Question 27

Do we have any conscious control over our actions, thoughts and personality

Answer 27

yes, but sometimes genes can influence actions

ie: identical twins are more likely to be convicted of felony(big genetic effect on likelihood to be criminal)