Biological Perspectives of Personality Flashcards
Ascending Reticular Activating System
Two circuits that maintain balance between inhibitory and excitatory pathways.
Reticulo Cortical Circuit
Part of the ARAS. Arousal of this circuit is from external information.
Reticulo Limbic Circuit
Part of the ARAS. Arousal of this circuit is a result of internal, emotional stimulation.
ARAS and Extraversion
Extraverts have an ARAS that provides less arousal, so they have to seek it out themselves. For example, Green (1984) and his study on music volume and task performance in introverts and extraverts.
ARAS and Neuroticism
People are high in neuroticism because they are more aroused by activation in the reticulo limbic circuit.
Behavioural Inhibition System
Stop mechanism. Causes sensitivity to punishment and motivates the individual to avoid rejection and punishment. High BIS leads to high anxiety.
Behavioural Activation System
Go mechanism. Causes sensitivity to reward and motivates seeking reward. High BAS leads to high impulsivity.
BIS/BAS Theory
People high in BIS respond best to threat of punishment, whereas people high in BAS respond better to reward. Over or under active BIS or BAS can lead to behavioural or personality prolems.
Personality and Physiology
EEg, ERP and ANS evidence is inconclusive in terms of the relationship between physiological states and personality. Eysenck and Gray’s theories are too simplistic given the complexity of the brain.
Genotype
The genetic code for a trait/physical characteristic.
Phenotype
The physical manifestation of a genotype.
Genetic Heritability
The extent to which a phenotype is passed on from a parent to their offspring. Assessed by establishing the amount of shared variance between parent and child. If they are similar, the have shared variance therefore heritability is high.
Heritability Coefficient
An estimate of the proportion of variance in a behaviour that can be accounted for by genes across a population.
