Biological processes and personality Flashcards
Biological Premises
❖Human behaviour is generated by complex biological
systems
• focus is on how neuroanatomy & neurophysiology influences action & experience
❖Personality characteristics are genetically determined
• biological perspective explores which aspects of personality are influenced by heredity, evolution and brain function
Behavioural genetics
❖ How is personality inherited?
Similarities in personality are compared between people with different degrees of genetic similarity.
❖ Methods to establish genetic-behaviour relationships
• adoption studies
• twin studies
• selective breeding
Adoption studies
❖ If children had no influence from biological
parents / compare children’s personality to that of biological parents (shared genes) & adoptive parents (no shared genes).
❖ If families have biological & adoptive children –
compare personalities of adopted to biological
children.
❖ Correlations – estimate how much variation
due to genetic factors – heritability coefficient.
>. Overall heritability personality traits = 40%
Twin studies: Part 1
❖ Dizygotic – (DZ different genetically) two separate fertilized eggs –as genetically similar as any pair of siblings.
❖ Brought up together – provides some environmental control
❖ Individuals with different genotypes experience same environment differently & act to shape the environment.
Twin studies: Part 2
❖ Monozygotic (MZ – identical genes) same fertilized egg
❖ Differences must be environmental
❖ Reared apart – still have same attitudes, hobbies and preferences for pets
Temperaments
❖ Inherited personality traits present at birth are:
• genetically based
• wholly pervasive – affecting how and what people do
❖ Three fundamental temperaments:
• activity level – overall output of behaviour
• sociability – preference for being with others
• emotionality – ease of being emotionally aroused
Environmental influences
❖ Environmental effects may be underestimated:
• judged as that which is not explained by genetics
• some environmental and genetic effects may have shared influence on an outcome (e.g., intelligence)
• if shared variance is attributed to genetics, the
environmental effect is underestimated
❖ Environmental influences on personality operate primarily at the individual level
❖ Sources of non-shared environmental influences
• peer, friends, social networks
• complementary, but diverging, roles within families
• parental preference
Shared & non-shared environments
❖ Shared – environments shared by siblings by growing up together
❖ Nonshared – environments not shared by siblings growing up together, due to different gender, birth order, illnesses, peers, experiences etc.
Plomin & Daniels (1987): Why are children from same family so different? • 40% to 50% genetics • 35% non-shared environment • 5% shared environment • remainder – attributed to measurement error
Genetic-environment interactions
❖ Cooper & Zubeck (1958) – research on how early
environmental experiences influenced adult problem
solving in genetically different rats.
❖ Used rats previously bred to be “maze-bright” & “mazedull”
>. Each then raised in:
a) enriching stimulating environment
b) impoverished environment
❖ Enriched environment improved later learning ability in dull rats (new environment) but not bright ones.
❖ Impoverished environment handicapped bright rats but not dull ones.
Evolutionary theory
> . “We are part of nature, but we like to see ourselves as otherwise” (Goldsmith 1991)
. “Natural selection has built us, and it is natural selection we must understand if we are to comprehend our own identities” (Trivers, 1976)
Evolved psychological mechanisms
> . Psychological mechanisms – results of evolution by natural selection
. Aspects of human nature such as fundamental motives and emotions can be
understood in terms of their adaptive value
Adaptive value implies:
• reproductive success/ passing on of genes
• time lag – adaptive to hunter and gatherer life
• adaptive value for specific tasks/problems in specific context
Sociobiology & evolution
❖Social behaviours exist because they confer adaptive advantage
❖Example: Altruism???
• may confer a biological disadvantage at an individual level
• may help others in the same gene pool survive and reproduce (inclusive fitness)
• may form the evolutionary basis of cooperation
Summary of types of nature-nurture interactions
- Same environment experiences different effects on individuals with different
genetic constitutions - Individuals with different genetic constitutions may evoke different responses from environment
- Individuals with different constitutions select and create different environments as soon as they are physically able to “In the dance of life, genes and environment are absolutely inextricably partners”
(Hayman 1999)
More to it than genes & evolution!
❖ Premise: two evolutionary processes influence behaviour
• biological evolution—slow
• cultural evolution—much faster
❖ Problems arise when the behavioral tendency from biological evolution conflicts with current cultural environment
Neurotransmitters (brain chemicals): Part 1
Neurotransmitters travel across the synaptic cleft between neurons Example of relationship to behaviour ❖ excess of dopamine associated with – schizophrenia ❖ underproduction of dopamine associated with Parkinson’s disease
Neurotransmitters (brain chemicals): Part 2
❖ Serotonin is a neurotransmitter thought
contribute to feelings of well-being & happiness
❖ Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs):
Cipramil (Citalopram), Prozac (Fluoxatine), Aropax
(Paroxetine), Zoloft (Sertraline)
❖ Class of antidepressants used to treat depression,
anxiety.
❖ Increase the extracellular level of the serotonin
by inhibiting its reuptake into the presynaptic cell,
thus increasing the level of serotonin available to
bind to the postsynaptic receptor.
Research methods for assessing mind & brain relationships
❖EEG (Electroencephalography) —measures of electrical brain
activity
❖PET (Positron emission tomography) —mapping of brain activity from metabolic function
❖MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) —images of brain function from magnetic fields created from neural activity
❖Functional MRI—assesses levels of activation at rest and during mental activity
Biological systems – The Endocrine System Hormones
❖Hormones – biological chemicals produced in the
endocrine glands send messages via blood-stream.
❖E.g. Cortisol is associated with the human stress
response
Hormones and personality (early development)
Testosterone:
❖higher prenatal levels weeks 8-24, months 1-5 after birth, and after
puberty for normal males
❖developmental default is female
❖exposure to androgens results in male physical and neurological
development
❖exposure to higher levels of prenatal androgens:
• associated with higher self-reported physical aggression scores in response
to hypothetical situation (boys and girls)
• associated with cross-gender toy selection among girls
Testosterone and adult personality: Part 1
Focus is on associations with dominance and antisocial behaviour
❖Positive associations with:
• Violation of prison rules among inmates and likelihood of having
committed violent crime
• Greater trouble with parents, teachers, and classmates when
growing up (increased effects among low SES)
Testosterone and adult personality: Part 2
• Being a trial lawyer, actor, NFL football player!!!
• More dominant and confident social interactions
• Not being married, getting divorced, having an affair, and domestic
abuse among men
❖Factor analysis with personality items—testosterone data loaded
with impulsiveness, sensation seeking, and dominance
Cycles of testosterone action
❖Testosterone rises after: • success in a competitive event • your team wins • sexual intercourse • challenged by insult ❖Testosterone falls after: • failure or humiliation • your team loses
Testosterone, dominance, and evolutionary psychology
❖Males: Overt aggressiveness helps confer dominance & status increasing reproductive advantage
❖Females: No advantage for aggressiveness in females & may interfere with reproductive success and child rearing activities
Men, women and oxytocin: Part 2
❖ In response to threat, animals engage in “fight or flight” response
• most research done with males
❖ Different response may be activated for females: “tend & befriend”
• reflects differing evolutionary pressures on males & females due to offspring investment (i.e. not effective to fight when pregnant or caring for an infant)
Men, women and oxytocin: Part 2
❖ Oxytocin—hormone resulting in relaxation, calming, mother-infant bonding, general social bonding, & adult pair-bonding in
some species:
• females typically have higher levels than men
• androgens inhibit release of oxytocin under stress
• estrogens activate release
• released during childbirth, touch, massage, and breast-feeding
Sensation seeking
❖ Marvin Zuckerman leading researcher in this area
❖ High sensation seekers are in search of new, varied, and exciting experiences
• drive faster
• more likely to use drugs and increase alcohol use over time
• more high-risk sports
• more risky antisocial behaviour
• more dissatisfied with relationships
❖ Monoamine Oxidase (MAO, enzyme that oxidises amine-based neurotransmitters )
• related to levels of sensation seeking
• also associated with social dominance, aggression, and gene linked to impulsivity
Utility of sensation seeking
❖ Regulates exposure to stimulus intensity:
• high sensation seekers (HSS) open themselves up to stimulation
• HSS do well in overstimulating conditions
• low sensation seekers (LSS) adapt better to most ordinary circumstances, but may shut down under intense conditions
• impulsive unsocialised sensation seeking (IUSS) —inability to inhibit behaviour appropriate to social constraints
Behavioural approach system (BAS)
❖ Regulates movement toward desired states or objects (incentive)
❖ Responsible for positive emotions (left prefrontal
cortex)
❖ Relates to conditioning involving positive outcomes, but not negative outcomes
❖ People with different levels of BAS sensitivity
demonstrate differences in behavioural and
emotional responses to incentives
❖ May be related to dopamine activity
Behavioural inhibition system (BIS)
❖ Regulates movement away from undesired
states or objects
❖ Associated with anxiety (right prefrontal
cortex)
❖ Relates to conditioning involving negative
outcomes, but not positive outcomes
❖ People with different levels of BIS sensitivity
demonstrate differences in behavioural and
emotional responses to punishment
❖ May be related to serotonin and/or GABA
activity
Approach/inhibition and traits
❖BIS-related neuroticism/emotionality
• anxiety at core of emotionality
• high BIS-sensitive people respond to anxiety
manipulations
❖BAS-related to extraversion
• high BAS-sensitive people respond to positive mood
manipulations
Impulsiveness
❖Issue: How best to account for impulsiveness
❖Approach and inhibition systems
• High BAS
• Low BIS
• Combination (high BAS and low BIS)
❖Serotonin
• Most studies relate serotonin to negative emotion
• Low serotonin function associated with anger,
impulsive aggression
• Serotonin levels positively related to conscientiousness
• Suggestive that impulsiveness derives from a separate biological system
Behaviour, genetics and disorders
❖Schizophrenia
• rate of concordance in twins
• MZ = 50%
• DZ = 9%
❖Bipolar Disorder
• twin research suggests genetic contribution
• possible links to specific chromosomes (in Amish)
❖Alcohol Abuse
• possible link to gene for dopamine
❖Antisocial behaviour
• higher concordance rates among MZ twins on childhood behaviour problems and adult crime
Relationships between behavioural issues and
biological function
❖ Anxiety—indicative of oversensitive BIS activity ❖ Depression • High BIS activity • Weak BAS activity ❖ Antisocial personality • High BAS activity • Low BIS activity • Third system—sensation seeking, low MAO, high testosterone
Is behaviour change possible?
❖How easy can it be to modify
aspects of behaviour produced by biology?
❖Still learning, but change is likely to be easier for some people than others
❖Genetic determination is not total; psychological processes matter, even for disorders linked to genetics.
What does this mean for therapy?
❖Modifying biological function may
change manifestation of disorders
❖Pharmacotherapy—drug administration
e.g., antidepressants (SSRIs)
