Chapter 5 - Biological Aspects of Personality Flashcards

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1
Q

what is natural selection

A

certain adaptive individual characteristics that emerge over generations

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2
Q

attention is drawn to the ____ of a characteristic in survival

A

function

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3
Q

what is an evolutionary personality theory

A

modern application of Darwins’ ideas to individual differences
-differences are due to different adaptive strategy

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4
Q

limitation of evolutionary personality theory

A

hard to check genes?

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5
Q

what is williams syndrome

A

change in personality due to missing 2 dozen genes from chromosome 7; characterized by excessively social, limited intellect

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6
Q

what is behavioral genomics

A

study of how genes affect behavior

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7
Q

what is quantitative genetics

A

study of phenotypes that change/vary in people
ex. height, weight

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8
Q

what is temperament?

A

stable individual differences in emotional reactivity

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9
Q

what are the 4 aspects of temperament

A

activity (vigorous motion vs. passivity), emotionality, sociability (approaches others vs. aloof), impulsivity

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10
Q

what is emotionality?

A

(easily aroused vs. calm + stable)

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11
Q

what is impulsivity?

A

(aggressive + cold vs. friendly)

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12
Q

measures of temperament?

A

Eysenck’s model (nervous system of temperament; introversion/extroversion) and Gray’s reinforcement sensitivity theory and Zuckermann’s theory (sensation seeking)

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13
Q

what is extroversion according to Eysenck

A

having low levels of brain arousal so these ppl seek stimulation

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14
Q

what is introversion according to Eysenck

A

having high levels of internal arousal so they avoid stimulating social environments

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15
Q

Eysenck’s nervous system temperament theory combines the activity element with social dimension and links it to the ___ which creates ___

A

nervous system; introversion-extroversion dimension

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16
Q

what are some problems with testing a nervous system based theory?

A

a. difficult to define + measure nervous arousal
b. human body attempts to maintain equilibrium so it varies in baseline, duration, etc.

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17
Q

what is the behavioral inhibition system?

A

provides a response to situations and responds to things that are punishing
overactive -> anxiety

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18
Q

what is the behavioral activation system?

A

regulates response to rewards
overactive -> impulsivity

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19
Q

sensation seeking people seek out _____

A

highly stimulating activities

20
Q

what are neurotransmitters

A

chemical nerves used to communicate

21
Q

how does dopamine affect personality

A

ppl can have natural defects in dopamine systems; can lead them to be more susceptible to addiction

22
Q

prozac?

A

can have short-term or long-term effects on personality

23
Q

what is hemispheric activity

A

difference between activation of left/right cerebral hemispheres

24
Q

over-reaction to a negative stimulus is due to greater activation on the ____ side

A

right

25
Q

what is the nervous-system drug addition model and how does it effect personality

A

BIS and BAS; nervous system can affect how easily affected we are by rewards or avoiding situations/punishments

26
Q

twin studies

A

what, why

27
Q

what is eugenics

A

thought that eminent families should have lots of children to improve human race

28
Q

what is non-shared environmental variance

A

features of the environment that children raised in the same home experience differently

29
Q

comparing identical twins to fraternal twins

A

the detection of genetic influences on personality

30
Q

what is schizophrenia

A

person who loses touch with reality; has delusions, becomes paranoid
look at research limitations in the book please :D

31
Q

what is bipolar disorder

A

who knows

32
Q

what is concordance

A

the probability of a match

33
Q

twin studies have shown that ___ has genetic influence from ____

A

homosexuality; evidence of difference in brain structure and function

34
Q

What is Bern’s Exotic Becomes Erotic theory

A

people are attracted to genders that are unfamiliar to them in childhood

35
Q

what is the kin selection theory

A

if nieces and nephews of LGBT+ ppl are likely to survive then the genetic tendency toward homosexuality will survive

36
Q

what are the effects of environmental toxins on personality

A

lead poisoning leads to poisoning of child’s nervous system;

37
Q

what is biological determinism

A

our biology determines our actions

38
Q

what are tropisms

A

motivational forces; can originate from temperamental differences

39
Q

what are physical attractiveness stereotypes

A

ppl expect attractive people to do good and be good; adults have higher expectations for attractive children

40
Q

what is sociobiology

A

scientific study of influence of evolutionary biology on responses to social matters

41
Q

what is attachment

A

relationship to parents? look at book babes

42
Q

what is the cinderella effect

A

parents giving preference to biological children over step-children
-results from natural selection, parents just love their biological children more whoops

43
Q

survival of the fittest led to the incorrect assumption that this is a __ world

A

“dog-eat-dog”; weak creatures and cultures shouldn’t survive

44
Q

what is the human genome project

A

tried to identify the function of genes; first, it was to develop treatments, but then they found genes that influence personality

45
Q

what is the ethical issues of the human genome project

A

they were trying to genetically engineer healthy genes