Chapter 9

Question 1

What is Eysenck conclude after years of research? (On trait approach)

Answer 1

research was that all traits can be subsumed within three basic personality dimensions.

He called these three dimensions extraversion–introversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism.

Question 2

How did Eysenck order personality?

Answer 2

Lowest level: specific response level
- Specific behaviours
- if we watch a man spend the afternoon talking and laughing with friends, we would be observing a specific response.

Second Level: habitual response.
- man spends many afternoons each week having a good time with friends

Third Level: trait
- you might find that he lives for social gatherings, group discussions, parties, and so on
-Therefore trait of sociability

Highest Level: Super trait
- traits such as sociability are part of a still larger dimension of personality. That is, people who are sociable also tend to be impulsive, active, lively, and excitable
-Ex. Extraversion

Question 3

How many super traits are there?

Answer 3

Originally = 2
- extraversion–introversion and neuroticism

later led Eysenck to add a third supertrait: psychoticism.
- “egocentric, aggressive, impersonal, cold, lacking in empathy, impulsive, lacking in concern for others, and generally unconcerned about the rights and welfare of other people”

Question 4

What were the three arguments Eysenck
provides when making the case that individual differences in personality are based in biology?

Answer 4

1. he noted the consistency of extraversion–introversion over time.
2. Investigators often find the same three dimensions of personality (extraversion–introversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism) in studies conducted in many different countries with people from very different cultures
3. Results of several studies indicating that genetics plays an important role in determining a person’s placement on each of the three personality dimensions

Question 5

What did Eysenck argue about the physiological makeup of extraverts and introverts?

Answer 5

originally maintained that extraverts and introverts have different levels of cerebral cortex arousal when in a nonstimulating, resting state
- Extraverts seek out highly arousing social behavior because their cortical arousal is well below their desired level when doing nothing

Question 6

Is there evidence for differences physiological makeup of extraverts and introverts? (Eysenck)

Answer 6

great deal of research has failed to uncover the different levels of base-rate cortical arousal proposed by Eysenck.

BUT
there is ample evidence that introverts are more sensitive to stimulation than extraverts
- Theory is now referred to as “sensitivity to stimulation”

Question 7

Explain how the “behavioral approach system (BAS)” and “behavioral inhibition system (BIS)” effect personality? (Also what they are)

Answer 7

behavioral approach system (BAS):
- hypothetical biological system that is focused on seeking out and achieving pleasurable goals.
- Ppl with high BAS: intensely motivated to seek out and achieve pleasurable goal
- Low BAS: they get more pleasure out of rewards and more enjoyment out of simply anticipating that rewards are coming

behavioral inhibition system (BIS):
- hypothetical biological system that is focused on avoiding dangerous and unpleasant experiences.
-Ppl with high BIS: tend to be more apprehensive than others
-Ppl with low BIS: (doesn’t say!)

Question 8

What are temperaments?

Answer 8

General behavioral predispositions present in infancy and assumed to be inherited

• General patterns of behavior and mood that can be expressed in many different ways and that, depending on one’s experiences, develop into different personality traits

Question 9

Explain the popular model of temperament? three temperament dimensions—emotionality, activity, and sociability

Answer 9

emotionality:
refers to the intensity of emotional reactions.
- Children who cry frequently, who are easily frightened, and who often express anger are high in this temperament.
-As adults, these individuals are easily upset and may have a “quick temper.”

activity:
a person’s general level of energy
-Children: Move around, squirm, and jumping
-Adults: high energy activities (sports / dancing)

sociability:
general tendency to affiliate and interact with others.
-Children: seek out other children to play with
-Adults: lot of friends and enjoy social gatherings.

Question 10

Where do temperaments come from?

Answer 10

researchers find evidence that temperaments are largely inherited

Not all babies are born alike (some cry more, etc)

Question 11

Explain gender differences in temperament?

Answer 11

Girls are more likely than boys to exhibit an effortful control temperament, which includes the ability to focus attention and exercise control over impulsive urges

boys are more likely than girls to be identified with a surgency temperament. This temperament pattern includes high levels of activity and sociability.

Question 12

Can we look at temperament levels in preschool children and determine what kind of adult personalities they will have? (Study from New Zealand)

Answer 12

To a certain degree, the answer is “Yes.”

researchers identified three temperament types in these toddlers:
-well-adjusted children (exhibited self-control and self-confidence)
-undercontrolled children (were impulsive and restless and easily distracted)
-inhibited children (were fearful, reluctant to get involved in social activities)

Results: (As Adults)
- Well Adjusted: relatively healthy, well-adjusted

• Undercontrolled: experience legal, employment, gambling, and relationship problems

-Inhibited: less socially engaged and more likely to suffer from depression

Question 13

Are adult personalities determined fully by biology?

Answer 13

adult personalities are determined by both inherited temperament and the environment.

Ex. Parents react differently to a baby who is constantly fussing and restless than to one who sleeps calmly (nurture might effect temperament that way)

Or parents who teach children problem solving strategies

Question 14

What are Inhibited children?

Answer 14

are controlled and gentle

show strong anxiety about novel and unfamiliar situations

cling to parents

slow to explore new things

Question 15

What are uninhibited children?

Answer 15

Show little of this anxiety

These children jump right in to play with a new toy or to climb on a new piece of playground equipment.

They usually start talking soon after they enter a new play area, even if they don’t know the other children playing there.

Question 16

How are inhibited children and uninhibited children different?

Answer 16

Appears: Anxiety lvl

Actually: anxiety to novelty.
- cautious about and at times fearful of new people and new situations.
- Show this from almost moment of birth
-More likely to be shy teens
- Another study found that being an inhibited child was a risk factor for adult anxiety disorders, especially social phobia

Question 17

Do these results mean inhibited children are sentenced to become shy adults?

Answer 17

answer is “No.”

• Parents of inhibited children can do their offspring a favor by becoming sensitive to the child’s discomfort in unfamiliar settings and by teaching the child how to deal with new situations and new acquaintances.

Question 18

Generally: What is evolutionary personality theory?

Answer 18

use the process of natural selection, borrowed from the theory of evolution, to explain universal human characteristics such as anxiety

Question 19

Explain the idea that psychological mechanisms can be a result of natural selection:

Answer 19

psychological mechanisms are characteristically human functions that allow us to deal effectively with common human problems or needs.

Through the process of natural selection, mechanisms that increased the chances of human survival and reproduction have been retained, and those that failed to meet the challenges to survival have not.

Question 20

What are some psychological mechanisms that are left from natural selection?

Answer 20

• innate fear of strangers: fear evolved to meet the problem of attack by those not belonging to our group or tribe
• human characteristic of compassion: leads to protection of individuals in need

Question 21

Are our emotions a result of natural selection?

Answer 21

Yes, often say they are human characteristics that serve evolutionary functions.

sadness, anger, disgust, and other emotions promoted behaviors that helped our ancestors survive. Curiously, this list of advantageous emotions also includes anxiety

Question 22

How can something as disruptive as anxiety help the species? (Natural selection)

Answer 22

Cause of anxiety: Social exclusion
Why? Primitive people who lived together in small groups were more likely to survive and reproduce than those living alone

Also anxiety is in nearly all cultures

“human nature” can be thought of as a large number of psychological mechanisms that have allowed humankind to survive as long as we have.

Question 23

Explain the three basic temperament patterns among elementary school children?

1. Easy child
2. Difficult child
3. Slow to warm up child

Answer 23

1. Easy child (40%)
   -who eagerly approaches new situations, is adaptive,
   -generally experiences a positive mood
2. Difficult child (10%)
   - difficulty adapting to new environments
   -are often in a negative mood.
3. Slow to warm up child (15%)
   - These children are similar to the inhibited children described earlier in the chapter.
   - They tend to withdraw from unfamiliar situations and are slow to adapt to new academic tasks and new activities

Question 24

How does a child’s temperament affects how well that child does in school?

Answer 24

children with either the difficult or slow-to-warm-up pattern tend to perform more poorly than students with the easy child pattern.

Question 25

But! researchers also find that temperament is not related to intelligence,

why could that be the case?

Answer 25

1. some temperaments are probably more compatible with the requirements of the typical classroom than others (if easily distracted, might struggle more)
2. a student’s behavior evokes responses from the teacher
   - student who is attentive and seemingly eager to learn is going to draw a different reaction from the typical elementary school teacher than the student who is easily distracted and withdrawn.
   - inhibited children also are less likely to get help when they need it and generally receive less attention from their teachers than do other students
3. teachers sometimes misinterpret temperamental differences in their students.
   -Slow-to-warm-up children may be seen as unmotivated when they fail to eagerly attack an assignment or as unintelligent when they require several tries to master a new task
4. Some temperaments were better prepared for academic learning when it came time for them to enter kindergarten than were children in the other temperament categories.

Question 26

“What temperament characteristics contribute to better school performance?”

Why is this a bad question? What should it be changed to and why?

Answer 26

“What kind of environment and procedures are most conducive to learning for this student, given his or her temperament?”

Goodness of fit model: not all children come to school with the same learning styles or abilities.

Question 27

How is EEG data usually described?

Answer 27

in terms of cycles per second, or waves. One kind of wave identified through this process, known as an alpha wave, has proven particularly useful for research on personality and emotion.

The lower the alpha wave activity, the more activation in that region of the brain.

Question 28

What is cerebral asymmetry?

Answer 28

Higher levels of brain activity in one cerebral hemisphere than the other.

Question 29

What part of the brain is helpful to measure emotion?

Answer 29

anterior (front) area of the cerebral hemisphere has proven particularly useful in understanding individual differences in emotion

different patterns of cerebral asymmetry are associated with differences in emotional experience

Question 30

Originally researchers noticed that higher activation in the left hemisphere was associated with …

Answer 30

positive moods

higher activation in the right hemisphere was indicative of negative moods

Question 31

can we use differences in cerebral asymmetry to predict differences in emotion?

Answer 31

answer appears to be “Yes.”

Ppl with higher left hemisphere when resting were more responsive to the positive mood films

Question 32

How did psychologists recast the relationship between cerebral asymmetry and emotions?

Answer 32

Instead of looking at positive and negative emotions, psychologists now describe the differences in terms of approach and withdrawal tendencies

• left hemisphere activity is related to movement toward the source of the emotion whereas
• right hemisphere activity is related to movement away.

Question 33

Strengths of the Biological Approach?

Answer 33

1. provides a bridge between the study of personality and the discipline of biology
2. succeeded in identifying some realistic parameters for psychologists interested in behavior change (we aren’t born a fully blank slate)
3. most of its advocates are academic psychologists with a strong interest in testing their ideas through research

Question 34

Criticisms of the biological approach?

Answer 34

1. advocates of the biological approach sometimes face limits on their ability to test their ideas. ( A reasonable case can be made that anxiety helps the species survive because it prevents social isolation. But how can we test this hypothesis?)
2. critics of evolutionary personality theory challenge the assumption that every human characteristic must serve a survival function (could be byproducts) (and if you think enough you can come up with an explanation)
3. theory and research on temperament. Students and researchers may be bewildered by the lack of an agreed-upon model.
4. the trait approach, the biological approach offers few suggestions for personality change (not useful for therapists and ppl who WANT to change)