Chapter 9 Flashcards
Temperament
biologically-based individual differences in emotional and motivational tendencies evident early in life
Greek view on development of characteristics…
human nature is composed of earth, wind, fire, and water
variations in psychological characteristics because of variations in bodily fluids
Gall’s approach to understanding temperament
Phrenology: conducted post-mortem studies of brain tissue and correlated with character traits of deceased.
Longitudinal studies…
Thomas and Chess: Followed 100 children from birth to adolescence
Found link between easy babies and their acclimation into adolescence. Difficult babies=difficult adjusting later
Jerome Kagan findings
People are either inhibited or uninhibited. Inhibited people don’t like novelty situations and grow stressed by them. High reactive infants became inhibited children and vice versa
Brain regions that are associated with inhibited and uninhibited people…
Amygdala- centrally involved in the fear response
Frontal cortex- involved in regulating emotional response, in part, by influencing the functioning of the amygdala
The Limbic System…
Septal area, Amygdala, Hippocampus,
effortful control and development of the conscience findings…
children who had assertive mothers failed to develop their own internal self-control. Children less able to exhibit effortful control
Proximate Causes
biological processes operating in the organism at the time the behavior is observed
Ultimate Causes
why is a given biological mechanism a part of the organism, and why does it respond to the environment in a given way? (invokes principles of natural selection)
Evolutionary Psychologies via human functioning…
human functioning is directly related to natural selection and adaptive principles to survival and reproductive processes.
4 Points of Evolution and the Human mind…
- The features of mind that evolved are all about passing on genes!
- Evolved mental mechanisms are adaptive to the way of life of hundreds of centuries ago
- Evolved psychological mechanisms are domain-specific
- The mind contains multiple information-processing devices
Aspects of Social Exchange and detection of Cheating
ability to detect cheating has survival value
ability to solve cheating problems is a human universal
frontal cortex and amygdala are important parts used in social contracts
Mate preference for Males…
Youthfulness, genetic appeal and health. A woman should be able to carry on his genetics. Chastity.
Mate preference for females…
Ability to provide and protect. Genetic appeal, but mostly provision.
Sex Differences
Sex differences inadvertently caused males and females to mentally develop differently than each other. (Sex differences are also socially constructed)
Behavioral genetics
the study of genetic contributions to behavior by estimating the degree to which variation in psychological characteristics is due to genetic factors
Selective Breeding Studies
animals with a desired trait for study are selected and mated
Importance of twin studies…
Ability to see how environmental factors play into behavior sine the twins share the same genetics
Importance of adoption studies…
heritability coefficient… allows us to study different parent-offspring, sibling-adoptive sibling behaviors and see the effect of environmental factors on behavior versus genetic traits
Three kinds of nature-nurture interactions?
- The same environmental experiences may have different effects on individuals with different genetic traits
- Individuals with different genetic traits may evoke different responses from the environment
- Genetic factors influence the selection and creation of environments
lateralization
hemispheric dominance
hemispheric dominance
lateralization
left-anterior brain activity…
when damaged, more likely to become depressed
responsible for activation during positive (negative) emotional states
worrying=strong activation of left anterior cortex
right anterior brain activity…
when damaged can cause people to become manic
neurotransmitters and temperament
- Dopamine is associated with pleasure and appears to be central to the functioning of the reward system
- Serotonin is important in regulating mood
- Cortisol is the stress hormone associated with a stress response
Amygdala
Part of the primitive limbic system, the brain’s emotional response center. Particularly important for aversive emotional learning
Hemispheric Lateralization
Dominance of the right frontal hemisphere associated with activation of negative emotions and personality traits of shyness and inhibition; dominance of the left frontal hemisphere associated with activation of positive emotions and personality traits of boldness and disinhibition.
Dopamine
Neurotransmitter associated with reward, reinforcement, pleasure. High dopamine levels are associated with positive emotions, high energy, disinhibition, and impulsivity. Low dopamine levels are associated with lethargy, anxiety, and constriction.
Serotonin
Neurotransmitter involved in mood, irritability, and impulsivity. Low serotonin levels are associated with depression, but also with violence and impulsivity. SSRIs are used to treat depression, as well as phobias and OCD
Cortisol
Stress-related hormone secreted by the adrenal cortex that facilitates reactions to threat. Adaptive in relation to short-term stress, responses to long-term chronic stress can be associated with depression and memory loss
Testosterone
Hormone important in the development of secondary sex characteristics and associated with dominance, competitiveness, and aggression.
Plasticity
the capacity of biological systems to change as a result of experience
What parts of the brain are associated with self-judgement?
medial prefrontal cortex (some areas of the brain responsible for emotional responses as well)
