Development Of Personality

Question 1

Personality

Answer 1

The thoughts, feelings and behaviours that make an individual unique.

Question 2

Temperament

Answer 2

The genetic component of personality

Question 3

Longitudinal study

Answer 3

A study carried out to show how behaviour changes over time

Question 4

Monozygotic twins

Answer 4

Twins developed from one fertilised egg

Question 5

Dizygotic twins

Answer 5

Twins developed from two separately fertilised eggs

Question 6

Type theory

Answer 6

Personality types are thought to be inherited. They can be described using related traits.

Question 7

Extroversion

Answer 7

A personality type that describes people who look to the outside world for entertainment.

Question 8

Introversion

Answer 8

A personality type that describes people who are content with their own company.

Question 9

Neuroticism

Answer 9

A personality type that describes people who are highly emotional and show a quick, intense reaction to fear.

Question 10

Eysenck 1947

Answer 10

Aim- to investigate personality differences between people.
Method- 700 servicemen completed a questionnaire. Eysenck analysed the results using a statistical technique know as factor analysis.
Results- he identified two dimensions of personality: extroversion-introversion and neuroticism and stability.

Conclusion- everyone can be placed along these two dimensions of personality. Most people lie in the middle of the scale.

Question 11

Raine et al. 2000

Answer 11

Aim- to support the theory that abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex cause APD.

Method- magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to study 21 man with APD and a control group of 34 healthy men. The subjects were all volunteers.

Results- the APD groups had an 11% reduction in prefrontal grey matter compared with the control group.

Conclusion- APD is caused by a reduction in the brain’s grey matter.

Question 12

Thomas, Chess and Birch 1977

Answer 12

Aim- to discover whether ways of responding to the environment remain the same throughout life.

Method- they studied 133 children from infancy to early adulthood. The children’s behaviour was observed and their parents were interviewed. The parents were asked about the child’s routine and its reactions to change.

Results- they found that the children fell into three types: ‘easy’, ‘difficult’ and ‘slow to warm up’. The ‘easy’ children were happy, flexible and regular. The ‘difficult’ children were demanding, inflexible and cried a lot. The children that were ‘slow to warm up’ did not respond well to change or new experiences to begin with, but once they had adapted they were usually happy.

Conclusion- these ways of responding to the environment stayed with the children as they developed. Thomas, Chess and Birch concluded that temperament is innate.

Question 13

Buss and Plomin 1984

Answer 13

Aim- to test the idea that temperament is innate.

Method- they studied 228 pairs of monozygotic twins and 172 pairs of dizygotic twins. They rated the temperament of the twins when they were five years old. They looked at three dimensions of behaviour:

• emotionality- how strong the child’s emotional response was
• activity- how energetic the child was
• sociability- how much the child wanted to be with other people.

They then compared the scores for each pair of twins.

Results- there was a closer correlation between the scores of the monozygotic twins that between the dizygotic twins.

Conclusion- temperament has a genetic basis.

Question 14

Kagan and Snidman 1991

Answer 14

Aim- to investigate whether temperament is due to biological differences.

Method- Kagan and Snidman studied the reactions of four-month-old babies to new situations. For the first minute the baby was placed in a seat with the caregiver sitting nearby. For the next three minutes the caregiver moved out of the baby’s view while the baby was shown different toys by the researcher.

Results- 20% of the babies showed distress by crying, vigorous movement of the arms and legs and arching the back. They were classed as high reactive. 40% of the babies showed little movement or emotion. They were classed as low reactive. The remaining infants fell between the two.

In a follow-up study, 11 years later, Kagan and Snidman found that here was still a difference in the way the two groups reacted to new situations; the high reactives were shy while the low reactives were calm.

Conclusion- Kagan and Snidman concluded that these two temperaments are due to inherited differences in the way the brain responds.

Question 15

Farrington 1995

Answer 15

Aim- to investigate the development of offending and antisocial behaviour in males studied from childhood to the age of 50.

Method- the researchers carried out a longitudinal study of the development of personality of antisocial and offending behaviour in 411 males. They all lived in deprived, inner-city area of London. They were first studied at the age of eight and were followed up until the age of 50. Their parents and teachers were also interviewed. Searchers were carried out at the Criminal Records Office to discover if they, or any family members, had been convicted of a crime.

Results- 41% of the males were convicted of at least one offence between the ages of 10 and 50. The most important risk factors for offending were criminal behaviour in the family, low school achievement, poverty and poor parenting.

Conclusion- situational factors lead to the development of antisocial behaviour.

Question 16

Slander et al. 2000a

Answer 16

Aim- to investigate the childhood risk factors that can be used to predict antisocial behaviour in adulthood.

Method- researchers investigated 225 twins who were diagnosed with childhood disorders and interviewed them 10-25 years later.

Results- Elander et al. found that children hyperactivity, conduct disorders, low IQ and reading problems were strong predictors of APD and criminality in adult life.

Conclusion- disrupted behaviour in childhood can be used to predict APD.