forensics: psychological explanations- Eysenck

Question 1

what are the two schools of thoughts for personality theories?

Answer 1

-personality types = able to explain and predict a persons behaviour due to what personality type they fit into, assumes all people within that category are basically alike and each personality type is different

-personality traits = able to predict a persons behaviour due to the extent to which they demonstrate a particular characteristic/ group of characteristics, it sees characteristics on a continuum and each persons unique personality explained through having more or less of certain important traits

Question 2

define a trait

Answer 2

a consistent pattern in the way people think, act and feel which are normally distributed which are the fundamental building blocks of personality

Question 3

define psychotisim

Answer 3

a personality type defined as cold, unemotional and prone to aggression

Question 4

define extraversion

Answer 4

the tendency to experience positive emotions and moods and to feel good about oneself and the rest of the world

Question 5

define neuroticism

Answer 5

tendency to experience negative moods characterized by anxiety, depression, and hostility

Question 6

how is eysencks PEN theory measured

Answer 6

PEN chart

Question 7

what is the biological origin of neuroticism?

Answer 7

under active nervous system- seek thrilling behaviour to overactive nervous system

Question 8

what is the biological origin of extraversion?

Answer 8

results from balance of excitation and inhabitation in the brain (overall cortical arousal)

Question 9

what is the biological origin oh psychoticism?

Answer 9

high levels of testosterone

Question 10

why is socialisation important to eysencks theory of explaining criminality?

Answer 10

because criminals are seen to be developmentally mature, they are immature and demand self gratification, they are also seen to be impatient so by socialising from a younger age you delay gratification

Question 11

ao3: what supporting study is there for eysnecks theory? what contradicts this?

Answer 11

• sybil and hans Eysenck compared scores on the EPI of 2700 male prisoners (2422 controls)
• prisoners recorded to have higher scores on measures of psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism than controls, according with the predictions of the theory
• contradicted by David Farrington et al (1982) which reviewed and saw offenders scored highly on P but not so much N and E
• there is also little evidence in consistencies of EEG scans between introverts and extraverts which can doubt the psychological basis of eyesnecks theory

Question 12

ao3: what cultural bias does eysnecks theory hold?

Answer 12

• curt bartol and Howard holanchock (1979) looked into cultural differences
• they studied hispanic and African-american offenders and divided into 6 groups based on criminal history and the nature of their offence
• was revealed all 6 groups to be less extravert than a non criminal group
• bartol suggested it was because their sample was of a very different culture to those Eysenck studied, questioned generalisability

Question 13

ao3: how did Eysenck misinterpret personality?

Answer 13

• theory built on the premise that It is possible to measure personality through a psychological test
• critics suggested personality may not be able to be reduced to a score
• many argue that personalities don’t exist in the sense of a stable entry
• our personality may change everyday