Individual Differences Flashcards
What are the three main personality theories?
Freud
Eysenck
Big Five (OCEAN)
Describe Freud’s model of personality.
There are three components of personality:
Id – instinctual drive – this is the drive for pleasure
Ego – reality
Superego – morality
NOTE: the ego is kept in check by the Id and Superego
Describe Eysenck’s model of personality.
Eysenck hypothesised that personality consists of two independent traits:
- NEUROTICISM – the tendency to experience negative emotions
- EXTRAVERSION – degree to which a person is outgoing and seeks stimulation
Describe the Big Five model of personality.
- Openness– appreciation for art, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination
- Conscientiousness– tendency to show self-discipline, planned rather than spontaneous
- Extraversion– energy, positive emotions, and tendency to seek stimulation and company of others
- Agreeableness– tendency to be compassionate and cooperate
- Neuroticism– tendency to experience negative emotions
OCEAN
Define locus of control.
An expectancy concerning the degree of personal control we have in our life
internal- life outcomes are under our control
external- outcome have less to do with ones own efforts than with the influence of external factors
Define IQ – how is it calculated?
Intelligence quotient
IQ = (mental age/chronological age) x 100
An IQ of 100 is average
What are the limitations of IQ?
It averages all the domains of intelligence and doesn’t consider them individually
What are the two different types of intelligence?
Crystallised Intelligence – the ability to apply previously acquired knowledge to current problems
Fluid Intelligence – the ability to deal with novel problem-solving situations for which personal experience doesn’t provide a solution
How do these types of intelligence change with age?
Crystallised – increases with age, then stabilise
Fluid – shows a pattern of decline
Describe the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to IQ.
Genetic factors – ½ to 2/3 of variation in IQ
Environmental factors – 1/3 to ½ of variation in IQ
Describe the correlation in the IQ of different pairs of individuals living together and apart that shows that genetics has a relatively larger contribution to IQ.
Unrelated individuals living apart –> unrelated individual living together –> siblings living together –> fraternal twins living together –> identical twins living apart –> identical twins living together
Describe Baron Cohen’s empathising/systematising model.
Empathising – ability to infer the thoughts and feelings of others and have an appropriate reaction
Systematising – the drive to analyse and construct any kind of system
i.e. identifying the rules that govern the system in order to predict howthe system will behave
What are the differences between males and females with regards to this model?
Females – more empathising, less systematising - E type
Males – more systematising, less empathising -S type
What type of brain are people with Autism/Aspergus thought to have?
They are thought to have an extreme male brain
systematising very strong, empathising very weak
Extreme S-type
What is a personality trait?
relatively stable cognitive, emotional, and behavioural characteristics of people that help establish their individual identities and distinguish them from others
