individual differences

Question 1

what is the difference between personality state adn trait

Answer 1

state - depends on the situation

trait - relatively stable cognitive, emotional, and behavioural characteristics of people that help establish their individual identities and distinguish them from others; this is their underlying personality

a trait is a continuum along which people vary - you cant observe them but have to infer them from behaviour

Question 2

ways which we can find out about someone’s trait *

Answer 2

self report

report from people that know them well - eg impulsivity is a normal characteristic for some people, but if it is different to their normal trait it might be because they have had a head injury

look at discrepancy rate - compare how they were to how they are now to hypothesise behavioural change

Question 3

what is eysenck’s 2 factor model *

Answer 3

personality theory that has 2 factors:

• neuroticism/stability - the tendancy to experience -ve emotions and to what degree and a suddeness of shifting in emotions
• extraversion - the degree to which a person is outgoing nad seeks stimulation - not always social, but jsut requires stimulation from the outside

Question 4

what is the big 5 factor model of personality *

Answer 4

thought to describe the main dimensions of personality:

neuroticism (emotional instability)

extraversion

openness to experience

aggreeableness

conscientiousness

Question 5

describe openness *

Answer 5

high scorer - imaginitive, creative, original, curious - like phylisophical discussions

low - down to earth, uncreative, conventional, uncurious

Question 6

describe conscientiousness *

Answer 6

high - conscientious, hard working, well organised, punctual

low - negligent, lazy, disorganised, late

Question 7

describe extraversion *

Answer 7

high - joiner, talkitive, active, affectionate

low - loner, quiet, passive, reserved

Question 8

describe agreeableness *

Answer 8

high - trusting, lenient, soft hearted, good natureed - think about other people’s emotions

low - suspicious, critical, ruthless, irritable

Question 9

describe neuroticism *

Answer 9

high - worried, tempremental, self-conscious, emotional (frequent -ve emotions)

low - calm, even-tempered, confortable, unemotional

Question 10

describe the biological foundations for the big 5 personality traits *

Answer 10

differences in levels opf cortical arousal - introverts are overaroused, extraverts are under

sudden shifts in arousal - neurotic show large and sudden shifts in limbic system arousal - tendancy for startled response, stable people dont

Question 11

effect of nature V nurture on personality

Answer 11

to distinguish - look at identical twins that were separated at birth

however - the twins could have been adopted by very similar people, and some of the similarities might be just because of the place and time that they lived

however, having the same aptitude for skills and professions suggests there is something genetic underlying

Question 12

are fraternal/identical twins more similar personality wise *

Answer 12

measured on big 5 characteristics

identical twins had more correlation - suggest genetic influence 25-50%

however - the personalities were based on reports from mothers who reinforce the traits when they see them so there is environmental influence

Question 13

how does conscientiousness affect health *

Answer 13

adds 7.5 yrs to lifespan

less likely to engage in harmful behaviours, more likely to do heath behaviours

have higher medical engagement and adherence

Question 14

ways to increase conscientiousness

Answer 14

send text reminders about appointments - less conscientious people are less likely to have organised diary

give small achievable goals

encourage self-monitoring

Question 15

how does neuroticism affect health *

Answer 15

Increased reporting of somatic symptoms e.g. pain

 Higher rates of mental health disorders

 Higher mortality rates e.g. in cardiovascular disease maybe via depression

less adherent to health behaviours, higher rates of healthcare usage, higher rate of health harming behaviours

Question 16

what are the ways to reduce neuroticism *

Answer 16

interventions to improve mental health - support people around mood and anxiety disorders

Question 17

what is intelligence *

Answer 17

the ability to acquire knowledge, to think and reason effectively, and to deal adaptively with the environment - it is the utility of the intelligence that is important - have to be able to use the intelligence to help you function in the environment

Question 18

what is the problem with measuring intelligence *

Answer 18

‘intelligence is what intelligence tests measure’

cant measure it directly so create tests - therefore the idea of what it is defines what it actually is

the utility of intelligence is not seen in tests

Gardener’s multiple intelligence - intelligence has lots of different factors and intelligence tests dont measure them all

Question 19

describe intelligence tests *

Answer 19

initially used to see how mental age fitted with actual age so that classes could be streamlined and support given to students when needed

IQ score (intelligence quotient) = (mental age/chronological age) x100

a score of 100 is average

test takers performance relative to average performance of other’s the same age

normal distribution - the average range covers most people

<2nd centile (IQ<70) = learning disabilities

Question 20

describe Spearman’s theory of intelligence *

Answer 20

described that intelligence had a general factor and specific factors (mechanical, spatial, verbal, numberical)

idea is that people good in 1 specific area are likely to be good in other - so have high G

but not necessarily - people have specific skills

Question 21

describe the Wechsler intelligence scale *

Answer 21

provides a global score (like IQ)

investigate a persons verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, memory working, processing speed

via specific tests of cognition, perception, and speed

Question 22

criticism of IQ *

Answer 22

by calculating an average of overall intelligence - might miss a specific problem if the other areas are high - so need to look at the break down

Question 23

what is fluid intelligence *

Answer 23

novel problem solving

cant learn and use knowledge - personal experience doesnt provide solution

steadily declines with aging

eg inductive reasoning, spatial orientation, perceptual speed, numeric ability

Question 24

what is crystillised intelligence *

Answer 24

the ability to apply previously acquired knowledge to current problems, will commonly improve with age and then stabalise

eg verbal memory and ability

Question 25

describe the lothian birth cohort *

Answer 25

people who did IQ test age 11 seen again at age 79 to do another test

those who scored high age 11, scored high age 79

score at age 11 was the biggest predictor of score age 79

Question 26

what are the predictors of cognitive ability

Answer 26

physical fitness

cpgnitive ability age 11

sex

adult social class

APOE e4 status - alzheimer’s gene (doesnt necessarily mean that you are going to get alzheimers)

Question 27

describe the genetic/env effect on intelligence *

Answer 27

genetic factors influence the effects produced by the environment

environment can influence how genes express themselves

no single intelligence gene - might be clusters and varying expression

shared and unshared env factors are involved

educational experience is important

perhaps env and genetics each account for 1/2 of intelligence

unrelated individuals bought up together have more intelligence correlation than siblings reared apart - suggest env

identical twins together more correlation than apart (but not massively - how different were the environments really)

Question 28

are IQ tests culturally biased *

Answer 28

see that people in 1 area have a high IQ and people in other dont - if different cultural gps in each people say this is because one culture is more/less intelligent

however IQ tests are designed based on our education system and mode of thinking - so cannot compare different groups on the same test

Question 29

describe the sex differences in intelligence *

Answer 29

there is virtually no difference in IQ

Gender differences in performance on certain types of intellectual tasks, not general intelligence 

Men generally outperform women on spatial tasks, tests of target-directed skills, and mathematical reasoning 

Women generally outperform men on tests of perceptual speed, verbal fluency, mathematical calculation, and precise manual tasks

Question 30

what are the causes for sex differences in specific intelligence *

Answer 30

stereotypes: men usually better at spatial abilities, give people a task and tell them that men are genetically programmed to be better - men do better; if told women are genetically better - men and women do same; if told no info - men do better

perhaps men’s performance doesnt change when told women are better because the belief men are better is ingrained already

this belief is already in population - explaining results when nothing was told to the participants

could also be because of the toys children are given - boys given toys that are to do with spatial awareness so will have developed skills in these areas

Question 31

characteristics of autism

Answer 31

language and communication - difficulty processing and retaining verbal information, understanding sarcasm, social use of language, literal interpretation, body language

flexibilty of thought/imagination - difficulty coping with changes, empathy, generalisation

social and cultural - difficulty with friendships, managing unstructured parts of the day, working co-operatively

Question 32

sex differences in autism

Answer 32

Autism has a 4:1 male: female ratio 

‘Asperger’s syndrome’ or High Functioning autism has a 9:1 male: female ratio

Question 33

describe empathising and systemising in autism *

Answer 33

deficit in empathising, narrow interest in reference of skills is because of systemising

empathising - both being able to infer the thoughts and feelings of others (‘Theory of Mind’) and having an appropriate emotional reaction

Systemising - the drive to analyse or construct any kind of system i.e. identifying the rules that a govern a system, in order to predict how that system will behave

Question 34

describe the mind reading test *

Answer 34

look at people’s eyes and say what they are feeling

assesses the theory of mind

Question 35

how do you measure systemising *

Answer 35

systemising quotient - self report on scale of 0-5

questions include:

• I am fascinated by how machines work
•  I find it very easy to use train timetables, even if this involves several connections

Question 36

gender and autism relation to empathising quotient *

Answer 36

autism people have lowest EQ

then men

females have highest

Question 37

gender and autism relation to SQ *

Answer 37

females lowest, then males, then autism

autism tends to be very extreme S with low E

Question 38

explanation for SQ and EQ and autism *

Answer 38

autism is the ‘extreme male brain’

is teh fetal level of testosterone increases, so does the autistic characteristics

therefore the difference isnt between men and women, but what the brain was exposed to in the amniotic fluid

Question 39

describe neurosexism *

Answer 39

Findings of sex differences reflect bias in gender roles

 ‘Neurosexism’ is self-fulfilling: by providing a framework for treating children and adults differently on the basis of gender, which causes them to behave differently, which in turn creates so-called gender differences, which in turn prop up neurosexism

parents label the same behaviour differently if it is coming from daughter/son