individual differences Flashcards
what is the difference between personality state adn trait
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
ways which we can find out about someone’s trait *
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
what is eysenck’s 2 factor model *
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
what is the big 5 factor model of personality *
thought to describe the main dimensions of personality:
neuroticism (emotional instability)
extraversion
openness to experience
aggreeableness
conscientiousness
describe openness *
high scorer - imaginitive, creative, original, curious - like phylisophical discussions
low - down to earth, uncreative, conventional, uncurious
describe conscientiousness *
high - conscientious, hard working, well organised, punctual
low - negligent, lazy, disorganised, late
describe extraversion *
high - joiner, talkitive, active, affectionate
low - loner, quiet, passive, reserved
describe agreeableness *
high - trusting, lenient, soft hearted, good natureed - think about other people’s emotions
low - suspicious, critical, ruthless, irritable
describe neuroticism *
high - worried, tempremental, self-conscious, emotional (frequent -ve emotions)
low - calm, even-tempered, confortable, unemotional
describe the biological foundations for the big 5 personality traits *
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
effect of nature V nurture on personality
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
are fraternal/identical twins more similar personality wise *
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
how does conscientiousness affect health *
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
ways to increase conscientiousness
send text reminders about appointments - less conscientious people are less likely to have organised diary
give small achievable goals
encourage self-monitoring
how does neuroticism affect health *
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
what are the ways to reduce neuroticism *
interventions to improve mental health - support people around mood and anxiety disorders
what is intelligence *
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
what is the problem with measuring intelligence *
‘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
describe intelligence tests *
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
describe Spearman’s theory of intelligence *
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
describe the Wechsler intelligence scale *
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
criticism of IQ *
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
what is fluid intelligence *
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
what is crystillised intelligence *
the ability to apply previously acquired knowledge to current problems, will commonly improve with age and then stabalise
eg verbal memory and ability
describe the lothian birth cohort *
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
what are the predictors of cognitive ability
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)
describe the genetic/env effect on intelligence *
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)
are IQ tests culturally biased *
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
describe the sex differences in intelligence *
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
what are the causes for sex differences in specific intelligence *
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
characteristics of autism
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
sex differences in autism
Autism has a 4:1 male: female ratio
‘Asperger’s syndrome’ or High Functioning autism has a 9:1 male: female ratio
describe empathising and systemising in autism *
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
describe the mind reading test *
look at people’s eyes and say what they are feeling
assesses the theory of mind
how do you measure systemising *
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
gender and autism relation to empathising quotient *
autism people have lowest EQ
then men
females have highest
gender and autism relation to SQ *
females lowest, then males, then autism
autism tends to be very extreme S with low E
explanation for SQ and EQ and autism *
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
describe neurosexism *
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
