Indiviual Differences Flashcards
What is the study of individual differences (also known as differential psychology) and what kinds of traits are studied?
Concerned with individual and group difference in psychological traits and behaviors
What is general intelligence - also called “g”?
Underlies similarities in our performance across many tasks the require some level of smarts
What is the definition of intelligence?
The capacity to think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, reason, plan, and solve problems, learn from experience and acquire new knowledge.
What is the Flynn effect? What are the implications of the Flynn effect? What are some possible causes of the Flynn effect?
In industrialized countries, IQ is raising by 3 points per decade
Improved nutrition, smaller families, better education, increased complexity of the modern world, increased test taking skills
What is the relationship between IQ and brain volume?
total brain volume weakly correlates with intelligence, with a correlation value between 0.3 and 0.4 out of a possible 1.0
What are Monozygotic Twins (MZ) and how are they different from Dizygotic twins (DZ)?
Monozygotic are identical twins, share 100% of genes - 1 egg splits
Dizygotic are fraternal twins, share 50% of genes - two separate eggs
How can twin studies be used to study the effects of nature vs. nurture?
Natural experiment, genes are 50 or 100% but they have the same rearing environment. MZ will be more similar than DZ if it is nature, or if nurture they will both be similar.
