Lecture 1 - Introduction Flashcards
what is diversity?
distribution
what percentage of people are in the +/-1 deviation in a normal distribution?
68.2%
what percentage of people are in the +/-2 deviation in a normal distribution?
95.5%
what percentage of people are in the +/-3 deviation in a normal distribution?
99.7%
4 domains of human behaviour
- Cognitive capabilities (i.e. intelligence)
- Personality
- Emotions
- Physical and mental health
3 levels of explanation
- Innate (e.g. genetic) factors
- Environmental (e.g. cultural) factors
- Neurobiological (e.g. neural activation) factors
what does the Flynn effect describe?
environmental effect on cognitive abilities
what did the Flynn effect show?
- Each generation was slightly more intelligent than previous generation
differential psychology
Study of individual differences (aspects of cognition, emotion, motivation, behaviour, abilities, health, etc.)
what does differential psychology study?
how and why people differ
- Evaluation of the processes underlying observed individual differences
who were the pioneers in differential psychology?
Galton and Spearman
what did Galton do in terms of differential psychology?
individual differences of talent and character (1865), index of correlation (1888)
intelligence theory and research; spearman (1904) idea of general intelligence which still dominates psychology today
what did Spearman do in terms of differential psychology?
factor analysis (1904) allowing data-driven study
intelligence theory and research; spearman (1904) idea of general intelligence which still dominates psychology today
example of an early study on individual differences (Heyman)
- Heymans early empirical studies
○ Coded 110 historical figures on 88 personality characteristics and on 3 major personality traits to build classification of personality types (1908).
○ Large scale questionnaire study (1927), observer data from roughly 400 family doctors for 2415 individuals from 437 families
○ Concluded impulsivity in hereditary to between 42 and 48%
early-20th century advancements in differential psychology
- Rapid development of intelligence and personality testing:
○ IQ test introduced (Simon-Binet test, 1905)
○ IQ tests used to screen immigrants at Ellis Island in US
○ IQ as ratio of mental age to chronological age (Stern, 1914)
○ Introduction of ability (Army Alpha test) and emotional testing for military selection
○ Advancement in psychometrics - the theory and technique of measurement
mid-20th century advancements in differential psychology
- Late 1940’s to mid 1960’s major time for theorising about individual differences.
○ Cattell distinguished between surface and source traits and dynamic ability and stable temperaments.
§ Later developed fluid-crystallised g model of intelligence, and the sixteen personality factors inventory (16PF)
○ Eysenck started using behavioural measures to search for consistency in individual differences.
§ Developed biological theory of personality (PEN model)
late-20th century advancements in differential psychology
- Between mid 1960s and late 1980s turn away from studying individual differences
- Behaviourism dominated psychology
- 1990s - personality and differential psychology were active area for research
- Steadily accumulated body of evidence indicating most self-report personality inventories can be explained by so-called ‘Big-Five’ dimensions
- A number of influential studies showed predictive values of personality and ability variables in occupational settings.
from 2000s advancements in differential psychology
- Late 1990s - revival of interest in individual differences.
- Differential psychology increasingly applied in other settings.
- Research methodology expanded beyond self-report questionnaires:
○ (data collection) experience sampling methodology
○ (data analysis) structural equation modelling, multilevel modelling
○ (experimental paradigm) priming tasks, implicit association test
what happened in the decade after the decade of the brain?
- 1990s designated to decade of the brain by US Congress.
- Neuroscience bloomed in decade after
- MRI and fMRI enables observation of brain structure and activities associated with individual differences.
○ Association between intelligence and cortical thickness in frontal and temporal lobes
○ Heightened left hemisphere reactivity associated with approach temperament
○ Patients with PTSD showed smaller amygdala volume in MRI
examples where MRI and fMRI enables observation of brain structure and activities associated with individual differences.
○ Association between intelligence and cortical thickness in frontal and temporal lobes
○ Heightened left hemisphere reactivity associated with approach temperament
○ Patients with PTSD showed smaller amygdala volume in MRI
what led to a rise in behavioural genetics?
- Conventional family studies, twin studies and adoption studies allow heritability of traits to be estimated.
- Behaviour genetics techniques enable identification of specific genes related to individual differences in phenotypes.
- Updated knowledge may end nature-nurture debate.
explain the person vs situation argument
- Theories and research in individual difference often decontextualised
- Movement towards ‘situated person’ (emphasis on importance of situation in behaviours - Mischel and Shoda, 2010)
- Bloom of cross-cultural psychology since 1980s has raised awareness to role of socio-cultural contexts in individual differences and implications to their measurements
○ E.g. structure of personality found to differ across cultures, such that the Big Five may not apply well to some Asian cultures.
what are the future directions in differential psychological research?
- Advancement in research methodology enabling development of theories
- Individual difference now typically accounted for by multiple perspectives integrating genetic, neurobiological and environmental/socio-cultural accounts
- Boundaries between cognition, emotion, motivation, etc. now seen as artificial, as is the mind-body separation.
