Lecture 4 - Personality and basic motivational systems

Question 1

What is Gray’s Behavioural Approach/Activation system (BAS) ?

Answer 1

A system relating to positive reinforcements
Mediates reactions to appetitive stimuli

Essentially - sensitivity to reward

Question 2

What is Gray’s Behavioural Inhibition system (BIS) ?

Answer 2

A system relating to negative reinforcements
Mediates reactions to punishing stimuli (includes lack of a reward)

Essentially - avoidance or anxiety

Question 3

If you have high BIS, what are you likely to be?

Answer 3

Anxious

Question 4

If you have high BAS, what are you likely to be?

Answer 4

Extroverted

Question 5

What are Gray’s (1982) 3 motivational/emotional systems?

Answer 5

BIS, BAS and FFF (fight flight or freeze - only included freeze later on)

Question 6

What are the differences between BIS and FFF?

Answer 6

BIS - trying to avoid a possible threat
FFF = reacting to a threat in the moment

Question 7

Why is impulsivity a misleading word to associate with BAS?

Answer 7

Better to think of it as sensitivity to reward - more long-term than impulsive reward-seeking in the moment

Question 8

Can score on BIS predict score on BAS and vice versa?

Answer 8

No

Question 9

What is the motivation in BAS?

Answer 9

Approach:
sources of/opportunities for:
food, water, sex, praise, mastery

More subtly, approach/acquire/learn about cues that predict and afford these natural rewards (e.g. party invite, money, fame)
e.g. this is what motivates us to earn money, and motivates us to make connections with people

The more sensitive to reward cues you are, the more you want sex, food, money etc.
You see food cues, you anticipate food. Often, you experience the anticipation and the consumption as rewarding in itself.

Question 10

What is the motivation in BIS?

Answer 10

Avoid:
Potentially dangerous scenarios (alleyway at night), new scenarios, fights, reproach from family and friends, social defeats and humiliation, gambling, predators, predator hunting grounds, out-of-date food?

The more sensitive to punishment you are, the more you avoid potential fights, avoid losing money, avoid disappointing your friends, and avoid potential social humiliation
You repeatedly imagine different scenarios where, e.g., your friend reacts badly to you letting them down, you experience this as ‘worry’ as something unpleasant/painful and are keen to avoid feeling this future pain.

Question 11

Why are there species difference with regard to BAS and BIS? (Example)

Answer 11

Predator vs prey
E.g. lions need more BAS, mice need more BIS/FFF

Question 12

Is an individual’s personality is determined by their BAS and BIS activity according to Gray?

Answer 12

Yes
Stable aspects of personality relating to motivation

Question 13

Did Gray fail to create his own questionnaires for BIS/BAS?

Answer 13

Yes - His followers have instead created questionnaires themselves which were designed to implement his ideas.

Question 14

Who created influential BIS/BAS questionnaires?

Answer 14

Carver and White (1994) - BIS/BAS scales
Torrubia et al. (2001) - SPSRQ

Question 15

What is the BAS drive?

Answer 15

Doing things to satisfy need for reward

Question 16

What did Takahashi et al. (2007) show about genetic influence on BIS/BAS?

Answer 16

Tested identical vs fraternal twins.
For both BIS and BAS at both timepoints (4 measures),
Correlations across identical twins are higher
than across fraternal twins.

Question 17

What was the heritability of BIS/BAS? Takahashi et al. (2007)

Answer 17

0.28-0.35
(i.e. ~a third of the variance is attributable to genes).
Similar to most aspects of personality - most are 1/3 heritable
Can be changed by life-changing events

Question 18

Are BIS and BAS scores relatively stable over 2/3 year period?

Answer 18

Yes - Test-retest values were relatively high.

Question 19

Are BIS and BAS orthogonal dimensions? (Independent measures)

Answer 19

Practically, Yes!

If you do BIS vs BAS correlations, you get very low r values.
BIS-to-BAS r = 0.06 at timepoint 1
BIS-to-BAS r = 0.03 at timepoint 2.
i.e. these r values are pretty close to zero.

Exactly zero would indicate perfect orthogonality. If you tell me someone’s BIS score, I can’t predict their BAS score.

Question 20

Does the SPSRQ have good internal consistency and good test-retest reliability?

Answer 20

Yes

Good internal consistency (answer to Q1 predicts answer to Q2, Q3, Q4, etc)
Good test-retest stability

Test-retest stability declines as the time interval increases;
still good after 3 years (though sample is small)

Question 21

Are the SP and SR dimensions also orthogonal in the SPSRQ?

Answer 21

Yes

Torrubia et al (2001) had 4 studies where subjects answered both SP and SR questions. R values for SP-to-SR correlations were in the following range: -0.05 to +0.08

Basically, near zero, suggesting orthogonality of SP and SR dimensions.

Question 22

Why is orthogonality a good thing?

Answer 22

The 2 scores are not redundant. You need both scores to capture someone’s personality

Question 23

What is the key neurotransmitter for BAS?

Answer 23

dopamine (opioids also important in reward)

Question 24

What are the key brain regions for BAS?

Answer 24

Ventral tegmental nucleus, ventral striatum including nucleus accumbens, amygdala, ventral pallidum, orbitofrontal cortex

Question 25

What are the key brain regions in the BIS?

Answer 25

septo-hippocampal system, amygdala (esp. in later versions of theory) & medial prefrontal cortex

Question 26

What key regions in BIS/BAS are part of the basal ganglia, and what larger system is the basal ganglia part of?

Answer 26

Nucleus accumbens and ventral pallidum Part of limbic system

Question 27

What activities increase dopamine release?

Answer 27

Sex Amphetamine Cocaine Cannabis Nicotine Food

Question 28

At what point in sex are dopamine levels the highest - what does this mean?

Answer 28

Highest DA levels before ejaculation - appetitive increase Dopamine levels rise before the point of pleasure - it rises when you anticipate the prospect of getting pleasure

Question 29

What is 'wanting' mediated by? (brain area and neurotransmitter)

Answer 29

‘Wanting’ mediated by Nucleus accumbens dopamine DOPAMINE - WANTING - Appetitive stages (‘before the orgasm’) - Wanting/Anticipating - Reward Prediction error or Incentive salience DA rich regions are all reward regions

Question 30

What is 'liking' mediated by? (brain area and neurotransmitter)

Answer 30

‘Liking’ mediated by Nucleus accumbens opioids (endogenous = endorphins) (dorso/rostral shell) VP also rich in opioids OPIOIDS - LIKING - Consummatory stages (‘during/after the orgasm’) - Liking/enjoying - ‘Yumminess’ - Hedonic pleasure

Question 31

What is the distinction between wanting and liking (smoking example)

Answer 31

Smoker: “I’m not addicted to cigarettes. I don’t even like them!” Compelling need to satisfy a craving, not enjoyment

Question 32

What did Hahn et al., (2009) find that scores on the SR part of SPSRQ were positively correlated with? (Monetary reward task)

Answer 32

Positively correlated with activity in the Ventral Striatum/Nucleus Accumbens region & with activity in the Orbitofrontal Cortex region During a period when the subjects were anticipating a large reward.

Question 33

Does the SR score correlate with BMI? (Food as a reward - Franken and Muris, 2005)

Answer 33

Yes - positively SR (sensitivity to reward) score correlated with BMI r = 0.31, p < 0.005

Question 34

Does the SR score correlate with food craving score? (Food as a reward - Franken and Muris, 2005)

Answer 34

Yes - positively SR (sensitivity to reward) score correlated with Food craving score r = 0.32, p < 0.005

Question 35

Does food craving score correlate positively with BMI? (Franken and Muris, 2005)

Answer 35

Yes, but weakly Only at r = 0.24, p < 0.05

Question 36

Does SR (which is not about food) predict weight better than a questionnaire which is explicitly about food cravings (FCQ-T)?

Answer 36

Yes - in Franken and Muris (2005), the SR correlation with BMI was not mediated by food cravings Gray’s BAS personality construct regarding reward (SR) predicted: 1) long-term behaviour (reflected in objective Body Mass Index) 2) self-report of food cravings Indeed the SR questionnaire, which is not about food (and does not even have a single question about food) predicted weight better than a questionnaire which was explicitly designed to tap cravings for food!

Question 37

Beaver et al. (2006) used the BAS drive subscale and recorded brain activity in response to images of appetising food (vs non-food and non-appetising food) - what reward regions did they find?

Answer 37

Reward regions in Beaver et al included: Ventral Striatum (i.e. including nucleus accumbens) Orbitofrontal Cortex Ventral Pallidum Amygdala MAIN RESULT: Response to appetising foods is strongly positively correlated with BAS drive scores in classic reward areas

Question 38

What was a methodological problem in Beaver et al. (2006)?

Answer 38

Usually, you correct multiple comparisons in fMRI - some of these comparisons here were not corrected, so there is a risk of type 1 error in this study

Question 39

In Beaver et al. (2006), what was response to appetising foods strongly positively correlated with?

Answer 39

BAS drive scores in classic reward areas (VS, VP, amygdala, midbrain, OFC) BAS fun seeking component was not correlated with these reward areas

Question 40

In Beaver et al. (2006), what was the main predictor of neural activity in the reward system in response to appetising foods?

Answer 40

BAS drive More activity in detected brain regions - assume this is more dopamine activity, this makes cravings more intense and frequent

Question 41

Weydmann et al. (2022) found that SR and BAS questionnaires positively predict a variety of eating behaviours. What was included in implicit responses to food cues and what % of results were in the expected direction?

Answer 41

Approach Bias for Dessert Approach to Healthy Food Attentional Bias to Ice Cream, Attentional Bias to Unhealthy Food Attentional Bias to non-appetizing food Implicit Approach Toward Low-Calorie Food Implicit Expectancy Implicit Liking and Wanting 70% (7/10) of results significant in expected direction

Question 42

Weydmann et al. (2022) found that SR and BAS questionnaires positively predict a variety of eating behaviours. What was included in hedonic reactions to food and what % of results were in the expected direction?

Answer 42

Craving for Ice Cream and Chocolate Explicit Liking and Wanting Desire for bigger pizza Liking Spicy Tomato Juice M&M’s consumption Urge to Eat 87.5 % (7/8) of results significant in expected direction

Question 43

The more extroverted an individual, what happens to their reward-related brain activity and their reward related brain regions?

Answer 43

The more ‘Extroverted’ the individual: The stronger their reward-related brain activity (as with BAS/SR) The larger their reward-related brain regions

Question 44

What other personality constructs does BAS overlap with?

Answer 44

Extroversion Novelty seeking Reward dependence

Question 45

What other personality constructs does BIS overlap with?

Answer 45

‘Neuroticism’, ‘Harm avoidance’, ‘Trait Anxiety’,

Question 46

What did Cohen et al. (2005) find that dopamine drives in the brain? What did this positively correlate with?

Answer 46

Reward response from reward-related brain regions (OFC, nuc acc and amyg) Extroversion scores positively correlate with reward response in the brain

Question 47

What does the A1 Allele of DA receptor gene result in? Cohen et al. (2005)

Answer 47

Blunts the reward response in reward-related brain areas Shows that dopamine drives reward related activity in the brain

Question 48

What is the correlation between extraversion and medial OFC size? (Deyoung et al, 2010)

Answer 48

+0.35

Question 49

What brain area rises in activity in response to erotic images?

Answer 49

NACC

Question 50

Does BAS brain activity to sex & food cues predict subsequent sexual and food-related behaviour 6 months later?

Answer 50

Yes - Demos et al. (2012)

Question 51

Demos et al. (2012) measured brain response to images (reward related - food and sex) in female undergraduates at time 1, and then 6 months later at time 2. Was brain’s response to reward-related cues predictive of future behaviour?

Answer 51

Response to food images positively correlated with BMI at time point 2 Response to sexual scenes positively correlated with dyadic sexual desire at time point 2 Left Nucleus Accumbens activity on viewing sexual images was notably higher in individuals who had sex with at least one partner The degree to which reward-related cues activate the nucleus accumbens (presumably DA/opioid release) predicts how much that person will subsequently engage in the given rewarding behaviour The effect is specific to the type of reward (food, sex)