Midterm 2 Biological

Question 1

Three theories under the biological perspective

Answer 1

1. Evolutionary
2. Behavioural Genetics
3. Physiological approach

Question 2

Evolutionary approach

Answer 2

Basic principles (Darwin): two processes through which evolution occurs 
1. Natural selection: process where organisms develop characteristics that enhance their ability to survive 
•characteristics with high survival probability: more likely to live trough reproductive age and pass characteristics onto the next generation, and so on
•occurs until the survival enhancing characteristics increase in frequency until almost everyone has them 
•ex: humans preference for sweet, fatty and salty foods/fight or flight response 

2. Sexual selection: organisms develop characteristics that enhance their ability to reproduce
3. Intrasexual selection: same sex organisms compete for the sexual interest of the opposite sex
   •organisms who have desirable characters to the opposite sex/are more likely to mate and reproduce
   •offspring who inherit these characteristics are more likely to mate, and so on
   •occurs until the winning characteristics are apparent in the majority of that sex
   •combated vs noncombaded?
4. Intersexual selection: organisms of one sex prefer to mate with organisms of the opposite sex with these desirable characteristics
   •same process as intrasexual

How intra and inter work together
•what is preferred tends to become the competition
•intersexual selected can result in intrasexual competition
•Productive probability: what makes a trait desired

Question 3

How have the basic principles of evolutionary theory been adapted to the study of personality

Answer 3

Evolutionary psychologists believe
1. our psychological processes result from natural AND sexual selection
•seen as adaptations to the survival and productive challenges faced by our ancestors
2. our personality is studied by looking at human universals (altruism), sex differences and individual differences

Question 4

Sex differences in personality

Answer 4

Reproductive capacity: the max number of offspring one can have
•F: 8-12
•M: unlimited (max recorded 900)
Minimal parental investment: the minimum time, energy, and resources needed for child’s survival
•F: much higher (birthing,breastfeeding)
•M: engage in cooperation

Sex differences: emerge when faced with different challenges because they have different adaptations
•F: care more about resource potential because of their higher parental investment
•M: care more about appearance (fertile/healthy)
Criticism: social attributions BUT it has been found that males care more about attractiveness in socially equal environments

Question 5

Hypotheses for sex differences

Answer 5

A. Given sex differences in reproductive capacity and minimal parental investment, sex differences have evolved in mate preference (males value appearance more and females value resource potential more)
•Evidence (Buss and Angleitner): had participants rate several characteristics for their desirability in a mate from 0-3
*Good looks (M: 2.10 F: 1.68)
*Good financials (M: 1.1 F: 2.03)
*Ambition/industriousness (M:1.84 F: 2.46)

B. Given sex differences in reproductive capacity and minimal parental investment, sex differences have evolved in desire for sexual variety (males seek more sexual partners and are less discriminating in their choices)
•Evidence (Clark and Hatfield): had confederates approach students of the opposite sex on campus, saying they were attractive and asked:
1. Would you go on a date with me (females slightly more likely to say yes)
2. Would you go back to my apartment with me (way more men)
3. Would you have sex with me (no women)
*Females feel at greater risk because of greater consequences

C. (Buss and Schmitt) asked unmarried participants how many sex partners they’d like to have before they die
•Men are higher and increase throughout time

Question 6

Individual differences in personality (birth orders)

Answer 6

Most animals (including humans) require some degree of parental investment in order to survive
•When there is more than one offspring, siblings must compete for parent investment
•FB and LB develop distinct strategies to maximize parental investment
•ex1: predatory birds with scarce food supply has older chicks attempt to peck younger chicks to death/exclude from nest
•ex2: cuckoo birds’ firs thick to hatch attempts to eject all other eggs from nest

Personality differences with order effects
•OtE: greater in later born (must diverge from their first born sibling)
•C: greater in first born (first borns are asked for help more frequently by their parents, producing higher levels of responsibility)
•E: greater in first born (first borns attempt to dominate younger siblings, producing her levels of dominance/assertiveness)
•A: greater in later born (later borns cooperate with older siblings to avoid physical confrontation, producing higher levels of cooperativeness and compliance)
•N: greater in first born (they hold privileged status in the family)

Principle of divergence: within a given ecological environment, organisms diverge from each other by adapting too different aspects of the ecology
•allows organisms to reduce competition and increase their survival probability
•singletons are equally successful BUT are lower in extraversion (can’t practice earning dominance) and openness to experience (no need to diverge because they max parental investment

Question 7

Criticisms of the evolutionary approach

Answer 7

1. man theories that emerge from this approach cannot be emqerically tested/falsified
2. Characterized by circular reasoning (theory to observation then observation to theory)
3. This approach often leads to controversial hypothesis

Question 8

Behavioural genetics’ goals

Answer 8

1. Determine the degree to which individual differences in personality characteristics are caused by genetics vs environment
   Vg+Ve=Vp
   •Vg: variation in the genetic factors that contribute to that characteristic
   •Ve: variation in the environment factors that contribute to that characteristic
   •Vp: variation in an observable personality characteristic within A population
2. Identify the genetic factors that contribute to individual differences in specific personality characteristics
   •ex: gene D4DR on chromosome 11 contributes to individual differences in sensation seeking
3. Identify the environmental factors that contribute to individual differences in specific personality characteristics
   •ex: antisocial personality disorder is there when raised in an abusive house

Question 9

Heritability and environmentality

Answer 9

Heritability: the proportion of phenotypic variance that is attributable to genotypic variance
•phenotypic variance: individual differences in an observable characteristic (height, aggression, extraversion)
•genotypic variance: individual differences in genetic makeup
•ex: heritability of aggression is .67, indicating that 67% of the observed variance in aggression is due to individual differences in genetic makeup

Environmentality: the proportion of phenotypic variance that is attributed to variance in environments
•ex: .62 in ambition indicates 62% of the observed variance in ambition within a population is due to environmental factors/differences

Question 10

How are heritability and environmentality assessed?

Answer 10

1. Adoption studies: examine whether adopted children are more similar to their biological parents than adopted parents in a given characteristic by calculating two correlations
   r1: the correlation between participants scores and the scores of their biological parents on the characteristic (influence of shared genes)
   r2: the correlation between participants scores and the scores of their adoptive parents on the characteristic (influence of shared environment)
   whichever one is greater shows which has greater influence
   Can also do this with MZ twins raised together vs apart
2. Twin studies: more powerful way to assess heritability and environmentality
   •assumes that life experiences of co twins raised together is the same for MZ and DZ twins
   •examine whether monozygotic/identical (MZ) twins, sharing 100% of genes, are more similar than dizygotic/fraternal (DZ) twins in a given characteristic by calculating two correlations
   •can be assessed using self reports or inter rater
   r1: the correlation between MZ twins on the characteristic (large genetic overlap)
   r2: the correlation between DZ twins on the characteristic (small genetic overlap
   ex: dominance
   •r1: .57 (MZ)
   •r2: .12 (DZ)
   2(.57-.12)=.90
   Concordance: describes similarity of diagnosis between two twins
   Limitations: possible bias

environment: heritability (1.00) - found number (.90) = environment (.10)

Question 11

What personality characteristics are heritable

Answer 11

Temperaments: personality characteristics that appear during the first year of life, persist across a lifespan, have a great influence on behaviour, and is highly heritable
Buss and Plomin identified 3 temperaments
1. Activity level: degree to which an individual expends physical energy through motor activity
•ex: intensity of behaviour, speed of action
2. Sociability: degree to which an individual prefers to be with others than alone
3. Emotionality: degree to which an individual becomes physiologically aroused in upsetting situations
•3 components: anger, distress, fear

These temperaments are assessed using the EAS Temperament Survey
•5 components: activity level, sociability, emotionality (anger) emotionality (distress), and emotionality (fear)
*distress and fear are highly correlated with anger

Heritability statistics on temperament (all around 50%)
Activity level: .58
Sociability: .42
Emotionality (anger): .62
Emotionality (distress): .54
Emotionality (fear): .70
*fear is the highest heritability statistic

Other temperaments proposed
•approach/avoidance with punishment (somewhat resembles Buss emotionality)
•effortful control vs impulsivity
•intelligence
•behavioural inhibition (shyness evident at 6 weeks old, apparent at 4 years)

Question 12

5 factor model and personality disorders heritability

Answer 12

FFM and temperaments
Openness to experience: similar to intelligence
Conscientiousness: similar to effortful control
Extraversion: similar to approach, sociability, and activity
Agreeableness: similar to sociability
Neuroticism: similar to emotionality and avoidance

FFM: All roughly around .50 on heritability (cross culturally)
Openness to Experience: .48
Conscientiousness: .49
Extraversion: .50
Agreeableness: .48
Neuroticism: .49

PD: quite highly heritable, can be self fulfilling, and difficult to treat due to genetic factor
Avoidant personality disorder: .61
Borderline personality disorder: .76
Histrionic personality disorder: .79
Narcissistic personality disorder: .66
Obsessivecompulsive personality disorder:.77

Psychopathy: support that psychopaths are born not made
Fearlessness .95
Carefree Nonplanfulness (impulsiveness) .94
Machiavellianism (ex: enjoys manipulation) .74
Social potency (skilled at influencing) .66
Aggressiveness .67

Other personality characteristics 
Creativity or imagination .74
Sense of alienation .59
Traditionalism .59
Low risk taking .45
Achievement orientation .38 
Risk of divorce, having adverse life events, how much social support you have

All personality characteristics studies show some degree of heritability
•Nature AND nurture influence personality
•Diathesis stress model: some heritable traits won’t be triggered because of a lack in environmental stressors

Question 13

Physiological basis of extraversion

Answer 13

Eysenck (founder of biological perspective): theorized that the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) contributes to individual differences in extraversion
•ARAS: set of nuclei in brainstem thought to control nervous stimulation from the body to make its way to the brain (through brainstem) and activate cortex
•High levels of ARAS: high levels of cortical arousal (introverts)
•Introverts retain themselves because they are over aroused and are seeking ways to downplay it
•Low levels of ARAS: low levels of cortical arousal (extraverts)
•Extraverts seek high stimulation experiences and engage in activities that increase their arousal

fMRIs: studies suggest that extraverts and introverts do not differ in their baseline cortical arousal BUT differ in arousability in response to stimuli (introverts are more easily aroused)

Question 14

Physiological bases of sensitivity to reward and punishment

Answer 14

Gray theorized two physiological systems contribute to the individual differences in sensitivity and punishment
•Evidence: eegs have found the BAS and BIS have a physiological origin

BAS: left prefrontal cortex (positive emotion)
•go after the things you want, engaged only in the active pursuit of something
•measures of extraversion correlate with measures of approach sensitivity
•extraverts: lager volumes
•linked to dopamine: higher dopamine is higher positive emotion and rewarded learning
•ex: hearing an ice cream truck

BIS: right prefrontal cortex (negative emotion) response to punishment, causing to pull back
•low serotonin, low GABA, and high norepinephrine levels
•linked to neuroticism: threat sensitivity is similar (anxiety at core)
•neurotics: larger volumes
•ex: child screaming receives stern glance

Independent of each other (can be high in both)
•High BAS: need reward after studying
•Sensitive BIS: learn better with punishment
•Anxiety: highly sensitive BIS
•Depression: highly sensitive BIS, low BAS
*a&d worse if deficits in effortful control (makes emotions feel more intense and demanding)
•Psychopathy: high BAS, low BIS

BAS/BIS surveys assess
•BIS sensitivity
•BAS sensitivity: reward responsiveness (assesses how responsive one is to the occurrence or anticipation of rewards)
•BAS sensitivity: drive (assesses the persistence with which one pursues desired goals)
•BAS sensitivity: fun seeking (assesses ones desire for new rewards and ones willingness to approach potentially rewarding events in the spur of the moment)

Question 15

Physiological basis of sensation seeking

Answer 15

Sensation seeking: tendency to seek out carried novel activities that are both exciting and risky
•ex: early age if sex, fast driving, substance use, and more dissatisfied with relationships
•people with high SS function well in overstimulating conditions (combat) and display more antisocial qualities (low SS shut down when too intense)
•Impulse unsocialized sensation seeking (IUSS): a deficit in the capacity to control behaviour in social settings (accretive, implicated by APD)

Theorized that individuals who are high in SS have relatively low levels of monomania oxidase (MAO)
•more likely to show anti social qualities and exhibit sensation seeking
PICTURE

MAO and the breakdown of neurotransmitters
•Low levels of MAO: neurotransmitters aren’t broken down at the same frequency, so the MAO acts was a break inhibiting neurotransmission
•Result in low levels of dopamine in the nervous system
•High levels of dopamine cause “disinhibition” of the nervous system: less control over behaviours thoughts and emotions

Question 16

People’s bodies and their personalities

Answer 16

Endomorphy: plump
•reflects digestion (soft and round)
Mesomorphy: muscular
•predominance of bone and muscle 
Ectomorphy: thin
•delicate, frail, easily overwhelmed

Question 17

Complications for behavioural genetics

Answer 17

Keep in mind:
1. Circulatory reasoning: temperaments/supertraits are very broad, so when evidence is found that some behaviour is genetically influenced, you have to wonder if its because that behaviour relates to a temperament/supertriat

2. Non shared environmental effect: environment seems to affect personality most by making twins different (different friends, parental treatment)

Complications:
1. Heritability varies with the environment (one sample may not be the same as another)

2. Correlations between genetic and environmental influences
   •was originally assumed that these were independent but they aren’t
   •ex: when people with high intelligence gravitate to environments that foster learning, IQ increases making it more difficult to sort casual responsibility

Question 18

Molecular genetics and genomics

Answer 18

1. Genome: genetic blueprint of the body (most of it identical to everyone)
2. Alleles: the different patterns in DNA
3. Polymorphism: a difference at a certain location
4. Genotypic difference: people have different alleles at a particular location
5. Quantitative genetics: relate differences in a particular gene location to another measure difference (twin studies)
6. Candidate gene strategy: first genomic study where particular gene locations were examined based on evidence linking those genes to particular biological processes in personality
7. Argued to be replaced by genome wide association studies (GWAS): entire genome is examined for all differences that relate to the outcome of interest (needs huge number of participants/costly)

Molecular genetics and genomes with personality
Question: whether specific polymorphisms influence a given personality quality
•many genes vs just one
•finding a gene responsible often leads to difficulty to replicate/false positives

How genes interact with life
Some people are more susceptible to environmental influence than others
•gene expression: when the gene engages in the processes that create a protein depending on
1. methylation: the attachment of methyl chemical groups to the genes propter region (on switch)
•where there is more, there is less gene expression (diet, stress)
•epigenetic effect: it doesn’t change the gene, just the patten of methylation (can be generational - environment influence genetic)

Question 19

Box

Answer 19

1. Universal adaptations and why there are individual differences
   •Directional selection: one allele is more likely to show up in the next gen because it helped with the survival or reproduction, can eventually become universal
   •environmentally dependent (ex: openness to experience)
   •Stabilizing selection: maintaining genetic variability by intermediate values of a characteristic being more adaptive than at either extreme
   •ex: sociability (shouldn’t be too much or too little)
2. Will genetic discoveries result in discrimination
   •diseases, psychological disorders, etc

Question 20

Assessment for genetic and evolution in schizophrenia, bipolar, substance use, APD and behaviour

Answer 20

1. Schizophrenia
   •concordance rates were 50% among identical twins (high heritability)
   •limitation: diathesis stress model
   2.Bipolar
   •unclear if biology plays major role in bipolar
   •environment (sleep) impacts symptoms
2. Substance use
   •MZ twins more likely to both have drinking problems (DRHR-reward seeking)
3. APD (genetic and physiological)
   •involves impulsivity and an inability to restrain antisocial urges
   •overactive BAS and deficits in BIS
   •insufficient MAO: interacting with adverse environment
   •testosterone: approach/avoidance
   •related to approach avoidant temperament
   •high concordance rates in MZ twins
4. Behaviour problems stem from the fact that there are two kinds of evolution:
   •biological: prepared us to live in a world very different from today
   •cultural: much faster adaptation, but consuming when we don’t fit biologically but must adapt to contemporary culture

Question 21

Problems for evolutionary perspective

Answer 21

1. Quite new (don’t rally know how genetics interact)

2. Temperaments: how do we view them (domains, starting points, their purpose)

Question 22

Assessment from the biological perspective (physiological)

Answer 22

1. EEGS: electrons on scalp sense changes, showing activity in cerebral cortex
2. Neuroimaging
   •PET: picture of brains metabolic activity by giving person radioactive glucose and recording glucose in different areas
   •MRI: nerva activity through pictures of sliced brain, giving different information about different slices
   •fMRI: much more detailed EEG (3D, coloured)

Question 23

Biological (physiological) therapies and issues

Answer 23

1. Pharmacotherapy: administering drugs which change biological functioning
2. Transcanial magnetic stimulation (TMS): focusing a magnetic field on a specific location of the brain, reducing or increasing activity of neurons in the region

Issues
•disjointed from person
•sorting new methods (EEG, fMRIs) can be challenging
•we don’t fully understand the nervous system

Question 24

Criticisms of adoption and twin studies

Answer 24

Selective placement: children are placed into adoptive families that are genetically similar to biological families
Non shared environmental effect: twins environments tend to make them more different than similar (different friend groups, how parents treat them)