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PSYC 331, Personality (Final) > Module 4: Behavioural Genetics and Physiology > Flashcards

Module 4: Behavioural Genetics and Physiology Flashcards

1
Q

Skin conductance can be a correlate for studying anxiety and neuroticism. Why?

A

Because skin conductance increases with elevated activity of the sympathetic nervous system

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2
Q

EEG enables scientists to study brain activity with high temporal resolution. What does this mean?

A

Means that electrical activity produced by neutrons is picked up by electrodes as soon as they are produced

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3
Q

What are the 3 major limitations of EEG?

A
  1. Can only be used to study brain regions that are close to the scalp
  2. Low spatial resolution (cannot tell where the source of the electrical activity is coming from)
  3. Low signal to noise ration (data is spatially imprecise, picks up other data like muscle movements)
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4
Q

Psychologists use fMRI to observe…

A

how presenting stimuli produce increased activity in different brain regions

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5
Q

What reasons may explain the replication crisis in fMRI personality studies?

A
  1. Situational influences may be more responsible for the variability in brain responses rather than personality differences
  2. Individual differences in personality may not be visible in an experimental circumstance using an fMRI machine
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6
Q

What is one of the central goals of genetic research?

A

To determine the percentage of an individual difference than can be attributed to genetic differences and the percentage due to environmental differences as well as how genes and environment interact

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7
Q

Heritability

A

The proportion of observed variance in a group of individuals that can be accounted for by genetic variance

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8
Q

Can heritability be applied to a single individual? Why or why not?

A

No it cannot.

Heritability refers only to differences in a sample or population not to an individual

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9
Q

Is heritability constant? Why or why not?

A

No it is not.

Heritability applies only to a population at one point in time.

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10
Q

Is heritability an absolute precise statistic?

A

No it is not.

Error or unreliability of measurement for example can distort heritability statistics. So, heritability is best regarded as an estimate.

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11
Q

At the level of the individual is there a nature-nurture debate?

A

No.

Every individual contains a unique set of genes that require environments to produce a recognizable individual. Both genes and the environment are necessary and we cannot logically disentail them to see which is more important for one particular individual.

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12
Q

What level of analysis (individual or population) do behavioural geneticists operate?

A

Population

This is the level we can disentangle the influence of genes and environments

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13
Q

What 4 methods are used to disentangle the contributions of genes and environments as causes of individual differences?

A
  1. Selective breeding with animals
  2. Family studies
  3. Twin studies
  4. Adoption studies
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14
Q

Results from family studies alone can never be definitive. Why?

A

Because family members who share the same genes, especially those with greater genetic relatedness, also typically share the same environment

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15
Q

What is an important assumption of the twin method?

A

Equal environments assumption

Assumes that the environments experienced by identical twins are no more similar to each other than are the environments experienced by fraternal twins

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16
Q

Adoption studies allow researchers to get around the equal environments assumption. However, there are 2 particular limitations of adoption studies:

A
  1. Assumption of representativeness
    - assume that adopted children, their birth parents, and their adoptive parents are representative of the general population
  2. Selective placement
    - if adopted children are placed with adoptive parents who are similar to their birth parents this may inflate the correlations between the adopted children and their adoptive parents
    - does not seem to be a problem though
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17
Q

What are the 2 most commonly studied traits in behavioural genetic research?

A

Extraversion and neuroticism

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18
Q

Summarizes of the behavioural genetic data for many of the major personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness) yield heritability estimates of approx….

A

50 percent

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19
Q

Some attitudes have been shown to demonstrate moderate heritability (i.e., conservative values) and some have not (i.e., belief in God). Why might this be the case according to a study by researchers from the University of Western and University of BC?

A

For some attitudes, it is the heritability of personality traits that actually mediated the heritability of related attitudes

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20
Q

Drinking and smoking are often regarded as ________________ ________________ of personality dispositions such as sensation-seeking, extraversion, and neuroticism

A

behavioural manifestations

21
Q

Do genes influence the propensity to marry or not and do they play a role in marital satisfaction? Why or why not?

A

Yes they do. The heritability estimate is above 50%

This may work through certain personality characteristics

22
Q

The personality traits most consistently associated with nonspecific electrodermal responding are…

A

anxiety and neuroticism

23
Q

Some people show much larger increases in heart rate and blood pressure than others. This phenomenon has been called ___________ ___________ and has been associated with…

A

cardiac reactivity

Type A personality (i.e., impatience, competitiveness, hostility)

24
Q

One study using fMRI found that personality correlated with the degree of brain activation in response to the positive and negative images. What did they find?

A

Neuroticism correlated with increased frontal brain activation to negative images and extroversion correlated with increased frontal brain activation to positive images

25
Q

What hormone has been linked to uninhibited, aggressive, and risk-taking behaviour patterns.

A

Testosterone

26
Q

From biochemical analyses of saliva, researchers found that shy children have high levels of __________ in their systems suggesting that they experience more stress than less hay children.

A

cortisol

27
Q

From biochemical analyses of blood, _________ may be a causal factor in the personality trait of sensation seeking

A

MAO

28
Q

Extraversion-Introversion is a theory put forth by Eysenck which proposes that…

A

introverts are characterized by higher levels of activity in the brain’s ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) than are extraverts

29
Q

According to Eysenck’s extraversion-introversion theory, introverts have higher resting levels of _________ arousal because their ARAS lets in too much stimulation. Conversely extraverts need to increase their arousal.

A

corticol

30
Q

Explain how Eysenck incorporated Hebb’s notion of “optimal level of arousal” into his extraversion-introversion theory.

A

Since introverts have higher baseline levels of arousal than extraverts, they are above their optimal level of arousal more often than extraverts.

So, the generally over-aroused condition of introverts leads them to be more restrained and inhibited.

31
Q

Studies looking at nervous system responsiveness found that in response to moderate levels of stimulation introverts showed larger or faster responses than extroverts. However there was no difference in nervous system activity when people were presented with no stimulation or mild stimulation. Explain.

A

Suggests that introverts and extraverts are not different at resting levels but ARE different under moderate levels of stimulation. This suggests that the real difference between introverts and extraverts lies in their arousal RESPONSE not in their baseline arousal level.

32
Q

Jeffrey Gray has proposed the reinforcement sensitivity theory which is based on what 2 hypothesized biological systems in the brain?

A

The behavioural activation system (BAS) and the behavioural inhibition system (BIS)

33
Q

Describe a person with a reactive BIS

A

Sensitive to cues of punishment, frustration or novelty.

Vulnerable to unpleasant emotions like anxiety, fear, and sadness

34
Q

Describe a person with a reactive BAS

A

Especially sensitive to reward.

Vulnerable to positive emotions and tends to approach stimuli.

Inability to inhibit a behaviour when approaching a goal (impulsive)

35
Q

According to Gray’s theory, those who are impulsive (that is, those with a reactive BAS) seem to learn better from _________ compared to _________

A

reward; punishment

36
Q

Gray’s theory does well in describing the biological basis of what traits?

A

Impulsivity/extraversion and anxiety/neuroticism

37
Q

How does Hebb’s theory of optimal level of arousal explain sensation seeking?

A

If someone is under-aroused relative to their optimal level of arousal an increase in arousal is rewarding and thus they will seek it out

38
Q

How does Zuckerman’s research on neurotransmitters explain sensation-seeking?

A

Low MAO = too much nervous transmission taking place

Sensation seekers have low levels of MAO and thus high levels of neurotransmitters in the nervous system

Thus, sensation seekers have less inhibition in their nervous systems and thus less control over behaviour, thoughts, and emotions

39
Q

What does the tridimensional personality model suggest?

A

It suggests that 3 personality traits are tied to levels of 3 neurotransmitters.

40
Q

According to the tridimensional personality model, what personality trait is related to low levels of dopamine?

A

Novelty seeking

41
Q

According to the tridimensional personality model, what personality trait is associated with abnormalities in serotonin metabolism.

A

Harm avoidance

42
Q

According to the tridimensional personality model what personality trait is related to low levels of norepinephrine?

A

Reward dependence

43
Q

Not all alcoholics become addicted for the same reason. What does Cloninger argue?

A

Some alcoholics may begin drinking due to high novelty seeking - they drink to make up for low levels of dopamine

Some alcoholics may begin drinking because they are high in harm avoidance - they drink to relieve chronic stress and anxiety

44
Q

Assessment of differences in circadian rhythms in temporal-isolation studies have demonstrated…

A

that differences between morning and evening types of individuals appear to be due to differences in underlying biological rhythms

45
Q

It appears that differences in morningness-eveningness are especially related to what type of problems?

A

interpersonal compatibility

46
Q

Does a person with a shorter biological rhythm (morning person) or a person with a longer biological rhythm (evening person) reach peak body temperature earlier in the day?

A

A person with a shorter biological rhythm would hit their peak body temperature earlier in the day

47
Q

The morningness-eveningness questionnaire (MEQ) correlates with the time of day that peak body temperature was reached. What does this indicate?

A

Convergent validity

48
Q

Scores on the MEQ have been found to be stable over time.

TRUE or FALSE

A

True

49
Q

In some people the left frontal regions of the brain are more active while in others the right frontal areas are more active (aka brain asymmetry). What does a recent review on this topic indicate?

A

There is little to no evidence supporting the validity of resting frontal asymmetry as a personality indicator

PSYC 331, Personality (Final) (12 decks)

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