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Personality and Individual differences W EDIT > Problem 5 > Flashcards

Problem 5 Flashcards

1
Q

Heritability

A

Is a descriptive statistic that indicates the degree of population variation of a trait, that is due to genetic differences

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2
Q

Complement of heritability (1-h2)

A

Indicates the degree of population variation of a trait, that is due to environmental influences

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3
Q

What kind of studies are used to measure/ estimate the heritability of various traits ?

A

Twin + adoption studies

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4
Q

Nuisance variables

A

Refer to variables that are assumed to be causes of group/individual differences, but seemingly irrelevant to the theory of the investigator

–> closely related to heritability

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5
Q

How much does genetic vs environment influence personality traits ?

A

Increased genetic influence with age + decreasing shared environmental influence

–> environmental factors often decrease to 0 after adolescence

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6
Q

Why have personality + individual differences been neglected ?

A
  1. Cogent evolutionary theories existed for predicting + explaining sex differences
    ex. : sexual selection
  2. Assumption that natural selection has reduced/eliminated heritable individual difference because traits that are advantageous tend to spread over tome to fixation
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7
Q

Which theories are able to explain personality and individual differences (variation) ?

A
  1. Life history theory
  2. Costly signaling theory
  3. Environmental heterogeneity
  4. Frequency dependent selection
  5. Mutation load
  6. Contingent shift
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8
Q

Life history theory

A

States that we have a certain amount of energy throughout our life, that we try to allocate over the course of our life

–> some put more emphasis on kinship, some on multiple mating partners

e.g.: reproductive development and behaviors, post-reproductive behaviors, and lifespan

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9
Q

Costly signaling theory

A

States that people compete with one another by sending costly signals to others about their qualities

–> might explain conscientiousness, agreeableness, generosity etc

e.g.: to be able to be generous, one has to first have the ressources/affordances

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10
Q

Balancing selection

A

Occurs when genetic variation is maintained by selection

ex.: heterozygote advantage, where both alleles are maintained, as Aa will have a better chance of survival than AA or aa

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11
Q

Frequency dependent selection

A

Occurs when 2 or more strategies are maintained within a population at a particular frequency relative to each other, such that the fitness of each strategy decreases as it becomes increasingly common

ex.: Psychopathy, if only a few have these traits than those will consequently have an advantage, as opposed to when this is common

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12
Q

Role of Mutation load in heritability ?

A

Heritability of some traits originates from individual differences in mutation load

–> explains some harmful mental disorders

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13
Q

Environmental heterogeneity/ Flucturating optima

A

Environmental conditions can vary from time and place therefore, the traits favored by natural selection can change/fuctuate as well

–> variation in personality traits

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14
Q

Contingent shift

A

Refers the the ability to adapt psychological mechanisms in response to changes in environmental conditions

  • selection favors those that are adaptive
  • can occur in response to individual phenotypic qualities + environmental conditions

ex.: chef vs angestellt personality anpassen können

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15
Q

Stabilizing selection

A

Exists when selection favors a trait that is intermediate within the range represented within a population

–> most common trait is selected + continues to dominate

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16
Q

Adoption studies

A

Assessing differences in personality between pairs of genetically related individuals who don’t share a common environment

–> to assess the degree of genetic impact by looking at their similarities

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17
Q

Intraclass correlation coefficient

A

Assesses the correlation between relatives

–> variance between families, as when the variance is high between families then the similarities are high within families

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18
Q

Twin studies

A

Assesses differences in personality between twins that shared the same environment

–> to assess the degree of environmental impact by looking at the differences

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19
Q

Additive effects

A

Each gene separately contributes to personality

1 gene + 1 gene = 2 genes

20
Q

Nonadditive effects

A

Combined effects of genes contribute to personality more than the genes individually

1 gene + 1 gene /=/ 2 genes

21
Q

Combination designs

A

Refer to combination of different study forms

e.g.: adoption-twin, families-of-twins method

22
Q

Adoption twin design

A

Twins adopted apart are compared to twins raised together

–> show little shared environment influences

23
Q

Families-of-twins method

24
Q

Genotype environment interactions

A

The same environment influences peoples characteristics in different ways, depending on their genotype

ex.: the reason why relatives are not always similar to each other

25
Genotype-environment correlation (3)
Genetic tendencies cause you to be more exposed to a specific kind of environment ***a) passive*** * inheriting combination of genes passively, not as result of own behavior ex. : athletic parents raise children in athletic environment passively ***b) reactive*** * other peoples reactions to childs genetic tendencies influence its environment ex. : child runs around a lot; parents sign him up for soccer practices ***c) active*** * child actively chooses environment as a function of genetic predisposition
26
Contrast effect
Refers to the ***tendency to emphasize _differences_ between realtives*** ex.: siblings comparing each other than to general population
27
Assimilation effect
Refers to the ***tendency to emphasize _similarities_ between relatives*** ex.: father sees sister as similar
28
Pros vs cons of adoption studies ?
***PROs*** 1. Good way to measure the question at hand --\> only method we have ***CONs*** _1. Assumption of representativeness_ * assuming that adopted children + their parents are representative of the population _2. Prenatal environment_ is often not considered _3. Selective placement_ * child may have been put in a family similar to the biological one
29
Pros vs cons of twin studies ?
***PROs*** 1. Compares mono + dizygotic twins ***CONs*** 1. Assumes that the environment is the same, which doesn't necessarily has to be 2. Assumption of representativeness
30
what are the life history theory strategies?
fast: (early reproduction age, shorter lifespan, many offspring with limited parental investment) favors resource allocation toward reproductive efforts -> machiavellianism and risk taking -> less related to prosocial motivations and behaviors slow: favoring resource allocation toward continued growth and maintenance -> (+) correlated with EXACO and (-) correlated with neuroticism -> trait types of positive relationship attributes and attachment
31
what does allocentrism invovle?
define in reference to social entities to a great extent than idiocentrics shows a **negative** correlation between O and X and shows a **positive** correlation between A and C more ethnocentric
32
Socioecology explain what the connections mean: 1. culture <--> personality 2. socioecology -> culture 3. socioecology -> personality
1. the mutual constitution of culture and personality 2. socioecology as one root of culture 3. socioecology as one root of personality
33
Why does Variation not go away?
1) **Variation has no consequence for survival & reproduction.** As such, new mutations changing trait levels will persist 2) New Mutations do cause variation away from ideal levels of a trait, but **natural selection does not trim mutations out faster than they appear** 3) **Parasitic infections spread less quickly if there is a great deal of within-species variation**. See Bananas
34
Fluctuating Optimum
**The ideal level of a trait might differ for different environments and thus be different overtime**, in response to features of the current environment. The total amount of variation however will be relatively stable.
35
Parental Investment
In times of plenty, those who maximize quantity of offspring will be more successful In times of shortage, its more likely for offspring to survive and thrive if the parents are there to help
36
Negative Frequency-Dependent Selection
When individuals having a give level of a trait become less successful when there are more of them in a population
37
Fluctuating Optimums and Frequency Dependence maintaing variation
1) **Favoring reproductive success of individuals who have a genetic inclination towards a particular level of subject trait** 2) **Favoring the reproductive success of individuals whose genetic inclination is more flexible, allowing them to develop high/low levels of the trait** depending on experiences in early development
38
Honesty-Humility throughout Life
**Tends to decline during teen years and then increase through most of adulthood** (60 year olds are 1 SD higher than 18 year olds on average) Thoerized to be due to more potential gains in exploiting others during early-adulthood, declining with time
39
If the relatives are very similar to each other then the proportion of total variance due to within family differences is small, medium, or large? What about between family difference?
Very small - within Very large - between
40
If the relatives are very different to each other then the proportion of total variance due to within family differences is small, medium, or large? What about between family differences?
Very large - within Very small - between
41
Cross-national and cross-generational differences in average personality traits are usually not ____?
Very large
42
Socioecology complex hypothesis
The degree of personality co-variation observed within a society will be negatively associated with socioecology complexity
43
vertical collectivist
traditionalist and emphasizes in group cohesion, respect for in-group norms and directives of authorities
44
horizontal collectivist
emphasizes empathy, sociability , and cooperation
45
vertical individualistic
competitiveness is high one must be the “best” in order to climb hierarchy
46
horizontal individualistic
hierarchical difference is de-emphasized, emphasis on self-reliance, independence, and uniqueness

Personality and Individual differences W EDIT (9 decks)

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