PSY1001 WEEK 9 Flashcards
explain the origin of personality (Ancient Greece)
balance of fluids
yellow bile: volatile
black bile: sad
blood: optimistic
phlegm: calm
explain phrenology
pseudoscience predicting personality through size, shape and bumps of skull. personality only nature, each brain ‘organ’ controlled aspects of personality
what part of phrenology is still present today
idea that localisation of brain occurs
what was the psychograph (1900’s)
wire helmet with wires and probes to match bumps on head, print out brain personality profile
disposition identified in head, nose, chin
define personality
consistent and enduring patterns of thoughts, emotions and behaviours that influence interaction with environment, involving internal traits, external expression, motivation and social tendencies
name 4 theories of personality
psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioural/socio-cognitive, trait
outline psychodynamic theory of personality
influenced by childhood, unconscious mind: id (needs and urges), ego, superego (ideals and morals) with personality developed between conflict between them
explain the humanistic theory of personality
emphasised importance of free will, role of own conscious experience, people are inherently good, motivated to pursue goals, look for ways to improve and learn
explain the behavioural approach toward personality
influenced by association, reward, punishment
explain the social-cognition approach toward personality
viewed through lens of social interactions and learning, Bobo doll study (learnt aggression). both behavioural and social-cognitive view environment having strong influence
define trait
relatively stable personality characteristic that cause individual to behave certain way, stable across time, situ
why is trait continuous, not categorical
people have more or less of trait by demonstrating specific behaviours with more frequency, intensity and across wider range of situations
what is the lexical hypothesis for personality (trait)
personality differences can be derived from total number of descriptor in any language system (fear, timid..)
outline Eysenck big 3 main continuums
linked personality to physiological substrates, personality resulting from differing levels of arousal
extroversion-introversion
neuroticism-emotional stabilities
psychoticism-ego
explain neuroticism
autonomic arousal (regulate involuntary function like Hr, BP, fight or flight)
explain extraversion
cortical arousal (responsible for higher order cognitive processes - perception, memory, alertness, wakefulness)
explain RAS
respond to stimuli like food and social contact
introverts have high RAS baseline so need lower stimulus
explain history of big 5
Allport reduced 18,000 traits to 4500
futher (Cattell) reduced to 16
outline OCEAN (big 5 trait continuum)
openness - willingness to try new things, engage in imagination
conscientiousness - ability to regulate own impulses, goal-directed behav, control, inhibition, behavioural persistency
extroversion - tendency and intensity to seek interaction, social, and comfort
agreeableness - how they treat relationship with others
neuroticism - overall emotional stability of individual, interpretation of threatening event
critically evaluate big 5
describe personality (not a theory), developed to organise different traits
each traits useful for personality overviews, however more specific traits needed for outcome prediction
good cross-cultural validity
can personality predict behaviour? (situationism)
low correlation of personality/behaviour indicating situation determinism
created theory of interactionism (behaviour = person x situation)
does personality change across lifetime? (research)
mean stability levels for big 5=
intially decline between 10-15, then 15+ increase in overall conscientiousness and openness, neuroticism decreases
can personality change due to experiences? (research)
divorce = more conscientiousness (no divorce = less)
retirement = less conscientious (unretire still decreased)
first job increased in conscientious
can we change personalities (research)
expressing goal to increase any of big 5 traits increased self-reports of said trait