Textbook Chapter 9 Flashcards
what approach is chapter 9 about?
the biological approach
people often expect children’s personalities to resemble…
their parents
early view of baby’s personalities
were thought to be blank slates
limited by diffs in intelligence or physical skills, maybe, but otherwise equally able to develop into any type of person
but this view has changed - no reputable psychologist today would deny that personality is at LEAST PARTLY result of INHERITED BIOLOGICAL INFLUENCES
differences in physical functioning…
translated into differences in personality/behaviour
ie. diff brainwave activity, hormone levels, heart-rate responsiveness…
human personality is product of…
many years of evolutionary development
move away from blank slate take on personality partly due to…
move away from behaviourism
which ignored individual diffs in newborns
3 ways psychologists have used biological concepts to explain personality that will be explored in this chapter
- Hans Eysenck’s ideas
- temperaments
- evolutionary personality psychology
what was Eysenck first concerned with?
figuring out the underlying structure of personality
he employed factor analysis and found types/supertraits
Eysenck’s three basic personality dimensions
- extraversion-introversion
- neuroticism
- psychoticism
basic level of Eysenck’s personality model
specific response level
^ consists of specific behaviours
ie. watch a man laughing with his friends on a certain day
second level of Eysenck’s personality model
habitual response
^ when specific behaviours repeat themselves frequently
ie. a man laughing with his friends most days of the week
third level of Eysenck’s personality model
trait level
^ when habitual responses are very important to the person, and are defining of them
ie. a man that lives for social gatherings - exhibits the TRAIT OF SOCIABILITY
fourth level of Eysenck’s personality model
supertrait level
ie. trait like sociability is part of a LARGER DIMENSION of personality - that of EXTRAVERSION
outline of Eysenck’s personality model
from top to bottom
- supertrait level (ie. extraversion)
- trait level (ie. sociability, impulsiveness, activity, liveliness, excitability)
- habitual response
- specific response
Eysenck’s extraversion/introversion dimension
EXTRAVERT: sociable, like parties, many friends, needs to talk to people, doesn’t like reading or studying alone
INTROVERT: quiet, retiring sort of person, introspective, fond of books rather than people reserved and distant except to intimate friends
most people fall in between these two extremes
Eysenck’s neuroticism dimension
HIGH scores: tendency to respond emotionally
^ unstable, highly emotional, more easily upset, angered, depressed
Eysenck’s psychoticism dimension
HIGH:
^ egocentric, aggressive, impersonal, cold, lacking in empathy, impulsive, lacking concern for others, unconcerned about rights/welfare of others
Eysenck quote on heritability
“heritability is not a fixed number. once you realize what’s inherited, there’s a lot you can do about it”
Eysenck’s 3 arguments in his case that individual personality differences are based in biology
- consistency of extraversion-introversion over time
- cross-cultural research
- studies indicate genetics play important role in determining person’s placement on each of the 3 personality dimensions
Eysenck’s consistency of extraversion-introversion over time argument
study found that Ps extraversion-introversion scores remained consistent of 45 year time span
BUT this finding alone doesn’t establish biology’s role in personality
- could be that people remain in similar environments throughout their lives
- OR that after this part of personality is cemented, it is hard to change
Eysenck’s cross-cultural research argument
find same 3 dimensions of personality in studies from all sorts of countries/cultures
even appear when using different data-gathering methods
level of cross-cultural consistency = unlikely unless biological factors were largely responsible for personality
how much of variance in personality did Eysenck say could be traced back to biological factors?
2/3rds
biology probably sets limits on HOW MUCH WE CAN CHANGE an introverted friend into a highly sociable person
or LIKELIHOOD of shaping an impulsive, outgoing child into a calm, easygoing adult
Eysenck’s physiological explanation for diff between extraverts and introverts
they have diff levels of CEREBRAL CORTEX AROUSAL when in non-stimulating environments
EXTRAVERTS have lower level of cortical arousal than introverts
^ as a result, they SEEK OUT HIGLY AROUSING SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR because their cortical arousal is well below desired levels
INTROVERTS instead operate at cortical arousal level NEAR or ABOVE the optimal amount
^ select solitude/non-stimulating environments to keep their already high arousal from becoming too aversive
has research discovered the base-rate cortical arousal referenced by Eysenck?
no
introverts and extraverts DO DIFFER in how certain parts of their brains respond to emotional stimuli
BUT show NO DIFF in brain-wave activity when at rest or asleep
HOWEVER there is evidence that introverts are MORE SENSITIVE to STIMULATION than extraverts