Textbook Part 1 Flashcards
difference between personality psychology and developmental psychology
personality; study diff in traits, motives and other personality variables, eager to detect continuity
developmental; focuses on children and detecting change
define theory of personality development
mixes personality and developmental psychology and more (cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary bio, etc)
three layers of personality
actor (traits)
agent (personal concerns)
author (life narrative)
what is the real and authentic human life
social life and thus we are social actors
what is style temperment
how we behave (traits)
what is it to be an agent
the articulate and pursue goals
are traits and motives the same
no, how we ACT NOW may say little about what we WANT for the FUTURE
what is a key feature of identity construction
emerging in early adulthood– the exploration of various ideological and occupational options and the subsequent commitment to long-term life values and goals
in its full form what is personality
a developing configuration of psychological individuality that expresses a person’s recognizable uniqueness wherein life stories are layered over salient goals and values, which are layered over dispositional traits
what time period does each stage focus on
social actor– present
motivated agent– present and future
autobiographical author– past present future
explain the nomothetic and idiographic approaches to personality
nomothetic; scene aims to produce general laws applicable to all persons
ideographic– focus is on the particular dynamics of the individual case
which is more accurate, nomothetic or idiographic approach
personality is a mix of both, there are unique people with generalities that can be applied to all
what distinguishes us from others in nature
cognitive power (intelligence) social nature
what part of the human is responsible for governing conscious thought, panning and decision making
neocortex
what is involved with the complexity of social life
neocortex (theorized)
is there a correlation between the neocortex and size of group an organism typically lives
yes some evidence in primates
how might eusociality have started and what was subsequent
with bipedalism
then fire used for domestic use not only to appease hunger but to form social bonds
then formation of campsites where divisions of labour were needed and it became a nest of sorts (home)
what is an argument for the key catalyst for development of complex social undertakings
shared intentionality
wha is shared intentionality
if I want to work together with you in order to accomplish a task, I am greatly advantaged, as are you, by MY ability to anticipate and comprehend YOUR intentions
why might humans participate in altruism if it doesn’t help them personally
kin selection
reciprocal altruism
what is kin selection
the idea that individuals may show altruism towards those with whom they share a significant allotment of genes
what is reciprocal altruism
helping other individual humans typically meant helping other members of YOUR GROUP. Those same group members might be positioned to return the favour sometime down the road and thus it may enhance your survival and overall reproductive chances (inclusive fitness)
explain the idea of multilevel selection
controversial idea of the ultra social behaviour of humans (contrast to altruism theories)
theory that selfish people may beat out cooperating altruists IN the group but groups of cooperating altruists may been out groups of selfish individuals when the groups complete against each other
define group identification
people naturally identify with social groups and experience the groups triumphs and set backs as if they were their own
group identification may be expressed how
in ridiculous ways such as minimal group paradigm
what is minimal group paradigm
even the smaller of similarities, people will want to identify with the group (if you were born AM instead of PM)
what is a social identity
when you identify with a group you adopt their goals and attitudes, this is a social identity
it influences your own thoughts and actions
how do you create an effective whole out of a bunch of dissimilar parts?
you do it though cultural practices– the culture of a human group makes the group members more similar to each other than they would otherwise be
Jonathan Haidt argues that human being evolved to hold strong moral intuitions regarding what
physical harm fairness and reciprocity respect for legitimate authority loyalty to in-groups purity or sanctity
why do humans like religion so muchalty to in-groups
purity or sanctity
the shared beliefs and feelings of kinship endangered by religion help to persuade individuals to subordinate their immediate self interests of the group.
what is the primal conundrum
getting along and getting ahead in social groups
what is the socioanalystlc theory of personality
humans are biologically wired to live in social groups that are variously organized into status hierarchies. Group living provided our evolutionary ancestors with advantages in cooperative ventures such as defence against predators
therefore humans are mandated by nature to seek social acceptance and social status
why is gossip actually a good thing for reputation
people worried about what is being said about them behind their back so it keeps their actions in check
promotes cooperation in groups
how many beings can humans have connections with
about 150 at a time
what is a routine
what social actors enact
a reestablished pattern of action which is unfolded during a performance and which may be presented or played through on other occasions
what isa personal front
each actor brings a unique manner or style of acting to the routine
do infants have much awareness of themselves as actors
not really
do infants express actions of social actors
yes
they are social actors long before they realize it– they are social actors because that is what we, the social audience, observe them to be
they appear to display general emotions
research suggests that babies of depressed mothers eventually do what
stop trying to engage their mothers as they know they will not get a response
in the first 2 years of life, a social actor’s emotional development plays out against the backdrop of what
an evolving attachment relationship
at what age do babies start to show facial expressions of fear or anxiety around strangers
6-7
this is stranger anxiety
what is separation anxiety
negative emotions when separated from primary caregivers
what is the working model
changes, sets expectations about how experiences of love and trust transpire (for example)
when does self awareness develop
around age 2
when does the send of ‘I’ emger
end of age 2 ish
does a child fully grasp the idea of self
is aware that they are an actor on the social stage but may fail to realize that the actor CONTINUES to be me… not until about age 3-4 that the child consolidates a clear sense of self as a continuous social actor extended in time and across successive social scenes
what is performance of emotions
how the infant expresses and regulates the feelings that well up inside
emotions come in what two categories
negative and positive
children high in positive emotionality appear how
to enjoy and seek out social interaction
how are children of the lower end of positive emotionally perceived
shy, reserved and socially lethargic
is positive emotionality always observed in a positive manner
no
because they are eager for social rewards, if they don’t get it they may exhibit anger and even aggression
some of the same brain processes involved with positive emotion are also implicated where
in human sociality
what is the Behavioural Approach System (BAS)
across much of the brain, motivates the individual to approach potentially rewarding situations, which themselves are often social in nature and to experience the positive emotion that is associated with the pursuit and attainment of rewards
Behavioural Approach System (BAS) is involved in releasing what chemical
dopamine
does consummation trump anticipation for dopamine
not necessarily
it is more about WANTING it than getting it
BAS and its attending dopaminergic circuitry may work in concerting with what
a second broad system in the brain sometimes called the opioid system