theory of personality and individual differences Flashcards
how can one describe the term personality?
comes from ‘persona’ meaning ‘mask’
stable concept but also evolves as we mature and gain new experiences
summarise essence of individual which is consistent over situations and time
what does the study of individual differences actually study?
the ways in which people are psychologically similar and psychologically different
brief origins of personality psychology?
traced back to greek philosophers
interest in individual differences split off psychology from philosophy
briefly explain what phrenology is?
Franz Gall claimed lumps on the skull reveal character traits and mental abilties
what are the 2 main camps in modern personality psychology and which approaches branch out from them?
- scientific - trait, behaviorists and social learning theorists
- clinical - psychoanalysts, humanists and existentialists
briefly describe the psychoanalytic approach to personality?
unconscious mind & motivations
resolving internal conflict
focus on childhood trauma leading to fixations shaping personality in adulthood
briefly describe the trait approach?
conceptualising and measuring how people differ
continuum of trats and behaviours
briefly describe the biological/evolutionary approach?
anatomy, physiology, inheritance and evolution
inherited predispositions
briefly describe the phenomenological/humanistic approach?
conscious experience of the world
personal responsibility and self acceptance
qualitative methods as focused on subjective experience
briefly describe the learning approaches?
behaviourism, social learning theory and cognitive personality theory
learning helps to adapt behaviour view rewards and punishment
briefly describe the cognitive approach?
role of perception and memory
different ways in which people process information
what 4 factors to look at when evaluating a philosophical theory?
- coherence
- relevance
- comprehensiveness
- compellingness
what are the 6 factors which make a theory useful?
- generates hypotheses and research
- falsifiable
- integrates existing data
- suggests practical answers to day-to-day problems
- internal consistency
- simplicity/parsimony
which 2 cultural contexts exist and what personalities are associated with this?
individualistic
- individual needs and competition
- have ‘i’ orientation
- autonomy and equality
collectivist
- cooperation and groups
- ‘we’ orientation
- tradition and hierarchy
when are situational variables / personality traits best suited to predicting behaviour?
in regards to the person-situation debate
personality traits - predict patterns of beh. across situations and time
situational variables - predict beh. in specific situations
what is the Forer/Barnum effect?
example of data supporting this?
people accept vague and general personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to themselves
even if questionable/false if deemed positive/flattering enough
as shown by average of 4.2/5 when rating how accurate personality description was about them
what are psychometrics?
and what is including in psychological psychometric testing?
psychometrics - theory and methods of psychological measurement
include intelligence testing, measurement of personality traits and vocational testing
a few background facts about Sigmund Freud?
work? studies? published?
- specialised in treatment of nervous disorders
- studied hypnosis and the ‘talking cure’ which he used in his own work and is now the basis of psychological therapy
- published the interpretation of dreams in 1900 introducing concept of unconscious
- developed first comprehensive theory of personality
what are the 6 key assumptions of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory?
- psychic determinism - everything in person’s mind and actions has specific cause
- unconscious instinctual urges - driven by unconscious animalistic urges
- structure of mind - divided into 3 (ego, id, superego)
- psychic conflict - personality characteristics determined by how person overcomes conflicts between id, ego and superego
- psychic energy - must be expressed and 2 drives of eros/libido - life & sexual instincts and thanatos - death instinct
- psychoanalytic therapy - relieve conflicts by providing insight into unconscious
what is involved in the topographic model of personality?
3 levels of awareness (ego floating in all 3):
- conscious - current awareness
- preconscious - below surface of consciousness but accessible (superego)
- unconscious - not voluntarily accessed (id)
what are the parts of the structural model of the mind/personality?
- id
- ego
- superego
describe the id?
primitive irrational mind
based on pleasure principle
unconscious
describe the ego?
rational part of the mind
based on the reality principle
negotiates compromise between the id and superego
describe the superego?
the moral part of the mind (the conscience)
embodiment of parental and social values
describe the cause and result of intra-psychic conflict?
interactions betwen 3 structures of personality create intra-psychic conflict
conflict can result in anxiety
how is intra-psychic conflict dealt with?
defence mechanisms
what and when are the 5 psychosexual stages of development?
- oral (0-18 months)
- anal (18-3 1/2years)
- phallic (3 1/2-6 years)
- latency (6-puberty)
- genital (puberty-adulthood)
what are the 3 parts to each psychosexual stage?
a physical focus
a psychological theme
an adult character type (depends on whether fixation occurs whereby trauma during stage leads to exhibiting pos/neg characteristics of that stage)
what are the 3 parts to the oral stage of development?
- physical focus - mouth
- psychological theme - dependency
- adult character - extremely dependent or independent (stressful times may lead to oscialltion between the 2)
what are the 3 parts to the anal stage of development?
physical focus - anus
psychological theme - self control / obedience
adult character - highly self-control and subservient to authority (anally retentive)
little self-control and hostile (anally expulsive)
what are the 3 parts to the phallic stage of development?
physical focus - penis
psychological theme - sexual identification : Oedipus and Electra complex
adult character - promiscious or asexual
what occurs during the latency stage of development?
period of relative calm
what occurs during the gential stage of development?
physical focus - genitals
psychological theme - sexual reproduction, intellectual and creativity
adult character- well adjusted and balanced
list some defence mechanisms and explain why they are used?
denial repression regression reaction formation sublimation projection rationalisation intellectualisation displacement
used to deal with anxiety caused by conflicts between 3 structures of personality
briefly explain the defence mechanism of denial?
stating an anxiety provoking stimuli doesn’t exist (can be unconsciously done)
briefly explain the defence mechanism of repression?
pushing anxiety into unconscious (intentional and takes a lot of energy)
briefly explain the defence mechanism of regression?
returning to a previous stage of development e.g biting nails or having tantrums
briefly explain the defence mechanism of reaction formation?
taking opposite belief because true belief causes anxiety
briefly explain the defence mechanism of displacement?
taking out impulses on a less threatening target
briefly explain the defence mechanism of rationalisation/intellectualisation?
focusing on logic and intellectual aspects to escape real reason
briefly explain the defence mechanism of sublimation?
acting out unacceptable imulses in a socially acceptable way e.g humour
what are several forms of ‘evidence’ of the unconscious?
parapraxes (Freudian slips)
humour (controlled leak)
dreams (royal road to the unconscious as enable id to express impulses)
what are the 2 parts of dreams?
manifest content - what we see and remember
latent content - what is really being said (Freud interprets majority as sexual)
what is the aim of psychoanalytic theory and what are the main techniques?
uncover repressed, unconscious material to release pent-up anxiety inducing emotions
- dream analysis
- free assoication
- transference and counter-transference
what is meant by transference?
and counter-transference
transference - when client transfers feelings about something/someone to therapist
counter-transference - when therapist develops pos/neg feelings for client
what are 3 examples of projective tests to measure unconscious material
project unconscious onto interpretive task
Rorscach inkblot test - describe what ou see
thematic apperception test (TAT) - tell story about picture
human figure drawing test - draw pic for therapist
list some strengths of Freud’s theory?
1st comprehensive theory on behaviour and personality
emphasises role of unconscious and early childhood
stimulated lots of research
developed first system of psychotherapy
list some old evidence in support of Freud’s theory?
defence mechanisms esp. repression occurs (Weinberger & Davidson, 1994)
lab studies have demonstrated transference (Andersen & Baum, 1994)
list some criticisms of Freud’s theory?
hard to test empirically
role of enviro overlooked
focus on heterosxual male beh. as norm
evidence to criticise Freud’s theory?
Eysenck (1952)
found inverse correlation between recovery and psychotherapy
difference between the trait theory and the type theory?
trait - continuous and categorises people based on degree they manifest particular traits. unique personalities explained by certain degree to which they have traits
type - categorical and assumes that we all fit into a personality category and all in that category as alike
what is the definition of character?
personal characteristics that have been judged
what is temperament?
hereditary aspects of personality i.e arounsal system including moods and irritability
what is McCrae & Costa (1990) definition of a trait?
dimensions of individual differences in tendencies to show consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings and actions
what are the 3 main assumptions of the trait approach to personality?
- personality differences between people as although we all share the same traits, we all express them to a certain degree which shapes our personality
- traits are stable across time and situations
- traits are independent of one another (type approach suggests they are clustered)
how are traits distributed and what does this mean?
normally distributed meaning fewer people score in extreme on any trait
how does the trait continuum work?
any characteristic can be illustrated with this continuum
two opposite traits lying on each side and person can be placed in between them
what are the 4 ways traits are studied?
- typological approach
- single-trait approach
- many-trait approach
- essential trait approach
how does the typological approach study traits?
attempts to put people in distinct categories using certain clusters of traits
how does the single-trait approach study traits?
focuses on one personality trait to explain a range of important behvaiours e.g aggression
how does the many-trait approach study traits?
what test does it use?
focuses on many traits and correlates these with behaviour
california q set measuring traits one possesses and can predict complex behaviours later on
how does the essential trait approach study traits?
reduces ‘many traits’ to a few that are essential to understanding personality and individual differences (most prominent today)
e.g the Big Five and Eyesenck’s extraverion, psychoticism and neuroticism
underpined by psychometric theory and factor analysis
what are the highlights of Allport’s theory?
personality is dynamic as motivations change (adult=growth, child=tension reduction) - fucntional autonomy
hierarchical organisation - a few traits can explain most behaviour
conscious values shape personality (not same as Frued)
lexical approach - all important traits captured by language
what is the difference between the idiographic and nomothetic approaches to personality measurement and description?
idiographic - non-comparability between individuals as all have unique combination of traits which should be looked at e.g self report and interviews
nomothetic - comparability aong individuals along same personality traits
what is the morphogenic approach to personality measurement and description?
Allport blending idiographic and nomothetic by looking at the individual wihin a certain group
what are central, cardinal and secondary traits according to Allport?
central - traits in combination organise most of person’s behaviour
cardinal - dominant trait that influences behaviour
secondary - not often exhibited traits which may influence some behaviour
what is meant by ‘common’ traits?
within any culture there are common traits that everyone recognises and identifies
share due to common biological and cultural heritages
what is ‘proprium’?
organising structure of personality
responsible for self-esteem and image
what is meant by the term ‘projective test’?
indirect way of measuring personality by examining reactions/interpretations to certain stimuli with the aim of accessing unconscious as reflects their inner needs etc.
e.g inkblots
wat is meant by objective/psychometric tests?
tests which require people to answer very specific qs about their personality
e.g EPQ
what are several issues with reliabilty and validity in the Rarschach inkblot test?
reliability - same person might interpret same picture as different on different days depending on mood and same with person testing, also quite subjective in marking as well so different experimenters would view differently
validity - might be testing mood not constant personality traits, also subject to social desirability bias/lying especially when in high pressure situation lie diagnosis or court case
what are the 3 main reasons people dissented from Freud’s ideas?
and what are the counter proposals?
- pessimistic - controlled by unconscious forces instead proposed teleological (behaviour=goal directed)
- adult personality shaped by childhood experiences - proposed adolescence and early adulthood important too
- over emphasis on role of unconscious - instead proposed social and cultural influences
describe Carl Jung’s alternative theory and what is the name of it?
Analytic psychology
teleological view - personality development continues throughout life and is influenced by future goals as well as past
anima (feminine side of male) and animus help in choosing best corresponding romantic partner
conscious ego, personal unconscious and collective unconscious (inherited content predisposing us to look at world in certain way called archetypes)
contribution of Jung to personality psychology?
archetypes and collective unconscious interpreted as our naturally born instincts - not born blank slates
theory of traits resulted in Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
developed word association test
describe Alfred Addler’s alternative theory and what is the name of it?
Individual psychology
striving for superiority is motivating force and if fail then inferiority complex
birth order - middle best, oldest dethroned and youngest inferior
parenting styles- pampering = overprotection leading to doubting abilities and neglect = not protected leading to difficulty forming intimate relationships
describe Erik Erikson’s alternative theory and what is the name of it?
Ego psychology
teleological approach to ego as works towards goals and maintains sense of identity
personality development along lifespan and identity crisis focal point for each developmental stage (how we resolve this determines direction of personality development i.e adaptive or mal)
give some examples of Erikson’s 8 pscyhosocial developmental stages?
infancy - trust vs mistrust
adolescence - identity vs role confusion
young adulthood - intimacy vs isolation
describe Karen Horney’s alternative theory and what is the name of it?
Feminine Psychology
males and females differentiated and gender roles in place due to society and culture not just biological differences (biology determines sex, culture determines gender)
parenting - disturbances causes basic anxiety which can lead to alienation with ‘real self’ - dealt with by moving toward/against or away from people associated with 1/3 neurotic personality styles
what is involved in object relations theory?
superego develops from identifications as a child with important people
repeat psychological patterns learnt in childhood in new relationships through transference
object=person, relations
essence of who we are can’t be understood without understanding relations with significant others
what are the 3 approaches in trait identification and measurement?
- lexical - all relevant dimensions of personality exist in the natural language
- theoretical - start with a theory which guides selection of terms and question formation
- statistical (psychometric theory) - use factor analysis to guide selection of terms and questions - essential trait approach uses this
give some examples of psychometric testing?
(theory and methods of psychological measurement)
- intelligence testing
- measurement of personality traits
- vocational testing
describe factor analysis used in psychometrics?
statistical method allowing lots of data to be reduced into a few important factors
resulted in the Big Five
uses concept of correlation
briefly describe process of factor analysis?
- measure large number of people in varous ways using numerous items
- correlate scores with scores of every measure (correlation matrix)
- determine how many factors need to be hypothesised to account for inter-correlations (when high correlation then thought to masure same characteristics called factor/trait)
- subjectively decide meaning of each factor and label it
- standardise the personality measure (test people and analyse responses to develop norms which future scores are assessed against)
what is meant by test-retest reliability?
stability over time
measure by correlating scores from ppts who take test on at least 2 occasions (needs to be .8)
influenced by characteristics of subject and of test e.g poor instructions
what is meant by internal consistency?
in terms of reliabilty
whether all items are measuring the same thing
Cronbach’s Alpha (shouldn’t be below .7) but very high score indicates test too specific to be valid
strengths of psychometrics?
objective way of dscribing people and their behaviour
easy to administer
lots of quantitative data for statistical analysis
weaknesses of psychometrics?
having valid and reliable tests difficult
tests contain culture bias e.g intelligence tests
where did Cattell get his data from?
L-data : life data
T-data: test data
Q data questionnaire data
in Cattell’s theory, what are source and surface traits?
source - underlying causes of overt behaviour, basic elements of personality and cause of surface traits (16 of them)
surface - behavioural manifestations of source traits
what are Cattell’s 5 trait classifications?
- environmental-mold traits: determined by experience
- constitutional traits: determined by biology
- ability traits: ability to deal with complex situation e.g intelligence
- temperament traits: emotional tendencies determine general style of interaction
- dynamic traits: ergs (innate motivational traits) and meta-ergs (learned motivational traits)
what is the na,e of Cattell’s questionnaire measuring personality?
the sixteen personality factor questionnaire
185 multiple choice questions about daily behaviour and interests and opinions not self-assessment of own traits
correlation between Big Five and Cattell’s 16 personality factors?
16 traits can be grouped into 5 second order global factors which correlate with the big 5
strengths of cattell’s 16 personality factors?
revolutionary contribution using factor analysis and computer technology
lots of research supporting
weaknesses of cattell’s 16 personality factors?
findings not easy to replicate and realistically only 5 factors
different to Eyesenck as factors correlated with each other not independent
discuss the complication of subjective labelling of traits?
similar traits have been given different names by different theorists
have to look at meaning underlying a trait rather than just its name
who created the Big Five and when?
and what are they?
1987 McCrae & Costa Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
name some similarities between Cattell & Eysenck?
emphasising biological and genetic factors
nomothetic approach
factor analysis (used in different ways)
explaining personality of normal adults
name some differences between Cattell & Eysenck?
cattell
- primary factors: source traits
- data driven - inductive
- oblique rotation - factors can be correlated with each other
Eysenck
- second-order factors - supertraits
- theory driven - deductive
- orthogonal rotation - factors not correlated as independent of each other
briefly describe Eysenck’s theory?
3 second-order factors called supertraits which contain large number of source or narrow traits - hierarchical structure (derived from intercorrelations between source traits)
genetically determined
focused on temperament
what are Eysenck’s 3 essential traits and what is the genetic cause of them?
PEN
Psychoticism - tendency towards psychotic behaviour
Extraversion - high extraversion = low level of cortical arousal
Neuroticism (vs emotional stability) - high neuroticism = excessive activitiy of sympathetic nervous system
example of the hierarchical structure of supertraits (Eysenck) - extraversion?
level 1: super-ordinate trait/second-order factors = extraversion
level 2: narrow/source traits = e.g sociable, dominant
level 3: habitual acts = regularly party going behaviour
level 4: specific acts = dancing on table
describe the extraversion - introversion super-ordinate trait?
balance of inhibition and excitation in the brain
Ascending Reticular Activating System (ARAS) in brainstem controls overall cortical arousal
extraverts - lower levels of activity in ARAS (lower cortical arousal) so seek contexts with high stimulation
introverts - higher levels of activity in ARAS so seek contexts with low stimulation
describe the neuroticism-emotional stability super-ordinate trait?
scoring high on neuroticisim scale doesn’t make you neurotic but might be more susceptible to neurotic problems
high neuroticism arises from hypersensitivity or excessive activity of sympathetic nervous system meaning react more to threatening environments
key neurotic symptom is the panic attack
what did Holeva & Tarrier (2001) find about the link between neuroticism and PTSD?
studied victims of road traffic accidents (4 weeks and 6 months after)
those scroing highly on neuroticism (and to a lesser extent psychoticism) were associated with the development of PTSD
so high trait anxiety appear to increase risk of developing PTSD
examples of studies findings links between neuroticism and psychological disorders?
Holeva & Tarrier 2001 - car accidents more likely to suffer PTSD when neurotic
Ormel & Wohlfarth 1991 - link between neuroticism and psychological distress in life changing situations
Clark, Watson & Mineka 1994 - link between neuroticism and mood/anxiety disorders
describe the psychoticism super-ordinate trait?
added later as a super-ordinate trait and less well researched
potential link to dopaminergic system
high scores on psychotic measures indicate recklessness, inappropriate emotional expression and manipulative
name some of the findings from the EPQ? (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire)
introverts tend to demonstrate superior academic performance in western and non-western cultures (Kline, 1966)
those with high E,N & P scores are more likely to engage in criminal activity (Eysenck, 1977)
what is meant by agreeableness, openness and conscientiousness in the Big Five?
openness - unconventional and indepedent thinker
conscientiousness - controlled and organised
agreeableness - helpful, trusting and sympathetic
how is the Big Five measured?
using the NEO-PI (Costa & McCrae, 1985)
each of the five super traits are measured by 6 subordinate traits e.g agreeableness - ruthless vs soft hearted
research supporting the big five and findings using it?
big five personality afctors have emerged in studies of school children and appear to be fairly stable over time (Soldz & Vaillant, 1999)
extraverts exercise and drink more
conscientiousness get better grades
openness more likely to play musical instrument
agreeable smoke less
findings regarding the big five and job performance?
Barrick & Mount, 1991
found conscientious showed consistent relations with all job performance cirteria
extraverts predicted success in management and sales
agreeableness and neuroticism predict performance when working in groups
findings regarding the big five and job satisfaction?
Judge, Heller & Mount, 2002
only relationships between neuroticism and extraversion and ob satisfaction generalised across studies
what are some of the problems with the big five?
can be reproduced cross-culturally but not always the same 5, nor are there always 5
women score consistently higher in N, A and C
fails to account for how authoritarian personalites treat people differently depending on their rank
what does Eysenck (3 essential traits) suggest about the big five and is there research supporting him?
suggests the big five mixes superfactors (extraversion and neuroticism) with primary traits (agreeableness and conscientiousness)
Draycott & Kline, 1995 analysed the NEO-PI and EPQ-R and found the big five mixes lower prder with higher order factions
describe the type theory to personality?
assumption that people are qualitatively different from each other
as focuses on patterns of traits that characterise people and sorts these patterns into types of people
aims to classify people into categories that are distinct - you are either one type or another
e.g either an introvert or an extravert not on a continuum (trait approach)
describe sheldon’s somatotypes?
- endomorph - sociable character with plump shape
- mesomorph - assertive with muscular shape
- ectomorph - fragile with poor muscles
describe the earliest personality theory and contemporary research related to this?
four humors of ancient greeks & medicine called humorism:
- excess blood = robust
- excess black bile = depresed
- ecess yellow bile = angry
- excess phlegm = cold
contemporary research = type A personality having chronic hostility raises risk of having heart attack
correspond with Eysenck’s 3 essential traits
describe the Jungen personality theory?
at least 2 different personality types of introversion (internally oriented) and extraversion (internally orientated)
recognised people never one category but incorporate aspects of both although one dominant in individual’s functioning
in the Jungen personality theory, what is meant by dominant and auxiliary functions?
recognised people never one category but incorporate aspects of both although one dominant in individual’s functioning
2 auxiliary functions within the dominant function-
1. perceiving information (via senses or intuition) 2. making decisions (objective logic or subjective feelings)
auxiliary functions are preferences, we can use both but we have a preference (innate but shaped by environment e.g family) for one over the other e.g senses over intuition
what are Jungen’s 8 personality types using the dominant and auxiliary functions?
extraverted & introverted sensing
extraverted & introverted intuition
extraverted & introverted thinking
extraverted & introverted feeling
how did Briggs and Myers develop Jungen’s typology?
added a forth auxiliarly function / preference
judging (ordered/structured enviro) vs perceiving (flexible/unstructured)
so 4 functions in jungen's extended theory: extraverted-introverted sensing-intuitive thinking-feeling judging-perceiving
describe the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator?
defines 16 personalit types
questionnaire widely used in business to assist employment decisions
evidence questions reliability and validity
existence of 16 types questioned
re-test data from 3 months later indicicates around 50% a different type
where are indidivual differences apparent in our health?
in attitudes that individuals have towards their health
describe the personality characteristics of type A individuals?
and the risks associated with this personality?
type a & b are extreme ends of the continuum with a being a syndrome of several traits
ongoing struggle to achieve more in less time and work longer hours
than Type B (non-coronary prone)
in competition with others
show more physiological responses to stress
suffer increased risk of heart disease, more driving accidents (Nabi et al., 2005) and sacrfifice relationships to strive for achievement (Carver & Humphries, 1982)
describe the personality characteristics of type B individuals?
relaxed
work hard sometimes but not driven in compulsive manner
less interested in competition and power
what are the 3 major traits identified by Glass, 1977 making up a Type A personality?
- easily aroused hostility (leads to 20% increased risk of CHD, Childa & Steptoe,2009) and most strongly implicated as risk factor)
- sense of time urgency
- competitive achievement strivings
why are there mixed findings when looking for alink between type a personality and coronary heart disease?
haynes et al, 1978 found predictor
cohen & reed, 1985 found no association
more likely to find association when using strctured interview compared to a questionnaire
what did Williams et al find in their large longitudinal study regarding anger (dimension of Type A personality) and heart disease?
studied nearly 13 000 middle aged adults
higher anger scores twice as likely to suffer from CHD
3x more likely to be hospitalised or die fro heart disease during study
what is the explanation why anger and hostility (dimension of Type A personality) are related to CHD?
may be due o unhealthy lifestyle (smoking, drinking, heavier), poor social support, weaker immune systems and enhanced cardiovascular reactivity to stress through sympathetic nervous system (most important)
what is the hormone theory about link between type a personality and CHD?
secrte excessive amounts of epinephrine and norepinephrine (adrenaline and noradrenaline)
play a part in constriction and dilation of blood vessels and has role in onset of heart problems
interventions therefore aim to reduce stress, anger and alter lifestyle patterns
what are other personality factors related to increased rsk of CHD?
- depression
- low levels of social support
- high hostility and anger (Type A)
what is meant by the type D personality?
explanation for link with CHD?
denollet, 2005
distressed personality type
combination of depression and social inhibition (isolated)
may be due to less likely to report symptoms to clinicians due to social inhibition (Schiffer et al, 2007)
describe Lombroso’s theory regarding the ‘criminal man’, 1876?
first attempt at investigating criminal personality
argued the shape of the head and face determined who was ‘born criminal’ and hence a separate species
this shape is atavistic meaning features related to our ancestors of primates e.g large jaw and ears
murderers: lots of hair, long ears and thin lips
sex offenders: strong jaw, thick lips and projecting ears
describe Sheldon’s theory, 1942, regarding somatotype and crime?
basis is that body shape is correlated with personality but not on person purely 1 somatotype:
ectomorph (small&thin): sensitive and introvert
endomorph(big): relaxed and extraverted
mesomorph(muscley): active and aggressive - characterised as criminals due to the traits they possess
what is a criticism of the basis of Sheldon’s somatotype theory?
developed the 3 body types based on a sample of 300 males
this leaves out over 50% of the population (women) who may not have the same body types and characteristics etc
also, although 80-90% of criminal population being men, 10-20% are women
describe Sheldon’s study regarding somatotypes and crime?
problems with this study?
looked through 200 student and 200 male delinquents body types
found delinquent population significantly more mesomorphic - appearing to support his theory
classification of somatotype in this study unreliable
didn’t use legal criteria to select delinquent sample and when re-analysed used legal critera to define delinquency, association no longer found
what are some alternative explanations regarding Sheldon’s theory on somatotype and crime?
and disputing evidence?
muscley people have learned from young age that best way to get what they want is to be aggressive
more likely to be recruited by gangs
British Crime Survey found smaller body types usually performing delinquent acts, perhaps due to rough background (hence why small) so driven to crime - more accurate as has much larger and wider sample
describe Eysenck’s personality theory regarding criminal behaviour?
3 factors influencing behaviour and each other in situations where criminal behaviour is a possible outcome:
social - responses to socialisation (reinforcement and punishment and anti-social behaviour curbed by conscience developing due to socialisation)
psychological - stable psychological traits (crucial role in process of socialisation) - may be more than his 3
biological - functioning of the nervous system (e.g hypersensitive autonomic nervous system implicated in neurotic individuals and physiological arousal in conditionability (high when N)-speed&efficiency of socialisation)
what may be an issue with Eysenck’s personality theory and crime regarding the samples he looked at?
he was more interested in looking at the ‘normal’ population so worked mainly with delinquents and those with ‘time limited criminality’ meaning perform minor crimes and grow out of that phase in 20s
therefore not studying true criminals so theory may not be relevant to those commiting more serious criminal acts or certain crimes
as shown by theory concerning development of anti-social behaviour not directly criminal behaviour (legal and social factors involved to become this)
how does Eysenck link extraversion and neuroticism to conditionability in personality theory and crime?
and the later added P?
conditionability - speed and efficiency of a child’s socialisation
stable introvert - low E and N most easy to condition
neurotic extravert - high E and N least easy so may turn to anti-social behaviour
low E and high N (&vice versa) mid-point in conditionability
high P related to offending particularly in hostile crimes towards others
what does evidence suggest about the link between Eysenck’s 3 personality traits and crime?
supports that high P and N predictors for criminals (Bartol & Bartol, 2005)
less clear for E but made up of sociability and impulsivity, the latter of which is found often in offenders but the first not related
what are some personality disorders linked with crime?
psychopathy
anti-social personality disorder
the dark triad - machiavellianism (manipulation and deception of others in pursuit of their goals), narcissism (excessive admiration of one’s self) and psychopathy
Big Five certain patterns of characteristics in criminal populations
what was found by Clark, Boccaccinis, Caillouet & Chaplin, 2007 regarding personality of jury members?
high levels of E associated with not guilty verdict
and being selected as jury foreperson (leader) - longer to come to decision and greater influence over decision
list some prison stats in england/wales
- population
- capacity
- reoffending rates
88 000 in england and wales - 143 per 100 000
useable operational capacity in prisons 89 000 so pushing upper limited
80% male
60% reoffend within a year
stats regarding prisoners and mental health disorders?
70% in england and wales suffer 2 or more mental disorders
20% from 4 or 5 (Prison Reform Trust, 2013)
‘criminalisation of the mentally ill’ - courts using prison as default instead of sending people into mental health system (26% of men and 59% of women admitted to prison had disorder excluding substance abuse)
what are the 2 types of crime and the 2 types of justice?
social-conventional transgressions - violate the arbitrary but commonly agreed conventions that facilitate a system e.g speeding and shop lifting
moral transgressions - acts that have implications for the rights and welfare of others e.g violent crime
restorative justice - giving back to community in some way
retributive justice - jail
what did one study find regarding people’s punishment choices about an individual when primed with different scenarios, and how this related to their characteristics?
male - more lenient in face of remorse
personality - authoritarian ppts harsher in their sentencing (makes sense as have loathing of those ‘inferior’)
more likely to give restorative sentencing (involving rehabilitation) to offenders with Sz compared to depression or no mental health disorder when crime social-conventional e.g shop-lifting
more likely to give retributive punishment to offenders with Sz compared to depression or no mental health disorder when violent crime committed
findings on reliability of EPQ as a personality test (Eysenck’s personality test)?
P sacle least reliable with reliability sometimes as low as .36 and generally around .66 (.7 typical value accepted for personality measures)
E and N above .8 for reliability
made new EPQ-R to fix this but no significant difference between P reliability so suggests not fixed
what is the EPQ test used and not used for?
used for research purposes
not used for assessing psychopathology and diagnosis
some limitations with the EPQ test itself which may explain reliability problems?
questions a bit vague so may interpret differently the different times when you answer them
lie scale questions not great as some might have never done that act or performed once in childhood but would never do it in aduthood
yes/no answer doesn’t allow for middle ground so Likert scale 5 or 7 point with ‘always’, ‘sometimes’, ‘rarely’ etc. may provide better representation
describe reliability and validity of the Rorschach Inkblot test as a method to identify personality traits and pychopathologies?
found that several measures of the test lack RELIABILITY
might see different things on different days depending on mood and same with interpreter, also scoring responses is really complicated so may score same response differently each time
VALIDITY
Might be testing what you’ve seen that day not stable personality concept / social desirability especially in high pressure situation e.g in court
which technique is predominantly used to study the trait approach to personality?
self-report questionnaires to measures traits
could you behavioural observations or projective tests but mainly ^^
what are different types of non-content responding styles within questionnaires which may lead to responses which aren’t honest?
- acquiescence - tendency to agree with questionnaire items irrespective of content (combat with reverse scored items half of the time)
- extreme responding - give endpoint respondes e.g 1 or 5 in 5 point Likert scale
- social desirability responding - tendency to give answers that will enahnce social likeability
describe social desirability bias and its implication on trait personality measures?
- how this can be combated?
choose socially acceptable answers to present themselves in favourable light
don’t attend as much to the trait being measured as to the social acceptability of the statement and answers
represents unwanted variance, distorting the data
measures have been developed to detect socially desirable responding and it is then removed statistically from other questionnaire items
what actually results in a high score of social desirability in trait personality questionnaires?
items in sacles refer to minor transgressions/inadequacies which most of us suffer from or refer to ‘saint-like’ behaviour
extent to which person denies common faults and endorses perfect behaviour that results in high scoress on social desirability
e.g in Crowne/Marlow Scale for Measuring Social Desirability ‘i always practice what i preach’
several explanations for social desirability responding?
not necessarily dishonesty and is different from lying
- some people may have a distorted view of themselves
- some people have strong need for others to think well of them
- argued social desirability is a trait in itself that correlates with other positive traits e.g optimism and conscientiousness
what are different ways of ‘faking’ and impression management in trait personality tests?
and why is this done?
respond in particular way to cause desired outcome/manage impression formed of yourself:
‘fake good’: create favourable impression e.g in employment settings
‘fake bad’: cry for help or appear more mentally disturbed than they are e.g in clinical settings or for insanity plea in court (most people overdo it)
how can impresion management/faking responses be mitigated against?
using lie scales to flag those who might be faking
forced choice items:
have to choose between 2 ‘desirable’ behaviours
inconsistency scales e.g 2 different responses to 2 similar questions, may reverse score
use multiple assessment methods on top of self-report e.g observations
what are the different approaches behind the person-situation debate in causes of behaviour?
trait theory : personality traits primarily determine behaviour
situationism : situational variables determine behaviour, not personality (Mischel, 1968)
interactionism : traits and situations interact to influence behaviour (Endler & Magnusson, 1976)
what did Mischel, 1968 argue regarding the person-situation debate in causes of behaviour?
- did this have a positive or negative impact on personality research?
that behaviour is too inconsistent across situations to allow individual differences in behaviour to be characterised accurately in terms of personality traits
- traits don’t predict behaviour very well
- situations are stronger predictors
- people overestimate personality consistency ‘fundamental attribution error’
- personality assessment waste of time
impact on research:
- era of ‘having no personality’
- but led to significant improvements in personality research so tests now have same high levels of validity as seen in medical tests
what has been found about correlations between personality traits and behaviour?
(definitive test of usefulness of a personality trait is ability to predict behaviour)
issues with these findings?
Mischel argued correlation .3 - so personality accounts for 9% of the variability in behaviour
facilitated approach known as situationism (personality not at all important in prediction of behaviour)
Nisbett, 1980 revised to .4 - accounts for 16%
however, the low correlations don’t demonstrate the value of situational variables as the cause may be an unmeasured personality variable
therefore, need to demonstrate high correlation between situational variables and behaviour than simply showing low ones of personality
what has been found about correlations between the situation and behaviour?
Funder & Ozer, 1983, found correlation between .36-.42
therefore similar to those found with personality and behaviour
so emphasis on person and situation factors important and comparable in ability to predict behavioural differences
who developed and what is the reciprocal interaction model?
Endler & colleagues developed it
states the person, situation and behaviour all have an influence on each other in a dynamic sequence (e.g often choose situations, who we go with and where we go)
what is meant by situational selection in the person-situation debate and interactionism?
person factors are likely to be underestimated in interaction models as people choose and structure situations according to their personalities
also differ in how they perceive and cog appraise a situation:
affect people in different ways
select/change situation by behaving in certain way
some situations allow wide or narrow range of behaviour
what is meant by strong and weak situations in the person-situation debate and interactionism?
refers to the fact that some situations allow expression of personality and others provoke narrower range of behaviour
strong situations: situations in which people react in similar ways e.g religious services - leading to uniformity rather than difference as situation dictates behaviour
weak situations: situations which are ambiguous and involve interpretations of others - when personality has its strongest influence on behaviour
what is meant by situational specificity in the person-situation debate and interactionism?
means personality traits may only emerge in a situation where they are relevant
and some trait-situation interactions are rare due to rare situations e.g ‘courageousness’ not regularly shown
what is meant by state distinction of personality traits?
a specific situation causing a trait to occur - situationally driven behaviour e.g anxiety as a result of an exam, is known as state anxiety
if generally exhibit that trait - personality driven behaviour e.g generally anxiety about lots of things, is known as trait anxiety
difficulty with measuring the social situation to determine whtat is causing behaviour?
not always clear what aspects of a situation are having causal influences
what may be the difference in influence on behaviour when the trait is central or not to the individual?
trait is more likely to predict a person’s behaviour if it is central for them (Allport)
correlation between trait and behaviour is higher (.5-.57 in study by Burger, 2004) when trait is central for individual compared to when trait is not
what is the conclusion about when situational and personality traits best predict behaviour?
situational - bets suited to predicting behaviour in specific/strong situations
personality traits - best at predicting patterns of behaviour that persist across situations and time
what is meant by self-monitoring in the person-situation debate?
Snyder, 1974, people vary in how much they adapt their behaviour to given situations
high self-monitors: observe the situation and their own behaviour and match the 2 - show less consistency across situations as adapt behaviour to situation
low self-monitors: more consistent irrespective of situation as don’t generally adapt behaviour to situation
name some scales used to measure ‘faking good and faking bad’ responses to personality questionnaires?
‘faking bad’ - Lees-Haley Fake Bad Scale (FBS)
‘faking bad’ and ‘faking good’ - MMPI-2 (can distinguish between psychiatrics and normal people faking bad)
what is meant by ‘fundamental attribution error’?
- what does it lead to?
- how may we counter-balance this?
also known as correspondance bias / over-attribution effect
people over-emphasise dispositional explanations and under-emphasising situation for other’s bad behaviours but reverses when explaining our own bad behaviour
Mischel argues this leads to people over-estimating the consistency of personality across situations and over-emphasis on the influence it has on behaviour
by being aware of this error, we can step back and give others the benefit of the doubt and come up with more positive explanations of their behaviour
what did Kihlstrom argue about the person-situation debate to explaining behaviour?
took a ‘reciprocal determinism’ stance
whereby our personality, the environment and our behaviour all shape each other
what are the 3 main approaches which make up the biological approach to personality?
- evolutionary theory - personality dispositions arise from evolutionary history and biological makeup (temperament)
- genetics and personality - how much of personality is genetically determined
- biological theories, brain anatomy and biochemistry - personality dispositions are the product of a complex biological system
describe the genotype and phenotype features of the evolutionary theory to personality?
1 of 3 main approaches which make up the biological approach to personality
genotype : genetic makeup of individual and at birth everyone has a unique one, inbuilt instincts, temperament and pre-wired capacity to learn certain behaviours
phenotype : observable appearance and behaviour which arises from interaction between genotype and environment
biological, environmental, behavioural and social shaping processes interact with the genotype and create unique psychological characteristics of the individual
describe the main assumptions of the evolutionary theory to personality?
1 of 3 main approaches which make up the biological approach to personality
focuses on patterns of behaiour common to all, not individuals
assume:
particular behaviours exist as in evolutionary history they were helpful for survival - more likely to be passed on to future generations when more important for survival
difference in personality due to variations caused by evolution, the most adaptive of which survive and procreate - differences adaptive in different ways
decribe the relations between the evolutionary theory and the five-factor model of personality?
Buss, 1991 - evolutionary thery provides framework for understanding 5-factor model of personality:
- understanding of the major goals of humans
- describing psychological mechanisms and strategies that exist for reaching the goals and overcome obstacles
- identifying individual differences in behaviours used to reach goals and overcome obstacles
suggests 5 factor model describes main dimensions of beh. needed to adapt and achieve primary goals of survival and reproduction
animal studies involving the 5-factor model of personality and evolutionary theory?
what do they suggest
extraversion, neuroticism and agreeableness are found in animals in most studies e.g dogs and rhinoceros
openness in large minority
conscientiousness only found among chimpanzees
have common aim of survival and reproduction, supporting Buss’ claim that 5 dimensions most important beh. for adaptation and survival
pros and cons of the evolutionary theory of personality?
1 of 3 main approaches which make up the biological approach to personality
pro : useful framework to link effects of biology and environment to understand common variability/personality dimensions in human beh.
cons:
more useful for explaining general personality trends not individual differences in beh.
behaviour may be result of felxibly responding to circumstances e.g social structure, not evolutionary processes
speculating backwards across generations, can’t be directly empirically tested
describe the features of the genetics and personality approach?
1 of 3 main approaches which make up the biological approach to personality
examine degree to which variation in phenotype can be attributed to variation in genotype - ‘trait genetics’ focusing on 1% of genes that vary between individuals
3 research methods: family, twin and adoption studies
what are the assumptions of the genetics and personality approach?
1 of 3 main approaches which make up the biological approach to personality
if personality traits influenced by genes then:
family - traits will be more highly correlated across closer genetic relatives than more distant
twins - more highly correlated between MZs (100% of genes) than DZs (50% of genes)
adoption - no heritability between adoptive parents and children
heritability coefficient used to reflect geentic influence on traits:
twin studies - 40-50%
adoption/non-twin studies - 20-30%
as effects of genes interactive and multiplicative (genes x environment) not additive (genes + environment)
twin study findings for genetics and personality approach?
what do the findings suggest
1 of 3 main approaches which make up the biological approach to personality
Rose et al, 1988 found 40-50% heritability coefficient (genetic component) of extraversion-introversion
Pederson et al, 1988 used twin sample who were reared apart, also found strong genetic component for E-I
if MZs more similar than DZs this is evidence of heritability:
correlations between MZs for 5 factor theory much larger than for DZs e.g neuroticism .53Mz and .13 DZ (Riemann et al, 1997) and mean of .48
for 3 and 5 factor theory, heritability estimates between .2 and .5
what is meant by heritability estimate?
dosn’t indicate extent to which a characteristic is determined by heredity
e.g if heritability stimate .4 for personality, doesn’t mean 40% of personality is inherited
estimate is a population statistic, varying with the characteristics of the population investigated and the data used e.g adoption data
so, heritability index is an estimate of proportion of variance in a characteristic, measured in a particular way, in a specific population, that can be attributed to genetic variance
what are the 3 aspects that make up genetic influence of personality?
- additive genetic variance - total of indviduals genesnherited from parents
HARDER TO MEASURE:
2. dominant genetic variance - dominant/recessive genes
- epistatic genetic variance - interactive genes
do personality differences between siblings stem more from shared or nonshared environments?
critical influence on personality differences is non-shared experiences in and outside the home of the siblings
differences in adulthood related to extent that experiences in childhood differed
describe effects of the family environment which account for personality differences in siblings?
parents might treat children differently - perhaps due to different biological temperaments of siblings known as child-driven effects which can enhance/reduce differences between siblings:
positive feedback - reinforce naturally occuring behaviour
negative - parents stop children behaving according to their natural tendencies
2 different parenting styles:
- pampering - overprotecting so may doubt own abilities
- neglect - not protected so mistrustful of others
recently:
4 parenting styles: authoritative, permissive, neglectful and authoritarian
directionality issue: influence bidirectional as temperament has impact on parental behaviour which in turn has impact on developing child
what are the 3 ways iherited genes form phenotypes based on the family environment?
Reiss, 1997 - 3 models of genetic transmission:
- passive model e.g child shouts as result of shared genes
- child-effects model e.g child shouts no matter what the reaction of the parents
- parent-effects model e.g child shouts in response to their parets reaction to their aggressive mood
what is the issue with within-family effects and heritability estimates of personality traits?
child and parent effects can lead to over/under estimation of heritability
parent behaviours encourage similarity between siblings
so estimations of similarities in personality being caused by genetic heritbaility would be overestimation
- similarity due to parenting styles
describe non-shared environment influencing personality differences in siblings?
group socialisation theory (harris, 1995):
identity based to some extent on social groups we belong to (in-groups) and ones we reject (out-groups)
characteristics might reflect these groups
what are the 3 different aspects of temperament?
and how does it influence personality?
differences in broad dispositions between individuals observable at birth (some aspects remain stable over time and influence development of personality traits, Caspi, 2000)
point personality in certain direction:
1. activity level - some children always in motion and others passive
2. sociability - differences in desire for others attention and interactions with others
3. emotionality - some become more easily
physiologically aroused in threatening situations
but personality development also influenced by child’s experiences
what is Eysenck’s arousal theory of personality? (the PEN model)
focuses on temperament - cognitive aspects of behaviour
3 personality traits: PEN
saw introversion (strong excitatory and weak inhibitory potentials) and extraversion as balance between inhibition and excitation in the brain
then changed emphasis to excitation
ARAS (ascending reticular activating system) uses 2 circuits to manage level of arousal brain receives:
- reticulo-cortical circuit - cortical arousal generated by incoming stimuli related to extraversion
- reticulo-limbic circuit - arousal to emotional stimuli related to neuroticism
what is Eysenck’s biological theory of personality?
introvert - ARAS shows enhanced reactvity to moderate stimulation and causes over arousal - avoid stimulation/exciting situations
extravert - ARAS less reactive so under arousal
supported by:
Gale, 1987 found introverts showed increased physiological reactivity to moderate levels of stimulation
Green, 1984 found introverts better performance on tasks with low stimulation (quieter music) compared to extraverts
what do all the biologically based theories on personality inspired by Eysenck’s biological theory converge on?
BAS/BIS thoery
alternative 5 factor model
extraversion - impulsivity and novelty seeking
neuroticism - harm avoidance and behavioural inhibition
describe the features of brain anatomy and personality theory?
1 of 3 main approaches which make up the biological approach to personality
behaviour product of complex biological system
relationships between brain anatomy and personality from:
brain injury and imagining techniques
chemical bases of beh. incl. neurotransmitters and hormones (associated with different neural subsystems so have different effects on personality and beh.)
describe the biochemistry and personality theory?
serotonin:
high and low levels associated with aggression
cortisol:
high levels associated with stress and depression but as a result of these not a cause
(nor)epinephrine:
high levels of nor associated with anxiety proneness
low levels of nor associated with impulsivity
strengths and weaknesses of biological/evolutionary aproaches to personlity?
strengths:
bridges P and biology and helps explain differences not easily accounted for by environment
weaknesses:
controversial social/political undertones (eugenics and cloning)
evolutionary and genetic perspective suggests strategies for behaviour change are limited
what is the principle of learning theory and what idea does it reject?
how can individual differences in behaviour therefore be explained?
how do attitudes towards situations come about?
rejects idea that behaviour is directed by inner motives/personality traits
suggests all behaviour is learned
individual differences - arise due to different learning experiences across differet situations
attitudes towards situations - directed by past experiences of similar events not by personality
how does the behaviourist learning theory view personality?
how did learning theory develop this simplistic theory?
view personality as merely the sum of everything you do
NOT what you think/feel
behaviour derived from paired associations (classical conditioning) and rewards/punishments (operant conditioning)
so learning theory developed this to allow intergration of social learning and cognition
what do social learning and social cognitive theory include extending from simplistic behaviourist theory?
internal (cognitive), social and external behavioural events (observation) as all important to learning and all make up personality
main differences between behaviourism and cognitivism?
what approach do social-cognitive theories adopt?
cognitivism hypothesises mental structures that influence how the individual processes info
cognitivism only studieshumans as doesn’t suggest a continuity of mental processing between humans and animals
social-cognitive theories use elements of both behaviourism and cognitivism
what was Watson’s contribution to behaviourism and personality?
supported classical conditioning (pavlovian conditioning) and stimulus-response theory
suggested learned associations provide building blocks of beh. and personality e.g likes and biases develop through emotional conditioning
what was Skinner’s contribution to behaviourism and personality?
introduced idea of operant conditioning : people act upon their enviro and beh. is then shaped by the response the beh. receives
personality results from interaction betwen operants and schedules of reinforcement
took radical behaviourism approach - no need to hypothesise about unobservable constructs (cognition) so environment = behaviour
what contribution did Dollard and Miller, 1950 have in learning theory and personality?
first to allow for cognitive processing in learning theory
intergrated concepts from learning T into psychoanalytic T - allowed for (un)conscious influences on motivation
beh. not just responding to enviro. stimuli but can respond to inner stimuli as thoughts can be reinfocring and cue beh.
first to demonstrate observation plays big role in learning as role models were observed and imitated
difference between social learning and social cognitive theories?
social learning - builds on behavioural by emphasising learning through social rewards and punishments, including vicarious reinforcement modeling
social cognitive - build on behavioural by emphasising that cog processes influence and are influenced by beh. associations and rejects control from enviro (behaviourism)
both study:
cognitions
social-reinforcement - praise, approval
self-reinforcement - internal states (e.g self punishment) important to learning process
what is Rotter’s contribution to social learning theory? (briefly)
idea of expectancy (locus of control) is the perceived probability that if you do something you will attain your goal
empirical law of effect - people motivated to seek out positive stimulation/reinforcement and avoid unpleasant
- expectancies of a reward can be more important determinants of behaviour than a reward itself
what is Bandura’s contribution to social cognitive theory?
self efficacy is perceived porbability that you can do something in the first place
- expectancies about our own abilities affect what we attempt to do
- goes beyond Rotter in emphasis on social nature of learning
describe Rotter’s expectancy value theory (one approach to social learning theory)?
behavioural decisions driven by presence of reinforcements but also by expectancies about likely outcome of beh. (shape beh. even when inaccurate and more important guides to beh. than reality itself)
so, different from classic view that focuses on actual rewards/punishments instead of expectancies of rewards/ps
what are the 3 main components to beh. prediction in Rotter’s expectancy value theory? (social learning theory)
- beh. potential (BP) - prob of engaging in a particular beh. in specific situ (determined by reinforcement value and expectancy, so BP=RVxE)
- reinforcement value (RV) - subjective, desirability of behavioural outcomes
- expectancy (E) - subjective estimate that a given behaviour will lead to a particular outcome
a) specific expectancy: based on past experience/reinforcement history
b) generalised expectancy: locus of control, relied on in novel situations. so high generalised expectancy = high locus of control = what we do likely to not make a difference
what is the difference between internal and external locus of control?
(Rotter and social learning theory)
internal - people feel in control of their lives and empowered to change things - outcomes depend largely on person’s own efforts
external - people feel helpless and powerless to change things so dependent on others - greater expectancy that personal effort will make little difference to reinforcers
is locus of control stable?
Rotter and social learning theory
stable over time but can change - students become more internal after uni attendence (Wolfe & Robertshaw, 1982) and increases with age, becoming stable in middle age
changes with context - internal regarding relationships and external regarding life overall (Collins, 1974)
warm, supportive parenting fosters internal LOC in kids (de Mann et al., 1992)
correlates with locus of control scores?
Rotter and social learning theory
high external - correlates positively with higher levels of depression (Benassi et al, 1988), mental health problems (Lefcourt, 1992) and suicidal attempts in china (Liu et al, 2005)
high internal correlates positively with better quality of life for people suffering with epilepsy (Amir et al, 1999), diabetes (Aalto et al, 1997) and migraines (Allen et al, 2000)
describe reciprocal determinism in Bandura’s social cognitive theory?
people are influenced by enviro forces (enviro factors - social influences)
but also select situations (individual, behavioural factors - social interactions)
and also choose how to behave (person factors -mental structures mediating the 2)
use forethought as guides for future action (unlike other animals) and imagine possible outcomes through use of probability and develop stratgies instead of trial and error way of working through rewards and punishments
describe observational/vicarious learning in Bandura’s social cognitive theory?
study demonstrating this learning?
watching and imitating others (modelling)
active process of learning (not passive imitation) as make judgements and representations of behaviours observed
Bobo doll study (1965)
- nursery school kids watched adult perform aggressive acts on doll then either rewarded, punished, or no consequences
- all kids could perform behaviour if asked but thse who had seen adult rewarded more likely to behave aggressively when alone (vicarious conditioning)
- so reinforcement influenced performance NOT learning of behaviour (all could perform if asked) due to expectancies about outcome formed from observation
describe self-regulation in Bandura’s social cognitive theory?
(cognitive element)
most daily actions controlled by self-regulation in absence of external reinforcements
internal processes include self-praise, self-criticism and self-efficacy (one of the most powerful)
describe self-efficacy as an example of a self-regulation process in Bandura’s social cognitive theory?
(cognitive element)
belief that if you perform a certain beh. you will get a desired outcome
efficacy expectation - extent of belief that actions CAN bring about certain outcome
outcome expectation - extent of belief that actions WILL bring about a certain outcome
so self-efficacy is difference between outcome expectation (will happen) and efficacy expectation (you can make it happen)
can be modified through:
- performance of concerning tasks
- vicarious experience
- participant modelling (successful person at task)
correlates of self-efficacy?
cognitive element of Bandura’s social cognitive theory
high self-efficacy then more likely to achieve success (Bandura, 1997) as influences whether: task will be attempted, effort put in and persistance in face of adversity
and better recovery from traumatic experiences (Benight & Bandura, 1990)
low self-efficacy one of factors affecting relapse in smoking (Segan et al, 2006)
low self-efficacy can lead to ‘learned helplessness’ (‘there’s no point trying) which can lead to depression (seligman, 1975)
but can be reduced by increased control (Langer & Rodin, 1976)
describe features of cognitive theories of personality?
place analysis of human thinking processes (e.g info processing) at center of personality and inidividual differences
draws on:
Freud’s notions of levels of consciousness
phenomenological approach
George Kelly’s personal constructs theory
social-learning perspectives of Rotter, Mischel and Bandura
describe George Kelly’s personal construct theory of personality?
(foundation of cognitive theory of personality)
- emphasis
- difference from other theories
- description of a person construct
- how they are created
1955
emphasises human capacity to reflect on and interpret oneself, the world and the future (collection of personal constructs) in individual differences in personality
main difference from other theories: motivation to act comes from future goals NOT past learning or innate drives
personal construct:
- way of interpreting events through categories we have which are bipolar dimensions of paired opposites e.g good-bad (some are universal) with aim of anticipating world
- some more important in how we frame reality - chronically accessible constructs
- freely chosen interpretations of past experience (not determined by) so can change ‘person as scientist’
11 corollaries about how we create personal constructs e.g
construction corollary - construct ways in which to interpret the world
how do contemporary cognitive approaches explain behaviour?
through use of concepts of schemas and prototypes
schemas: general ways of viewing/making sense of world
self-schemas: cognitive structures formed about self (faster to respond to adjective if believe it describes yourself, so well defined self-construct, Kuiper & Rogers, 1979)
strengths of learning and cognitive perspectives on personality?
difficult to avoid when explaining human beh.
social cognitive theory framework to guide research as concepts clearly defined and testable
emphasis on important of enviro
useful when explaining emotional reactions e.g phobias
important therapeutic application in CBT
limitations of learning and cognitive perspectives on personality?
not unified theory and overlooks role of biology and subjective qualities in development of individual differences
much research in lab (applicable to other social situations?)
focuses on a few variables (locus of control etc.) so plays down richness of personality
too mechanistic - can’t account for higher human motivations and free will (not computers)
what is the crucial way that humanistic psychology differs from the clasically held disciplines of behaviourism and psychoanalysis?
what is it known as?
behaviour was either viewed as being under the control of unconscious sexual/aggressive instincts
or learning histories/the situation we are in
‘the third force’ in mid 50s
humanists emphasises a holistic view of the individual through viewing behaviour as due to personal choices - responsible for their actions and have free will
describe phenomenology as one of the two roots of of humanistic psychology?
philosophical approach to human nature emphasising subjective, aware experience of individual
conscious experience more important than real world - past gone, future not here so in this moment you can choose (basis of free will)
deny that study of the mind is another science resembling the others e.g chemistry - as mind is fundamentally different from molecules etc as it is aware, knows it is being studied and studies itself
which philosophies underpin the phenomenological approach to research?
as 1/2 roots of humanistic psychology
realism and positivism underpin scientific/quantittive approach
idealism, constructivism and relativism underpin the phenomenological/qualitative approach to research
- no one valid interpretation of world, instead multiple interpretations exist
- rejection of nonomthetic approach (universal laws of cause and effect)
- acceptance of idiographic approach (understand beh. in context where occurs)
what are the 2 branches of constructivism and what is it? (as a way the phenomenological approach behind the humanistic approach is studied)
- constructivism is a theory of knowledge - humans generate knowledge/meaning from interaction between experiences and ideas
developmental constructivism
- introduced by Kant
- Piaget developed constructivist developmental model
social constructivism
- reality constructed through human activity so can’t be discovered as doesn’t exist prior to social invention
- knowledge: human product and socially/culturally constructed
- learning is a social process and is becomes meaningful when engaging in social activities
what was Wundt’s contribution to the psychology of conscious experience?
defined scientific psychology as: systematic study of immediate conscious experience as it is directly, phenomenally given to the observer
used introspection - describe immediate conscious experience when exposed to standard situations
used objective indicators of mental processes e.g RT and word associations
however, higher mental processes inaccessible to experimentation and are essentially social in character
describe existentialism as the second root of the humanistic approach?
existentialism: human is challenged by reality of temporary existence, and view that life has no inherent meaning/has to be constructed
authentic existnce - those who face own mortality and still manage to construct a meaningful life by taking control of own destiy
see humans as having free will and freedom of choice so responsible for actions, (agreeing with/using phenomenological) which may lead to anxiety and despair as we are defined by our choices
life has no meaning beyond what we give it
Sartre - more optimistic seeing we shouldn’t give up but better our condition to regain freedom and find meaning
what are the basic assumptions of the humanistic approach?
- existential assumption that phenomenology is central and people have free will
- people are good and have innate need to make themselves and world better
- phenomenology of individuals giving rise to individual differences (our conscious experience of the world)
- study of mind not just another science as human mind is aware and poeple feel and think which makes us unique
- emphasises: personal worth, centrality of human values and active nature of humans
- optimistic approach as capacity to overcome hardship
what did Carl Rogers emphasise in his phenomenological approach to the study of personality?
disagrees with Freudian theory that controlled by unconscious forces and earl experiences
emphasised:
- conscious perceptions of present over unconscious residues of past
- interpersonal experiences acorss life not just parental relaitons in childhood
- capacity to develop psychologically not just repeat childhod conflicts
what does Rogers mean by the ‘phenomenal field’?
in his phenomenological approach to personality
subjective construction
inner world of experience - reflecting both external world and inner world of beliefs and needs which shape subjective experiences that we interpret as objective reality
what does Rogers mean by the ‘actualising tendency’?
what are the 2 levels of this?
what is the organismic valuing process?
in his phenomenological approach to personality
actualising tendency:
- tendency to grow from a simple entity to a complex one - dependence to independence
- built in motivation to develop our potential to the fullest extent possible
2 levels to desire to self actualise:
physical - staying alive by eating and avoiding danger
psychological/self-actualisation - testing our capabilities by seeking new experiences and mastering new skills, do this throughout our life (development not confined to early years)
organismic valuing process: seek out experiences that we perceive as enhancing our development and avoid ones that are bad
engage in this on pursuit of self-actualisation
fully functioning person = someone who is self-actualising
what does Rogers mean by the basic human need for ‘unconditional positive regard’?
what may happen when this doesn’t occur?
in his phenomenological approach to personality
- need to be accepted by others and to receive positive regard from others
- particularly important in child development as crucial to receive this unconditionally from parents etc. if they are to become self-actualised and develop a positive self-regard (self-esteem)
- conditions of worth go against this: conditional positive regard when only show love if adhere to certain behaviours so child denies feature of their true self to attain other’s regard (conditional positive self-regard) and incongruence between real and ideal self which can lead to neurosis
what does Rogers view as the qualities of a fully-functioning person? (someone who is self-actualising)
what is a problem with one of these qualities?
in his phenomenological approach to personality
- openness to experience and feelings
- existential living in here and now
- experiential freedom by ackonwledging feeling of freedom and asociated responsibilty for actions
- creativity
- organismic trusting by being guided by organismic valuing process i.e do what feels right and comes naturaly (problems with this as what if violence comes naturally?)
what is involved in the ‘person-centred’ therapy Rogers created?
emphasies curative powers of client
role of therapist to help client identify and overcome conditions of worth interefering with their personal growth - so can move towards self-actualisation
3 qualities of therapist:
- congruence - honesty with client
- empathy - perceive experiences as they are experienced by the client
- respect - unconditional positive regard to client
what is Maslow’s hierarcy of needs and what are the negative of each need?
how is the basis of his theory in concordance with Rogers theory?
one of the theories contributing to ‘human potential movement’ eventually known as the third force/humanistic
same assumption as Rogers: ultimate motive is to self-actualise but claimed motive only becomes active when more basic needs are met first
hierarchy of needs from the bottom up from deficit (D)-being(B) needs:
- physiological needs (D) - primitive survival needs of air, food, water
- safety needs (D) - stability manifested as having a job and home (negative-overly concerned with anxieties)
- belonging needs (D) - companionship and acceptance from relationships (negative- loneliness and social anxieties)
- esteem needs (D) - lower form: respect and status then higher form: self-respect and confidence (negative-low self-esteem and inferiority complex)
- self-actualisation (B) - becoming whatever it is that you’re capable of becoming
what does Maslow mean by ‘peak experiences’?
one of the theories contributing to ‘human potential movement’ eventually known as the third force/humanistic
refers to moments of intense self-actualisation:
feel closely connected to surroundings and feelings of awe
similar to ‘flow’ but this seen more as intense period of concentration
what does Maslow see as some of the characteristics of self-actualised people?
one of the theories contributing to ‘human potential movement’ eventually known as the third force/humanistic
- reality centered
- problem centered
- personal relations very deep with a few people
- human kinship by being respectful and democratic
- acceptance of self and others
- resisted enculturation through some detachment from culture in which they live
- freshness of appreciation by seeing ordinary with wonder
- spontaneity
- independent
what are some strengths of humanistic psychology?
- emphasises uniqueness and validity of each person’s experiences
- optimistic
- wide scope as applies to therapy
- underpins contemporary field of positive psychology
what are some weaknesses of humanistic psychology?
- ignores other determinants of being (e.g genetics, learning and the unconscious)
- lack of scientific precision e.g what actually is self-actualisation
- emphasises free will but widely argued this doesn’t exist
- unlikely humans are truly free e.g economic constraints
how did the positive psychology movement develop and what does it argue?
stemmed form Maslow’s focus on positive aspects of human development/nature
- argues in the past, overemphasised human psychopathology which trhough over generalisation, has resulted in an excessive emphasis on negative
- overlooked human strengths so picture of personality underplays the positive so positive psychologists study processes and traits which promote happy and meaningful life
- identified 6 universal attributes that are considered virtues in all cultures at all times: justice, humanity, wisdom etc. (virtues as counteract tendency which could threaten survival)
what is are factors of intelligence and is it stable across situations?
we differ in our ability to: understand complex ideas, adapt effectively to enviro, learn from experience and engage in various forms of thinking and reasoning to overcome obstacles
never entirely consistent:
intellectual performance varies on different occasions, different domains and as judged by different criteria
‘intelligence’ concepts attempt to organise these phenomena
what are several different definitions of intelligence?
Boring (‘23) - intelligence is what intelligence tests measure
Terman (‘16) - the power to think abstractedly, to be self-critical and adaptive
Wechsler (‘75) - capacity to understand the world and meet its demands
Spearman (‘27) - single factor ‘g’ - general factor
Thurstone (‘38) - multi-factorial e.g memory and maths
contemporary - hierarchy of factors with ‘g’ at the apex (highest point)
24 different definitions given when 24 theorists giving definitions in (‘86)
several arguments against the popularity of use of psychometric tests to determine intelligence?
argued there are many different ‘intelligences’ and only a few of which will be captured by psychometric testing
role of culture in establishing different concepts of intelligence, the value of which might not be mirrored in the psychometric test
give a brief historical overview of the development of intelligence testing?
Galton - late 19th c - first modern attempt to measure intelligence using RT and other sensori-motor measurements
Binet (‘05) - origins of IQ testing and Stern (‘12) developed formula to calculate IQ
Terman (‘16) - developed IQ quantifying intellectual functioning and enabling comparisons to be made
during WW1 committee commisioned to develop group intelligence testing
Thurstone (‘38) - seven primary mental abilities - first multi-factor approach to intelligence
Stenberg (‘85) - three intelligences
describe the Binet-Simon scale as an intelligence test?
‘05
first intelligence test
30 tasks regarding everyday life problems e.g counting coins and comparing lengths to measure reasoning
different levels for different developmental levels
became model for many future tests as criterion was average level of performance
results also correlated with exam results and teacher assessments
describe the distinctions in IQ scores?
mean is 100 and s.d is 15
50% fall between 90-110 (as reflected by mean)
70% between 85-115
96% between 70-130
99.5% between 60-140
what is Terman’s scale for classifying IQ scores?
1916
more than 140 - (near) genius 120-140 - very superior intelligence 110-119 superior intelligence 90-109 normal intelligence 80-89 dullness 70-79 borderline deficiency under 70 - definite feeble-mindedness
what is the argument regarding inteligence test scores for single and multiple intelligences?
multiple - individuals tend to not perform equally well on all different kinds of items included in intelligence tests e.g better on verbal than spatial
single - subtests measuring different abillities tend to be positively correlated (scoring high on one subset will score above average on others as well)
describe the meaning and elements of the intelligence factor ‘g’ as proposed by Spearman?
negative use of this theory?
Spearman developed ‘g’ in 1927 and in factor analysis terms, it’s a second order factor
proposed 2 factor theory of intelligence when observed correlations amongst performance in variety of intelligence tasks:
- general ability ‘g’ - general intellectual capacity
- special abilities - specific to task
eugenicist: advocated restricting voting and reproduction rights to those whose ‘g’ score exceeded a certain level
how did Cattell describe ‘g’ in terms of intelligence testing?
1963
2 related but distinct components of ‘g’:
- fluid intelligence - primary reasoning ability (second order/super factor) - decreases with age
- crystallised intelligence - factual knowledge and skills acquired (first order/primary factor) - increases with age
describe Thurstone’s mutli-factor approach to intelligence?
1938
first multi-factor approach
agreed that ‘g’ existed but disputes importance
instead intelligence better described by considering distinct primary mental abilities
7: verbal comprehension numbers reasoning associative memory word fluency perceptual speed space
describe Gardner’s approach to intelligence?
what part has been criticised?
‘multiple intelligences’
traditional approaches only addressed linguistic, logical and spatial intelligence
suggested intelligence should be informed by studies of gited individuals, those with brain damage and from diverse cultures
argued for 7 different types of intelligence independent of one another:
verbal, musical, mathematical, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal (self-understanding) and kinesthetic
however, some suggest some of these abilities are better described as special talents (musical) than forms of intelligence
describe the triarchic theory of intelligence?
Sternberg 1985
three intelligences: analytic, creative and practical
only analytic measured to significant extent by traditional IQ tests
to measure pratical intelligence: measures of ‘tacit knowledge’ in various domains e.g business managment
indepedence of analytical and pratical shown by Brazilian street children able to do maths required for street business but failed maths in school (Carraher, Carraher & Schliemann, 1985)
describe hierarchical approaches to intelligence?
most widely accepted descriptions of intelligence
Vernon 1969:
intelligence comprises abilities at varying levels of generality
highest level of generality/top of hierarchy: spearman’s ‘g’
second level/’major group’ factors: verbal-educational and practical mechanical ability
third level/’minor group’ factors: subdivisions of major group factors
bottom of hierarchy: specific factors
what are the different forms of psychometric tests of intelligence?
single type of item e.g verbal Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test
non-verbal Raven’s Progressive Matrices
several different types of items e.g verbal and non-verbal with scores yielding several subscores and overall score (Wechsler scale and Stanford-Binet)
describe IQ tests as predictors in certain aspects of life?
another important factor other than IQ in these outcomes?
school performance:
correlation between IQ scores and grades around .5 (25% of variance as other factors contributing e.g parental socioeconomic status .35)
occupational, social status and income predicted by IQ BUT socio-economic status of parents better predictor
IQ and parental SES .33 correlation (White, 1982)
what was the stance on nature/nurture of intelligence in 19th-early 20th century?
nature
Galton convinced intelligence must be bred and not trained
link to eugenics: galton said ‘what nature does slowly and ruthlessly, man may do quickly and kindly’ which was used to support sterlisation programmes and other acts witholding human rights from minority groups (racist underpinnings)
ignoring role of socioeconomic privilege and education
what was the stance on nature/nurture of intelligence in 1920/30s and then in the 60s?
nurture in 1920-30s
evidence supporting links between social class and intelligence rather than race
backlash against human consequences of government policies which may have been aided by nature argument: sterilisation laws resulting in 64 000 sterilised against their will in US and 400 000 in Nazi Germany
1960s focus centered on social determinants
addressing poor educational achievement through special schooling
describe Jensen’s theory regarding intelligence and nature/nurture?
issue with his use of the data he collected?
intelligence fundamentally inherited trait, with only 20% based on enviro
in 1960s testing African and Mexican-Americans and other minority group school children
concluded that difference in IQs between white and black children due to ‘unchangeable intellectual differences … rather than the effects of poverty, discrimination and other factors’ (Moritz, p. 211)
- prime example of misinterpreting data to support his own claims as heritability shows in differences betwene individuals not whole races
unsurprisingly many viewed him as racist
what did Gould find regarding the large body of research in intelligence testing and nature/nurture conclusions?
highlighting the main issue with early intelligence research
‘mismeasurement of man’
demonstrated that much of the research is rooted and confirming racist convictions which were still awaiting scientific justifications
what is Kamin’s contribution to intelligence research?
1974
publicly questioned research of Burt and Jensen and other studies supporting the genetic position (Nature) of intelligence
reported serious methodological and statistical errors in research
and spoke out about dangers of attributing intelligence primarily to genetic factors (incl race)
give meta-analytic estimates of the heritability of intelligence?
issues with these estimates?
Daniels, Devlin & Roeder, 1997 - heritability can account for 48% of variation in IQ
Herrnstein & Murray, 1994 - heritability can account for 74% of variation in IQ
heritability indices likely to overestimate role of genetics as include influences of pre and post natal enviro
what is the Flynn effect regarding intelligence?
showed IQ was increasing every year in all parts of the world at average rate of 3 IQ points per decade
- greater rise for fluid (non-verbal) intelligence than for crystallised (verbal) but still in both
- average IQ has risen over one s.d (15 points) since WW2 mainly due to enviro effects as suggested far too rapid to be genetic changes
- new norms used to rescale IQ average to 100
what are the 5 environmental areas used to explain the Flynn effect?
what 2 hypotheses have been suggested to research these areas?
Neisser, 1998 and others
- schooling
- test-taking sophistication
- parenting styles
- visual and technical environment
- nutrition
examined by comparing 2 hypotheses:
cognitive stimulation hypothesis: if enviro influences true, then would be rise in intelligence test scores across generations at all levels of IQ
nutrition hypothesis: if true, rises in intelligence will mainly occur in lower end of distribution of IQ test scores where nutritional deprivation most severe
describe a study showing a potential end o the Flynn effect in IQ scores?
Teasdale & Owen, 2005 - IQ stopped increasing after mid 1990s and has since declined to pre 1991 levels
suggested rise in IQ scores due to fewer lower scores to drag average IQ score down
but by 1990s prevalence of low scorers levelled out (perhaps supporting nutrition hypothesis as improving nutrition removing lower scores)
what has Flynn found regarding IQ gains in children and teenagers?
explanation for this in terms of one of his hypotheses?
data from Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices for UK school children between 1938-2008
- found 5-15 showed IQ gains of 14 points
- since 1979 these gains decline with age and between 12-15 these gains turned into small losses
explained using cognitive stimulation hypothesis:
suggests this due to enviro factors more cognitively stimulating for 9-11, where most IQ gains seen
stop from 12 onwards as spend more time with friends and less with parents - less cognitive stimulation hypothesis
what is contained in Herrnstein & Murray’s ‘bell curve’ book, 1994 for intelligence research and nature/nurture debate?
- claim intelligence largely genetically inherited and internvention efforts are largely a waste of time and money
- claim IQ has more of an effect on future life experiences than SES, which in turn are largely genetically caused
- IQ differences betwen racial groups genetically determined - suggest white americans score 16 points higher than black (1 s.d) and immigrants have lower IQs and that these factors are pushing average intelligence in US down
huge implications for social policy and swinging pendulum in direction of nature in public’s eye
- argue against education programmes to help underprivileged children due to IQ mainly genetic so can’t serve to change much and instead money should go to education of white americans to raise intelligence of nation
- argue against affirmative action (positive discrimination) to create more equal society and we should accept inequality as our reality
what are differences in IQ scores between and within cultures and explanations for this?
small variations in mean IQ scores but largest variation lies within groups
small IQ differences between races doesn’t imply genetic causes as confounded by effects of SES and opportunity
what are some fo the conclusions from the APA Intelligence Task Force Report, 1996 in response to Bell Curve book published on genetic causes of intelligence?
while differences in genes contributes to individual differences in intelligence, pathway by which genes produce their effects are unknown
enviro factors also contribute substaintially to development of intelligence, but don’t clearly understand what these are and how they work
mean scores on intelligence tests still rising steadily, but not sure why happening or what they mean (Flynn effect)
what are the different definitions of abnormal?
problems with these definitions?
expansion of definition accordingly?
- statistical - if something rarely occurs then abnormal (simplist)
- social - abnormal if behaviour deemed unacceptable by society
problems: both suffer from changing social and cultural norms over time and between cultures e.g homosexuality
stats definitions - ‘rare’ not always abnormal (has negative connatations whereas ‘rare’ does not) i.e in IQ as high desirable not bad thing
definition therefore expanded to include psychological criteria in addition to stats and social:
distress level, impairment to functioning, subjective feelings, emotional affect and thoughts
what does clinical assessment for assessing a personality disorder involve?
- clinician’s observation
- the structured clinical interview (SCID) - designed for making DSM-V diagnoses - SCID1 for axis 1 clinical disorder and SCID2 for axis 2 personality disorders, or SCID-5-PD which is the only interview directed at PDs and can be used either categorically or dimnesionally to diagnose
may also be supported by:
- self-reported experiences/behaviours
- observations by peers
- self-report scales e.g MMPI or personality diagnostic questionnaire
what is the difference between taking a dimensional and categorical approach to diagnosing personality disorders and which one is advised and why?
categorical - either diagnosed with disorder or not as qualitative break between people who do and don’t have it
- only appropriate for psychopathy as not an extreme version of a characteristic we all share
dimensional - disorder viewed as continuum ranging from normality at one end to severe disturbance at the other
- so those with disorder only differ to those without by a degree
- in case of personality disorder, at extreme end of continuum with normal personality at other end, as extremes of characteristics we all possess
(evidence supporting this method as more appropriate (Livesley et al, 1998)
what is a personality disorder?
what does it always involve?
an extreme or severe disturbance in the overall character and behaviours of an individual that affects various aspects of their personality throughout their life (some symptoms emerge during childhood, Paris, 2003)
APA: enduring pattern of behaviour and inner experience deviating markedly from expectations of culture individual lives in
always involves lots of personal and social disruption (Maltlby et al, 2010)
what are the main differences betwen personality and psychological disorders?
personality disorder
- early onset (not or misdiagnosed) and remains lifelong problem (pervasive due to personality being with us from the start so extremeties of characteristics present as well)
- reluctant to seek or accept any help, challenging to therapist and not responsive to input
- referred by family and friends
- difficult to treat so focus on development and management over aetiology and treatment
psychological disorders
- clear onset and clear trajectory for recovery
- often associated with cause in person’s enviro e.g bereavement
- seek out therapy and work with therapist to recover
however, much overlap between symptoms of PDs and mental illnesses
what did Lewis and Appleby find about effect of receiving personality disorder diagnosis label on the way patients are perceived by psychiatrists?
1998
1/6 vignettes (description of symptoms of patient) sent to 240 practicing psychiatrists
1 vignette mentioned pateint had been diagnosed with personality disorder
had to rate a patient against a number of statements
large effect of mentioning personality disorder in that judgements made of them less favourable (neg judgements not discriminating between clusters)
e.g likely to annoy and take overdose to seek attention and unlikely to comply with treatment etc.
ratio of disorders in DSM-V to personality disorders and how are they grouped?
250 disorders
10 are personality disorders which are split into 3 clusters
manual recognises considerable overlap between PDs and psychological disorders
what is the general criteria in DSM-V for diagnosing perosnality disorders?
deviation from expectations has to be manifested in at least 2 of the following ways:
- cognitions - ways of thinking and interpreting
- affect - range and appropriateness of emotions
- interpersonal functioning - how relate and interact with others
- impulse control - lack of control over impulses and gratification of needs
what is the DSM-V criteria for diagnosing personality disorders in regards to patterns of experience and behaviour?
patterns of experience and behaviour:
- must be enduring across time (traceable to adolescence) and situations and maladaptive
- must lead to personal distress or significant impairment to functioning
- can’t be explained as consequence/manifestation of other mental disorders
- can’t be attributed to physiological effects of substance (illicit or prescription) or medical condition
which personality disorders are contained in cluster A in DSM-V and what is the ‘common theme’ of them?
schizoid, schizotypal and paranoid
common theme: tendency to be odd or eccentric, predominantly in interactions with others
schizoid and schizotypal: exhibit some low-grade nonpsychotic symptoms of sz (more treatable but more dangerous in serious cases)
schizotypal likely to possess genotype making them more vulnerable to sz (Larson & Buss, 2010)
which personality disorders are contained in cluster B in DSM-V and what is the ‘common theme’ of them?
antisocial, borderline, histrionic and narcissistic
common theme: represent dramatic, emotional or erratic disorders
hostile interpersonal beliefs viewing others as existing to be taken advantage of and as admirers
often violent
which personality disorders are contained in cluster C in DSM-V and what is the ‘common theme’ of them?
avoidant, dependent and obsessive-compulsive
common theme: all represent anxious or fearful disorders
linked with anxious, fearful or preoccupied attachment style (Brennan & Shaver, 1998)
might be fed into by childhood trauma to the brain as setting brain in certain way which never recovers
social anxiety tends to be improved through exposure but when linked to PD then harder as treatment made more difficult
characteristics of paranoid PD?
cluster A
extreme distrust and suspicion of others (0.5-2.5% of pop. Torgersen et al, 2001)
and diagnosis factors include suspicions others are deceiving them, reluctant to confide in others and hypersensitive
typical thoughts/beliefs: ‘don’t trust them and get them before they get you’
characteristics of schizoid PD?
cluster A
at suface may be similar to autism but not when digging deeper into both disorders
indifference to interpersonal relationships
restricted emotions
doesn’t respond to social cues
1.7% of general pop. Torgersen et al, 2001
diagnosis based on characteristics such as:
few friends, solitary job, flattened emotions
typical thoughts/beliefs: ‘hate being tied to others and privacy more important than closeness with others’
characteristics of schizotypal PD?
cluster A
characterised by:
extreme discomfort with close relationships
distortions in thinking and perception
may display eccentric beh.
0.6% of general pop. Torgersen et al, 2001
diagnosis requires characteristics such as: odd beliefs, paranoid ideas, inappropriate emotional expression, general social anxiety
characteristics of antisocial PD?
cluster B
general disregard for others
0.7-3% of pop.
diagnosis requires some of:
failure to conform to social norms, disregard for safety of others, lack of remorse, aggressive beh. etc.
typical thoughts: ‘laws don’t apply to me and i’ll say anything to get what i want’
related to anger and difficulty with family environment in childhood
subset will meet criteria for psychopathy
characteristics of borderline PD?
cluster B
instability in relationships and behaviour and emotions
0.7-2% of pop.
diagnosis requires some fo:
repeated suicidal beh, fear of abandonment, impulsivity, aggressiveness, unstable self-image
typical thoughts: ‘if you leave i’ll kill myself’
characteristics of histrionic PD?
cluster B
characterised by attention seeking behaviours, overly dramatic mood swings and excessive need for approval
diagnosis requires some of: use physical appearance to get attention, interactions with other sexually provocative, excessive attention seeking, exaggerates intimacy of personal relationships, over dramatic about themselves
typical thoughts: ‘i’m so interesting and attractive everyone likes me’
characteristics of narcissistic PD?
cluster B
characterised by strong need to be admired, lack of empathy and pattern of grandiosity (inflated sense of self-importance)
diagnosis requires some of: strong sense of entitlement, envious of others or believe others envious of them, superioty, excessive need to be admired
typical thoughts: ‘i am special and deserve special treatment’
characteristics of avoidant PD?
cluster C
characterised by social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy and fear about criticism
0.8% of pop.
diagnosis requires some of:
restrict activities to avoid criticism
fear of rejection and inadequacy feelings prevent starting new relationships, inferiority feelings
typical thoughts: ‘i’m going to avoid situations that attract attention to me’
crossover with social anxiety disorder
characteristics dependent PD?
cluster C
characterised by psychological dependence on others as lack confidence in themselves and let others take responsibility for major aspects in life
1.5% of pop.
diagnosis requires some fo:
difficulty in making normal decisions, seek out new relationship straight after old one finished, excessive lengths to gain support from others, rarely take intiative
typical thoughts: ‘i need someone to tell me what to do’
characteristics obsessive-compulsive PD?
cluster C
characterised by preoccupation with order and seeking conformity to rules and moral codes
diagnosis requires some of:
rigid attitudes, things must be done in certain way, excessive devotion to work, pefectionism interferes with task completion
typical thoughts: ‘the only right way to do things is my way’
at a raised risk for developing OCD along with other types of anxiety disorders (Oltmanns & Emery, 2004) - so crossover with OCD but preoccupation with order not as serious as in OCD
what is the estimated prevalence of personality disorders within the general population?
british population?
what are the most and least common ones?
typical individual with a PD?
around 10-13% (Weissman, 1993)
most common - obsessive-compulsive, histrionic, schizotypal and dependent
least common - narcissistic (0.2%)
4.4% of British population (relatively low)
typical ppts with PD: more likely to be male, older, divorced, unemployed, lower class and not a pleasant living situation
what did Coid find regarding the different clusters of PDs and medication/criminality and teh prevalence of each?
cluster A: 3x more likely to have been in local authority care before age of 16 - 1.6%
cluster B: more likely to have criminal conviction, spent time in prison and been in local authority/institutional care - 1.2%
cluster C: more likely to have received psychotropic meds (anything capable of affecting mind, emotions and behaviour) and counselling - 2.6%
describe gender differences in personality traits?
Feingold, 1994 - males more assertive with higher self-esteeem and females higher in extraversion, trust and nurturance
Goodwin & Gotlib, 2004 - using Five Factor model, women higher in A, N, E and C and men in O
Costa, Terracciano and McCrae, 2001 findings about gender differences in personality?
Costa, Terracciano and McCrae, 2001, found that while gender differences can be exaggerated/reduced by cultural forces, similar gender effects on traits can be seen in cultures all over the world
differences may be reinforced through socialisation but not entirely socially constructed
what is teh most striking difference in PD prevalence between genders?
80% of cases of antisocial personality disorder are men
impulsive aggression underlies this PD, a characteristic more commonly found in males
prevalence facts for gender differences in personality disorders?
Coid et al., 2006
PD prevalence higher in men (5.4% to 3.4%) in all but schizotypal
prevalence of antisocial PD 5x greater in men than women (1% to 0.2%)
give several reasons behind gender biases in diagnosis of PDs?
- criteria defining disorder may derive from particular gender stereotypes which can affect diagnosis
- gender differences in manifestations of symptoms of different disorders e.g attention seeking and hyperfemininity/maculinity
discuss the factor of co-morbidity as affecting estimates of prevalence of PDs?
co-morbidity - most people with a diagnosable disorder typically have 2 or more
Oltmanns and Emery, 2004 suggest 25-50% probability that person meeting criteria for one PD will also meet the criteria for a second one and mean number to have found to be 1.92 (Coid et al, 2006) with just over 50% only having one
occurs due to categories being imprecisely defined and overlapping - e.g social isolation in schizotypal, schizoid and avoidant and common features with clinical conditions e.g avoidant PD and social phobia
- thus undermining categorical approach and pointing to dimensions in which people can be characterised
describe the development and potential causes of onset of personality disorders?
begin to be evident in childhood and early adolescence
- indicates genetic predispositions but difficult to isolate a particular cause as cause of personality unknown
- early distrubances of development e.g abuse and maternal deprivation
- reaction of parents to pre-existing challenging behaviours, which may be manifestations of personality problems (shown by kids with similar parenting not exhibiting PDs)
describe several biological associations with PDs?
particularly high/low levels of dopamine and serotonin related to all 3 clusters (direction of causality not known)
traumatic brain injuries e.g phineas gage suffered abrupt personality change after neurbiological damage (severe damage to frontal lobes and developed anti-social traits)
describe Siever and Davis, 1991 neuropsychological model of four pathways through which neurotransmitters may influence PD clusters?
- cognitive/perceptual processes
- impulsivity/aggression
- affect regulation
- anxiety/inhibition
describe genetic influences on PDs?
2 studies using heriabiity estimates to examine genetic influences on all PDs:
- Torgersen et al, 2001 - cluster A - 0.37
cluster B - 0.6
cluster C - 0.62 - Coolidge et al, 2001 -
ranged from 0.5-81 with average coefficient across disorders of 0.75
suggesting genetic influences on PDs show similar range to those estimated for normal personality
describe environmental influences on PDs?
childhood experiences strongly implicated in development of BPD and antisocial PD (Johnson et al, 2006)
development of schizotypal PD traits also influenced by abuse and neglect in childhood (Anglina et al, 2008)
histories of childhood abuse significantly associated with higher levels of symptomology across each of the clusters (Miller & Lisak, 1999)
describe the association betwen PDs and the five-factor model?
high neuroticism linked with paranoia and BPD symptoms as well as mood disorders
low agreeableness associated with paranoia, sz and BPD and APD
which traits did Widiger and Mullins, 2003 associate with PDs?
higher anger/hostility (neuroticism) and low trust and compliance (agreeableness) associated with paranoid PD
high anxiousness and impulsivity (neuroticism) and low trust and compliance (agreeableness) associated with BPD
indeed high scores on one or more facets of neuroticism associated with each PD except schizoid (instead low scores on E and O)
and all paired with low agreeableness (except dependent PD) which is high - Saulsman & Page, 2004 - also extraversion related to most but not specifically high or low
emphasising utility of 5 factor model in diagnosis and treatment of PDs
what is the PSY-5 and why was it developed?
called the psychopathology five and derived from MMPI to measure five dimensions of personality that reflect psychopathology (Harkness, McNulty and Ben-Porath, 1995) - better at predicting personality dysfunction than NEO-PI-R and MMPI
shares 3 similar factors with big five:
- agreeablesness/aggression (assessing more extreme beh. than A so better identifying violent psychopaths)
- extraversion/introversion
- neuroticism/negative emotionality
2 other dimensions
- disconstraint (delinquent beh. and norm violations)
- psychoticism (psychotic beliefs)
adolescent version developed and as useful for assessing personaity dysfunction as the adult version
describe the link between antisocial PD, psychopathology, violence and crime?
the only real PD with violent connotations
those with psychopathology dignosis (included in diagnostic criteria for APD) more likely to be violent - terms of APD, DPD (dyssocial) and psychopathology may be used interchangeably
linked to childhood trauma leading to difficulties with emotional regulation, impulsivity and empathy, which may lead to violence/anti-social beh. and also underlie a personality disorder
what did Filone et al, 2014 find about the influence of a PD label in a courtroom?
examined how diagnostic labels might affect jury members sentencing recommendations and perceptions of defendant (USA)
ppts read vignettes (description of disorder history) in which diagnostic labels: APD, DPD and psychopathology and crime: white collar, violent crime, were manipulated
however, found that diagnostic label didn’t consistently impact sentencing recommendations and perceptions of defendent
instead, more influenced by type of crime, perceiving white collar offenders more negatively than violent crime
label most influential on recidivism ratings and perceptions of violent offenders across al conditions
psychopathology perceived as higher risk than APD and DPD (could just be to do with a better understanding of symptoms involved in psychopathology than the others)
what did Edens and Cox find, 2012 regarding impact of labels of violent PDs in capital murder cases?
when asking defense team members to estimate the effects of any of the labels of APD, sociopathology and psychopathology on trial outcome, most frequently responded ‘considerable’ or ‘extensive’ effect
different to Filone et al findings but asking people to estimate, not actually testing them without telling them the reason
give a description of psychopathology?
by 2 different people and related to crime?
term coined by Cleckley, 1941
describes people who are: superficially charming, highly manipulative, unable to feel remorse, impulsive
extended by Hare, describing additionally as lack of empathy and conscience making them more able in areas such as business and politics, although recklessness reduces their success (shown through financial crash in UK and suggestion that the 1% are teh best destroyers of wealth we’ve ever seen, Monbiot, 2011)
link to criminal behaviour:
offend without apparent purpose, show no remorse, not loyal to anyone and propensity to indulge in perverse sexual and harmful behaviour
which screening instrument is used for the identification of psychopathy?
which 2 clusters of symptoms does instrument measure?
the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised
developed and revised by Robert Hare 1991, 2003
cluster 1: - psychological traits
emotional detachment and interpersonal traits including incapacity for empathy, superficial charm and callous attitudes towards others
cluster 2: - behavioural factors
unstable, antisocial and impulsive lifestyle including poor self-control, early onset of behavioural problems and need for excitement
difference between psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder?
psychopathy - people who are superficially charming and intelligent but callous, deceitful and unable to feel remorse or empathy, impulsive
- both cluster 2 but dominantly cluster 1 psychological traits in PCL-R
- extreme psychopaths will meet diagnostic crieria for APD
APD - emphasises observable behaviours like lying, criminal behaviour and conflicts with authority
- more typical of cluster 2, behavioural traits in PCL-R
- 10-30% of those with APD meet criteria for psychopathy
correlation between psychopathology and criminality?
high levels of psychopathy in adolescence predictor or risk for violence in adulthood (Gretton, Hare, and Catchpole, 2004)
psychopaths are 4x more liekly to violently re-offend after release from custody compared with non-psychopath offenders, 60-70% of which reoffend within 2 years (less violent crimes so emphasises issue with re-offending in dangerous psychopaths) (Hare et al., 2000, 2003)
those who murder are more likely to do so for gain e.g to get money than non-psychopathic murderers (Woodsworth & Porter, 2002)
minimise premeditated aspects of crime and portray it as more reactive than crime report, reflecting attempts to charm and manipulate people (Porter & Woodsworth, 2006)
correlation betwen APD and criminality?
those with APD commit more crimes but psychopaths commit disproportionate excess of crimes due to life-long nature of psychopathy and recidivism
reaction of psychopaths to treatment?
resistant to treatment, leading to being considered untreatable (Wong, 2000)
attempt to manipulate the therapeutic situation to their advantage
examples of UK psychopath criminals?
Ian Brady - child murderer, Myra Hindley accomplice but not considered a psychopath
Fred West - child and adult murderer
link between PDs and psychopathy and business managers?
Board and Fritzon, 2005
found presence of aspects of PD in the senior business manager sample, most prominent of which are among those most associated with ‘emotional components’ of psychopathic PD
compared to 3 patient samples, senior business manager group was more likely to demonstrate the traits associated with:
histrionic PD - superficial charm and manipulate (useful in business)
and equally likely to demonstrate the traits associated with:
narcissistic - lack of empathy and grandiosity
and obsessive-compulsive PDs - perfectionism, excessive devotion to work and rigidity
provide evidence for continuous distribution of personality traits so support dimensional conception of personality alongside categorical approach (conceptualised in hybrid model of PDs in appendix 3 of DSM-5)
dark triad of personality relating to criminal behaviour?
Paulhus & Williams, 2002 - narcissism, machiavellianism and psychopathy
all 3 related to criminal behaviour but also behaviours like scolastic cheating
narcissists - characterised by sense of entitlement, grandiosity, self-centred and sense of superiority over others and go against others for their own gain
machiavellianism - characterised by cynicism, amorality and belief in utility of manipulating others and exploit range of deceitful tactics to achieve goals
significant predictors of cheating in students included dark triad characteristics and low agreeableness and consciousness but in multiple regression, only psychopathy remained significant (3% of sample could clinically be diagnosed as psychopaths)
psychopathy and crime stats in the US?
over 90% of sexual and serial killers are diagnosed as psychopaths
but estimated to be around 3 million psychopaths in the US, the majority of which go undiagnosed and unlabelled until convicted of a crime, but do still devastate lives and finances around them (Hare, 1993)
individuals who are psychopaths are said, universally, to commit half of violent crimes (Hare, 1993)
how are psychological disorders diagnosed? (categorical or dimensional)
diagnostic systems use disorder categories to describe people with a psychological disorder i.e qualitative break between people who have a disorder and normal people who don’t
viewed as discrete entity distinct from other psychological disorders and normal behaviour
perhaps should take a dimensional approach as people with disorder may only differ in degree from those without and many cog/beh. processes observed in disorders occur on a continuum e.g in social anxiety disorder, they experience shyness and fear of negative evaluation which overlaps with common traits and avoidant personality disorder
describe using a transdiagnostic approach to understanding a psychological disorder?
vs the traditional research approach to disorders?
traditionally research into disorders has ‘disorder focus’ whereby have great understanding of specific disorders while marking similarities in cog and beh. processes across different disorders
transdiagnostic approach focuses on biases in cog and beh. across disorders and how these processes contribute to the maintenance of disorders
- idea that we use ‘short cuts’ in thinking (heuristics) which save time and resources
- e.g running away (behaviour) from danger (reasoning)
- idea that some ‘short cuts’ are characteristic of some disorders and may contribute to their maintenance
what role does a transdiagnostic approach play in aspects of PDs which overlap with disorders?
cognition provides us with a way of understanding personality disorders as well as psychologicsal disorders
as cog processes of perceiving, intepreting and planning can become distored in PDs e.g distortion of self-concept (high self-esteem in narcissism)
so given biases in cogntion and behaviour, transdiagnostic approach has a role to play in aspects of PDs which overap with psychological disorders
what are several particular cognitive behavioural processes implicated in maintenance of psychological disorders?
attention
memory
reasoning - Harvey et al, 2004 concludes that majority of e.g.s given are transdiagnostic processes
behaviour
e.g in social phobia
attentional : hypervigilance for signals of concern
memory : selective retrieval of neg past social events
reasoning : misinterpretation of situaitons
behavioural : avoidance and safety behaviours to prevent disconfirmation of beliefs
what is selective attention?
and more broadly, attentional bias in psychological disorders?
as one of several cognitive behavioural processes implicated in maintenance of psychological disorders
selective attention: process by which specific stimuli within internal and external enviro are selected for further processing
attentional bias: observation that some groups of people with e.g anxiety disorders have a systematic tendency to attend/avoid attending to a particular class of stimuli
what are the 2 subsets of selective attention?
automatic processes: e.g distracted by a sudden moving object or noise - most behaviours are triggered and maintained in an automatic manner so resources are freed up for other things
controlled: consciously attending to stimulus such as person moving toeards you in street
issues with research into selective attention?
what are the different paradigms used to study attention bias?
each experimental paradigm relies on an indirect measure of selective attention and so each misses the complexities of real life situations
dot probe
emotional stroop task
detection task
eye tracking
describe detection tasks to measure the content of selective attention for disordered individuals?
detection tasks/visual search tasks - if individual prone to attending more to a particular type of stimulus then detect it faster if located amongst distractors
describe the emotional stroop task to measure the content of selective attention for disordered individuals?
emotional stroop task - compare RT when word content neutral or related to disorder
however, may induce internal attention (reflecting pro-occupation with themes associated with emotional word),
emotional reaction inhibiting response so slowing reaction time
or cognitive avoidance as RT reflects attempts to suppress theratening meaning of word
describe the dot probe task to measure the content of selective attention for disordered individuals?
dot probe task - measures selective attention through shorter latency (RT) to respond and faster responses to dot-probe for emotional word vs neutral word indicates selective attention towards emotional information of that nature (Better measure as less ambiguous than emotional stroop)
describe use of eye trackers to measure the content of selective attention for disordered individuals?
more direct way of assessing attention by directly assessing where people focus their gaze over time
BUT we can attend to material that you are not actually looking at (out of the corner of your eye)
so disadvantage that it cannot measure covert attention to a region of space independent of eye movement
what are 3 attentional processes which can be seen as transdiagnostic processes?
- selective attention to concern-relevant external stimuli - can confirm pre-existing beliefs and interfere with new info
- selective attention to concern-relevant internal stimuli - self-focussed attention
- attentional avoidance or attemtion to sources of safety - can prevent habituation/reappraisal of stimuli
describe memory as one of several cognitive behavioural processes implicated in maintenance of psychological disorders?
3 stages of processing: encoding, storage and retrieval, each of which may be relevant to development of psychopathology i.e selective retrieval and may include amnesia
several factors influence what is encoded and retrieved e.g mood, enviro and what is personally important
attention and memory interact demonstrated by e.g the weapon focus effect whereby weapon catches attention so other details such as assailant and enviro remembered worse - Loftus, 1979
describe mood-congruent memory as a form of selective memory as one of the cognitive behavioural processes implicated in maintenance of psychological disorders?
it is the selective encoding or retrieval that occurs while individuals are in a mood state consistent with the affective tone of the material
hypotehsised to be a factor in maintenance of depression as more depressed then recall more negative events and failures
what are the different types of reasoning as one of the cognitive behavioural processes implicated in maintenance of psychological disorders?
interpretative reasoning - reaching a conclusion as to the meaning of an ambiguous situation (many everyday situations)
- many psychological disorders have a negative interpretational bias
attributional reasoning - process by which people infer the causes for why particular outcomes occurred on 3 prinicpal dimensions: internal-external, stable-transient, global-local
expectancy reasoning - processes used in predicting the likelihood of future events and of outcomes resulting from actions
- number of heuristics implicated in this e.g availability
hypothesis testing - evaluating whether explanations and beiefs are accurateor need to be revised in light of new info
- confirmation bias towards pre-existing beliefs
self-serving bias - attributing negative events to external and local causes and positive events to internal global causes
fundamental attribution error - attribute another person’s beh. to their personal disposition and overlooking situational causes
pessimistic attributional style - attributing neg events to internal and pos to external e.g failure in exam to being stupid and success due to change
typical of depression
what are the 3 principal heuristic rules?
availability heuristic - judgements of frequency of event influenced by availability of related memories
representativeness heuristic - judgements about expectancy or categorisation influenced by extent to which specific event seen as typical of large group of events
emotional reasoning heuristic - judgements based on emotional feelings e.g feelings anxious so concluding that there must be danger
broadly accurate but leads to consistent biases in judgement and underestimating of statistical info e.g ignoring frequency of an event (may be characteristic of depression as see bad events as much more frequent than they perhaps are)
what is meant by transdiagnostic processes in disorders and give examples?
the same processes occur across the different psychological disorders
e.g attention, memory and reasoning
has implications for co-morbidity of disorders
what is social phobia/social anxiety disorder?
symptoms?
persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which person is exposed to unfamiliar people/scrutiny by others (at least 6 months for under 18s)
fear of humiliation - recognised to be irrational
expsoure immediately provides anxiety which may take form of situation specific panic attack
so situation avoided or endured with anxiety and distress - so interefers with everday life causing lots of distress
fear and avoidance not better explained by another diagnosis and not due to effects of drug use/medication or other medical condition
what are the 4 features of panic attacks and give examples?
- emotional : anxiety, embarrassment and shame
- cognitive : catastrophic thoughts ‘everyone thinks i’m stupid’ and catastrophic images ‘blushing’
- physiological : increased HR, sweating, nausea etc.
- behavioural : stammering accompanied by rapid speech and ‘just in case’ beh. e.g avoiding event
what is the differences between the panic attacks caused from social phobia/social anxiety disorder and panic disorder?
panic attacks are distinct from panic disorder as in panic disorder, panic attacks themselves cause the problems (not a result of them)
the attacks will onset quickly and unpredictably and predoinant fear is of having another panic attack
not attacks being a symptom of social phobia or some other cause
describe Clark & Wells, 1995 model of social anxiety and maintenance of social phobia?
- involving cognitive and behavioural processes
social situation (talking in pub) will activate assumptions (have to look confident) which leads to perceived social danger (fear of public shaming)
perceived social danger will lead to processing of self as social object (picture youelf bright red) and lead to somatic and cognitive symptoms (mental blank and blushing)
OR safety behaviours (covering face/looking at floor)
so process of self-focused attention (processing of self as social object) is crucial to maintenance of social phobia - as leads to safety beh. (avoidance maintains and/or somatic and cog symptoms)
when do the key cognitive and behvaioural processes maintaining socia phobia operate (as defined by Clark & Wells, 1995 in their model of social anxiety)?
- prior to entering a social situation - anticipation, selective retrieval and rumination
- during the social situation - self-focussed attention
- on leaving the situation - ‘post-mortem’ so selective retrieval, negative interpretation and rumination
describe the cognitive and behvaioural processes suggested by Clark & Wells as occuring in those with social phobia prior to entering a social situation?
cognitive - anticipate the situation and selectively retrieve negative info about how they think they are perceived by others
- ruminate/dwell on this info which maintains the anxiety as content dominated by past social failures
behavioural - may lead to avoidance or entering situation in self-focused state
describe the cognitive and behvaioural processes suggested by Clark & Wells as occuring in those with social phobia during a social situation?
in a self-focused state use info from internal cues about how they are being negatively evaluated by others (crucial in maintaining social phobia)
so view themselves from the assumed perspective of others
may become trapped in closed system where most evidence for fears is generated from internal cues e.g sweating and blushing
recurrent images maintain phobia as little attention paid to external enviro and instead on distorted internal images from observer perspective
what are the 2 types of avoidance exercised during a social situation in those with social phobia?
- overt - leaving situation asap
- subtle - avoiding eye contact etc.
* maintains social anxiety through preventing fears of rejection being disconfirmed *
known as within situation safety behaviours - varies across individuals depending on feared outcomes e.g trembling so change grip on glass
intended to reduce anxiety but may increase as attend less to convo due to excessive self-focus
describe the cognitive and behvaioural processes suggested by Clark & Wells as occuring in those with social phobia on leaving the social situation?
‘post-mortem’
selective retrieval - of anxious feelings and negative self-perceptions of performance - overly negative interpretation
ruminating - dwelling on how they came across, what they said and did - interpretig everything negatively
SO these processes lead to : seems worse upon reflection than it did when leaving the situation AND avoidance of future events/adoption of safety behaviours which enhance and maintain fears
what are the 4 psychological mechanisms underpinning social phobia?
1) attentional biases
- hypervigilance for concerning signals (responses of others)
- self-focussed attention heightening awareness of internal cues and confirming fears
2) memory processes
- selective retrieval of past neg events, increasing anxiety and self-focussed attention
3) reasoning biases
- misinterpretation of situations (before, during and after)
4) behavioural biases
- avoidance and safety behaviours prevent disconfirmation of beliefs and new learning
describe studies of attentional bias in social anxiety?
slight issue with this?
hypothesis - in social anxiety there will be selective attention towards social threat
- emotional stroop - longer latencies (RT) to name social threat words e.g ‘embarrassed’, so attending to longer - Hope te al, 1990
- dot probe - failure to find bias towards physical threat threat words but faster to probes following SOCIAL threat cues - Asmundson & Stein, 1994
- longer presentation times, attend to photos of neutral objects away from photos of faces - Chen et al, 2002
- eye movements towards than away from emotional faces in those high on fear of neg evaluation - Wieser et al, 2009 - visual search task - faster to react to angry faces and more distracted by emotional faces compared to neutral ones - Gilboa-Schectman et al, 1999
replicated to ecologically valid social threat - Mogg & Bradley, 2002
BUT may only occur under social-evaluative conditions - Ononajye et al, 2007
describe studies addressing whether attentional biases are a causal role in social anxiety?
train attention towards neutral faces and away from disgust
after single session - reduced attention to threat, reduced anxious response to public speaking challenege and better social performance - Amir et al, 2008
and when given 8 session training, significant reduction in those meeting diagnostic criteria for social phobia - Schmidt et al, 2009
suggesting that training against attentional biases lessens anxiety symptoms
describe studies of reasoning bias in social anxiety?
self report - more negative disambiguations (open ended ambiguous sentence completion task) compared to controls - Amir et al, 1998
lexical decision task - failed to make any emotional on-line inferences (at the time that ambiguous info is first encountered) compared to controls who made online positive inferences - Hirsch & Mathews, 2000
- may make them more prone to neg interpretations about social performance as don’t have pos on-line bias
describe studies addressing whether reasoning/interpretation biases are a causal role in social anxiety?
allocated to either pos or neg reasoning bias training conditions
then asked to generate image of themselves in several emotionally ambiguous situations
found neg training produced more neg self-image (self and observer rated), higher expected anxiety in situation and poorer expected performance
- Hirsch et al, 2007
8 sessions where ppts reinforced for pos interpretationos of ambiguous sentences
changed interpretations and decreased social anxiety symptoms - Beard and Amir, 2008
8 day interpretive bias modification training
decrease in state and trait anxiety but NOT social anxiety symptoms
but ppts were selected for higher trait anxiety over social phobia - Salemink et al, 2009
SO reducing the negative interpretation and reasoning bias may reduce social anxiety symptoms - suggesting it has a causal role
describe treatment of social anxiety using CBT?
attempts to change the processes identified in cognitive models e.g challenge misinterpretation and selective attention through:
- assessing symptoms
- gain shared understanding with patient and introduce new perspective
- explore verbally evidence for and against each perspective (guided disovery using socratic questioning - encouraging person to examine own beliefs, consider evidence and alternative explanations)
- challenge images of feared outcomes
- use behavioural experiments to test 2 alternatives : e.g initiating convo and either they will be interested or they won’t
what are the particular areas of focus of therapy for social phobia?
- challenge assumptions about extreme standards of appearance, emotional response and beh.
- focus on image of self as a social object
- shift attention from internal focus on sensations to external focus on actual responses
- challenge biased observer-perspective images
how are each of the stages in Clark & Wells, 1995 model of social anxiety targeted by therapy?
- activating assumptions leading to perception of social danger targeted through socratic questioning (finding alternative explanations)
- perception of social danger leading to somatic and cog symptoms and processing self as social-object targeted by imagery work, direct disconfirmation etc.
- safety behaviours targeted through dropping them
what are some of the findings regarding outcomes of CBT on social anxiety?
( can find lots more on this if need to )
indicates that CBT can be highly effective for several anxiety disorders, especially social anxiety/phobia and panic attacks
- recent trials suggest valuable treatment and better than fluoxetine regarding symptoms - Clark et al, 2003
- internet delivery is effective and acceptable - Carlbring et al, 2007
- and in meta-analysis was found that best to incorporate internet delivered into clinical treatment (receive both person and internet for best results) but data slightly skewed through adherence rates of whether they completed the therapy or not - Gratzer & Khalid-Khan, 2016
