Topic 2: Narrowing & Measuring Personality Flashcards
What is the hierarchy of personality description?
Highest level = general personality factor: ‘Big One.’ (Musek, 2007).
Second level = alpha (stability)/beta (plasticity). (Digman, 1997).
Lowest level = Big 5.
In the hierarchal model, what would a higher alpha level indicate?
The factors agreeableness, conscientiousness are higher whereas neuroticisim is lower
In Digman’s (1997) hierarchal model what would a higher beta level indicate?
higher levels of extraversion and openness
What is the ‘Big One’?
Generally represents positive, socially desirable aspects of personality.
High Big One = high levels of agreeableness, conscienticiousness, extraversion, openness and lower in neuroticism.
Broadly represents the extent to which someone is equipped to meet the trials of life, able to survive, grow and reproduce.
Measure of social efficiency.
What is the Bandwidth-Fidelity Dilemma? (Cronbach & Gleser, 1965).
Likely trade-off between breadth and accuracy of prediction. Trade off between the amount of behaviours we can predict by a model and the accuracy of those predictions.
How does prediction work for broader, higher-level descriptors?
Predict more behaviours but with lower accuracy.
How does prediction work for narrower, lower level descriptors?
Predict fewer behaviours but with more accuracy.
What is the analogy of the torch for the Bandwidth-Fidelity Dilemma?
Widening the width of the torch means that you can see more of a dark room but with lower accuracy. (Predict more behaviours but with lower accuracy and less specify). The opposite for a more concentrated light from the torch.
What are the descriptions and predictions that lower-level descriptors provide?
Provide narrower, richer descriptions.
Stronger predictions of specific behaviours.
Usually good to predict academic attainment.
What was the experiment by Paunonen and Ashton (2001)?
(hint - big 5 scale, nAch & conscientiousness)
Method
717 psychology students completed Big 5 scale. Allowed both traits and facets to be measured.
Looked at correlations between grades and pre-selected big factors and ‘lower level’ traits (from 21 in scale).
Results
found conscientiousness & need for achievement were significant predictors to final grad, but need for achievement was the stronger/better
What were the traits and facets picked to predict final grade?
Traits: conscientiousness and openness to experience.
Facets: need for achievement and need for understanding.
Were facets or traits better predictors for final grades?
Facets.
What were the differences in correlations between facets/traits and final grades?
We can see there was a stronger correlation for the need for achievement (facet) therefore, this shows that using facets might make the prediction better for the final grade.
When looking at openness to experience, we can see that the overarching trait is not significant but the need for understanding facet is significant.
Why do facets predict final grade better over traits?
Better accuracy (less behaviours can be predicted by the traits but with lower accuracy).
What factors could you take into account to make a better prediction at the trait level for final grade prediction?
Incidence of plagiarism, number of books read and meeting deadlines.
What do Holistic Models of Entire Personality aim to do?
Aim for simple model of entire personality space (fewer, broad traits). All the different traits combine together to make up the overall personality of that person.
What are Narrow measures of specific parts of personality?
Measures that focus on part of personality relevant to specific behaviour (specific, traits).
What is authoritarianism? (Adorno et al., 1950).
Attempt to explain recent examples of prejudice and extreme views towards others.
Is authoritarianism an attitude or personality trait?
Thought that it could be a more stable view of personality rather than a more modifiable aspect of personality. There was an attempt to find biological correlates that explained this trait.
What did Bouchard et al. (2003) do in regards to authoritarianism?
Evidence for heritability of conservatism from twins reared apart. Suggesting that this can be genetically determined.
What experiment did Amodio et al. (2007) in regards to authoritarianism and what were the results?
Conservatism associated with decreased neural response to supressing a habitual response in Go/No-Go task (and lower response accuracy).
They are less sensitive in identifying that a non-habitual response is required.
What did the results from the Amodio et al. (2007) experiment suggest overall?
(hint - conservatism)
This confirms that the conservatism could have a biological aspect and confirms it as potentially being a more stable attribute rather than something that can fluctuate according to the situations.
What is the continuity hypothesis? How does this relate to Schizotypy?
Continuity hypothesis: there is no discontinuity between ‘normality’ and illness (Cooper, 2002). Talking about links between personality and mental health.
There are not really categorical differences between the experiences, thoughts and behaviours of someone with a mental health problem and someone without.
Instead this hypothesis suggests it is more of a continuum, just the things we associate with mental health disorders are present to a lesser extent in the individuals that do not have the mental health disorder compared to the ones that do.
In terms of the continuity hypothesis, would anxiety/depressive tendency be normally distributed?
Yes it is normally distributed (smaller number of people have very high or very low levels).
Based on the continuity hypothesis, would we be able to find traits related to psychosis in non-clinical populations?
We should be able to find personality traits in non-clinical populations that are related to psychosis. (As these traits are on a continuum).
What are the common symptoms of schizophrenia?
Delusions (e.g. paranoia, grandeur). Grandeur: fantastical views of someone’s health/wealth/fame.
Hallucinations. Mainly verbal, hearing voices.
Disorganised speech and behaviour. Lack of concentration and illogical thought processes.
Negative symptoms (reductions in certain thoughts, feelings and behaviours) such as blunted affect, avolition (reduction in motivation to initiate behaviour) and poverty of speech.
What is the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings (O-LIFE)? (Mason, Claridge & Jackson (1995)).
Questionnaire based on factor analysis of several measures of psychosis-related symptoms.
Came up with the 4 factors. Then ‘items’ were identified that probed these factors.
What were the 4 factors for O-LIFE?
Unusual experiences.
Cognitive disorganisation.
Introvertive anhedonia.
Impulsive nonconformity.
What are unusual experiences and what are the items used to identify this factor? (O-LIFE).
Related to perceptual distortions, hallucinations, and magical thinking.
* Are your thoughts sometimes so strong you can almost hear them?
* Have you ever felt you have special, almost magical powers?
What are cognitive disorganisations and what are the items used to identify this factor? (O-LIFE).
Related to cognitive difficulties, sense of purposelessness, anxiety etc.
* Are you sometimes so nervous that you are blocked?
* No matter how hard you concentrate, do unrelated thoughts always creep into your mind?
What are introversive anhedonia and what are the items used to identify this factor? (O-LIFE).
- Related to lack of enjoyment from social sources, and dislike of intimacy.
- Are you much too independent to really get involved with people?
- Do you feel very close to your friends?
What are impulsive nonconformity and what are the items used to identify this factor? (O-LIFE).
- Related to impulsive and disinhibited behaviour.
- Do you ever have the urge to break or smash things?
- Do you overindulge in alcohol or food?
What measure of schizotypy did Raine (1991) come up with?
Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ).
Items developed to capture the nine features of schizotypal personality disorder (DSM-III-R).
What were the 9 features of the SPQ?
Ideas of reference
Excessive social anxiety
Odd beliefs/magical thinking,
Unusual perceptual experiences
Odd or eccentric experiences
No close friends
Odd speech
Constricted affect
Suspiciousness.
What is the validity of Schizotypy?
Evidence for conceptual validity - (see modified stroop test by Steel, Hemsley & Jones 1996)
What is negative priming?
A measure of cognitive inhibition, reduced in schizophrenia.
What was the Steel, Hemsley & Jones (1996) experiment?
Stroop and SCZ
METHODS:
36 participants, 3 conditions “name the colour of the ink as fast as you can.”
1. Baseline control condition.
2. Stroop condition (distractor word unrelated to the next ink colour).
3. Priming condition (distractor word predicts next ink colour).
RESULTS:
For the third trial, the inhibitory signals that are generated to mask the second word carry over to the next trial and therefore inhibit the ability to be correct on the next trial.
For higher schizotypy scores, there are reduced negative priming (smaller difference between the Stroop condition and negative priming condition).
(potential) EXPLANATION:
High schizotypy individuals often have impaired attentional control, thus the stimuli that is supposed to be ignored may not be as effectively inhibited
What is Machiavellianism?
Principles for gaining and maintaining political power.
What are the principles for Machiavellianism?
- Better to be feared than loved. Ideally as a leader, you want both of these but better to be feared over being loved.
- Trust no one.
- Make decisions for the benefit of the group, with the absence of morality. The ends justify the means.
- Be cunning and strong.
- Make friends with powerful people.
- Importance of how you appear to be.
What did Christie and Geis (1970) develop?
(hint - machiavellian)
Developed Mach Scales to describe manipulative “Machiavellian personality.”
What is the Mach-IV?
a 20 item Likert-type response inventory that measures a persons degree of machiavellian personality
In terms of tactics, which statement would someone high in Machiavellianism disagree/agree with: (1) The best way to handle people is to tell them what they want to hear.
(2) One should take action only when sure it is morally
Agree with the best way to handle people is to tell them what they want to hear.
Disagree with one should take action only when sure it is morally right.
In terms of views, which statement would someone high in Machiavellianism disagree/agree with: (1) Generally speaking, men won’t work hard unless forced to do so.
(2) It’s hard to get ahead without cutting corners here and there.
(3) Most people are generally good and kind.
(1): agree.
(2): agree.
(3): disagree.
In terms of morality, would someone high in Machiavellianism disagree/agree with All in all, it is better to be humble and honest than important and dishonest?
Disagree.
How did Christie and Geis (1970) validate their Mach-IV scale?
(Eye Contact)
Series of studies to validate the scale e.g.,
Confederates encouraged participant to cheat on experimental task.
Amount of eye contact with experimenter measured following accusation of cheating.
Hypothesised, that they would be better able to continue to make eye-contact after cheating.
No difference in eye contact before cheating. But after cheating, high Mach could hold eye contact for longer than those that are low with Mach.
