Week 1 - Introduction to Personality and Biological Approaches Flashcards
Definition of Personality
An individual’s unique and relatively consistent pattern of thinking, feeling and behaving.
- Someone’s personality determined how they are different from others, and how they behave in different situations.
Approaches to Personality (6)
- Biological
- Behavioural
- Social
- Humanistic
- Psychoanalytic
- Trait theory
Early Approaches: Hans Eysenck
- Identified 2 primary personality traits (Extraversion-Introversion and Neuroticism)
- Argued that biology influences personality (biological approach)
Biological Approach to Personality
- Inherited predispositions determine personality
- Physiological processes explain differences in personality
Explain Epigenetics
The influence of environment on gene expression, which alters the structure of DNA
Differentiate genotype and phenotype
- Phenotype: Observable expression of genetics (e.g. blood type)
- Kasarnya: Genotype dasarnya kayak your potential from a biological aspect but phenotype are the visible traits that you have. Misalnya warna mata kamu itu contoh phenotype, itu kan gak mungkin berubah.
Critiquing Eysenck: Jeffrey Alan Gray
- Proposed the addition of “Sensitivity of Stimulation” to the Extraversion-Introversion model
- Reasoning: Introverts and extroverts differ in how they respond to emotional stimuli (introverts are quickly aroused when exposed to external stimulation)
- Initial illustration: Extraversion -> Sociability
- Proposed illustration: Sensitivity -> Extraversion -> Sociability
Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory
- The human brain has 2 behavioural systems underlying individual differences in sensitivity to reward, punishment and motivation.
- These two systems are:
1. Behavioural Approach System (BAS)
2. Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS) - Individuals vary in strength between these systems
Explain Behavioural Approach System (BAS)
- Seek out impulsive, rewarding behaviour
- Engage in emotionally intense situations
- Basically, you seek out stimulation
other names: Approach Motivation
Explain Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS)
- Avoid emotionally intense situation
- Anxiety
- Avoids punishment
other names: Withdrawal Motivation, Avoidance Motivation
Explain high and low BAS
- High BAS (aka ‘Impulsive’): Tendency to seek rewards and view events as having potential for rewards
- Low BAS (aka ‘Not impulsive’): Tendency to not seek rewards and not to view events as having potential for rewards
Explain high and low BIS
- High BIS (aka ‘Highly anxious’): Tendency to avoid punishment and to view events as having potential for punishment
- Low BIS (aka ‘Non-anxious): Tendency to not avoid punishment and not to view events as having potential for punishment
Phineas Gage
- Railroad foreman
- Explosion sent an iron rod through his skull but he survived
- Damaged the frontal lobe of his brain
- Considered the first case to suggest that different parts of the brain are associated to different functions
- After the accident: He had profound personality changes. He is often reported as having permanently lost his inhibitions -> started to behave inappropriately in social situations.
Role of Frontal Lobe
- Personality is located in the frontal lobe
- Important for a lot of things; e.g., planning behaviour, emotional control, behavioural inhibition
Measuring Personality: EEG
- Electroencephalography
- Measures the electrical activity of brain’s surface; Can’t go too deep into the brain because there’s skull, skin, hair, etc that blurs the information received if we tried going in deeper
