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
Explain the relationship between frontal lobe activations and BAS-BIS
- Higher activation in the LEFT hemisphere -> Higher BAS
- Higher activation in the RIGHT hemisphere -> Higher BIS
Explain the relationship between frontal lobe activation and Introversion-Extraversion
- LEFT frontal activation -> EXTRAVERSION
- RIGHT frontal activation -> INTROVERSION
Clinical Applications: Left Frontal Cortex
- Depression (inactivation)
- Bipolar (sporadic inactivation)
Clinical Applications: Right Frontal Cortex
Anxiety disorders (activation)
Role of Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC) in Personality
- Processes emotional information
- Associated with decision-making process (damage to the OFC would make a person act more impulsively)
- Assigns value to decisions
Functions of Amygdala
- Processes emotional stimuli
- Negative emotions: Fear, disgust, anger
Strengths of Biological Approach
- Provides genetic account as source of individual variability
- Empirically supported neural indicators of personality
Limitations of Biological Approach
- Assumption that biology is the primary driver of personality
- Assessing personality via biology is not the easiest route
Types of Research for Personality
- Cross-sectional Studies
- Longitudinal Studies
- Experimental Studies
- Meta-Analysis
Explain cross-sectional studies
- Data across a large group of participants is recorded once (at a single point in time)
- More specifically, it is a type of research study in which a group of people is observed, or certain information is collected, at a single point in time or over a short period of time.
Explain longitudinal studies
- Data is recorded multiple times, done over a period of time
- Track changes in personalities over time
Explain experimental studies
- Includes the act of manipulating studies
- Aims to establish cause and effect
Explain meta analysis
Summarizes multiple studies to come to an overall conclusion
What do personality researchers study?
- Broad personality constructs; ex. Extraversion, mood or anxiety disorders, etc.
- Specific personality constructs; ex. Smoking, family history of alcohol problems, etc.
How is an EEG used to assess personality?
- Activation of left vs right frontal lobe
- Approach (BAS) vs. Avoidance (BIS) motivations
Alpha Frequencies through EEG
- Wavelengths are picked up through EEG
- Assess cortical activation
- Red indicates smaller activation
- Blue indicates greater activation
Alcohol Sensitivity
- An alcohol-related personality trait
- Alcohol sensitivity: How much alcohol for the person to feel “drunk”, similar to alcohol tolerance
- High tolerance (or low sensitivity) is a risk factor for alcohol-use disorders and risky drinking
What did Walter Mischel say about behaviour?
- Personality is not always a reliable predictor of behaviour
- Long-term consistency; Personality captures “average” behaviour
- Our behaviour depends more on the environment we are in
Walter Mischel: Three types of scenarios, in the context of personality and behaviour
- Personality overrides the situation
- Strongly held beliefs - Situation overrides personality
- Overwhelming situation
- ex. Groupthink, group polarization - Personality interacts with situation
- Situation influences impact of personality on behaviour
