Week 10 - Personality Psychology Flashcards
What is the correlation between personality and behaviour?
between .30 - .40
What are the shortcomings of Factor Analysis?
- Prestructuring
- Subjectivity in determining fit
- Erroneous factors can emerge from item wording and other artefacts
What should factor analysis be guided by?
- Strong theory
- Drive for parsimony
- Biology?
What does Occam’s razor refer to?
Parsimony: When explaining things, no more assumptions should be made than are necessary
What is reinforcement sensitivity theory?
Jeffrey Gray believed that three brain-behavioral systems underlie individual differences in sensitivity to reward, punishment, and motivation. While not originally defined as a theory of personality, the RST has been used to study and predict anxiety, impulsivity, and extraversion.
How does extraversion, constraint, and neuroticism map onto Gray’s biological theory of personality?
Reward sensitivity (externalising) Inhibitory control (anxiety) Punishment sensitivity (avoidance/ fear)
What brain system is thought to be involved in reward sensitivity and approach behaviour?
mesolimbic dopamine system
What brain system is thought to be involved in fear, avoidance/ punishment sensitivity?
amygdala, noradrenaline, and serotonin
What brain system is thought to be involved in anxiety and inhibitory behaviour?
septo-hippocampal system, OFC, serotonin
What factor structure did Robert Krueger find that best explained vulnerability to mental disorders in children and adults?
A two-factor model for children (internalising and externalising) and a three-factor model for adults: anxiety (inhibition), fear (avoidance), and approach (reward sensitivity).
What factor has been found to be protective against substance use problems?
self-control
What model of impulsivity did Dawe and Loxton (2004) apply to substance use and eating disorders?
Impulsivity as a two dimensional trait:
Reward sensitivity/drive
Rash impulsivity
Which brain regions are implicated in explaining the two-factor theory of impulsivity and substance use?
Hyper activity in the Nucleus accumbens (approach system- mesolimbic dopamine system) and hypo activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC-inhibitory system)
What are 2 important cognitions that can be targeted when treating substance disorders?
- Positive alcohol expectancy
2. Drinking refusal self-efficacy (confidence in ability to resist in a tempting situation)
Explain Smith and Anderson’s acquired preparedness model and what was problematic about it.
Smith and Anderson theorised that people higher in impulsivity were more likely to remember positive alcohol associations rather than negative, however the empirical evidence was mixed
What is the soft-science problem?
Psychology is a young science; models, measurements, and theories are often too simplistic/ low resolution.
What percent of APA practitioners state that research has an impact on their practice? And what percent say it is the most important?
27%
4% most important
Kruger’s model of mental disorders mapped Major Depressive Episode, Dysthymia, and Generalised Anxiety Disorder onto which of Gray’s personality traits?
Inhibition
Kruger’s model of mental disorders mapped Social phobia, simple phobia, agoraphobia, and panic disorder onto which of Gray’s personality traits?
Avoidance
Kruger’s model of mental disorders mapped Alcohol Dependence, Drug Dependence, and Antisocial Personality Disorder onto which of Gray’s personality traits?
Approach
Which (1977; 1986) theory is used to inform the role of cognition in drinking behaviour?
Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory:
- Expectancies about the consequences
- Self-efficacy
Which parts of the two-factor theory of impulsivity lead to the formation of overly positive views of substances and the ability to refuse?
Reward sensitivity would increase positive drug expectancies
Rash impulsiveness related to refusal self-efficacy
What is the clinical relevance of cognitions and substance use?
Cognition mediates almost all risk conveyed by impulsivity traits!
What did Conrod et al (2008; 2013) show in their study about reducing teen binge drinking?
Targeting impulsivity, specifically beliefs about positive expectancies, has superior effects in reducing teen binge drinking.
