Week 10 - Personality Psychology

Question 1

What is the correlation between personality and behaviour?

Answer 1

between .30 - .40

Question 2

What are the shortcomings of Factor Analysis?

Answer 2

1. Prestructuring
2. Subjectivity in determining fit
3. Erroneous factors can emerge from item wording and other artefacts

Question 3

What should factor analysis be guided by?

Answer 3

1. Strong theory
2. Drive for parsimony
3. Biology?

Question 4

What does Occam’s razor refer to?

Answer 4

Parsimony: When explaining things, no more assumptions should be made than are necessary

Question 5

What is reinforcement sensitivity theory?

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

How does extraversion, constraint, and neuroticism map onto Gray’s biological theory of personality?

Answer 6

Reward sensitivity (externalising)
Inhibitory control (anxiety)
Punishment sensitivity (avoidance/ fear)

Question 7

What brain system is thought to be involved in reward sensitivity and approach behaviour?

Answer 7

mesolimbic dopamine system

Question 8

What brain system is thought to be involved in fear, avoidance/ punishment sensitivity?

Answer 8

amygdala, noradrenaline, and serotonin

Question 9

What brain system is thought to be involved in anxiety and inhibitory behaviour?

Answer 9

septo-hippocampal system, OFC, serotonin

Question 10

What factor structure did Robert Krueger find that best explained vulnerability to mental disorders in children and adults?

Answer 10

A two-factor model for children (internalising and externalising) and a three-factor model for adults: anxiety (inhibition), fear (avoidance), and approach (reward sensitivity).

Question 11

What factor has been found to be protective against substance use problems?

Answer 11

self-control

Question 12

What model of impulsivity did Dawe and Loxton (2004) apply to substance use and eating disorders?

Answer 12

Impulsivity as a two dimensional trait:
Reward sensitivity/drive
Rash impulsivity

Question 13

Which brain regions are implicated in explaining the two-factor theory of impulsivity and substance use?

Answer 13

Hyper activity in the Nucleus accumbens (approach system- mesolimbic dopamine system) and hypo activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC-inhibitory system)

Question 14

What are 2 important cognitions that can be targeted when treating substance disorders?

Answer 14

1. Positive alcohol expectancy

2. Drinking refusal self-efficacy (confidence in ability to resist in a tempting situation)

Question 15

Explain Smith and Anderson’s acquired preparedness model and what was problematic about it.

Answer 15

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

Question 16

What is the soft-science problem?

Answer 16

Psychology is a young science; models, measurements, and theories are often too simplistic/ low resolution.

Question 17

What percent of APA practitioners state that research has an impact on their practice? And what percent say it is the most important?

Answer 17

27%

4% most important

Question 18

Kruger’s model of mental disorders mapped Major Depressive Episode, Dysthymia, and Generalised Anxiety Disorder onto which of Gray’s personality traits?

Answer 18

Inhibition

Question 19

Kruger’s model of mental disorders mapped Social phobia, simple phobia, agoraphobia, and panic disorder onto which of Gray’s personality traits?

Answer 19

Avoidance

Question 20

Kruger’s model of mental disorders mapped Alcohol Dependence, Drug Dependence, and Antisocial Personality Disorder onto which of Gray’s personality traits?

Answer 20

Approach

Question 21

Which (1977; 1986) theory is used to inform the role of cognition in drinking behaviour?

Answer 21

Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory:

1. Expectancies about the consequences
2. Self-efficacy

Question 22

Which parts of the two-factor theory of impulsivity lead to the formation of overly positive views of substances and the ability to refuse?

Answer 22

Reward sensitivity would increase positive drug expectancies

Rash impulsiveness related to refusal self-efficacy

Question 23

What is the clinical relevance of cognitions and substance use?

Answer 23

Cognition mediates almost all risk conveyed by impulsivity traits!

Question 24

What did Conrod et al (2008; 2013) show in their study about reducing teen binge drinking?

Answer 24

Targeting impulsivity, specifically beliefs about positive expectancies, has superior effects in reducing teen binge drinking.