WEEK 3: Ch 5,6,7 Flashcards
Pavlov’s personality theory of dogs:
1-Weak: inhibited, anxious, easily upset (melancholic)
2-Strong unbalanced: exitable, hyperactive, irritable (choleric)
3-Strong balanced slow: calm, consistent, not easily aroused (phlegmatic)
4- Strong balanced mobile: lively, fast eager.
Neurotransmitter
Biological substance involved in communication among nerve cells.
-The communication between neurone is the basis of our thoughts emotions and behaviors.
Neurotransmitter journey
Neurotransmitter released (electric impulses) - travel through the axons - released to synapses- absorbed by the receiving neuron’s dendrites- acceleration or inhibition
Cloninger’s theory
Neurotransmitters can influence personality.
-dopamine (novelty seeking, serotonin, neuropinephrine are located in the central nervous system and effects our personality.
-No clear support
Dopamine
-Novelty seeking (tendency to seek pleasure and or excitement)
Serotonin
-It inhibits your body’s response to harm and unpleasurable things.
-Related to anxiety and and pain
Example: low levels or serotonin will lead to harm avoidance that is seen in depressed or anxious patients.
Norepinephrine
-prohibits to be reward dependent.
-Low levels of norepinephrine will result in reward-dependent behavior which will cause more sentimental attachments.
Gray’s theory (Reinforcement sensitivity theory)
Certain brain regions work together as mechanisms that underlie personality.
-BAS
-BIS
-FFFS
Behavioral activation system (BAS)
-go system “encourages to pursuit of rewards”
-If the BAS is active people are more likely to be impulsive seek pleasure and excitement.
Behavioral Inhibition (system)
-stop system it encourages to the avoidance of punishment.
- The more active means people are more tend to avoid punishments. (anxious people)
Fight-Flight-Freeze system
-eliciting extreme reactions in response to extremely threatening situations.
-The more active the person will engage in more extreme reactions (aggression etc)
Eysenck’s theory
Personality is based on biological changes
-Activating reticular arousal system (extraversion)
-Limbic system (Emotional Stability)
-Extraversion-Intraversion
-Neuroticism-Stability
-Psychoticism (added later)
Extraversion
-People differ in their sensitivity so stimuli.
-Extravorted stimuli prefer high level of stimulation
-Intravorted people prefer a low level of stimulation
-This system is governed by Ascending reticular activation system (ARAS)
Neuroticism
-Moderated by stress sensitivity
-Sensitive to stress tha leads to anxiety
-If you can cope with stress you are emotionally stable (controlled by the limbic system)
Psychoticism
-agressiveness, manipulation , tough mindness
-High levels are associated with criminal behavior.
-Highly psychotic people have high testosterone and low monoamine oxidase.
Zuckerman’s model
-Did a factor analysis
-Similar to Eysenck’s theory (extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism)
-Summarized it in 5 factors: Activity, Sociability, Impulsive sensation seeking, Aggression and Neuroticism/anxiety
Hormones
Biological chemicals and transmitted to the other parts of the body.
-Testosterone
-Cortisol
-Oxytocin
Testosterone
-Physical characteristics of man
-doesn’t really influence personality
-uncertain might be related to aggression, dominance
Cortisol
-Triggered by stress
-prepare the body for stress
-can lead to increase in blood pressure
-doesn’t influence behavior significantly
-depression and unemotional
Oxytocin
-female and male productive system
-Produced in hypothalamus
-when giving birth, breastfeeding,nd during orgasms.
-Not significantly related to personality.
-Bonding,trustingness ,prosociality,trustworthy
Is personality determined by genetics or environment?
Both
fake study: Seperating monozygot twins , growing in different environments ( genetic-environment influence)
Twins who share 100% identical genes were separated. When they were 20 personality similarities were checked and it was fun .6.
– Result: 60% genes and 40% environment.
fake Study: Seperating dizygot twins , growing in different environments ( genetic-environment influence)
- If the correlation found is 60% it means 30% is due to genetic because except monozygotic twins all siblings share 50% DNA.
Alelle
-Particular version of a gene
-If a person has 2 copies of allele the trait will definitely be expressed.
Additive genetic effects
-Accumulation of several genes (polygenic genes) determining a trait in phenotype.
-Remains the same for monozygotic twins
Nonadditive genetic effects
-When siblings have different alleles of genes
-Polymorphisim, interaction between dominant and recessive gene.
Ex: E= red flower
r= white flower
Rr= flower will be pink not just simply red or white but a mix of both
Fretenal and monozygot twins
- Monozygot twins are 2 times more similar than fraternal twins because nonaddictive genes and different genes variations in fraternal twins can lead to different outcomes.
Between-family
shared enviormental influence
-Factors that contribute to similarities among siblings raised in the same family but differ between families
Within family
-non shared environmental influence
factors that contribute to difference between siblings that were raised within the same family.
Effects of common shared environment
-If monozygot twins are raised in the same environment the similarity might be more.
-For fraternal twins the same thing can be said which can be concluded as monozygotic wins are not particularly 2 times more identical than fraternal twins.
Effects of non-shared environment
If 60% of similarity due to genetics 20% due to shared environment rest 20% is considered as a part of non-shared environment.
Study of heredity research:
-Identical twins (.50) similarity
-Faternal twins .25 similarity
- When self-oberver reports are taken account together 64% of the personality is due to genes.
-Identical twins that are raised apart are more similar than eternal twins that grew up together.
-Adopted siblings only show 10% similarity in their personalities..
Assumptions of heritability studies
1- Relatives can be observed independently from each other. (Ex: a twin who is less anxious than his twin can think he is not anxious at all)
2-Parents of studied individuals are no more similar than two people chosen at a random time.
Effects of parental treatment on twins
-Correlation was found .15
-Not certain if the parents affect the personality or personality effects the paren treatment.
Effects of birth order on twins
very small effect
Interaction of genotype with the environment
1- Passive: both of your parents athletic and you grew up in an athletic environment.
2-Active: predisposition to be musical bd therefore choose to play the piano.
3-Reactive:a child might be aggressive and other children bullying him for that can make him more aggressive.
Darwin evolutionary theory summarised:
1- Individual differences among people
2- Inheritance of characteristics
3-Characteristics associated with reproductive success
4- change across generations in characteristics in levels of characteristics
Why does variation not go away?
-It might be unimportant for survival and reproduction
- mutations lead to variation and evolution is not quick enough to eliminate them
-Infections tend to spread slower when individuals differ.
Fluctuating Optimum
The ideal level of characteristics might differ depending on environmental conditions
Frequency-dependent selection
There might be a ideal balance of several characteristics rather than just one ideal trait.
Honesty- Humility (Benefits/ Costs?)
Benefit: gains from cooperation
Cost: potential gain that would result in exploting others.
Agreeableness (Benefits/ Costs?)
Benefit: gains from cooperation
Cost: loses due to being exploited by others
Emotionality (Benefits/ Costs?)
Benefit: survival of kin
Cost: loss of potential-gain associated to risks to self and kin.
Conscientousness (Benefits/ Costs?)
Benefit: material gain
cost:energy and time
Extraversion (Benefits/ Costs?)
benefit:social gain
costs: energy and time
Opennes to experience
benefit: material and social gain
costs: energy and time risks from social and natural environment.
Fluctuating optimum/dependence
-If differences are large between countries fluctuating optimum is more influential
-If differences are small between countries fluctuating dependence is more influential.
Measurement problems with cross-national levels of trait
-Self report
-socially desirable answer
-validity of the QN
