Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Personality Psychology > Week 5 - Biology > Flashcards

Week 5 - Biology Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards AP® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

What was the first biological explanation of traits?

A

Hippocrates, then Galen “The Four Temperaments”

“The dominant bodily fluid is associated with a unique personality type, but the perfect temperament is a balanced temperament, a perfect mix of bodily fluids”

Phlegm = phlegmatic = shy, reserved, emotionally stable
Yellow bile = choleric = impulsive, restless, irritable
Blood = Sanguine = bold, confident, optimistic, courageous
Black bile = melancholic = sad, depressive, brooding, pessimistic

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is the different between physiognomy and phrenology?

A
  1. Physiognomy
    one can infer personality traits from observing FACIAL FEATURES
  2. Phrenology, 1835
    one can infer personality traits from observing bumps in the brain - a “cautiousness located at spot number 12 in the brain”
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Who predicted that we could determine criminals?

A

Lombroso, 19th century

Criminal behaviour is in part genetic, can infer from facial and skull features, mix of evolutionary theory, physiognomy and phrenology
Argued some people, about 30% are evolutionarily “born criminals”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What was hypothesised about body types and personality?

A
  1. Pykics / obese types = cheerful, happy, when unwell become bipolar
  2. Leptosome / thin types = shy, introverted, reserved, more likely to become schizophrenic
  3. Athletic / muscular types = assertive, courageous, more likely to become epileptic
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What did Sheldon argue about body types and traits?

A
  1. Ectoprohs = reserved, shy, active
  2. Mesomorphs = strong bodies, rectangular aggressive, courageous, impulsive,
  3. Endomorphs = rounded, bigger bodies, pleasant, likeable, easy-going, friendly
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What’s the problems with linking body types and traits?

A
  1. Methodological and error problems
  2. unclear directional cause: what cause between body and personality is, potentially people treat people in a certain way
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Is there any support for older theories of biological origins of personality?

A
  1. Some support for phrenology,

Personality traits tend to localised and related to brain structure and volume

  1. Some support for physiognomy: males with wider faces tend to be more aggressive compared to narrower faces
  2. Some support for criminal behaviour: can differentiate criminal from non criminal faces, couldn’t really distinguish between violent and non-violent criminals, easier to detect non-violent
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What are the 3 aspects of the Contemporary Biological Approach
in personality?

A
  1. CNS
  2. NTs and hormones
  3. Evolution?
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What 2 areas in the CNS affect personality?

A
  1. Frontal lobe damage often leads to personality changes, sometimes significantly so, become more unpredictable, impulsive, cannot plan,
    - Frontal cortex is related to planning, self-control and damages causes deficits in these areas
  2. Overactive amygdala is correlated with fear, anxiety, neuroticism and BPD “an aversion to novelty, strangers,
    - People shy as babies, showed higher amygdala activity in shown pictures to strangers
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Do brain regions correlate with personality?

A

(116 people with Big 5 personality scale and structural brain scans)

  1. Extroversion = GMV in medial frontal cortex, encodes reward in stimuli, related to sensitivity to reward in the environment

2/ Neuroticism = dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, involves in emotional regulation, threats, punishment sensitivity,
3/ Conscientiousness = higher GMV in middle frontal gyrus, involved in planning, self-regulation

  1. Agreeableness = less GMV in left posterior superior temporal sulcus, more GMV in cingulate, interpreting actions, beliefs and intentions of others,

Openness = no significant effects on brain regions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Which big 5 trait was no correlated to any specific brain regions?

A

Openness

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What are the 3 main hormones involved in different personality changes?

A
  1. testosterone - aggression
  2. cortisol - stress, neuroticism
  3. Oxytocin = less lifelong aggressiveness, love hormone
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What are the 3 main hormones involved in different personality changes?

A
  1. Dopamine = extroversion, impulsivity
  2. Serotonin = mood regulation, inhibits impulses, low serotonin = neuroticism, depression, sensation seeking (criminal behaviour, serotonin depletion syndrome)
  3. Norepinephrine = related to flight/fight and neuroticism
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

How are the big 5 traits linked to specific NTs?

A
  1. Dopamine = Extroversion & openness
  2. Serotonin = Emotional stability, agreeableness and conscientiousness
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Do NT levels change in the environment?

A

YES
- brain chemicals can affect and can be affected by changes in the environment and life experiences

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What are some examples of how NT levels change in the environment?

A

Testosterone increases OR decreases in the following environments:

  1. Women who take more traditionally male jobs
  2. in athletes and sports fans increases in winners and decrease in losers in competitions
  3. getting to drive a fancy car and decreases in old worn down cars
  4. before marriage, stable during marriage, increase after divorce
  5. Scent of monkey child dampens levels of testosterone in monkey fathers
17
Q

Do NTs shape personality traits?

A
  1. NO - NTs don’t seem to cause personality traits, but rather life experiences and genetics seem to shape BOTH personality traits and NT levels

Some argue our genetics causes use to have PARTICULAR levels of NTs and hormones

18
Q

What % of genes do MZ and DZ twins share in the environment?

A

MZ = 100%
DZ = 50%

19
Q

Evidence for genetic causes to personality?

A
  1. Triplets separated at birth found a lot of similarities despite having different upbringing and life experiences
  2. Separated twins found insane similarities in their interests, likes, dislikes, and holiday choices
20
Q

How is the heritability quotient calculated?

A

MZ and DZ twins are given the same self-report test, and scores of the twins are compared by calculating the correlation coefficient

Heritability quotient = (rMZ - rDZ) x 2
MZ = 0.6 - DZ = 0.4 = 0.2 * 2 =
Heritability = 40%

21
Q

What is the candidate gene approach?

A

exploring the prevalence of specific genes in a population high or low on a particular trait

Examples
DRD4 = linked with approach related traits, affects dopamine, extroversion
DRD2 = impulsivity, substance abuse, obesity
COMT = extroversion, reasoning, dopamine in PFC

21
Q

What are hertitability quotient of Big 5 traits?

A

Big 5 genetic component: openness = 0.57, extroversion = 0.54, agreeableness = 0.42, conscientiousness = 0.49, neuroticism = 0.48

Schizophrenia = 0.8, phobias = 0.2-0.40, authoritarianism = 0.5-0.64
Significantly more similarities in genetic individual twins than DZ twins

22
Q

Limitations of the candidate gene approach?

A
  • often failed to reproduce specific results
  • a single gene cannot be directly related to personality
23
Q

What are Genome Wide Associations Studies (GWAS) and how do they work?

A
  1. Genetic info of thousands-millions of individuals
  2. Explores relationships between millions of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPS) and phenotype traits
  3. SNPS differentiate us at a genetic level, small but significant effects between single SNPS and traits, SNPs are additive
  4. SNPs are combined to genome-wide polygenic scores (GPS) that may be linked to a particular trait
24
Q

Can genes exist in the absence of the environment to affect personality?

A

NO
1. Many genes and variants are responsible for broad personality traits

  1. thousands of different SNPS involved in levels of traits
  2. Epigenetic influences affect how genes are expressed, which affect personality
  3. Impossible to separate personality from environment - its a dynamic process, eg. donald trump creates and recreates situations that confirm and reinforce his dangerous and competitive viewpoint of the world
25
Q

What do evolutionary psychologists ask about personality traits?

A

If genes are involved in personality, do they have survival purposes? If they do, why don’t we all have the same personality?

26
Q

What are 4 reasons why the same optimal survival traits aren’t passed down?

A
  1. We need variation in the environment for healthy offspring
  2. Complex interaction between genes and environment produces unique epigenetic effects on personality
  3. Mutations in genes can never be eliminated, always cause outliers to exist
  4. Extreme values are not very adaptive, so most people score in the middle of low or high levels of the traits = stabilising selection, against extremes
27
Q

In what way do evolutionary psychologists believe traits are passed down?

A

Evolutionary psychologists believe survival characteristics are more likely to be passed down in future generations, but what is adaptive for survival DEPENDS ON THE CONTEXT

Example - Some traits are adaptive in some contexts, maladaptive in others

28
Q

What are 2 limitations of the biological approach?

A
  1. Lot of data, lacking comprehensive theory to integrate explanations into a testable theoretical framework
  2. nature/nurture debate is not completely finished, but most think debate is useless

Personality Psychology (10 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions