Yifan Xu Examination Two Dispositional and Behavioral Theories 1 Aside from twin studies what are three methods often used by behavioral genetics researchers Now select one of those methods and describe a how it is carried out and b what results would provide evidence for genetic factors 5 points Family Resemblance a Correlate personality similarities between people who are closely related like father and son and people who are distantly related like mother and aunt b There would be a larger correlation between the closely related family members if genetics is important 2 Aside from personality what other aspects of people have behavioral geneticists studied using these methods 3 points Adoptions Genetic Scanning Temporal Stability Intelligence Mental Illness Criminality Physical Health 3 How do temperaments differ from other dispositions Name the temperaments that have been discovered so far 5 points Temperaments are different from other dispositions because nature is much stronger than nurture Activity Level Sociability Impulsivity Emotionality 4 The BAS and BIS are two biological systems that seem to influence many behaviors One system makes people sensitive to rewards while the other makes people sensitive to punishments Which system focuses on rewards A different neurotransmitter is active in each system Name the BAS and the BIS neurotransmitters 3 points The BAS Behavioral Approach System rewards neurotransmitter is dopamine The BIS Behavioral Inhibition System punishment neurotransmitter is serotonin 5 MAO Monoamine Oxidase is just one of several hormones associated with specific patterns of behavior Name two others MAO is associated with sensation seeking Do MAO levels tend to be high or low in sensation seekers 3 points Yifan Xu Testosterone Cortisol Sensation seekers have low levels of MAO producing a need for stimulation to reach the optimal level of arousal 6 Factor analysis has been a very useful statistical tool for studying personality traits Why Name in order the major steps involved in performing a factor analysis 7 points Factor analysis is useful because it allows us to reduce many surface traits down to a much smaller number of underlying source traits Step 1 Collect surface trait ratings from many judges Step 2 Calculate correlations among those ratings Step 3 Extract factors from the correlation matrix Step 4 Calculate factor loadings Step 5 Review the loadings and name the factors 7 Name the Big Five personality traits How were they discovered 6 points 1 Openness to Experience 2 Conscientiousness 3 Neuroticism 4 Agreeableness 5 Extroversion The Big Five was discovered by many researchers who performed factor analyses on different sets of surface traits yet all found the same underlying source traits 8 Murray identified more than two dozen psychogenic needs but they can be sorted into several broad categories What are they Dr Moreland noted that one of them is unusual because it is seldom studied by psychologists Which one 7 points Ambition Status Defense Power Affection Information Exchange Possessions this category is the unusual one 9 What is press according to Murray How do alpha and beta presses differ Which one has more impact on behavior 4 points Press is a force arising from objects or people that can affect goal achievement Alpha press is the real environmental forces and beta press is the forces that are merely perceived Beta press has more impact on behavior Yifan Xu 10 In the experiment by Watson and Rayner on Little Albert classical conditioning was used to produce a mild mental illness in a young child What was that illness Name the conditioned and the unconditioned stimulus in the experiment How did the researchers plan to cure the child of his illness 4 points The mental illness was a phobia of little white mice The conditioned stimulus is the white mice and the unconditioned stimulus is the loud noise The researchers planned to cure the child through extinction 11 Provide real world examples not definitions for a positive reinforcement b negative reinforcement c punishment and d deprivation 4 points a Positive Reinforcement giving a child a gold star after cleaning up their toys b Negative Reinforcement taking away curfew from a teenager because they have been doing very well in school c Punishment spanking a child for doing something wrong d Deprivation giving a child a time out when not playing well with others 12 Partial reinforcement can be administered using a ratio or an interval schedule How do these differ Which one generally produces better outcomes 3 points Ratio schedule is used after a certain number of behaviors and interval schedule is used after a certain amount of time Ratio schedule produces better outcomes 13 Some behavioral theorists argue that observational learning is better than classical or operant conditioning Why What is the difference between the acquisition and the acceptance of a new behavior When will a behavior be accepted 4 points Observational learning is better because it is the safest Acquisition is knowing how to do some behavior whereas acceptance is actually doing that behavior A behavior will be accepted when there are positive self expectancies for it 14 What are the major steps in observational learning Select one of them and explain how self regulation might play a role in it 5 points Attention Retention Production Self regulation means you can decide for yourself exactly what to practice when and where to practice how long to practice and so on Performance 15 What is self efficacy Name using his terms three methods that Bandura has recommended for improving a person s self efficacy Describe one of those methods briefly Why is self efficacy so important according to Bandura 6 points Yifan Xu Self efficacy is a general sense of personal competence Performance Accomplishments working in small steps toward working to the ultimate goal build confidence by starting small then doing progressively more challenging things Vicarious Experiences Verbal Persuasion Control of Arousal Poor self efficacy can cause many different mental health problems 16 Depression is associated with particular kinds of causal attributions for negative events What is a causal attribution What kinds of attributions for a negative event are most likely to make someone depressed 4 points Causal attribution is how individuals explain causes of events and other behaviors Internal stable and global attributions are mostly likely to