11/27/12Unit 4 NotesChapter 14PersonalityHow do you define personality?- What does it mean if someone is extraverted?o Outgoing, friendly - Conscientious?o Careful, Alert, or suspicious Personality- Definition: Stable tendencies within individuals that influence how they respond to their environmentsCauses of personality - Nature vs. Nurtureo DO genes influence how extraverted we are?o Or does the environment? How much?- How could we use a family to determine this?o They have around the same genes- Behavior-genetic methods attempt to disentangle the effects of o Genetic factorso Shared environmental factorso Non-shared environmental factors Different friend groups of brothers and sisters- Using twin or adoption studiesTwin Studies- Identical (MZ) Twins = 100% same genetics- Fraternal (DZ) Twins = 50% genetics- Concordance Rate = The degree to which two twins are the same on a given variable (like how extraverted they are)- Concordance, MZ twins > DZ twins, evidence for a genetic contribution to that variable - High concordance, MZ twins = DZ twins, evidence for shared environment- Low concordance, MZ twins = DZ twins, evidence for non-shared environmentCauses of personality 2- Numerous personality traits are influenced by genetics – but all much below a 1.0 correlationo Demonstrates non-shared environmental influence- Turns out that shared environment plays little to no role in adult personalityo Supported by twin and adoption studies Shared environment?- MZ twins reared apart (no shared environment) similar in personality to MZ twins raised together- Adoption studies children more like their biological parents than the adoptive parentsNote of Caution- Remember, genes code for proteins, not specific behaviors- Genes have indirect influence on traits, while the environment influences how these are displayed in our livesSigmund Freud- Viennese neurologist who developed first comprehensive theory of personalityPsychoanalytic Theory- Developed by Freud, rests on three primary assumptionso Psychic determinismo Symbolic meaningo Unconscious motivationStructure of personality- Freud thought that the psyche consisted of 3 componentso Id – basic instincts, operates on pleasure principleo Ego – Principal decision maker (Reality principle)o Superego – Sense of morality- Conflict between these causes distressAnxiety and Defense Mechanisms- The ego will try to minimize anxieties via dense mechanisms- Although essential for psychological health, Freud thought that over reliance on 1 or 2 could cause problemso Repression – Motivated forgetting of emotionally threatening memories or impulseso Projection – Unconscious attribution of our negative qualities onto otherso Sublimation – Transforming a socially unacceptable impulse into an admired goal Being angry and joining boxing to let go of angerStages of Psychosexual Development- Freud believed that we pass through stages, each of which is focused on an erogenous zone - Insisted that sexuality begins in infancy- Individuals who get fixated on a stage and have difficulty moving onPsychoanalytic theory Evaluated scientifically - 5 Major Criticismso Unfalsifiabilityo Failed predictionso Questionable conception of the unconsciouso Reliance on unrepresentative sampleso Flawed assumption of shared environmental influence 11/29/12Trait Models- Interested primarily in describing and understanding the structure of personality - Used statistical techniques to reduce diversity of personality descriptors to underlying traitso Looking at LanguageBig 5 model of Personality (OCEAN)- Extraversion- Neuroticismo People’s tendencies towards feeling anxiety and stress.- Agreeablenesso How well you get along with other people- Conscientiousnesso Tendency to be detailed oriented and careful- Openness (to experience)o Tendency to enjoy new and interesting thingsBig Five and Behavior- Predict many important Real-world behaviorso Job performance and grades in schoolo Physical health and life span- Relatively similar traits seen across cultures, but different prevalence rates.o Different cultures still have the Big 5.o Openness is less universal Alternative Trait Models- Big Threeo Positive emotionality Extraversiono Negative Emotionality Neuroticismo Constraint/impulse control Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, OpennessCan Personality Change?- Some variability prior to age 30, but little thereafterEvaluated Scientifically- Behavioral inconsistency- Response was that traits are predictors of aggregate, not isolated behaviors- Primarily describe individual differences rather than what causes themo Easy for how they differ but not where they come fromPersonality Assessment- How do we measure personality?- Need two key criteria – reliability and validity Structure Personality Tests- Paper-and-pencil tests consisting of questions you respond to in one of a few fixed ways- Consist of questions that people can answer in only one of a few wayso Some are developed empirically MMPI-2 and CPIo Others are developed rationally/theoretically NEO-PI-RPitfalls in Personality Assessment- The PT Barnum effect and the tendency to accept high base rate descriptors as accurateo Astrology and tarot readings- Overall, personality assessment can be useful, but only if using valid, reliable instrumentsProjective Test- Consist of ambiguous stimuli that the examinee must interpreto Rorschach testo Thematic Apperception Tests (TAT)o Human figure drawingso GraphologyRorschach Evaluated Scientifically- Unknown test-retest and problematic reliability scores - Little evidence that it detects features of mental disorders- Lack of incremental validityChapter 15Psychological Disorders: When Adaptation Breaks DownWhat is Mental Illness?- Psychopathology (abnormal Psychology) is often seen as a failure of adaption to the environment- Failure analysis approach tries to understand mental disorders by examining breakdowns in functioningWhat is Abnormality?- Clear line between normal and abnormalo Subjectivityo Not just black and white- Continuum ModelCharacteristics of Mental Disorder 4 D’s- Dysfunctiono Does the symptom cause the person to be unable to function properly? Can the person still work? Can the person maintain friendships?- Distresso Is the person uncomfortable as a result of the behavior or symptom?- Devianto Are behaviors unusual? (versus typical)- Dangerousnesso Behaviors and feelings that are potentially harmful Excessive aggression
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