PSY2012 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDECOVERS CHAPTERS 14, 15, AND SOME OF 16Chapter 14: Personality (Who We Are)How do you define personality?● What does it mean if someone is extraverted?○ Ex: social, outgoing, optimistic, less traditional● What does it mean if someone is conscientious?Personality: Stable tendencies within individuals that influence how they respond to their environments.Causes of Personality● Nature vs. Nurture○ Do genes influence how extraverted we are?○ Or does environment? How much?○ How would we use a family to determine this?● Behavioralgenetic methods○ attempt to disentangle the effects of:■ genetic factors■ shared environmental factors● anything outside the genetic proteins based sequence● being raised in the same environment makes you similar■ nonshared environmental factors● things that make siblings different (friends, instruments, sports)● Twin and Adoption Studies○ Identical (MZ) = 100% same genetics○ Fraternal (DZ) = 50% same genetics○ Concordance rate: The statistical probability that one individual will share a trait withanother individual, typically a twin or other related person.■ High concordance rate MZ=DZ, evidence for shared environment■ Low concordance rate MZ=DZ, evidence for nonshared environment● Numerous personality traits are influenced by genetics but all are much below a 1.0 correlation.○ Demonstrates nonshared environmental influence.● Shared environment plays little to no role in adult personality.○ Supported by twin and adoption studies● Shared environment○ MZ twins reared apart (no shared environment) similar in personality to MZ twins raisedtogether.○ Adoption studies: children more like their biological parents than adoptive parents○ Genes play a huge role in our personality.A NOTE OF CAUTION:● Remember, genes code for proteins, not specific behaviors.● Genes have indirect influences of traits, while the environment influences how these are displayedin our lives.Sigmund Freud: Vietnamese neurologist who developed first comprehensive theory of personality.Psychoanalytic Theory● Developed by Freud● Rest on 3 primary assumptions:○ Psychic determinism■ Everything we do is done for a reason outside our conscious awareness○ Symbolic meaning■ There’s also meaning to everything we do behaviors can be symbolic of urgesand drives○ Unconscious motivation■ primal urges for sexuality and aggressionStructure of Personality● Freud thought that the psyche consisted of three components:○ Id basic instincts, operates on pleasure principle. Primal forces existing in subconscious.■ Freud thinks that anything everyone wanted to do is because of an underlyingfeeling to have sex or kill.○ Ego principal decision maker (reality principle)■ We don’t act upon those urges because of the ego.■ Delays gratification or engages symbolically.○ Superego sense of morality● People who are able to keep these in check are considered healthy. Crazy people tend to have ahyped up and uncontrollable id.Anxiety & Defense Mechanisms● The ego will try to minimize anxiety via defense mechanisms○ Good thing○ Everybody uses them○ Bad thing when you use the same one repeatedly● Repression○ Motivated forgetting of emotionally threatening memories or impulses.● Projection○ Unconscious attribution of our negative qualities onto others.■ Ex: Accuse bf/gf of cheating when you’re the one who really wants to cheat● Sublimation○ Transforming a socially unacceptable impulse into an admired goal.Stages of Psychosexual Development● Freud believed that we pass through stages● Insisted that sexuality begins at infancy● Individuals who get fixated on a stage and have difficulty moving on● Stages1. oral2. anal3. phallic4. latency5. genital● Five major criticisms:○ Unfalsifiability○ Failed predictions○ Questionable conception of the unconscious○ Reliance on unrepresentative samples○ Flawed assumption of shared environmental influenceTrait Models● Intersected primarily in describing and understanding the structure of personality.● Used statistical techniques to reduce diversity of personality descriptors to underlying traits● 5 traits that have repeatedly appeared in such studies:○ extraversion○ neuroticism○ agreeableness○ conscientiousness○ openness to experienceBig 5 and Behavior● Predict many realworld behaviors○ Job performance and grades in school○ Physical health and lifespan● Relatively similar traits seen across cultures, but different prevalence rates.Alternative Trait Models (Big 3)● Positive Emotionally○ extraversion● Negative Emotionally○ neuroticism● Constraint/Impulse Control○ agreeableness○ conscientiousness○ opennessCan personality change? Some variability prior to age 30, but little thereafter.Evaluated Scientifically● Mischel’s argument concerning behavioral inconsistency● Response was that traits are predictors of aggregate, not isolated behaviors● Primarily describe individual differences rather than what causes themPersonality Assessment● How do we measure personality?● Need two key criteria○ Reliability○ ValidityStructured Personality Tests● Paper and pencil tests consisting of questions in one of a few mixed ways .Chapter 15: Psychological Disorders (When Adaptation Breaks Down)What is mental illness?● Psychopathology (abnormal psychology) is after seen as a failure of adaptation to theenvironment.● Failure analysis approach tries to understand mental disorders by examining breakdowns infunctioning.● Not a clear cut definition.What is abnormality?● Clear line between normal and abnormal?○ Subjectivity○ Not just black and white● Continuum model○ measures normal vs. abnormal○ everyone deviates, is dysfunctional, or distressed at some times, in some ways.○ it’s a matter of degree not either/or!!Characteristics of Mental Disorder (The 4 D’s)● Dysfunction (also called impairment)● Does the symptom cause the person to be unable to function properly?■ Symptoms interfere with everyday life■ Can the person still work?■ Can the person maintain friendships?● Causes impairment● Distress● Is the person uncomfortable as a result of the behavior or symptom?● causes distress to the individual or to those around him/her● Deviant● Are behaviors unusual? (vs. typical)■ In terms of: STATISTICALLY how
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