PPE 3003 1st Edition Lecture 9 Outline of Last Lecture I. Controversy About Genes and PersonalityII. Genes and PersonalityIII. The Human Genome IV. Goals of Behavioral GeneticsV. Heritability VI. Behavioral Genetics Methods VII. Behavioral Genetics Major Findings VIII. Attitudes and Preferences IX. Shared versus Nonshared Environmental Influences X. Genes and the Environment: Two Issues XI. Science, Politics, and Values Outline of Current Lecture I. Phineas GageII. Personality and the BrainIII. Physiological Approaches to Personality IV. Personality Theories Based on Physiology V. Morningness-EveningnessVI. Frontal Brain AsymmetryCurrent LectureA. Phineas Gagea. Terrible accident on railroad tracksb. Pole went through his headc. Open brain wound healed in 10 daysd. Personality changedi. Inconsiderate ii. Constant profanityiii. RudeB. Personality and the Braina. Junior Seaui. Football player and father of fourii. Committed suicideb. Temporal lobe seizures C. Physiological Approaches to Personalitya. Combine self reports and observer reports with physiological testsi. Goal1. Try to find physiological basis for personality b. Commonly used measuresi. Electrodermal Activity1. Skin conductance2. Electrodes/sensors on skina. Noninvasive b. No discomfort c. Movement is constrained 3. Mild electrical current transferred across skina. More sweat with arousali. More conductance of electricity across skin4. Measures sympathetic nervous system activity a. Fight or flight 5. Measures response toa. Sudden noisesb. Emotional picturesc. Anxietyd. Fear ii. Cardiovascular activity1. Heart ratea. Recall experiences and see their heart rate, for example iii. Brain activity1. EEGa. What areas of brain light up and are active 2. MRI iv. Biochemical measures1. Hormones in saliva D. Personality Theories Based on Physiology a. Eysenck’s Theory of Introversion-Extraversioni. Originally, Eysenck thought that introverts had higher baseline levels of activity in the brain’s ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) than extroverts1. Due to low levels of ARAS activity, extraverts seek out stimulationii. According to his revised theory, introverts are more reactive to stimulation than extraverts1. They do not differ in baseline arousalb. Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theoryi. Behavioral activation system (BAS) is sensitive to rewardsii. Behavioral inhibition system (BIS) is sensitive to punishmentiii. People differ in how sensitive their BAS and BIS systems are1. Stronger BAS can lead to impulsivity a. Relative to BIS2. Stronger BIS can lead to high levels of anxietya. Relative to BAS c. Cloninger’s Tridimensional Personality Modeli. Low levels of dopamine 1. The feel good chemical2. Novelty seekingii. Low levels of norepinephrine1. Associated with learning2. Reward dependenceiii. Abnormal serotonin metabolism1. Harm avoidance2. Not a simple linear relationshipE. Morningness-Eveningnessa. People differ in their circadian rhythmsi. Studied by “free running”1. Observing people’s daily behaviors with no time cuesb. People with shorter rhythms tend to be morning peoplec. People with longer rhythms tend to be evening peopleF. Frontal Brain Asymmetrya. Eyes drifting to the righti. Left-side activationii. More susceptibility to positive emotionsb. Eyes drifting to the lefti. Right-side activationii. More susceptibility to negative emotions c. Some evidence that right-sided asymmetry can be overcome by mindfulness
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