Chapter 7

Question 1

Measuring Personality Physiologically (3)

Answer 1

1. Electrodermal Activity
2. cardiovascular Activity
3. Brain Activity

Question 2

Electrodermal Activity (aka skin conductance):

Answer 2

Provides a measure of sympathetic nervous system activity

Question 3

Nock and Mendes, 2008:

Answer 3

• Emotional Reactivity: Intensity and persistence of emotion in response to stimuli
• Thought to be elevated among people with lived experience of self-injury - especially in response to negative/stressful context

Question 4

Nock and Mendes, 2008 (2 groups):

Answer 4

Induced stress in 2 groups and measured skin conductance:
1. Participants with a history of self-injury
2. Participants without a history of self-injury

Question 5

Mock and Mendes, 2008 (Stress Induction Task):

Answer 5

• Matching game in which failure feedback is given (even when a response is correct)
• Determine how long people stay in the game and tolerate distress from negative (failure) feedback

Question 6

Nock and Mendes, 2008 (Main Findings):

Answer 6

1. Individuals with a history of self-injury had elevated skin conductance and more negative emotional reactivity to stress
2. Individuals who self-injured also quit the game sooner which might indicate lower distress tolerance

Question 7

Nock and Mendes, 2008 (Implication):

Answer 7

Emotional reactivity and distress tolerance may be hey to understanding self-injury - they are also parts of personality and individual differences

Question 8

Cardiovascular Activity (Blood Pressure):

Answer 8

• Pressure exerted by blood in the artery walls
• Common measure of stress response

Question 9

Cardiovascular Activity (Heart Rate):

Answer 9

• Expressed in Beats per Minute (BPM) (e.g., the interval between beats)
• Good indicator of stress/anxiety as well as cognitive effort

Question 10

Cardiovascular Activity (Heart Rate - Cardiac Reactivity):

Answer 10

• Increases in BP and heart in times of stress
• Chronic cardiac reactivity linked with Type A Personality (particularly, hostility)

Question 11

Brain Activity (Electroencephalogram (EEG))

Answer 11

Measures brain activity (electricity) via electrodes to determine areas of brain activity

Question 12

Brain Activity (Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI))

Answer 12

Shows images of areas of brain activity

Question 13

Psychopathy:

Answer 13

• Decreased limbic activation when viewing violent images for those high in psychopathy vs. a control group (who had more activity)
• Coloured areas indicate limbic activation

Question 14

MRI Findings in Personality Psychology (Neuroticism):

Answer 14

Correlated with increased frontal brain activation to negative images

Question 15

MRI Findings in Personality Psychology (Extraversion):

Answer 15

Correlated with increased frontal brain activation to positive images

Question 16

Eysenck’s Original Theory (Ascending Reticular Activating System):

Answer 16

• Gateway for nervous stimulation of cortex
• Introversion = Higher resting cortical arousal (ARAS lets in too much)
• Extraversion = Lower resting cortical arousal (ARAS lets in too little)

Question 17

Eysencks Revised Theory:

Answer 17

• Those high in introversion or extraversion do not have different resting states of arousal
• The difference lies in the degree of arousability (supported by significant research)

Question 18

Sensitivity to Reward & Punishment (Behavioural Activation System (BAS)):

Answer 18

Responsive to rewards and regulates approach behaviour
Active BAS = Impulsivity

Question 19

Sensitivity to Reward & Punishment (Fight-flight-Freeze System (FFFS))

Answer 19

Responsive to immediate threats/aversive stimuli - plays a role in our FEAR response (correlated with fear proneness/avoidance)

Question 20

Sensitivity to Reward & Punishment (Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS)):

Answer 20

Resolves conflict between the BAS and FFS
- Active BIS = Anxiety and Rumination (and thus linked with neuroticism)

Question 21

Sensation-Seeking:

Answer 21

• Tendency to seek out thrills, seek experience, take risks and avoid boredom
• Less tolerant of sensory deprivation

Question 22

Physiological Basis of Sensation-seeking (Monoamine Oxidase (MAO)):

Answer 22

Regulates neurotransmitter level by breaking them down
- Too little MAO = too much neurotansmitter
- Too much MAO = too little neurotransmitter
- High levels of sensation-seeking = low MAO

Question 23

Problem Gambling:

Answer 23

• High sensation-seeking
• High impulsivity

Question 24

Neurotransmitters and Personality (Cloninger’s Tridimensional Personality Model):

Answer 24

• Low levels of dopamine in novelty seeking
• Low levels of serotonin in harm avoidance
• Low levels norepinephrine in reward dependence

Question 25

Morningness - Eveningness (Circadian Rhythms):

Answer 25

Biological processes fluctuating on a 25-25-hour cycle 1. Shorter circadian rhythms - hit peaks earlier; sleep earlier at night 2. Longer circadian rhythms - hit peaks later; sleep later at night

Question 26

Chelminski et al., 1998 (Main Finding):

Answer 26

- Morningness-Eveningness and Depressive Symptoms - Higher eveningness correlated with higher depressive symptoms

Question 27

Chelminski et al., 1998 (Implication):

Answer 27

- Eveningness may help understand some of the biological mechanisms involved in depression - Morningness may help understand protective factors

Question 28

Brain Asymmetry:

Answer 28

1. Hemispheres of the brain are specialized and involved in specific functions 1. EEG measures brain activity 3. Emotions often measured by activation in the frontal brain

Question 29

Brain Asymmetry and Affective Style:

Answer 29

1. Left Frontal Hemisphere - more active when experiencing pleasant emotions 2. Right Frontal Hemisphere - more active when experiencing negative emotions - This response is stable and affective style is thus considered trait-like