Individual Differences Flashcards
(30 cards)
what was the model before the Big 5 Personality Trait model?
Eysenck Two Factor Model:
- neuroticism: the tendency to experience negative emotions
- extraversion: the degree to which a person is outgoing and seeks stimulation
what are the Big 5 personality traits:
OCEAN
1) Openness to new experience
2) Conscientiousness
3) Extraversion
4) Agreeableness
5) Neuroticism
what is Openness?
appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity and a variety of experiences.
what is Conscientiousness?
self-discipline, act dutifully, aim for achievement and plan rather than spontaneously act.
what is Extraversion?
energy, positive emotions, and the tendency to seek stimulation from the company of others.
what is Agreeableness?
compassion and cooperation rather than suspicion and antagonistic behaviour
what is Neuroticism?
a tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily such as anger, anxiety, depression or vulnerability (sometimes called emotional instability).
how is cortical arousal the biological basis to the Eysenck model?
o Differences in customary levels of cortical arousal
- introverts are over-aroused.
- extroverts are under-aroused
o Suddenness of shifts in arousal
- unstable (neurotic) people show large and sudden shifts in arousal.
what is used to measure mental age?
Binet-Simon scale
how is IQ calculated?
what is average IQ?
mental age score/chronological
x100
average is 100 IQ
what is Spearman’s Two Factor Theory?
o General ability (g)
– required for performance of all mental tasks of any kind (this underlies the specific factors).
o Special abilities
– required for performance on just one kind of mental test.
E.G. scores on a verbal comprehension test are largely influenced by one’s general ability but they are also affected by one’s special ability to perform verbal comprehension tasks
i.e. you need general intelligence to do intellectual tasks
how does conscientiousness contribute to health?
associated with positive health outcomes
- adds 7.5 yrs to life expectancy
- higher medical engagement and adherence
- less likely to engage in harmful behaviour
- more likely to engage in healthy behaviour
examples to increase conscientiousness
- text reminders
- goal settings
how does neuroticism contribute to health?
- poorer health outcomes
- increased symptoms reporting
- higher rate of mental health disorders
- higher mortality rate
- higher rate of healthcare usage
- less adherence
- more harmful behaviour
what is fluid intelligence?
what happens to it with age?
novel problem-solving
The ability to see relationships (analogies and letter/number series) which is the primary reasoning ability.
Fluid intelligence decreases with age.
what is crystallised intelligence?
what happens to it with age?
ability to applied acquired knowledge to current problems
Crystallised intelligence increases with age.
what is the Simon Baron-Cohen Model?
Cohen described two factors that represent sex differences and explained autism (the extreme male brain):
- empathising :infer feelings and thoughts from others
- systematising: drive to analyse or construct a system i.e. identify the rules that govern that system and use them to predict how the system will behave
what is empathising?
the ability to identify and appropriately respond to the emotions of others. Empathisers tend to be adept at reading non-verbal communication and judging character.
what is systematising?
the ability to analyse how systems work and behave, with a final goal of predicting and controlling system behaviour or building a new system.
what are the 5 brain types according to the Simon Baron-Cohen Model?
o E-type
– empathising stronger than sympathising
– FEMALE brain.
o S-type
– systemising stronger than empathising
– MALE brain.
o B-type
– a balanced brain.
o Extreme E-type
– empathising very strong, systemising very weak.
o Extreme S-type
– systemising very strong, empathising very weak
– AUTISTIC brain.
what type of brain does an autistic person have?
systemising very strong, empathising very weak
in which group is autism and Aspergers more predominant?
autism= 4: 1 male to female
aspergers= 9:1 male to female
where do people stand in the empathising continuum?
least to most
autism
where do people stand in the systemising continuum?
least to most
female, male, autistic
