Psychology 1 - Personality Flashcards
(25 cards)
What is temperament?
The genetic component of personality
What is a longitudinal study?
A study carried out over time to show how behaviour changes over time
What is personality?
The thoughts, feelings and behaviours that make an individual unique
What is the difference between monozygotic and dizygotic twins?
Monozygotic twins have an identical genotype
Dizygotic twins are non-identical
Why are monozygotic twins useful to psychologists?
They show how differences in background can affect personality
What is type theory?
The theory that suggests that personality types are inherited
What is the difference between an introvert and an extrovert?
Extroverts look to other people for entertainment
Introverts are content with their own company and have a small group of very close friends
What is neuroticism?
A personality type that describes people who are highly emotional and sensitive
What is the amygdala?
The part of the brain involved in emotion
What is the prefrontal cortex?
The very front of brain which is controlling strong emotions
What are socioeconomic factors?
Social and financial issues that affect individuals
What are personality scales?
Ways of measuring personality with yes / no questions
What is psychoticism?
A dimension measured by Eyesenck to describe people who are are hostile, aggressive and insensitive
What did Thomas, Chess and Birch do?
To discover whether ways of responding to an enviroment remain stable throughout life
They studied 133 studied from infancy to adulthood, their behaviour was observed and the parents were interviewed about the child’s reactions to change
The children fell into 3 categories which were “easy”, “difficult” and “slow to warm up” in their reactions to change and these traits stayed throughout their lives
Temperament must be innate
Evaluate the Thomas, Chess and Birch study
The children lived in New York so we can’t generalise the results
The parents could give answers that show the children in the best possible way
What did Buss and Plomin do?
To test the idea that temperanent is genetic
They studied 228 pairs of monozygotic twins and 172 pairs of dizygotic twins and rated the temperaments at the age of 5, they looked at 3 dimensions
which were “emotionality” (strength of emotional response), “activity” (how energetic) and “sociability” (how much wanted to be with others)
There was a close correlation between the monozygotic twins than the dizygotic twins
Temperament has a genetic basis
Evaluate the Buss and Plomin study
Monozygotic twins are treated in very similar ways so the similarities could come from this
Research carried out on twins can’t be generalised to everyone else
What did Kagan and Snidman do?
To see if temperament is due to biological differences
They studied the reactions of 4 month old babies to new situations, the baby was placed next to the caregiver for the first minute but for the next 3 minutes, the caregiver moved out of view and the researcher showed the baby toys
20% were distressed and called high reactive, 40% were calm and called low reactive, the rest were somewhere in between
They concluded that these are inherited differences in the way the brain responds
Evaluate the Kagan and Snidman study
It was a large sample so you can generalise the results
Lacks ecological validity because it was an experimental setting
Give a study into personality differences
Eysenck (1947)
To investigate personality differences between people
700 servicemen completed a questionaire, Eysenck analysed the results using a technique called factor analysis
He identified 2 dimensions of personality: extraversion - introversion and neuroticism - stability
Everyone can be placed on this scale, most lie in the centre of the scale
Evaluate the personality differences study
Answers could be based on their current moods
He didn’t consider the fact that personality is affected by experience as well as genetics
Give a study into the causes of APD
Raine (2000)
To support the theory that abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex cause APD
MRI was used to study 21 men with APD and a control group of 34 healthy men, they were all volunteers
The APD group had an 11% reduction in the prefrontal cortex compared with the control group
APD is caused by a reduction in the prefrontal cortex
Evaluate the causes of APD study
Results might not relate to women because only men were used
The study assumes that there is no experience-related causes of APD
Give a study into situational causes of APD
Elander (2000)
To investigate the childhood risk factors that can be used to predict APD in childhood
Researchers investigated 225 twins who were diagnosed with childhood disorders and interviewed them 10 - 25 years later
Childhood hyperactivity, conduct disorders, low IQ and reading problems were strong predictors of APD and criminality in later life
Disruptive behaviour in childhood can be used to predict APD in adulthood
