Fun With Yourself! Personality Psychology

1. Fun With Yourself!Personality Psychology

2. Personality An individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. Each dwarf has a distinct personality.

3. The Trait Perspective An individual’s unique constellation of durable dispositions and consistent ways of behaving (traits) constitutes his or her personality. 3

4. Exploring Traits One way to condense the immense list of personality traits is through factor analysis, a statistical approach used to describe and relate personality traits. Each personality is uniquely made up of multiple traits. Allport & Odbert (1936), identified almost 18,000 words representing traits. 4

5. Factor Analysis Hans and Sybil Eysenck suggested that personality could be reduced down to two polar dimensions, extraversion-introversion and emotional stability-instability. 5

6. Biology and Personality • Personality dimensions are influenced by genes. • Brain-imaging procedures show that extraverts seek stimulation because their normal brain arousal is relatively low. • Genes also influence our temperament and behavioral style. Differences in children’s shyness and inhibition may be attributed to autonomic nervous system reactivity. 6

7. Assessing Traits Personality inventories are questionnaires designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors assessing several traits at once. 7

8. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders. Developed by empirically testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminated between diagnostic groups. MMPI 2 TEST QUESTIONS IN ORDERTRUE OR FALSE (567 QUESTIONS)1.I like mechanics magazines2.I have a good appetite3.I wake up fresh & rested most mornings4.I think I would like the work of a librarian5.I am easily awakened by noise6.I like to read newspaper articles on crime7.My hands and feet are usually warm enough8.My daily life is full of things that keep me interested9.I am about as able to work as I ever was10.There seems to be a lump in my throat much of the time. 8

9. The Big Five Factors Today’s trait researchers believe that earlier trait dimensions, such as Eysencks’ personality dimensions, fail to tell the whole story. So, an expanded range (five factors) of traits does a better job of assessment. 9

10. Endpoints 10

11. Questions about the Big Five Quite stable in adulthood. However, they change over development. 1. How stable are these traits? Fifty percent or so for each trait. 2. How heritable are they? These traits are common across cultures. 3. How about other cultures? 11

12. Evaluating the Trait Perspective Person-Situation Controversy Walter Mischel (1968, 1984, 2004) points out that traits may be enduring, but the resulting behavior in various situations is different. “Traits are not good predictors of behavior.” Christian Bale Freak Out 12

13. Fun with Kids!!Developmental Psychology

14. Developmental Psychology

15. Prenatal Development: Teratogens Viruses: e.g. HIV, flu -Flu & Schizophrenia Drugs: e.g. alcohol, crack -FAS & “crack babies” Chemicals: mercury, cigarettes

16. Cigarettes:Commercially Produced: 599 Additives http://quitsmoking.about.com/cs/nicotineinhaler/a/cigingredients.htm

17. General Development • Brain development  • Motor Development • Sit  Crawl  Stand  Walking!! • Cognitive Development • Schemas + Assimilation + Accommodation

18. Research With Babies Your answer is only as good as your question! Habituation works with babies. Babies can do “novelty-preference procedures.”

19. Babies also recognize the “impossible!” Wynn (1992, 2000) showed children stared longer at the wrong number of objects than the right ones.

20. Baby Math! • Dr. McGrink’s(McCrink & Wynn, 2004) • Work looks at large number math with infants/children • Babies stare longer at wrong “math answers” • http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~mccrink/multimedia.html • (Think of it less in terms of concrete numbers and more in terms of “‘A lot’ minus ‘some’ shouldn’t equal ‘a lot’.”)

21. Another Way to Study the Developing Mind Dr. Santos’ work explores the evolutionary origins of the human mind by comparing the cognitive abilities of human and non-human primates Magic Shows for Monkeys!

22. Piaget’s Theory of Development

23. Sensorimotor Stage • Babies take in the world — through looking, hearing, touching, mouthing and grasping (i.e., the senses) • Children younger than 6 months generally do not have object permanence, i.e., objects that are out of sight are also out of mind. • It’s why playing peek-a-boo with infants is so fun for them. You literally disappear in their mind!

24. Preoperational Stage • From 2 to about 6-7 years, children are in preoperational stage • too young to perform mental operations. • Focus is on words, images and intuition. Not logic • Why trying to engage in deep, explanatory discussions with children does not work. • Lack understanding of conservation

25. Preoperational Stage: Criticism DeLoache (1987) showed that children as young as 3-years-old are able to use mental operations. When shown a model of dog’s hiding place behind the couch, 2½-year-old could not locate the stuffed dog in an actual room, but the 3-year-old did. Monkeys can do this too!

26. Preoperational Stage Sally Boysen’s Brilliant Monkeys! Thinking Monkeys Number Crunch Monkeys Note: Watch “Chimps Minds” for the “hide & seek” (start it where Alda says “This is Sally Boysen”)

27. Formal Operational Stage • Around age 12 we move from concrete thinking to abstract thinking • Can now use symbols and imagined realities to systematically reason • Junior Socrates: you can now understand “If A, then B” logic • If John is in school, Mary is in school. John is in school. What can you say about Mary? • Why you aren’t doing calculus before this age 

28. Origins of Attachment Harlow (1971) showed that infants bond with surrogate mothers because of bodily contact and not nourishment. Harlow Primate Laboratory, University of Wisconsin

29. Attachment Theory Harlow’s studies showed that monkeys experience great anxiety if their terry-cloth mother was removed & were frightened. Harlow Primate Laboratory, University of Wisconsin

30. Attachment Differences Placed in a strange situation, 60% children express secure attachment, i.e., they explore their environment happily in the presence of their mothers. When mother leaves they show distress. The other 30% show insecure attachment, these children cling to their mothers or caregivers, and are less likely to explore the environment.

31. Separation Anxiety Separation anxiety peaks at 13 months of age. No matter whether the children are home or day care raised.

32. Deprivation of Attachment What happens when circumstances prevent a child from forming attachments? In such circumstances children become: Withdrawn Frightened Unable to develop speech

33. Prolonged Deprivation If parental or caregiving support is deprived for long, children are placed at risk for physical, psychological and social problems, including alterations in brain neurochemical levels.

34. Child-Rearing Practices

35. Authoritative Parenting Authoritative parenting correlates with social competence — other factors like common genes may leading to a easy-going temperament may invoke authoritative parenting style.