1 / 73

Biological Approaches to Personality

Biological Approaches to Personality. Palmistry. determination of an individual’s characteristics by interpreting the various irregularities and folds of the skin. The Barnum Effect. EME Questionnaire. When troubled I seek out People Action Solitude I prefer physical comfort

inez
Download Presentation

Biological Approaches to Personality

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Biological Approachesto Personality

  2. Palmistry • determination of an individual’s characteristics by interpreting the various irregularities and folds of the skin

  3. The Barnum Effect

  4. EME Questionnaire • When troubled I seek out • People • Action • Solitude • I prefer • physical comfort • physical adventure • Privacy • The time of my life I favor is • Childhood • Early adulthood • Later years

  5. EME Questionnaire • What would bother me most would be • being cut off from other people • being closed off in small places • being exposed to endless noise • When in a group I like to • Mingle • take charge • take off • I prefer to • let things take their course • do things • observe what is going on

  6. EME Questionnaire • The thing I like most is • eatingexercisetime to myself • The qualities that fit me best are • tolerance and love of peoplelove of power and leadershipa highly developed self-awareness

  7. EME Questionnaire • Conduct a frequency count of 1, 2, 3s • 1 = Endomorph • 2 = Mesomorph • 3 = Ectomorph

  8. Sheldon’s Body Type Theory

  9. Endomorph • soft body • underdeveloped muscles • round shaped • Associated personality traits:

  10. Mesomorph • hard, muscular body, mature appearance • rectangular shaped, thick skin • upright posture • Associated personality traits:

  11. Ectomorph • thin, delicate build , young appearance • tall, lightly muscled • stoop-shouldered , large brain • Associated personality traits:

  12. From Body Types to Brain Structure

  13. PhineasGage(click here) • After Accident • fitful, irreverent • grossly profane • impatient and obstinate • lack of emotion • Prior to Accident • capable and efficient foreman • well-balanced mind • shrewd • business man

  14. Becky and Lucy • Chimps (1935) • Easily frustrated, vicious • Frontal lobes operated on… • Chimps became mellow • Egas Moniz was present • Procedure then applied to humans

  15. Egas Moniz • Nobel Prize in 1949 • 1937 – lobotomy • thalamus-prefrontal cortex incision

  16. Famous Recipients • Francis Farmer (actress) • Rosemary Kennedy (1941) • Received lobotomy for mood swings • Implication • less emotional, but not emotionally responsive and future anticipation becomes erratic and disorganized • Ability to make decisions falls apart

  17. Role the Amygdala • Part of limbic system • Reptilian Brain • Implicated in emotions • When removed: • less aggressive and less fearful • try to eat inedible things • increased sexual behavior

  18. Charles Whitman(click here) • University of Texas (summer, 1969) • Killed wife and mother • 14 others killed the next day • Autopsy • tumor next to amygdala

  19. Role of Cerebral Hemispheres • Right • Negative emotions • Damage to: • Bipolar Disorder • Mood swings • Energy fluctuations • Left • Positive emotions • Damage to: • Schizophrenia • Disorganized • Illogical thinking

  20. Brain Structure to Humors

  21. Humoural Theory • Hippocrates (460?-377? B.C.) • Galen (A. D. 130 - 200?) • Somatogenic Hypothesis • sanguine, melancholic, choleric, phlegmatic

  22. Aristotle

  23. Kant (1724-1804) • descriptions of the four temperaments • traits cluster together • prototypical model of personality

  24. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) • reorganized the four types • two dimensions • degree of emotionality • degree of changeability • dimensional model of personality

  25. Click here for video link Hans Eysenck 1916 - 1997 Click here

  26. Eysenck • critical of psychoanalysis • at worst – fictional • at best – untestable • 700 neurotically maladjusted patients • Reviewed case histories • Developed a two-factor model

  27. Eysenck • used factor analysis - two factors • Neuroticism • Disorganized personality, dependency, narrow interests, dismissal from military service, parental psychopathology, unsatisfactory home • Two groups • Neurotically maladjusted (obsessive, anxiety) • Hysterical (physical problems with no physical basis)

  28. Neuroticism • negative affect, sleepiness, irritability, feelings of inferiority, sluggish • heightened right hemisphere activity

  29. Neuroticism • use poor coping strategies (i.e., self-blame) • irrational ideas • less able to control their impulses

  30. Eysenck • Two Types of E-I • Introversion • Anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, reactive depression neuroses, irritability, apathy, self-conscious, moody, prone to day dreaming • Extraversion • Hysterical neurosis, bad work history, hypochondriacal, prone to stammer, accident prone, disgruntled, prone to aches and pains

  31. Eysenck • introverts prone to: • anxiety-depressive disorders • coined the term “dysthymia” • extraverts prone to: • hysteria-psychopathic disorders

  32. Eysenck • Enter Pavlov • Studies in conditioning • excitatory and inhibitory processes • Establishing a CR due to excitatory processes • Extinguishing CRs due to inhibitory processes

  33. Extraversion • Extraversion • talk more when they meet people • more eye contact • sales, personnel work, nursing and teaching • impulsive • gamble more often

  34. Extraversion • sexual • permissive in their sexual attitudes • higher sex drive • feel good about life • less responsive to punishment • persist in the face of punishment • don't tend to learn from their mistakes

  35. Extraversion • when Es are given a stimulant, they behave like Is • when Is are given an depressant, they tend to act like Es • Is are more sensitive to stimulation • pupil reaction of Es is slower • nervous system of Is is more sensitive

  36. Eysenck

  37. Eysenck

  38. Yerkes-Dodson Law optimal performance performance arousal level

  39. Yerkes-Dodson Law Neurotic Extrovert performance arousal level Easy Task

  40. Yerkes-Dodson Law normal extravert performance arousal level Hard Task

  41. Psychoticism • Eysenck proposed in mid 1970s • dimensional • at extreme, psychotic reactions/antisocial • moderate, unusualness and artistic • Polygenic personality trait • “PEN” captured in EPQ

  42. Criminality? • High scores PEN • Impulsivity migrates to P factor • Primary and Secondary Psychopaths • Primary –higher P relative to N • Secondary – higher N relative to P

  43. PEN • Psychoticism • aggressive, cold, egocentric, impersonal • antisocial, unempathic, creative • Extraversion • social, lively, active, assertive, • carefree, dominant, surgent • Neuroticism • anxious, depressed, guilt-prone • irrational, shy, moody emotional

  44. Gray’s Conception • Neuropsychologist • Basic theory: • Personality based on the interaction of two systems • Approach • Inhibition

  45. Gray • Approach System • Located in the Septal area and the lateral hypothalamus • Causes one to be sensitive to potential rewards and to be motivated to seek rewards

  46. Gray • Inhibition system • Controlled by septo-hippocampus • Causes one to be sensitive to potential punishments and to be motivated to avoid those punishments

  47. Gray and Eysenck Integrated

  48. Gray • Added a third dimension • Flight or Fight system • Controls tendency to be aroused or aggressive • Controlled by amygdala • Parallel to Eysenck’s “psychoticism”

  49. Neural Effects on Personality

More Related