Monday, February 13, 2012

2/13 and 2/15 and 2/20: Motives in Depth

Implicit vs. Self-attributed Motives
*review session 7:00 2/21 Dewey 2-162
  • Body Consciousness
    • High score
      • indicates correlation between knowing implicit and self-attributed motives
      • you can self-report the implicit, non-conscious, motives accurately
  • Implicit motive
    • unconscious need
    • more stable and consistent
  • Self-attributed motive
    • conscious need
    • immediate responses to socially constructed situations
  • Need/Motive: Strength and Weakness
    • Strength
      • addresses WHY
      • deeper explanations
    • Weakness
      • not very comprehensive
      • much room for additional research
Biological Approach

  • Phrenology
    • Abstract qualities
      • associated with brain "organs"
    • "Protuberance"
      • quality like cheerfulness grows along with the growth of its respective organ
      • produced by strong development of organ
        • once it's grown enough it becomes a bump
    • Assess Personality
      • by feeling head
      • bump on the head that can be felt on the head
        • bigger the bump, stronger the quality
    • Gall and Schnerz 
      • pionners
  • Eyesenck:  argument for relation between biology and individual differences
    • Consistency over time
      • has to be something stable in a person to maintain personality
        • biology is the only stable thing
    • Same Pattern - Different Cultures
      • same pattern of traits keeps showing up across cultures
      • cross-culture similarities would not be possible unless there was some biological catalyst
    • Genetics
      • some personality differences and similarities, ex/introvert, are genetically grounded
      • Eyesenck's estimate of bio-portion of personality: 2/3
Biological basis for Introversion-Extroversion

  • I-E: ascending reticular activating system (ARAS)
    • connects the spinal cord to the area of brain which regulates general arousal
  • Regulates general Arousal
    • high level- high arousal
    • low level- low arousal
  • Typical Level
    • Higher for Introverts than Extroverts
    • Optimal Cortical Arousal
      • everyone craves this set point
    • Stimulus
      • Introverts- stimulus shy
        • already have a high level of arousal; too much stimulation shoots them over the Optimal
      • Extroverts- stimulus hungry
        • already have low level of arousal; needs much stimulation to reach optimal level
    • Sensitivity to Stimulation
      • Introverts
        • extremely high
      • Extroverts
        • not nearly as high as introverts
  • Stability-Instbaility: S-I: visceral brain
    • comprised of hippocampus, amygdala , and other sections
    • Emotion Generator
    • Threshold of Emotion activation
      • I- low threshold of activation in visceral brain
      • S- high threshold
    • S-I magnifies I-E
      • instability-stability amplifies/renders more extreme introversion-extroversion
  • Gray's two dimensions of personality
    • Anxiety Proneness and Impulsivity
    • grounded in Brain
    • Anxiety Proneness
      • Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)
        • septo-hippocampal system
        • activated by
          • punishment stimuli
          • absence of desired reward
          • fear stimuli
          • novel stimuli
      • BIS activation
        • Behavioral effects
          • don't engage quickly in novel situations
        • Cognitive effects
          • looking for ,to avoid, problems in environment
        • Affective effects
          • feels fear 
    • Impulsivity: BAS
      • dopaminergic pathways
        • dopamine
      • activated by
        • reward stimuli
        • escape
      • BAS activation
        • Behavioral effects
          • looking forward to approach something/someone to obtain rewards
        • Affecive effects
          • feel hope
      • combination of Anxiety proneness and Impulsivity leads to real variable
        • score on one does not affect score on the other
  • Eyesenk's dimensions stated in terms of BIS and BAS (*bold= high score)
    • I-E
      • Extrovert- high BAS/ low BIS
        • high to approach and low to avoid
      • Introvert- high BIS/ low BAS
        • high to avoid and low to approach
    • S-I
      • Unstable- high BAS/low BIS
        • high in approach and avoidance
      • Stable- low BAS/ low BIS
        • low in approach and avoidance
  • Gray on psychopathology
    • strong BIS/weak BAS- phobias
    • strong BAS/ weak BIS- antisocial behavior
Genetics' role in Behavior
    • Animal Personality
      • Traits found in certain animals:
        • Introversion- Extroversion
        • Neuroticism
    • Behavioral Genetics
      • definition: genetic component determines an extent of one's behavior
      • two determinants of behavior
        • Nature vs Nurture
          • how much of witnessed behavior is due to each side
          • Dalton's Rat experiment
            • one hyper group of rats; one lazy group of rats
            • generations later: both descendants of these had amplified feeling of hyperness or laziness
      • Behavioral Genetics methods
        • Family Method
          • see if people who are more genetically related to each other are more similar
            • brothers are more similar than cousins, who are more similar than second cousins etc.
          • parents of high status will have high status children and low status to low 
          • Weakness
            • does not take nurture into account at all, making it unreliable
        • Twin Method
          • Question: Do Identical ones show more similarity than nonidentical?
          • Identical twins (mono-zygote, MZ)
            • Introversion- Extroversion: r = .51
            • Neuroticism: r = .50
          • Non-identical twins (di-zygotes, DZ)
            • Introversion - Extroversion: r = .21
            • Neuroticism: r = .23
          • Weakness
            • environment is not the same for identical and nonidentical twins
        • Combination of Twin and Adoption Methods
          • MZ twins raised apart/together difference
            • environment is the key factor
              • end up similar: genetics are vastly important
              • end up different: nurture plays important role
            • pinnacle of behavioral methods
          • Introversion-Extroversion
            • apart: r = .61
            • together: r = .51
          • Neuroticism
            • raised apart: r = .53
            • together: r = .50
          • De-identification: when you are really similar to another, you try to differentiate yourself
    • 40% of differences = Genetic *
    • Environmental Variation (twins/brothers prime example)
      • Shared Environments
        • House, Class, etc.
        • increasing similarities among people with same environment, 
        • variance of 5% for similarities in personality
        • Do NOT create similar personalities
      • Nonshared Environment
        • Accident to you, Birth order, Relationships, etc.
        • variance of 35% differences in personality
          • increases differences among people
      • MZ Twins
        • NOT AFFECTED by shared/nonshared environments
      • Correlation between separated twins' personality and biological twins' =
    • Mischel's 1968 Critique
      • proposed personality
        • traits don't exist
        • personality more apparent than real
        • personality comprised of Nature AND Nurture
      • wrote book: Personality and Assessment
      • If traits-----consistency
        • traits defined in consistency
          • anxiety carries on to every situation for anxious people- trait perspective
      • Personality coefficient: +.30
        • traits and situation don't have a huge amount of overlap, low correlation
      • Little Consistency
        • personality does not have consistency
        • more apparent than real; not there, just dreaming it up
      • Biases "create" consistency
        • Perceptual Bias- expectations of what we think we'll see from others' behavior creates 'consistency' in their behavior
          • person tells you a girl is quiet, you do all the talking with her, you think she's quiet
        • Sampling Bias- people are normally constricted by societal setting
          • librarian automatically quiet introvert etc.
    • 3 Camps in Response to Mischel
      • Defend Traits (rebuttal) 
      • Situationism
      • Dynamic Interactionism
    • Defend Traits
      • +. 30 still important
        • Predictions in which small correlations matter: medicine, election, forecasting etc.
        • Experimental drug example
      • Aggregation- needed for high correlations between traits and behaviors
        • diary study
          • had people report on behavior for two weeks
          • good predictor
        • multiple choice exams
          • more choices,aggregate then, everything comes together
      • Phenotype/Genotype Distinction- outward behavior different, underlying purpose the same
        • phenotype= outward
        • genotype = inward
        • brownie ex: politeness to accept though full; politeness to decline last for others
          • phenotype = accept/decline
          • genotype = politeness
      • Some people are consistent, others are not
        • High self-monitors- conform to situation
        • Low self-monitors- true to self
    • Situationism
      • situation = primary cause of behavior
      • if person acts same in a situation, the situation produces behavior, not something internal
    • Dynamic Interactionism 
      • change/select/manipulate environment in consistent way
      • situations have an effect because personality affected situation to begin with
      • 3 types
        • Proactive- select self into situations intentionally to feel better
          • choose what you want to be in
          • choose a job to work in , party to go to, etc.
        • Evocative-  self changes situations unintentionally by mere presence
          • you evoke trait-relevant behavior from people in environment
          • presence in situation alone is enough to evoke behavior from others
        • Manipulation- self manipulates situation intentionally
          • turn up music, lights: change room by behavior intentionally

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