Personality+Ch.+12

PowerPoint Presentation

Biological Traits: Hans EysenckChapter 12

Historical PredecessorsPredecessors of Eysencks theory includeHippocratesJungGallSheldon

Sheldon's Relationships Among Components of Physique and Temperament

Constructing a Model of PersonalityInsisted on strict, scientific model of personality that focused on two distinct aspectsFactor-analytic studies providing description of personalityCausal analyses based on experimental tests to identify biological causes

Revised theories when predictions were not supported by experimental evidence

Identification of SuperfactorsThe hierarchical model of personalitySpecific responses of behaviors that we can actually observeHabitual response clusters of specific behaviors that characteristically reoccur in similar circumstancesTraitsDimensions

SuperfactorsIntroversion versus ExtraversionDegree to which a person is outgoing and participative in relating to other peopleEmotionality versus StabilityIndividuals adjustment to the environment and the stability of his or her behavior over timePsychoticismCharacterized by the loss or distortion of reality and inability to distinguish between reality and fantasyThe Intercorrelation of Traits

Psychoticism

Thinking CriticallyThe Lemon TestTie a length of thread to the center of a double-tipped cotton swab. Swallow three times and put one end of swab onto your tongue. Hold it in your mouth for 30 seconds.Remove the swab and put four drops of lemon juice on your tongue. Swallow immediately and place the other end of the swab on the same spot. Hold it there for 30 seconds then remove and let the swab hang.Extravert = swab will remain horizontalIntrovert = swab will hang down noticeably

The Measurement of TraitsEysenck critical of self-report nature of personality inventoriesUsed criterion analysis to improve inventory questionnairesIdentified two groups of people those with each end of continuum of personality variableGave each group inventory and examined differences in responsesDetermined probabilities and developed questionnaire to distinguish between two groupsSample Questionnaire Items for Personality Research

Questions are taken from Personality and Individual Differences, 6, Eysenck, S.B.G., Eysenck, H.J., & Barrett, P. A revised version of the psychoticism scale, 21-29. Copyright 1985, with permission from Elsevier Science.Looking for Causal Agents of BehaviorHypothetical causal explanationsEarly suggestion variations in central nervous system levels of inhibition and excitationRevised suggestion specific biological functions responsible for excitation and inhibitionArousal thresholds in the ascending reticular activating system related to introversion-extraversionDifferences in visceral brain activation related to emotional stability-neuroticismHormonal differences related to differences in psychoticism

The Reticular Activating System and the Visceral Brain

Normal, Depressed, and Schizophrenic Brain Imagery

The Biological Basis of Behavior and NeurosisEysenck connected personality and neurosis to the interplay between the genotype and the environmentWe inherit the genotype (anatomical structures)Phenotype comes from its interaction with the environment.

Evoked Potential waveforms: High and Low IQ

Applications of Eysencks TheoryEducationDiscovery learning Reception learningStudy of CreativityOriginalityCreative achievementPersonality, Biology, and GeneticsStrong genetic determinants in personality, intelligence, social and sexual behavior, criminality, mental disorders, etc.

Wrapping up EysenckStated that no evidence for usefulness of psychotherapy, and studies supporting psychotherapy were flawedGreatest contribution to personality theory was to connect ideas about personality to causal theories of behaviorContemporary research confirms his conviction that the brain is central to the understanding of behavior and personality