Dikran J. Martin Psychology 111 Name:. Date:. Lecture Series: Chapter 5 Biological Aspects of Personality Pages: 25 TEXT: Friedman, Howard S. and Schustack, Miriam W. (2003). Personality: Classic Theories and Modern Research (2 nd ). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Introduction Principal Features What is meant by the following statement? A person is not born a blank slate (160) Direct Genetic Effects Natural Selection and Functionalism What was Charles Darwin s concept of natural selection? Example: Natural selection. (160-161) -1-
Natural Selection and Functionalism Why is it difficult to apply the Darwinian approach to the precise (160) selection pressures that have shaped human evolution over millions of years? Angelman Syndrome: Genes and Personality What is the Angelman syndrome? (161) Complete the following: Extreme cases like Angelman syndrome demonstrate that genetic factors set before birth can Behavioral Genomics What is the study of behavioral genomics? (161-162) Illustrations: Genetic factors and human behavior. (162) -2-
Genetic Effects through Temperament What does the term temperament refer to insofar as human (162) behavior is concerned? Examples: Temperament. Activity, Emotionality, Sociability, Impulsivity What is the activity dimension of temperament? (163) What is the emotionality dimension of temperament? What is the sociability dimension of temperament? What is the aggressive/impulsive dimension of temperament? -3-
Activity, Emotionality, Sociability, Impulsivity What is meant by the following statement? do not assume that science is unanimous (163) on temperament. Eysenck s Model of Nervous System Temperament Some of the most interesting evidence for the effects of biological temperament on personality comes from British psychologist Hans Eysenck, particularly in the area of introversion-introversion. Complete the following: Introverts are generally (165) Extroverts are The introversion-extroversion dimension combines elements of the What is Han's Eysenck s biologically based personality theory? -4-
Eysenck s Model of Nervous System Temperament What are some of the problems in trying to test Eysenck s (165) biologically based personality theory? What is the evidence that extroverts do differ physiologically from introverts? Approach, Inhibition, and Regulation "An attempt to extend the physiological, brain-based model of personality to incorporate findings from modern neuroscience has been made by Jeffrey Gray " What is Jeffrey Gray's brain-based model of personality? (166) What is the behavioral inhibition system? What is the biological activation system? -5-
Approach, Inhibition, and Regulation Illustrations: Behavioral inhibition/biological activation systems. (166) Sensation Seeking and Addiction-Proneness What is the personality dimension known as sensation seeking? What are meant by the following statements? (Sensation seekers) are not simply extroverts? sensation seekers seem to have a strong, nervous system-based, orienting response. -6-
Sensation Seeking and Addiction-Proneness What is the relationship between the neurotransmitter (166) dopamine and sensation-seeking? What is the relationship between the neurotransmitter (167) serotonin and sensation-seeking? What is the relationship between left/right brain hemispheric (167-171) activity and sensation-seeking? Twins as a Source of Data Why is it informative to compare twins who have been adopted (171-172) and raised apart from each other? -7-
Sir Francis Galton What are meant by the following statements? Galton was what we call today call a (172) benign racist. " Galton began the eugenics movement." (173) Minnesota Twin Study What is the Minnesota Twin Study? (173-174) What are neurotransmitters? (174) Nurture and Nonshared Environmental Variance What is the concept of nonshared environmental variance? (176) -8-
The Case of Schizophrenia Many studies have indicated that schizophrenia tends to run in families. Inferences from Schizophrenia Twins What are meant by the following statements? researchers now say that there is a (177) genetic predisposition to schizophrenia. the probability of a concordance of manic-depressive illness is very high. Sexual Identity and Homosexuality What are meant by the following statements? homosexuality seems universal across time (179) and culture. the associations between genetic heritage and homosexuality are nowhere near perfect -9-
Exotic Becomes Erotic What is Daryl Bem s theory Exotic becomes erotic? (179) Examples: Exotic becomes erotic. Kin Selection What does the concept of kin selection have to do with (180) survival? Sex Hormones and Experience It may also be the case that any biological basis of homosexuality may result from early hormonal experiences. Examples: Hormones and experience. (180-181) -10-
Sex Hormones and Experience It might also be the case that a genetic tendency toward homosexuality may have some unknown survival advantage in people who do not become gay. Example: Survival advantage of homosexuality. (180-181) in gaining a sophisticated understanding of the biological bases of personality, it is important to note that unique results emerge when certain biological aspects of personality are combined with certain environments. Examples: Interaction effects of biology and environment. (181-182) Mediated Effects of Biology Effects through Environmental Toxins Poisoning "It is now well documented that dramatic changes in personality can result from poisoning." -11-
Poisoning Examples: Personality change as a result of poisoning. (181-182) Effects Through Physical Illness Diseases or toxins that affect brain function often affect personality. Examples: Personality change as a result of diseases or toxins. (182) Our understanding of such biological influences on personality has major implications for our beliefs about law and justice. Examples: Biological influences, personality change, and implications (183) -12-
Brain Disease The more difficult, complex position is the one that acknowledges that biological factors influence personality but still recognizes the individual s capacity to challenge and sometimes overcome these biological tendencies. Examples: Individuals capacity to challenge and sometimes overcome (184) biological tendencies. Effects from Legal and Illegal Drugs Many chemical effects are not accidental. Widely prescribed drugs are known to have short-term and sometimes long-term effects on personality. Examples: Effects from legal and illegal drugs. (184-185) -13-
Effects from Legal and Illegal Drugs Because drugs and poisons can have such major and dramatic influences on personality, a basic field of study called personality toxicology is in order. What is "personality toxicology?" (186) Some psychiatrists study the role of drugs and other toxic substances in causing and treating psychiatric disturbance the field is called psychopharmacology. many correlations between biological functioning and personality undoubtedly will be found that derive from a common environmental cause, not from heredity. Examples: Environmentally based biological influences. Effects from Creation of Environments An intriguing way that biology can affect personality is by affecting the environments in which we find ourselves. Tropisms What are tropisms?" (187) -14-
Tropisms sometimes these events may not be totally outside the influence of the individual. In fact, genetic or other biological characteristics may influence the likelihood that we will experience certain events. Examples: Tropisms. (187) Biological influences on the creation of environments can also function in even more subtle and complex ways. Examples: Biological influences on the creation of environments. -15-
Do Looks Reveal Personality?: Somatotypes (The) German psychiatrist Ernst Kretschmer Observing his patients speculated about the association between physique and mental disorders. Example: Association between physique and mental disorders. (188) W. H. Sheldon elaborated on (Kretschmer s) idea and applied it to normal people. Sheldon measured people s proportions and their personalities and developed a theory of body types, or somatotypes. Somatotypes Sheldon s somatotypology differentiated between three body types: (1) mesomorphs, muscular, large-boned athletes; (2) ectomorphs, slender, bookworm types; and (3) endomorphs, roly-poly, and supposedly goodnatured, types. What is the research evidence with respect to Sheldon s somatotypology? Could there be a physiological basis for the possible relations between physical characteristics and personality? There are several possibilities. Beyond Somatotypes Examples: Relations between physical characteristics and personality. (188-189) -16-
Effects from Reactions of Others "The greatest environmental influence on psychological development is the reactions of the people around us. One s sense of identity depends on a large extent on how we are treated." Unfortunately, the reverse is also true; undesirable physical characteristics can lead to unpleasant reactions, and consequently, to negative self-images. Illustrations: Effects from reactions of others. (190) Physical Attractiveness Stereotype What is the physical attractiveness stereotype? Illustrations: Physical attractiveness stereotype. (190-191) -17-
Sociobiology and Evolutionary Personality Sociobiology What is sociobiology? (191) Examples: Sociobiology. Complete the following: Most commonly, sociobiological-type analyses are applied to human For example, in all human societies, a close bond, or attachment, develops shortly after birth between the infant and the caretaker (usually the mother). This is also true in nonhuman primates (and indeed in many mammals), and it certainly appears to have a biological basis. -18-
Sociobiology Examples: Attachment. (192) Cinderella Effect What is meant by the following statement? Sociobiologists suggest that the Cinderella phenomenon results from natural selection " -19-
Cinderella Effect Examples: Cinderella effect. (192-193) Evolution and Culture What has been an incorrect assumption when applying (193) Darwinian thought to human behavior? Personality and Public Policy Social Darwinism and Eugenics Pseudoscience What evolutionary theory did was to provide a pseudoscientific justification for the oppression that was occurring in any case. Many leaders, including many intellectuals and scientists, were quick, at the end of the nineteenth century, to adopt views of genetic inferiority. What is Social Darwinism? (194) -20-
Pseudoscience Illustrations: Social Darwinism. (194) Culture, Nazis, and "Superior Races" What is biological determinism? Examples: Biological determinism. (195) -21-
The Human Genome: Racist Eugenics of the Future? What is the goal of the human genome project? (195) What is meant by the following statement? A subtle kind of genetic racism often creeps (196) into the thinking of even talented researchers in this (human genome) area. Going beyond racist errors, the question still remains as to whether we should tinker with our genes to make a better person Illustrations: Changing genes to make a better person. -22-
Summary and Conclusion What is meant by the following statement? "In a Darwinian analysis, attention is drawn (198) the function of a characteristic in survival. What is a prime difficulty of a Darwinian approach to human evolution? What is temperament? What was Hans Eysenck s contribution to the notions about biological aspects of personality? -23-
Summary and Conclusion What might individual differences in hemispheric activity have (198) to do with biological aspects of personality? What might twin studies have to do with biological aspects of personality? What might poisoning and certain illnesses (such as strokes) (199) have to do with biological aspects of personality? What is meant by the following statement? Our understanding of biological influences on personality has major implications for our beliefs about law and justice. -24-
Summary and Conclusion What is meant by the following statement? An intriguing way that biology can affect (199) personality is by affecting the environments in which we find (or put) ourselves. Why is survival of the fittest possible one the most misunderstood and misused concepts in all of science? What are meant by the following statements? There is a certain lure of biological determinism of personality. it is very easy for people to accept (199-200) stereotypes and to rationalize the inequities in the status quo (with respect to biological aspects of personality). END -25-