Personality psychology
Discuss the concept of "The sick role".
The sick role is a set of societal expectations of how a person should behave when ill. Certain people respond to stressful life situations by entering the sick role. Sometimes people enter the sick role without any organic condition accounting for the sickness. They can call in sick, lose their appetite, sleep too much and so on because of for example something stressful in their life at the time. These behaviors connected to being sick may lead to the person being defined as sick. This is not common only in people with hypochondria, being sick because of personality rather than disease, but also many neurotic people retreat to the safety of the sick role when they encounter challenges in their lives. Also escaping to the sick-role can be seen as rewarding with sympathy, sick leave etc. Cognitive factors - how you perceive the symptoms is going to affect how you experience something as a symptom and thus if you define yourself as sick.
What are the effects on personality through toxins, physical illness and drugs? How can it affect personality and what can it tell us?
Toxins can lead to dramatic changes in personality. One example being mercury poisoning that affected hat makers back in the day - this lead to changes in behaviour. Manganese can also affect personality leading to compulsive fighters and people that develop Parkinson's disease. These toxins change the brain which is something it has in common with drugs (causing dopamine to stop working normally) and some physical illness. It has been seen how diseases affecting the brain also affects the behaviour and personality of the person. This can lead to changes in personality which tells us that personality seems to be a construct affected by our biology - closely intertwined and located within our brain.
What does stimulus generalization mean? Give examples
Answer: similar stimuli evoke the same behavior. If you walk by a river every day and get attacked by frogs repeatedly you might generalize it to every river, and every river is now scary so you run away.
What could be or has been shown to be a danger or risk of a biological perspective? Give examples!
Answer: the biological perspective could over-simplify aspects of personality. For example, many smart people are willing to make many dangerous and oversimplified assumptions about the genetic basis of personality.
What does stimulus discrimination mean? Give examples.
Answer: to know that a response can be used in one setting but not in the other. A conditioned response may not occur for all possible stimuli.
Describe a nervous system-based model (sensation seeking) of individual differences in susceptibility to drug addiction (Figure 1, p 168).
A person with biological weaknesses in dopamine regulation in the brain, who may be an impulsive or anxious person, seeks out wild parties → under peer pressure and seeking stimulation this person ingests an opiate or an euphoric such as heroin or cocaine → The drug travels to the brain, affecting the pathways that makes us feel pleasure in response to rewarding experiences, it thus creates an artificial pleasure by affecting neurotransmitters, especially dopamine → In the case of cocaine the normal reuptake of dopamine is hindered thus making the person feel really good since the dopamine levels are high → over time the body can feel that the homeostasis is disturbed with too much neurostimulation occuring. This leads to a decrease in neurotransmitters (such as dopamine) or in their effect and also a decrease in dopamine receptors → the person becomes more tense, unhappy or driven as normally pleasing activities aren't sufficient to produce pleasure anymore. Reinforcement turns from being provided by the social environment to the drug → the person seeks higher and more frequent drug dosages to compensate and the brain continues to adapt. The usual social environment becomes less and less rewarding and the person is addicted.
What does it mean the Big Five is research driven and not theory driven?
Answer: It is an inductive approach to personality, which means that the theory emerges from the data.
What differences are there between an automatic or a reflecting processing system?
Answer: Automatic: Processes stimuli rapidly, is resource sparing, and is triggered by events that signal threats, gains or losses for a person. It puts incoming data into gross categories, which makes it likely to produce errors. Reflective: Processes stimuli slowly, is resource demanding, more deliberate, nuanced and controlled. The meanings and interpretations are more objective and refined, less of an extreme. These systems may act reciprocally. The subjective meanings by the automatic system can be corrected or modified by the reflective. The dual processing system is driven by cognitive structures, labeled schemas.
Maslow explained the motivation for reaching different levels in his hierarchy as D- needs (Deficiency needs) and B-values (being values). Explain the distinction between the two.
Answer: D needs: necessary for survival. Physiological (breathing, sex, eating), safety (morality, resources, family, property), love (friendship, family, sexual intimacy), esteem (self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respec). The lower biologically based drives are shared by animals. You feel the absence. B-needs: self-actualization (morality, creativity, problem solving, lack of prejudice). Motivate personal, inner growth. We can not reach this level if the d-needs aren't satisfied enough. You get satisfaction by just being in this stage. You feel the presence of this stage.
Allport is important for the development of trait psychology, explain his concepts: Common traits, the importance of culture, functional equivalence, personal dispositions.
Answer: Functional equivalence: When we respond to a stimulus, we respond to the category based on the function it's serving. Many behaviors of individuals are similar in their meaning because individuals tend to view many situations and stimuli the same way. A trait is for Allport, the internal structure that causes this regularity. A person might find Jews, socialists, college professors and peace organizations being similar to each other; seen as equivalent stimuli. This person might in turn give hateful speech, join lynch mobs etc; equivalent behaviors. These consistencies in behavior form the basis for Allport's conception of personality. He analyzed these consistencies in terms of common traits and personal dispositions. Common traits: organizing structures that people in a population share. Because people have a common biological heritage, and people within a culture have common cultural heritage, it makes sense to assume people have common organizing structures as well. In an American society, some people might strive to dominate and get ahead of others, while other people tend to follow along with the flow. Therefore, people from America, can be put somewhere between these dimensions. However, Allport does not believe this is provides a full understanding of traits. Personal dispositions: Allport conceived personal dispositions in terms of a person's goals, motives or styles; nuclear quality. People like Picasso, has a complex personality, that according to Allport, cannot be fully understood by common traits. Therefore, a personal disposition is a trait that is peculiar to a certain individual (a generalized neuropsychic structure). Personal dispositions that that exert an overwhelming influence on behavior are termed cardinal traits. It influences almost everything that an individual does. The idea that each person has a peculiar trait is troublesome to quantitatively oriented psychologists. If Allport is wrong about personal dispositions, everyone can be fully explained by common traits. However, personal dispositions do play an important role in the discussion about biology, psychology and culture. Modern biology recognizes the unique variation between individuals. From a psychologist view, no person has the same upbringing and experiences. Researchers that rely on common traits may assume that a single test can be used for every culture and subculture. An approach that ignores personal dispositions may also be an approach that misses important information about, women, elderly and people from different cultures, ethnic groups and religions. The importance of culture: Allport meant that no one would confuse a Vietnamese, Venetian or Vienna person, because their different cultures provide them with different ways of approaching life. The interesting questions was to what extent these people would be common in their traits if they moved to Los Angeles. Allport did not like the way B.F Skinner reduced the complexity and nobility of human beings. How could human behavior be explained through conditioning rats and pigeons? Allport therefor heartily encouraged the development of humanistic psychology.
Provide three examples of personality traits specific to the experience of a specific emotion
Answer: Neurotic - anxious, irritated, pessimistic, moody Extrovert - joy Openness - interest/excitement
The Big Five (Costa and McCrae) is a contemporary trait approach. What are the five dimensions that the big five are based on? Describe the dimensions and try to analyze some famous persons in terms of the big five dimensions.
Answer: Neuroticism - nervous, high-strung, tense, moody and worrying. Emotionally stable people are calm and contended. Extroversion - energetic, enthusiastic, dominant, sociable, talkative.Introverted people tend to be shy, retiring, submissive and quiet. Agreeableness - friendly, cooperative, trusting, warm. People low in this dimension are cold, quarrelsome, unkind. Conscientiousness - lack of impulsivity. Cautious, dependable, persevering, organized, responsible. Impulse people are careless, disorderly and undependable. Openness to experience - imaginative, witty, original, artistic. People low on this dimension are shallow, plain or simple.
Twins as source of data. Explain why twin studies and their contribution to the understanding of genes versus personality are important.
Answer: It is interesting to study adopted twins who don't live together. MZ twins have 100% the same DNA, and by separating them, the differences in their personality could be seen as a result of different environments, while the similarities between them could be seen as the genes. Twin studies give a better understanding of genetic and environmental influences on individuals in a sample. A key tool in behavioral genetics and for the understanding of the relation between biology and psychology. Modern twin studies have shown that almost all traits are in part influenced by genetic differences.
Differentiate between the concepts of personal unconscious and collective unconscious as explained by Jung.
Answer: Personal unconscious: contains thoughts and feelings that are not currently part of the conscious awareness. Certain events we have noted, they have remained below the threshold of consciousness. They have happened, but been absorbed subliminally. Many events are repressed by the ego, maybe because they are too distressing. They don't disappear and therefore they can influence personality. Collective unconscious: deeper level of unconscious with powerful, universal emotional symbols called "archetypes" (cognitive categories or predisposition, that humans are born with to think, feel, act and perceive in certain ways) which are inherited. Impulses, instincts etc. Instincts + archetypes for the collective unconscious. The human mind has innate characteristics "imprinted" on it as a result of evolution. These predispositions stem for our ancestral past. Fear of the dark, snakes or spiders for example. Archetypes are images which have universal meanings across cultures.
What are the "Human Termites"? Discuss the results of the research;conscientiousness, sociability, childhood cheerfulness, stress etc.
Answer: 856 boys and 672 girls were recruited for an experiment and termed themselves Termites. He studied their psychososcial and intellectual developemnt and followed them into adulthood. He wanted to see in what ways are aspects of personality related to longevity in general and to specific diseases in particular across the life span. By 2010 all the participants had died. The termites were a well-educated group, integrated into American society and similar in many health relevant ways. One finding was that childhood social dependability or conscientiousness predicted longevity. They are about 30 % less likely to die in any given year. Personality did therefore predict longevity. The protective effect of conscientiousness is partly but not the dominantly due to a reduction in the risk of injury. Conscientiousness is also protective against CVD and cancer. A person who was conscientious as a child is less likely to die from an injury but also stay away from unhealthy habits. They are also physiologically predisposed to health and their personality leads them into healthier situations and relationships. There is no evidence found that sociability is related to health and longevity. Having good social relations is healthy but people high on the trait sociability do not necessary develop the best social ties. Having a sociable personality did not forecast a long life. Rather, in america, sociable extroverts are at greater risk for smoking and alcohol abuse. Contrary to expectations, childhood cheerfulness was inversely related to longevity. They died somewhat sooner. These people were more likely to smoke, drink and take risks but this is not the full explanation. They also use their cheerfulness to help when facing stress such as surgery but it can be harmful if it leads one to be careless or carefree in one's life. Stress from divorced parents showed to impact health and longevity. Children of divorced parents showed one third greater mortality risk that those not divorced until age 21.
What was Mischel's critique towards broad personality traits?
Answer: A person's behavior varies so much from situation to situation that it doesn't make sense thinking in terms of broad personality traits. He suggested that an individual's actions are the result of both environmental constraints and internal cognitive characteristics of the individual. These cognitive characteristics are; competencies (knowledge, abilities, predisposition, traits, we're born with them), encoding (schemas one uses to make sense of experiences we have), expectancies (about our capacity, outcome or both), plans (actual activities we undertake in situations) Personality is also in constant flux.
What is a personality disorder? Describe the different personality disorders (page 409).
Answer: A personality disorder is a deep-rooted, ongoing pattern of behavior that impairs the person's functioning and well being. There are four core features; distorted thinking patterns, problematic emotional responses, over-or-under regulated impulse control, interpersonal difficulties. There has to be significant and enduring difficulties in at least two of those four areas. It is hard to diagnose children since they may not have significant and enduring difficulties. Cluster A - odd, eccentric cluster Paranoid - suspicious, assume others are against them. Easily offended and difficulties in workplace. Schizoid - choose to be alone and do not express their feelings. Praise/criticism from others don't matter much to them. Esp. prone to schizophrenia. Few friends and sexual encounters. Schizotypal - extreme loners, act or dress i odd ways. They may laugh at unusual times or wear unreasonable clothing. Tend to believe in magic. Cluster B - dramatic, emotional, erratic cluster Antisocial - irresponsible, cold-hearted often criminal. In adolescence they may be truant, lying and thieving. Fighting, illegal drug use. Cruel to animals. Borderline - very emotioanl and unstable they often make suicide threats or attempts. May faced physical or sexual abuse earlier in life and have problems with identity and self esteem. Binge eating, reckless driving, promiscuous sex. Histrionic - extremely emotional and attention seeking. Need to be assured about their attractiveness so they dress striking or seductive. Narcissistic - self-important and try to take advantage of others. Need approval and attention from other people, even though they misunderstand others. Cluster C - anxious, fearful cluster Avoidant - timid and easily embarrassed. Avoid close friends, self critical and fear and sights from others. Inferior. Dependent - will do almost anything to get approval from others. Submissive in relationships and are fearful of being abandoned. Volunteer for unpleasant tasks simply to gain approval. Obsessive - compulsive - rigid perfectionists. May work too hard, preoccupied with details and worry if things will be done exactly their way.
Explain the concept of anxiety as described by Freud and the elaborate the role of defense mechanisms in dealing with anxiety.
Answer: A state of intense apprehension or uncertainty, resulting from the anticipation of a threatening event or challenge, either external or internal; the ego's job is to protect against anxiety, but its failures lead to psychological problems. Defense mechanisms are a process that distort reality to protect the ego. It's a way to defend ourselves from unconscious wants and desires. There is nothing wrong with using d.m., but they become harmful when you use them wrongly and when you use the wrong mechanism for different problems. There are different types of d.m.
Describe a schema according to Beck. What is core beliefs, assumptions and automatic thoughts?
Answer: According to Beck, a schema is a complex cognitive structure that process stimuli, provide meaning and activate related psychobiological systems. The role is to process everyday stimulus situations in order to provide meaning, and engage other systems (motivational, affective, physiological). The reflective system contains more complex schemas than the automatic system. Beliefs: a generic label to represent a variety of shema-related constructs such as assumptions, expectancies, fears, rules and evaluations influencing memories and associations. There are different types of beliefs, one being primal beliefs which deal with vital issues such as survival, health, identity, relationships. It is hard to change primal beliefs "I know intellectually this belief is irrational, but I still believe it.". Primal beliefs are characterized by several dimensions; accessibility, conviction, attribution and bias. Primal beliefs may pervade conscious thinking in severe depression, anxiety or obsessional disorders. Depending on the context, negative beliefs can lead to negative automatic thoughts; belief: "i am incompetent" → automatic: "i can't do it". Automatic thoughts: Working with depressed patients, Beck found that they experienced streams of negative thoughts that seemed to pop up spontaneously. He termed these cognitions "automatic thoughts", and discovered that their content fell into three categories: negative ideas about oneself, the world, and the future.
Explain the concept of an 'archetype' and describe how it can be helpful in understanding personality.
Answer: Archetypes are cognitive categories or predisposition that we think about, feel about and act in certain ways. They are inherited. They could perhaps be connected to the id of Freud's theory. Archetypes are images which have universal meanings across cultures. Therefore, people might act in a certain way, and show a type of personality because of "evolution" and because of our ancestors. It's a part of our unconscious, so we cannot account for them. Archetypes give rise to similar thoughts, images, feelings and ideas in people irrespective of their class, creed, race geographical location or historical epoch. The archetypes interact in a dynamic manner with each person experiences which leads to the formation of unique personality.
Define the two basic needs/dimensions that are central to human interpersonalbehavior.
Answer: Assertiveness and affiliation?? Assertiveness - dominance, task orientation vs submission and deference Affiliation - warmth and harmony vs rejection and hostility
What is personality from a behaviorist point of view?
Answer: It's something we learn from observing others and something we might be conditioned to develop in different ways. Behaviorists tend to ignore inner mental states, cognition, though and emotions, therefore personality is not something developed from these things. Personality is formed by our environment trough learning.
Describe information process during modelling, according to Bandura. How does it work and what factors influence the learning?
Answer: Attention, retention, motor reproduction, motivation. Attention is influenced by the characteristics of the model and the situation. Retention is influenced by the cognitive ability of the observer and his/her capacity to encode the behavior. Motor reproduction is influenced by the characteristics of the observe, such as the ability to turn the mental representation ino physical action and the ability to mentally rehearse the behavior. Motivation most influences the actual performance of the behavior that has been observed. Even when a person has observed and acquired a behavior, it will be performed when it leads to valued outcomes and not performed if it will lead to expected negative outcomes. The motivational component is influenced by the expected and the observed consequences of behavior.
What are modes?
Answer: Beck introduced the concept of modes, which represent complex organisations of schemas relevant to self-evaluations, rules, memories and expectancies. The different psychological disorders were then organized into modes, for example there's a depressive mode, an anxiety mode etc. Modes are networks of cognitive, affective, motivational and behavioral components designed to deal with specific demands. Represent consolidated schema-embedded beliefs, rules and expectancies as well as concepts such as self-esteem
Explain why, despite lack of scientific support, Freud's theory is considered a turning point in our understanding of personality.
Answer: Before the work of Freud, there was no personality psychology. Freud stressed sexuality as a prime element for personality. He also emphasized the importance of childhood experiences and the personality we develop in adulthood. Most of us agree that neglectful and abusive childhood produces devastating impacts on their lives.
Describe some methodological difficulties with longitudinal studies
Answer: Changing times and changing measures, it's difficult to follow people as they move around, some participants may not want to participate anymore.
What is classical and what is operant conditioning. Give examples.
Answer: Classical conditioning is dependent on stimulus and response. Two stimuli are presented at the same time, for example in Pavlov's experiment a bell and the scent of food. The bell is at first unconditioned, it is not associated with the scent of food. After a while, when the two stimuli have been presented simultaneously repeatedly the bell becomes conditioned - it is not associated with the presence of food. Therefore, when the dogs hear the bell, even though there is no food, they will start to salivate. Operant conditioning on the other hand relies on reward and punishment. The rewards and punishments may be positive or negative, they learn through the consequence of their behavior. If a child needs to put away their toy, they might resist it at first. With positive reinforcement, for example getting a chocolate for putting away your toy the child might learn that it's good to put away the toy when told because they might get a reward.
In which different ways can we cope with experiences of shame?
Answer: Different people come with shame in different ways. Attack self: inward-directed anger and blame Withdrawal: hide or withdraw Avoidance: distancing or minimization of emotions Attack other: outward directed anger and blame Adaptive: acknowledgement of shame and motivation t apologize The level of shame proneness tends to affect the coping strategy that the individual has access to, based on how the situation is appraised (e.g. escape/avoidance vs. seeking support)
According to Beck, what is the differences between feeling well and psychological problems?
Answer: Different systems, such as the behavioral, cognitive, affective and motivational systems work to meet our basic needs and to equip us with different ways to protect ourselves from physical or interpersonal harm. If the activation of these systems is disproportionate to life events, we will begin to experience different levels of psychological problems which might lead to a diagnosable disorder. Faulty information processing is the reason to developing these diagnosable disorders. If we process information inaccurately, our systems mentioned above will cease to function in an adaptive way. One way the information can be in-accurately processed is by a biased information-processing system. If we have a negative basis we will slant incoming data in a negative direction. In normal functioning, there is an adaptive bias for for example life threatening events. A negative bias will increase the subjective probability that a particular event poses danger. This is good if it's actually dangerous, but if it's not as harmful we will experience anxiety.
What is the difference between emotional states and emotional traits?
Answer: Emotional states are transitory, they originate outside of the person. They depend on the situation, and not the person who experiences these emotions. Someone is angry because they were treated badly. Emotional traits are consistent. They are a pattern of emotional reactions which are experiences across a variety of life situations. Stable over time, and characteristic for each person. Emotional traits - climate Emotional states - weather
Which components define emotions?
Answer: Emotions can be defined by four components. First of all, emotions have distinct subjective feelings, or affects, which are associated with the emotions. Second, emotions come with bodily changes, which occurs mostly in the nervous system; breathing, heart rate, muscle tension, blood chemistry, facial and bodily expressions. Third, emotions come with cognition, or thoughts. The way we feel influences our thoughts and how we perceive the world. Lastly, emotions are accompanied with action tendency, or increases in the probabilities of certain behaviors. Take for example the emotional feeling of fear: Anxiety, confusion, panic - subjective feelings Heart rate increases, decreased blood flow to digestive system - bodily changes These changes prepare you for the intense activity associated with fear: fee or fight - action tendency.
Describe Erikson's lifespan approach and how it differs from Freud's basic assumptions.
Answer: The process of developing an individual personality and self is a lifelong process. He proposed eight stages of development. The stages present a dilemma, or two way in which we can develop in life through consequences of family etc. It seems like the environment is the one which will form us the most. Unlike Freud, Erikson meant that individual personality and self is a lifelong process which can develop in two ways in the different stages throughout life. Freud emphasized childhood a bit more, that the things that happen in childhood.
In which ways does moral emotions contribute to the capacity for empathy?
Answer: Empathy is not a discrete emotion, it is an emotional process with substantial implications for moral behavior. According to Feshbach, you have to know how to do three things in order to experience empathy; cognitive ability to take another person's perspective the cognitive ability to accurately recognize and discriminate another person's affective experience the affective ability to personally experience a range of emotions, since empathy involves sharing another person's emotional experience Feelings of empathy contribute to an inhibition of aggression, helping behavior towards others (if it's other-oriented empathy), and show of concern for others. Shame does not contribute to empathy as much as guilt does. Shame is directed towards one's own emotion and states, to protect oneself. As stated previously, to feel empathy you have to be able to take another person's perspectives and recognize their affective experience, something shame does not let one do. Shame-prone individuals also tend to display tendencies of aggression. Empathy contribute to an inhibition of aggression, therefore, shame-prone individuals should have difficulties experiencing this emotion. Guilt on the other hand is directed outwards, towards others and the way one's behavior affected other people. Therefore, people who feel guilt and not shame will be more likely to feel empathy towards others.
What is environmental press referring to, according to Murray?
Answer: Environments/situations press on yourself and your personality. It is a directional force on a person that arises from other people and events in the environment. Example, seeing a friend's good grades may be a press spurring one's own efforts to excel.
Eysenck (from a biological standpoint) believed that fewer than five basic dimensions are the basis of personality. What are the evidence for his approach?
Answer: Eysenck believed there to be three dimensions, rather than five. These are extroversion, neuroticism and psychoticism. One study on women found that extroverts showed greater brain activity to positive stimuli than to negative. Thus, extroversion may be indeed related to biological differences in the brain's reward system. Neuroticism may be related to brain activity relevant to the detection of perceived unusual situations such as threats. Scores of American college students on extroversion has been increasing. This finding is remarkable because extroversion is postulated to e base don biologi. Since biology is likely to not change as dramatically, the findings point to the likelihood that extroversion is a combination of biology, socialization, and societal expectations.
What is a situational perspective on personality?
Answer: For psychologists like Sullivan, we become different people in different social situation. We may have as many personalities as we have interpersonal situations. A situation which is more extroverted like, may evoke those types of behaviors in an introvert, but the introvert still knows it's only on one occasion. According to him, we form our identity through interaction with friends.
What are the differences between the emotions shame and guilt?
Answer: Guilt is more focused on others, how one's own behavior impacts others. Because of this, guilt goes hand-in-hand with other-oriente empathy while feelings of shame disrupts individual's ability to form empathic connections with others, focus shifts to one's own distress. If you're feeling guilt you're more likely to apologize and confess.
The concept of phenomenology is a cornerstone of Rogers' understanding of personality. Explain how it has been used by Rogers to get a deeper understanding of personality.
Answer: He takes the phenomenological approach by emphasizing that important issues must be defined by the individual, an experiencing person. It is the client who is most and best aware of how they feel and think, not other people. According to Rogers, a healthy individual / personality can trust his or her own experience (subjective) and accept that other people are different.
What is a biological perspective on personality?
Answer: How genes affect our predisposition for certain traits and temperaments together with the potential environment. Understanding the effects of human biology on humans. A biological perspective on personality is that people are not born a blank slate but instead are affected by biological factors, genes for example. This affects a person's characteristic responses, they start with certain inherent predispositions and abilities.
What is cognitions according to cognitive theory?
Answer: How people perceive,think, remember, learn, solve problems and direct their attention to one stimulus rather than another.
Why is human agency good for people and how does it work?
Answer: Human agency is the capacity to exercise control over her actions and internal thought processes and motivations. People behaviors changes because of changes in knowledge and expectation, together with previous internalized reinforcement. Knowing that a behavior was reinforced, will make the person anticipate that she will be reinforced for tat behavior in similar or same situations later.
Describe a self-expansive mode and a self-protective mode.
Answer: Humans are not simply moved by events, they play a major role in creating personal events. We are driven by a series of self-initiated goals, and self imposed obligations. Theory of mode refers to a network of affective, motivational, cognitive and behavioral components that are invoked to account for the development and pursuit of life goals the the management of demands or problems. Self expansive mode: Concerned with the enhancement of personal resources. Desire to increase the value an individual attaches to themselves (status, economic position, affiliation). positive self-expansion: pleasure and increased self esteem negative self-expansion: pain and decreased self esteem. This self-expansive mode facilitates adaptation such as goal attainment, but in response to aversive circumstances it is involved in the conservation of resources: decreasing self expansion with withdrawal. It is composed of schemas containing simple or complex beliefs about reactions to events and imperative beliefs (i must do well), and evaluative beliefs that reflect self-image, self-esteem and the perceived esteem of others. Goals in this mode is composed of expectancies regarding the subjective value and outcomes of goal attainment. If x, then y. Every goal might come with a counterpart, negative outcomes. The negative beliefs, about what happens if we don't succeed with our goal could potentially lead to sadness or depression. Self protective mode: Forms the substrate for the anxiety disorders and paranoia. This mode is concerned with the early detection f a dangerous situation. It specifies the characteristics of a threat/dangerous situation and dictates appropriate rules to reduce the threat. A belief and rule might be "Intoxicated strangers are dangerous, I should distance myself from them". Having these positive beliefs about a situation being negative is good, if they are not exaggerated. An overinclusive bias (including many situations in the department "dangerous) produces errors but is beneficial in the long run. As a result, some degree of anxiety is usual. Internal resources (coping strategies and available help from others) determine how people estimate a potential situation to be dangerous. The intensity of the anxiety reaction is dependent upon the subjective probability and severity of harm. If the perception of risk and danger is exaggerated, and the person minimizes the availability of protective resources psychological problems become apparent. The bia leads to safety-seeking, which may maintain the problem and transition into a clinical disorder (public speaking anxiety, fear of being in public etc).
Describe the development of the trait theory based on the contribution of Jung, Cattell, and Spearman!
Answer: Jung conceptualized extroversion and introversion. He made a more psychoanalytic approach, looking at the basic tendencies of human beings creating / motivating personality. A person can be both extroverted and introverted, but one is more dominant. Being an extrovert, in Jung's theory, refers to the ability to orientate towards things outside oneself, while introverts tend to reflect and turn inwards, focusing on their feelings and experiences. Carl Jung helped launch the trait perspective. It was not until later, that Hans Eysenck developed the meaning behind extroverts and introverts we know today. R. Cattell wanted to add a statistical component to the trait theory. He wanted to simplify and objectify the structure of personality. The traits found by Allport, were further factor analyzed by Cattell. He found correlations between different variables (adjectives) and narrowed them down to a list of adjectives/traits that were not correlated or overlapping. These are known as the basic traits. Using different ways of gathering data and adjectives he came to a conclusion of 16 basic traits. These traits were derived from L data, Q data and T data. Cattell's analysis of traits yielded more detailed explanation. For example, there are surface and source traits. Source traits are the cause of a behavior, which are deemed the surface traits. Cattell also meant that there are constitutional and environmental traits; some are genetic and some are derived from experience.
According to Erich Fromm, loneliness is the curse of modern society. Discuss Fromm's understanding of the cause, the manifestation and result of loneliness as well as means to overcome it.
Answer: Love enables us to overcome our isolation from others but still maintain our individual integrity. Humans have gained more and more freedom, we have felt more and more anxious and alone. If we do not fight this loneliness by working in a loving way to help others, we may choose the opposite extreme: escape the burden of freedom by giving it up. He predicts that people in a lonely society would be alienated, unloving and unfulfilled. As societies have become more individualistic the rate of major psychological depression and other mental health problems arise steadily. As he predicted, the non communal American society is afflicted with violence, divorce and unrest. The existential ideas about the importance of active love deserve serious attention now more than ever.
What are mirror neurons? How do they function? Why are they important for social behavior?
Answer: Mirror neurons are brain cells that react in the same way both when the person or animal acts and when the person or animal sees another person act in the same way. We have a biological way o linking our actions to the actions and emotions of others. Because we all have individual differences in the brain, some are more sensitive to social environments. Empathy for example, differs among people because of different neuron activity. The deficiencies in understanding social cue and intentions of others is linked to autism.
Is the concept of 'peak experience' same as the concept of a 'self-actualized person'? If not, explain the difference.
Answer: No it is not the same thing. Self-actualization in the innate process by which a person tends to grow spiritually and realize his or her potential. Peak experiences are common to people who are fully self-actualized. That is, you can be on the road to self-actualization without reaching peak experience. Peak experiences are occasional feelings of epiphany. This special moment might occur while listening to their favourite piece of music etc. The epiphanies provide help to maintain a mature personality; loving, creative, realistic, productive. Self-actualized people accept themselves, are independent, playful and spontaneous. They establish deep, intimate relationships with other people. They have had peak experience, which they find enlightening. Unactualized people may occasionally have a peak experience too, but they are more likely to be frightened than enlightened. Self-actualization is more like a state, and peak experience is an occasional burst of enlightenment and epiphany, which goes together with self-actualized individuals.
What does the term "complementarity" refer to from an interpersonal point of view? Define and explain. Give examples
Answer: Our interpersonal actions are designed to invite, pull, elicit, draw, entice or evoke "restricted classes" of reaction from people that we interact with. Control over others' responses lead to mutual satisfaction or insecurity and tension. Behaviors are complementary when they are on the opposite side of the vertical axis (dominance-submission). If one acts in a dominant way, the others will likely act in a submissive way. On the horizontal axis: warmth leads to warmth and cold gives gold.
Explain Bandura's observational learning/modelling.
Answer: People can learn just by observing other people, and without getting reinforcement or punishment. People do not mindlessly copy other people's behavior, rather they consciously whether or not to perform a behavior that was learned through observation. Individuals are more likely to copy behavior they think will lead to a positive outcome, this is called outcome expectancy. People tend to model those of certain age, gender and looks. Easy behavior is modelled more often that complex behavior. People who are dependent and have low self-esteem tend to model other people's behavior more. Successful modelling requires to perceive, encode and produce correctly.
According to the categorical approach to emotion theory, we all have a set of "Basic emotions". Which are these "basic emotions" and what different characteristics do they have?
Answer: People who think that primary and distinct emotions are the key take the categorical approach. Ekman requires that a primary emotion have a distinct facial expression, recognizable across cultures. Other researchers have other criteria for primary emotions. Izard suggests the primary emotions have to be distinguished by their motivational properties. Positive basic emotions: joy interest pride Negative basic emotions: anger disgust fear sadness shame Neutral basic emotions: surprise
Discuss the role of personality in relation to health behavior and healthyenvironments.
Answer: Personality affects health through behaviors which will lead to more or less healthy habits and environments. For example, an alienated teenager may seek out an environment which uses drugs or rides motorcycles. THe environment may in turn increase the likelihood of unhealthy behaviors (adding onto the alienated personality).
What is the most important focus in object relations theory?
Answer: Process of developing a personality in relations to others in the childhood environment. Need for attachment is the bedrock for developing the sense of identity. Focuses on the object of psychic drives and the importance of relations with other individuals in defining ourselves.
Discuss psychosomatic medicine and disease-prone personalities
Answer: Psychosomatic medicine is based on the idea that the psyche affects the body. When discussing psychosomatic medicine health behaviors and disease prone personalities come up (because disease prone personalities = ow the mind affects the body). Health behaviors are the major link between personality and health. Certain personalities take greater risk with their health and die sooner than other personalities. People who are depressed, impulsive, isolated and angry are more likely to put themselves in dangerous situations. Unhealthy behaviors such as smoking and drinking are related to personalities such as rebelliousness, aggression and impulsivity. The relationship is of course not as easy as described above. Biolgoical predispositions also affect the personality, which in turns affects healthy behaviors (number of stressors, coping techniques, low social support). If one is unhealthy (organic disease) this will in turn affect the personality too.
Statistical analyses are important in trait theory. Explain the use of factor analysis in the development of the theory.
Answer: Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysenck used factor analysis when concluding which the basic traits are. They used the idea of correlation, that is, correlations among a number of simple scales are reduced to a few basic dimensions. A correlation matrix is generated by inter correlating all the variables (adjectives for traits). After that, a cluster analysis is done to identify variables measuring the same construct, which narrows the list of descriptions down. For example, happy, outgoing, talkative measures somewhat the same thing, which is narrowed down to become "extrovert". The list of non-overlapping and different traits can now be considered basic traits which are explaining personality.
Discuss the influence of humanistic and existential aspects on understanding self-healing. Describe Antonovskys terms of "Sense of coherence" and "Salutogenesis".
Answer: Sense of coherence - a person's confidence that the world is understandable, manageable and meaningful. Salutogenesis - the world must not necessarily be controllable but controller or ordered, in the grand scheme of things. A theory about how people stay healthy. For example, someone believing that she was carrying out God's purpose might have a high sense of coherence.
Which functions in social life does moral emotions such as shame and guilt have?
Answer: Shame is unpleasant enough to make us behave or correct our demeanor, according to what we individually perceive as desirable by others (ideals, moral, norms, values). However, shame is not as positively correlated with the decreased risk of breaking the law etc as guilt is. Guilt is more focused on others, how one's own behavior impacts others. Because of this, guilt goes hand-in-hand with other-oriente empathy while feelings of shame disrupts individual's ability to form empathic connections with others, focus shifts to one's own distress. If you're feeling guilt you're more likely to apologize and confess. Shame-prone individuals often display actions and behaviors such as intense anger, physical, verbal and symbolic aggression and indirect aggression.
What does shaping mean?
Answer: Shaping and gradually changing the undifferentiated operant behavior into a desired behavior pattern by the reinforcement of successive approximations, so that the behavior more and more resembles the target behavior.
What is personality about from an interpersonal point of view?
Answer: Social product of of interaction with significant others.
What is somatopsychic effects and disease-caused personality changes? Give some examples.
Answer: Somatopsychic effect is the idea of the body affecting the mind. Disease or genetic predispositions to illness that affect personality. Physical weakness can induce chronic depression for instance. Sometimes genetic conditions can lead to organic diseases and personality effects (down syndrome). Alzheimer's disease slowly but surely affects both personality and health as the brain deteriorates.
According to Freud, a large part of personality is unconscious. Yet we operate in the conscious world. Use Freud's model of the structure of personality to explain how this is possible.
Answer: The basic structure of personality is explained by the relationships between the id, ego and superego. See it as an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg, the smallest part, is our consciousness. These are our thoughts and perceptions we are aware of. The largest part of the iceberg is below the water surface, this is our unconscious. According to Freud, most of our mind is therefore in the unconscious. The id, is located in the unconscious, and develops right after birth. It demands immediate gratification. The ego, however, is located in the conscious. It knows what is realistic and sensible, thrives to adapt the desires of the id to reality. It wants long term gratification. Lastly, we have our superego, which develops last through norms, rules and attitudes from older adults. It tells us what is good and bad. When we do bad, the superego makes us feel guilty. We operate in the conscious world through our ego, which "communicates" between the superego and the ego to reach a form of agreement between those two.
What is self efficacy according to Bandura?
Answer: The belief of how competently one will be able to execute a type of behavior. Low self-efficacy leads to a person not being likely to perform that particular behavior.
Using the content approach to emotion individual differences and personality traits can be explained via emotion theory, how?
Answer: The content approach means the typical emotions a person is likely to experience over time. Someone who is considered angry or hot-tempered will therefore experience an emotional life that contains a great deal of anger, irritability and hostility. Content leads us to consider the kinds of emotions that people are likely to experience over time and across situations. People's emotional lives, that is, the content, is highly correlated with judgements of how satisfied they are with their lives.
Longitudinal studies are important for the understanding of human behavior. What could we learn from such studies that we cannot learn from cross sectional studies?
Answer: The only good way to study personality over time is to study how they react, grow and change in the real world. This can be done by a longitudinal study. You can test hypotheses about development of children's personalities through life, something that can't be done from cross-sectional studies.
What is extinction referring to from a behaviorist perspective?
Answer: refers to the weakening of conditioned responses if the pairing between the conditioned response and stimuli stops. Behavior (personality) changes.
Explain the method and goal of Rogerian therapy.
Answer: The therapist is empathic, supportive and nondirective. In the supportive atmosphere of client-oriented Rogerian therapy, a person drops their mask and become more open and self-trusting. With support by the therapist, the client accomplishes growth and change. To ensure a constructive personality change, the therapist demonstrates unconditional positive regard for the client and experiences an empathic understanding of the clients and communicates this to the client. A good therapist can sense the tension and feelings in the client, reflect them back to them and thereby assist the client to become more mature and self-integrated.
Discuss the "Self-healing personality" and some important concept such as control, commitment, challenges, locus of control.
Answer: There are two different types of a self-healing personality; the active one and the calmer one. Different types of approaches are therefore equally beneficial, people just have to find the appropriate balance for themselves. It is important to feel like you're in control and that you have power over things. Feelings like you're not in control may lead you to feel helpless, or you learn to be helpless. Executives in a study were healthier if they had a sense of power and that challenging situations could be influenced by their personal efforts. Other executives who remained healthy were those who felt commitment to something they felt being important and meaningful. People who responded to their life with excitement and energy were also healthier because they welcomed change and innovation while remaining true to the fundamental life goals they had already established. Some people feel pushed around by external forces while others feel that the locus of control is within themselves. This is relevant to health and coping.
Describe the concept of anxiety and guilt as explained by Rollo May.
Answer: They are a part of the human condition. Anxiety is triggered by a threat to one's core values of existence. The only way to have no anxiety is to have no freedom. Guilt makes sure we do things productively. There is normal versus neurotic anxiety and growth. If you don't avoid anxiety, you would be more productive. In therapy, we convert neurotic anxiety to normal one. Values are those classes of experiences which help you deal with anxiety. If you have a strong value system you will now what to do in a certain situation. If you don't you'll experience neurotic anxiety and guilt.
The focus and direction of psychology expanded with the introduction of the humanistic existential perspective. Explain how this branch differed from the other theories that were used to explain human personality.
Answer: This perspective focuses on the potential, improvement and development of the individual. Most other perspectives ook at what humans lack in. This perspective is very usel, most people who seek psychological help come because they want to improve in one way. Humanistic approach uses a holistic analysis, and does not lose the overall sense of the person. The whole is more than the sum of its parts. Other perspectives aim to reduce personality, and use a reductive approach. It also uses phenomenological view, which is the understand that people's perception or subjective realities are considered valid data for investigation. The objective truth is not as important as subjective truth.
What is a cognitive trap (Cognitive distortions) and what is separating this from an ordinary thought?
Answer: Thoughts that cause individual to perceive reality inaccurately. According to Beck, a negative outlook on reality is a factor in symptoms of emotional dysfunction and poorer subjective well-being.
Describe, explain and give examples of type A behavior pattern and type A personality.
Answer: Type A people do more and more work in less and less time. This would unleash their nervous system in ways that would damage their hearts through excessive arousal of the sympathetic nervous system. Type As are said to be impatient, impulsive, hyperalert, hasty, hostile and very tense. Type A people refused to feel tired and were likely to act hostile when frustrated. They want to be in control which is not bad but when it gets excessive there is a problem.
What does pleasant (positive) and unpleasant (negative) emotions mean, and what are the differences between them?
Answer: Unpleasant emotions: Pleasant emotions: Happiness and joy are typically the only pleasant emotions mentioned, when referring to primary emotions. LOOK INTO
What is a trait perspective on personality?
Answer: Use of different adjectives or adjective dimensions to describe and scale someone's personality. The primary assumption is that a small number of core dimensions can summarize persons consistent pattern of responding. The dimensions, i.e the traits have to be applicable to everyone in the world, from different cultures. If a trait is only applicable to westerners, it's not considered a trait. Traits account for consistency in human behavior and can be inferred from behavior.
Explain how the existential- humanistic philosophy can be used in coping with life threatening illnesses.
Answer: Victor Frankl frequently talked about logotherapy - the search of the meaning of existence. One are with such approaches has had effect among people facing life-threatening illness. Small groups of similarly affected individuals come together weekly to discuss intimate things. They disclose their fears and anxieties about facing death which is consistent with the existential emphasis on actively facing such challenges. Participants assist one another in informational and spiritual ways. The results are the affirming of human feelings of trust and companionship and a sense of inner triumph.
What does the term "illusion of individuality" refer to?
Answer: We don't have one constant personality that defines us. We may have as many personalities as interpersonal situation. We're dependent of other people.
How does a schema activate?
Answer: When a match is made between a triggering event and a protothema, the latter becomes activated. The activated schema in turn initiates further information processing and the beliefs provide the content. Thereafter, the affective, motivational and behavioral systems become activated and because their function is congruent with the context of the belief, they will facilitate an integrated response. The concept of schema activation can be applied from the onset - remission - recurrence: The induced cognitive bias one has will exaggerate the meaning of events, which feeds back, thus activating the schemas.
Define and explain positive and negative reinforcement and positive and negativepunishment
Answer: positive reinforcement: you add something to the equation so the behavior occurs more often. Negative reinforcement: you take away something from the equation so the behavior occurs more often. Positive punishment: you add something so the behavior does not occur. Negative punishment: you take away something so the behavior does not occur.
What is avoidance associated with and why is it interesting from a behaviorist point of view?
Avoidance is therefore associated with internal conflict and thus to behaviors (symptoms) of neurosis and disorders such as obsessive-compulsive behavior. This is interesting from a behavioristic view since behaviorists think that all behavior is learned therefore we should also be able to treat these neurotic people by unlearning this behaviour. By knowing the conflict in the person causing this behaviour you can try to unlearn or learn new behaviour instead of this neurotic behaviour.
What is "Behavioral genomics"?
Behavioral genomics is the study of how genes affect behaviour. Examples of this is Angelmans syndrome, Williams syndrome and autism - all of these gives certain behaviours without being personality disorders. Autism is heritable and even though not a primary personality disorder it still leads to specific behaviours.
Why is biology important for the understanding of personality? How can relatively unchangeable biological characteristics such as genetic inheritance, the neuroendocrine system, bodily endowment and physical health affect personality?
Biology is important for understanding personality since it affects our personality. Biological chromosome disorders, such as Angelmans syndrome and Williams syndrome both are said to have characteristics which is associated with their syndrome. Our potential abilities are expressed by the structure of the brain but the environment may mobilize latent abilities through changes of nerve effectivity and create new way of behavior. We are born with a certain physiological and psychobiological equipment which have to be brought into the human culture to be able to develop. Our congenital (medfödda) potential can only be realized through culture. Since our body works together with the mind this interaction is important. everything is working together thus impacting personality. Hormones can cause more sleepiness which if unbalanced can be seen as a part of this person's personality - it is a sleepy person. Deficiencies can be seen not only in physiological symptoms but in how people act - thus their persosnality. Our biology establishes our physical disposition, presumably determining our actions and preferences, which in turn defines "us." it can lead to treatments for psychological conditions and addictions.
Define and explain Thorndike's law of effect and law of repetition
Edward Thorndike's law of effect refers to the concept that the consequence of a behavior will either strengthen or weaken the behavior; that is, when a response follows a stimulus and results in satisfaction for the organism, this strengthens the connection between stimulus and response; however, if the response results in discomfort or pain, the connection is weakened. The law of repetition also called the law of exercise states that, in learning, the more frequently a stimulus and response are associated with each other, the more likely the particular response will follow the stimulus. It is important to remember that Thorndike implies that one learns by doing, trial and error, and one cannot learn a skill, for instance, by watching others.
The term temperament is used to refer to stable individual differences in emotionalreactivity. Explain Eysenck ́s model of the nervous system temperament? What are the methodological challenges when trying to prove this model? Give examples!
Eysenck's model och nervous system temperament declares how the introvert/extrovert dimension is based in the activity and sociability elements of a humans temperament (which she is born with). Eysenck tied this dimension directly to how stimulated ones central nervous system is - eysenck especially points out the ascending reticular activating system. An introvert is seen as having high brain arousal while an extrovert had low arousal. The introvert, already aroused by smaller things, doesn't seek after experiences being arousing such as social behaviour since that can feel overwhelming, while the extrovert already being low in arousal seeks someone to be social with and therefore stimulate the brain. The argument has also been extended by Eysenck and others to a neuroticism-emotionality dimension, with the point being that stable people are said to have a well-modulated nervous system, whereas neurotic people have a very reactive nervous system, which promotes emotional instability. The validity of this intriguing model is also still unknown This lacks empirical support that this brain system is directly related to personality. There are several methodological challenges with this model.* It is difficult to define and measure nervous arousal* Problems occur when the body is trying to maintain equilibrium - responses rise and fall, varying in baseline, intensity, and duration.
Explain Farley´s "type T theory". What does type T stand for?
Frank H. Farley's type T theory derives from Eysenck's theory about a physiological basis for extroversion/introversion. The type T theory suggests a psychobiological need for stimulation due to an internal arousal deficit;Type T stands for "Thrill Seeking". If Type T people's need for stimulation can be satisfied in appropriate environments by appropriate experiences they are less likely to getting into trouble. Forbidding thrill-seeking activities doesn't seem to get the effect wanted then so perhaps it is better to channel this thrill-seeking into activities that are safe AND exciting.
Define and explain the "copy processes". Give examples.
Identification - having one behaving as someone else behaved to them. Abused become abusers. Recapitulation - behaving as one behaved with him or her. Abused individuals still seek abusive relationships. Introjection - treating oneself as he or she was treated. Current ways of relating to oneself that mimic prior treatment from others.
Why is it interesting to talk about both immediate consequences and long term consequences of a behavior, from a behavioristic point of view?
It is interesting to talk about both immediate and long term consequences of a behaviour from a behavioristic view since it makes it clear how the environment can form a behaviour which can lead to the consequence of that behaviour being performed and perhaps being punished or rewarded. In the long term there maybe isn't someone there to reward or punish the behaviour but the behaviour still remains thus it doesn't only have immediate consequences but long term since it actually has shaped how that human responds and acts (therefore how the person is). The immediate consequences can be so deeply implemented that the person can not respond in a different way in the future since that may cause anxiety. It is important to talk about both the immediate and the long term consequences of a behaviour since the immediate consequences can such a big influence on the long term. For example, by punishing smoking you will stop smoking, thus creating a better health for yourself in the long term.
What is systematic desensitization and what kind of problems is it used for? Give examples.
It is when you gradually extinguishing a phobia by causing the feared stimulus to become disassociated from the fear response. Thus used to decrease unwanted stimulus response which is used in a variety of psychological conditions such as phobias. Aims to reduce anxiety by learning to relax, constructing a stimulus hierarchy (least to most stressful) and by exposure (least to most stressful). One example is when it was used to contercondiotin a boy named Peter who was afraid of rabbits. Peter played with three other children while a fear-inducing rabbit was present; the fear was gradually extinguished by slowly bringing the rabbit closer and closer to the child while keeping him happy.
Alfred Adler and Karen Horney both built their theories on the concept that children are helpless. Explain how they elaborated on different consequences of the same phenomenon.
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Sometimes, the power of the situation is overwhelming! What does that mean?What are the implications for a situational perspective of personality? Give someexamples of situations that might have been overwhelming for a person.
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What is sociobiology and how does it apply to human behavior?
Sociobiology is the study of the influence of evolutionary biology on individual responses regarding social matters. This can be applied to human behaviour by looking at evolutionary causes for our social behaviour. One example being attachment. There is a biological attachment being formed between a mother and a baby (or other people and babies) so that the mother will take care of the baby. Infants have evolved to cling, gurgle, smile and so on to attract the mother so she will nurture the infant. reward-processing regions of mothers' brains light up (on fMRI scans) when they see photos of their infants. This strong attachment system helps ensure the survival of the infant, and thus helps ensure the passing on of the mother's genes. There is an evolutionary function that explains why babies are so cute - so that they will be taken care of and survive.
Why are consequences of behaviors so essential in behaviorism?
Since it is the consequences of our behaviours that determine which behaviors are suitable to use and thus conditioning us to respond in certain ways because of previous consequences of that behaviour. This how personality is formed in the behavioristic view.
Explain the "diathesis-stress model". Give some examples.
The diathesis stress model is a model of disease that suggests that although a predisposition to illness exists because of genetics or upbringing, the illness itself will not appear unless or until it is elicited by the environment. Some examples of this being that someone may be genetically predisposed to acquire an alcohol addiction but this will not happen if the person is aware of this and therefore doesn't drink. Thus avoiding the illness. Another example is bipolar disorder which will manifest in individuals with the genetic makeup for the disorder when they experience highly stressful life events.
