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67 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Why study neuroscience? |
The brain is responsible for all thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Genes build our brain, experience further shapes it |
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What is temperament? |
A basic individual difference, your broad emotional disposition or energy |
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Temperament is a set of personality traits that are.. |
Relatively stable across the lifespan, Expressed through general energy level, Present from early childhood, Similar in other species of animals, Present at birth (at least in a general way), Determined by genetic factors, and Changeable with maturation and experience |
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Self-concept |
mental representation of yourself |
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Self-recognition (self-consciousness, self-awareness) |
The ability to make yourself the object of attention; the self differs from other people and objects. |
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What is the Mirror test |
chimpanzees are able to identify themselves in the mirror; so can other apes. Dolphins, elephants, magpies, etc. |
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Trait self-consciousness |
a personality trait that reflects how often they think reflect on themselves; the habitual tendency to engage in self-awareness |
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Private self-consciousness |
being aware of one’s thought, feelings, motives |
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Public self-consciousness |
trying to focus on oneself from the outside; what do others think of me |
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Objective Self-Awareness Theory |
When we are highly self-aware (mirror, video camera) we compare ourselves to our own goals/ standards (connects to deindividuation); We may find a self-discrepancy which creates negative feelingsIf self-discrepancy can’t be reduced, people try to escape self-awareness |
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Independent self-construal |
Defining a self concept based on individual traits, values, etc. Separate from others. You stay "You" no matter the context |
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Interdependent self-construal |
The self is defined in terms of one’s relationships to other people; recognizing that one’s behavior is often determined by the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others; different "you" for different contexts |
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Relational interdependence |
defined by the close relationships; collective identity |
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Possible selves |
Futures goals or fears; who you think you will be in the future. Having possible selves is linked to achieving more |
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Self-complexity |
A measure of self-concept organization; Refers to the number of self-aspects in an individual’s self-concept and the degree of redundancy among attributes in self-aspects |
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Consequences of self-complexity |
Affective spillover- low complexity means emotions effect you a lot That means being happy in one area makes you very happy overall. Being unhappy in one area with high self complexity means you can be resilient |
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Active self-aspects |
whatever side of our personality is currently active, i.e. stereotype threat makes Asian Americans bad at driving when reminded of Asianness |
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Self-esteem |
How we generally feel about ourselves; global/trait esteem is a personality variable revealing how we feel most of the time. |
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Is self-esteem a stable personality trait? |
There are consistent age-related changes in self-esteem, but people peak at around 51; How people feel in their 20s predicts how they will feel in their 40s, but it will not be exactly the same |
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Self-serving bias in self esteem |
We make attributions that are flattering to ourselves; if I succeed it’s due to me, if it’s a failure it’s due to outside factors |
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High, unstable SE versus high, stable SE |
People with unstable, but high self-esteem are more defensive and prone to anger; they are more threatened by failure feedback than participants with stable high self-esteem. |
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Outcomes associated with self-esteem |
Higher self-esteem is correlated with having more confidence and initiative, they have an easier time bouncing back from misfortunes, they take more risks, |
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Narcissism |
Inflated self-esteem; they are defensive and show less compassion |
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Self-esteem myths |
People with high self-esteem are not smarter and more likable; Self esteem is not consistently correlated with drug use, reckless behavior, or antisocial behavior; Bullies do not have low self-esteem (but they are more likely to have unstable or inflated high self esteem); Self esteem is related to school success, work success, life satisfaction, and happiness |
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Should we pursue high self-esteem? |
Self-esteem predicts success in life, SE predicted work success better than vice versa, work success, employment, income, and health predict changes in SE over time |
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Looked at students who got a C or belowRandomly assigned students to one of three conditions Self-esteem bolstering (SE)Internal-controllable attributions (I/C)Control emails |
Students who were Cs were not significantly affected; students who were Ds or below dropped significantly in the SE condition |
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Self-efficacy |
People’s beliefs about their ability to successfully perform some action |
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Basking in reflected glory (BIRGing) |
feeling the pleasure of a group member’s success as if it were our own success. Things like rooting for sports |
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Cutting off reflected failure (CORFing) |
dissociating oneself from one’s group after group failure |
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Self-enhancement (Cultural differences) |
American’s have a higher list of events that would increase their self-esteem; americans are likely to think of successes that are universal, but not failures; |
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Self-criticism |
Japanese have a longer list of events that would decrease their self-esteem; Japanese also think of things that are super sad |
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Although what is valued (and produces “esteem”) varies by cultures, within cultures people think they possess those valued traits. |
I: SE is based on one’s ability to engage in self-expression and to validate internal attributes C: SE is based on one’s ability to adjust to the group, suppress selfish desires, and maintain social harmony |
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Self-presentation (managing impressions) |
We have to be sensitive to the reactions of others so we can adjust appropriately |
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Self-monitoring |
Paying attention to the social situation and using that to guide your own behaviors. Could be more appropriately called “social-monitoring” |
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A social chameleon is someone who changes their behavior to adjust to the situation... |
Someone who is high on self-monitoring, will have many shallow relationships; someone who is low is self-monitoring will have few, deeper relationships |
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Self-handicapping- |
a person creates obstacles to his or her own performance either to provide an excuse for failure or to enhance success; Can also be self-protective/self- enhancing- we avoid testing our actual ability |
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Berglas & Jones (1978)All participants were given a taskIf it was easy and they were told they did well, they believed it; success was contingent If it was difficult and they were told they did well, despite feeling like they were failing; success was non-contingentTold they will take another test and they are sure to do well. People in the difficult condition will feel doubt and fear of failing this time. |
Men choose a self-impairing drug more in the difficult group. |
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Zuckerman’s (2005) typology |
Extraversion- Positive emotion, reward sensitivity, sociability, approach, a focus on emotion and energy; Neuroticism- Negative emotion, anxiety, punishment sensitivity, withdrawal; Impulsivity- Lack of constraint, psychoticism, sensation seeking, novelty seeking, lack of conscientiousness, lack of agreeableness |
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Eysenck’s PEN Model |
Rooted in biology Extraversion- they want to talk to people, do things, and be engaged with others. Introverts want solitude and quiet. Hypothesized that this comes from a difference in baseline arousal levels. *Cortical arousal* Neurological testing did not support this; but researchers thought maybe it was a difference in how easily you are made aroused with external stimulation or arousability Introverts seem to reach optimal arousal at lower levels of stimulation |
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Geen (1984)- Subjects asked to pick a noise level while completing a learning task |
Do introverts and extraverts prefer different volumes when learning? Introverts choose lower levels than extraverts When introverts/ extraverts work at noise levels preferred by the other it took them longer to learn Results support preference for a certain level of external stimulation |
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Psychophysiology: Measure nervous system response; |
Geen (1984) -Measured skin conductance responses for introverts and extraverts SCR is the same at preferred level of stimulation (Introverts, low noise, Extraverts, high noise) So, E and I have similar level of optimal arousal, but they differ in how much external stimulation produces that |
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Neuroticism- Eysenck thought their sympathetic nervous system was unstable/ oversensitive |
No evidence for overall differences in SNS activity Participants high in N and low in E show greater heart rate increase in response to intense stimuliOnly participants high in N show greater startle responses to fearful stimuli |
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Behavioral Approach System (BAS) |
Reacts to appetitive stimuli; sensitive to reward. Represented by dopaminergic centers in the brain. It a “go” system, motivates us to work towards things; 2 parts E, 1 part N” |
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Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) |
Believed to sense and respond to conflict. Sensitive to punishment; it is a “stop” system. If a person has a really strong BIS may have anxiety disorder; 2 parts N, 1 part E |
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Flight-fright-freeze system (FFFS) |
Produces fear; organizes reactions to aversive stimuli/threats (fight, escape, or freeze) |
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Impulsive personality in relation to BIS |
Impulsivity is the failure of BIS to inhibit behavior, especially in the presence of stimuli that could be exciting or rewarding |
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Impulsivity studied as sensation seeking and behavioral responses |
People high in SS seek varied sensations and experiences, and are willing to take risks in pursuit of those experiences; High SS habituate faster to novel stimuli; they also have greater pain tolerance and higher sensory thresholds |
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Brain structure differences in extraversion |
Prefrontal cortex is thicker for introverts; amygdala is think for extraverts |
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Brain activity in extraversion |
Cortex: Extraversion is correlated with greater temporal and frontal lobe activity when viewing positive pictures; These are involved in emotion |
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Biochemical activity in extraversion |
Dopamine levels are higher in extraverts |
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Brain structure differences in neuroticism |
Cortex: High neuroticism have less gray matter in left hemisphere of prefrontal cortexLeft hemi activity is associated with happinessAmygdala: High N tends to have lower concentrations of gray matter in the right amygdalaRight amygdala more related to negative emotions than left amygdala |
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Brain activity in neuroticism |
Cortex- N is correlated with greater temporal and frontal lobe activity when viewing negative picturesLeft-right asymmetry: Left cortex responds more to positive emotions; right to negative. People differ in which side is more responsive and higher N is correlated with more right asymmetry |
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Biochemical differences in neuroticism |
Serotonin: Circumstantial evidence that high N is associated with less serotoninDepression is linked to lower levels of serotonin in the synapses. High N linked to short alleles of serotonin transporter gene |
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Trait genotype |
The gene(s) that “codes for” the trait |
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Trait phenotype |
How a trait presents; Both the genotype and the environment affect the phenotype |
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Heritability |
The estimate of what percentage of variation in a trait within a population is caused by people having different genes |
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Environmentality |
The estimate of what percentage of variation in a trait within a population is caused by people having different environments; things that qualify as environment is endless; even fetal nutrition, social conditioning, etc. (Heritability is higher in equalizing environments. When everyone has the same experiences, the only thing left to vary is genetics. ) |
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Comparing siblings in environment versus inheritability |
Shared environment- aspects of the family environment that are the same for children; Nonshared environment- unique experiences in and outside of the family |
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Calculating heritability with twin studies |
Comparing correlations between monozygotic and dizygotic twins; Or comparing MZ twins apart |
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Equal environment assumption (Issues with twin studies ) |
mono should have the same amount of shared environment than dy. |
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Assumption of representativeness of twins (Issues with twin studies) |
they may differ more from the general environment than studies typically account for. |
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Selective placement (Issues with twin studies) |
when comparing twins that are separated, they are still put into very similar homes |
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Genotype-environment interaction: |
Certain genotypes make a person more likely to develop a characteristic when exposed to certain environments; Genotype alone and environment alone are not sufficient for the characteristic, |
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Looked at if MAO-A had three or four repeaters (just two different versions) |
They then looked at psychosocial risk; only people who are at risk on both accounts show a difference |
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Passive genotype-environment correlations: |
parents with the trait both pass on the G to their children and create an E that supports the traits |
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Reactive genotype-environment correlations: |
people treat the child differently (E) based on the child’s trait that comes from G; The halo effect is when people who are attractive are treated better than people who are |
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Active genotype-environment correlations |
The person’s G leads him/her to seek out certain E |