TOP FINALS

• Hans Eysenck: '"If you admit that to silence your opponent by force is to win an intellectual argument, then you admit the right to silence people by force."'
• Biological Trait Theory


  Introduced by Hans Eysenck
• Hans Eysenck's Personality Theory


  • Argued personality differences are due to genetic and structural differences in the central nervous system
  • Supported by research in temperament, behavioral genetics, and brain imaging
  • Shifted the focus to the biological underpinnings of personality
• Criteria for Identifying Factors


  • Psychometric Evidence and Reliability
  • Heritability and Genetic Model
  • Theoretical Consistency
  • Social Relevance
  • Hierarchy of Behavior Organization
• Hierarchy of Behavior Organization


  • Specific Acts or Cognition
  • Habitual Acts or Cognitions
  • Traits
  • Types or superfactors
• General Superfactors (Dimensions of Personality)


  • Extraversion (E) - Introversion
  • Neuroticism (N) - Stability
  • Psychoticism (P) - Sociability/Superego Functionality
• Extraversion


  • Sociability, impulsiveness, jocularity, liveliness, quick-wittedness, optimism
  • Rewarded for association with others
  • Energy coming from other people/ on how a person get rewards to other people
• Introversion


  • Quiet, passive, unsociable, careful, reserved, thoughtful, pessimistic, peaceful, sober, controlled
  • Rewarded by lesser people
• Biological Basis of Extraversion and Introversion


  • Extraverts have lower cortical arousal, leading to higher sensory thresholds and lesser reactions to sensory stimulation
  • Introverts have higher cortical arousal, leading to lower sensory thresholds (stimulation) and greater reactions to sensory stimulation
• Extraverted people


  Have low cortical arousal that is why they seek experiences
• Introverted people


  Have high cortical arousal that is why they tend to be alone because too much stimulation is not bearable for them because they are already stimulated enough
• Neuroticism/Stability (N)


  • Second superfactor identified by Eysenck, with a strong hereditary component
  • Genetic basis found for traits like anxiety, hysteria, and obsessive-compulsive disorders
  • Greater agreement among identical twins than fraternal twins on antisocial and asocial behaviors
• Traits of High Neuroticism Scorers


  • Tendency to overreact emotionally and difficulty returning to normal state after arousal
  • Frequently report physical symptoms like headaches and backaches as well as psychological problems like worries and anxieties
• Biological Basis of Neuroticism


  Emotional reactivity in neuroticism attributed to having a highly reactive limbic system, including the amygdala and hypothalamus
• Neuroticism and Psychiatric Illness


  • Eysenck accepts the diathesis-stress model, suggesting vulnerability to illness due to genetic or acquired weaknesses
  • Higher neuroticism score correlate with lower stress levels needed to precipitate a neurotic disorder
• Neuroticism


  Can be combined with different points on the extraversion scale, leading to diverse symptoms
• Psychoticism/ Superego (P)


  • Bipolar factor with psychoticism on one pole and superego on the other
  • High P scores are egocentric, cold nonconforming, impulsive, hostile, aggressive, suspicious, psychopathic, and antisocial
  • Low P scores tend to be altruistic, highly socialized (superego)
• Diathesis-Stress Model


  • High scores on psychoticism with stress increase vulnerability to psychotic disorders
  • People high on psychoticism are genetically more vulnerable to stress
  • Higher psychoticism correlate with lower stress levels needed to precipitate a psychotic reaction
• Independence of Factors
• High P scores


  • Egocentric, cold, nonconforming, impulsive, hostile, aggressive, suspicious, psychopathic, antisocial
• People low on psychoticism


  • Altruistic, highly socialized, empathic, caring, cooperative, conforming, conventional
• High psychoticism and high stress


  Increased chance of developing a psychotic disorder
• High psychoticism with little stress

  May function normally
• Low psychoticism with high stress

  Resist a psychotic break
• Diathesis-Stress Model


  High scores on psychoticism with stress increase vulnerability to psychotic disorders
• People high on psychoticism


  Genetically more vulnerable to stress
• Higher psychoticism


  Correlate with lower stress levels needed to precipitate a psychotic reaction
• Psychoticism/superego functionability (P)


  • Independent of extraversion (E) and neuroticism (N)
• Deviance


  Deviation from social or cultural norms. Behavior that significantly deviates from what is considered typical or acceptable in a given society may indicate a psychological issue.
• Distress


  Presence of emotional or psychological distress. If a behavior or symptom causes significant distress or impairment in the individual's daily functioning or well-being, it may suggest a psychological problem.
• Dysfunction


  Impairment in functioning. Dysfunction refers to difficulties in performing everyday tasks, maintaining relationships, or fulfilling responsibilities due to psychological symptoms or behaviors.
• Danger


  Potential for harm to self or others. Behaviors that pose a risk of harm to oneself or others, either directly or indirectly, raise concerns about a psychological problem.
• George Kelly: '"No one needs to point oneself into a corner, no one needs to be completely hemmed in by circumstances; no one needs to be the victim of one's biography"'
• Personal Construct Theory


  Kelly's description of personality in terms of cognitive processes. We are capable of interpreting behaviors and events and of using this understanding to guide our behavior and to predict the behavior of other people
• Kelly believed that the universe is real, but that different people construe it in different ways.
• People are Scientists


  Kelly suggested that people perceive and organize their world of experiences the same scientists do, by formulating hypotheses about the environment and testing them against the reality of daily life, draw conclusions, and try to predict future events.
• Construct


  An intellectual hypothesis that we devise and use to interpret or explain life events. A personal construct is one's way of seeing how things (or people) are alike and yet different from other things (or people).
• Constructive Alternativism


  The idea that we are free to revise or replace our constructs with alternatives as needed. While there is only one true reality, reality is always experienced from one or another perspective, or alternative construction.
• Basic Postulate


  People's behaviors are shaped by how they anticipate future events. Suggests people move with direction through flexible pathways, not driven by underlying forces like motives or instincts. People guide actions based on future predictions, not solely influenced by past or present circumstances. People are motivated by their vision of the future, continuously reaching out to it through the present.
• Corollaries


  Logical extensions or consequences of a fundamental principle or postulate. In the context of George Kelly's Personal Construct, corollaries are statements that further elaborate on the basic postulate, providing additional insights into human cognition and behavior.