PSYC 330 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Reuptake, Freerunning, Donald O. Hebb
28 Jun 2018
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Phineas Gage - damage to prefrontal cortex. No change in intellectual capability but behavior
changed completely.
This showed that different brain areas were responsible for personality
Physiological approach - more reliable and can be measured mechanically, parsimonious in its
explanations
Physiological systems - nervous system, cardiac system, and musculoskeletal system
Commonly used physio measures:
EEG - telemetry where no wires, electrical signals sent through radio waves
fMRI
Saliva Assays - measuring cortisol
Electrodermal responding/skin conductance: When sympathetic nervous system is
activated (for fight-fight), sweat glands begin to fill with salty water and a lot of activation
may lead this salty water to spill out onto the palms.
Cardiovascular activity - measure heart rate and blood pressure. People who have larger
increases to stressful situations show cardiac reactivity and are called Type A personalities -
impatience, competitiveness, and hostility -- more chances of heart diseases
Physio-Based Theories of Personality:
Extraversion-Introversion
a. Eysenck Personality Questionnaire:
Just yes/no. very dichotomous
You can clearly tell which one tests extraversion and introversion
Its not very interpersonal - does not talk about in social context, seems
vague
His traits are related to underlying physiological differences - and he
considers this relation be causal (physiology drives the personality trait)
Introverts = higher baseline levels of ARAS (ascending reticular
activating system) activity (cortisol and stress levels) --> already dealing with
higher levels of cortisol and an aroused state. Because of that, introverts are not
very equipped to behave well in overly social situations because you are adding
stimulation to somebody who is already experiencing high levels of stimulation
But when studied through EEG - readings are same for both groups at
rest level
b. Eysenck's Revised theory:
Difference between introverts and extraverts = arousability and not at
baseline levels
Less noise, less people will provide equal amount of stimulation to an
introvert as a bigger group or more noise would provide an extravert
Introvert = lower threshold, more intense reaction
Extravert = higher threshold - more stimulation to feel that impact -
they are "stimulation hungry" and thus, seek out stimulation around them
c. Geen Study
"IV1" - predictor variable - EPI score (extravert, introvert) - fall on a
certain location on the spectrum and then decided if they were introvert or
extravert
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
IV2 - Manipulation of the degree intensity of noise or condition of noise
Choice - you get to pick the volume of the noise
Assigned same - if you are an introvert, you get the same
volume that the last introvert had and same with extravert
Assigned other - if you are an introvert, you get the same
volume as the last extravert and same for introvert
DV1-A - "Physio Arousal" (heartrate, electrodermal) = higher levels of
both would mean more arousal = introverts
DV1-B - Learning task performance -- impact of stimulation of varying
types on their physiological and psychological response
Personality main effects (impact of one thing on the outcomes) -
Introverts selected quieter noise levels than extraverts
(selection issue - gene-environment correlation)
Introverts showed more physiological arousal than extraverts -
higher HR, higher skin conductance
# of trials to learn to do the task for both the groups
Free Choice - not much significant difference in the # of trials to
learn to do the task between the two groups
Assigned same - looks the same as the free choice graph
Introverts do take more trials than extraverts in both
the above conditions because they are not as equipped with working
with high stimulation
Assigned Other - Significant difference - takes a lot more trials
for both the groups to learn. Introverts take more than 9 trials and
extraverts take more than 7 as compared to being in the 5-6 range
Extraverts take more because they are bored and they need
something to keep them engaged
Introverts are getting overly-stimulated which is distracting to
the levels where they cannot focus on finishing their tasks
The assigned other can be termed under gene-environment
interaction
Geen's findings with Eysenck's Revised theory --> Differences emerge in reaction to
stimulation
Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) - Gray
a. Behavioral Activation System (BAS)
"Accelerator" -- go side of the equation
What kinds of rewards or punishments are you most sensitive to?
More responsive to rewards, positive feedback
Regulates approach behavior - what drives people to seek the new,
novel, unknown
Personality dimension: Impulsivity
b. Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)
"Brake pedal"
Responsive to punishment
Regulates avoidant or withdrawing behavior - sensitive to new, novel
things and steer clear from them
Personality dimension: Anxiety
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
No change in intellectual capability but behavior changed completely. This showed that different brain areas were responsible for personality. Physiological approach - more reliable and can be measured mechanically, parsimonious in its explanations. Physiological systems - nervous system, cardiac system, and musculoskeletal system. Eeg - telemetry where no wires, electrical signals sent through radio waves fmri. Electrodermal responding/skin conductance: when sympathetic nervous system is activated (for fight-fight), sweat glands begin to fill with salty water and a lot of activation may lead this salty water to spill out onto the palms. Cardiovascular activity - measure heart rate and blood pressure. People who have larger increases to stressful situations show cardiac reactivity and are called type a personalities - impatience, competitiveness, and hostility -- more chances of heart diseases. You can clearly tell which one tests extraversion and introversion. Its not very interpersonal - does not talk about in social context, seems.
