Personality Psych

exam 1

personality

individual characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior, together with psychological mechanisms behind those patterns.

big five

extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism

cerebral cortex

outermost layer of the brain, gray matter. memory, learning, problem solving, language, sensory processing, motor functions, emotions, and consciousness

frontal lobe

responsible for reasoning, planning, problem solving, and emotional regulation

parietal lobe

sensory information related to touch, temperature, and pain

occipital lobe

visual processing

temporal lobe 

auditory processing and memory formation

brain stem

connects cerebrum to the spinal cord. made up of medulla oblongata, pons, and midbrain. serves as pathway for signals between the brain and the rest of the body 

motor strip (primary motor cortex)

located in the frontal lobe, controls voluntary muscle movements

somatosensory strip

located in the parietal lobe, responsible for processing sensory information from the body’s senses. ex: touch, pressure, temperature, and pain.

thalamus

relay station for sensory and motor signals

hypothalamus

body’s control center. controls body temperature, hunger, thirst, and release of hormones, maintains homeostasis.

amygdala

located in temporal lobe, primary functions: emotional processing, memory and learning, fight or flight response, social cues/communication

hippocampus

located in the medial temporal lobe. memory formation, spatial memory, declarative memory, emotional responses

nucleus accumbens

processes reward, motivation, and pleasure.

limbic system

complex set of brain structures that play a crucial role in regulating emotions, memory, and behavior

TAT

thematic apperception test, used to evaluate emotions, motivations, and personality. 

projective test

exam that employs neutral/ambiguous stimuli. ex: inkblot test, Rorschach, Thematic Apperception Test

visual cortex

processing and interpreting visual information. ex: color, motion, object recognition 

auditory cortex

located in the temporal lobe, processes auditory information. ex: music, interpreting sounds, speech

autonomic nervous system

regulates involuntary body functions. separates into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. ex: blood flow, heartbeat, digestion, breathing. 

neuroendocrine system

regulates hormones and neural signals, helps maintain homeostasis

upper segment

basic needs, 4 F’s, fighting, fleeing, feeding, mating

lower segment

exploring and foraging, orienting, locomotion

classical conditioning

the process of learning by association by pairing two stimuli together

operant conditioning

modifying behavior through reinforcement/punishment

learning

change in behavior as a result of experience

behaviorism

branch of psychology that focuses on the basic mechanisms of learning

3 basic kinds of learning

habituation, classical condition, operant conditioning

habituation

what happens when an organism begins to stop responding to a stimulus as the stimulus is repeated

cognitive affective personality systems

if… then contingencies

cybernetic big five theory

describes how genes and environment combine to respond in certain ways that become personality traits 

idiographic goals

unique to those who pursue them

nomothetic goals

small number of essential motivations

four classes of stimuli

consummatory, incentives, punishments, threats

consummatory rewards

satisfaction/satiety. ex: food, sex, warmth, goal attainment

incentive rewards

promise/cues of a reward. ex: stimulants, cocaine, amphetamines

punishments

pain, deprivation. ex: painkillers, opiates, morphine, heroin

threats

cues/promises of punishment. ex: barbiturates, alcohol

damage to amygdala

lack of fear response or ability to identify fear

cybernetics

study of goal-directed systems that self-regulate via feedback

cybernetic cycle

goal activation → action selection →action → outcome interpretation → goal comparison

S-data

self reports

I- data

informant reports (family, peers, collegues)

L-data

life outcomes (health, education, career, family, marriages)

B- data

behavioral data. (Activity meter, social interactions, IQ, memory, reaction time, brain imaging)

research reliability

how accurate does the analysis reflect the data

research validity

how accurately the measure actually measures what it was supposed to 

generalizability

ability to apply the research to different populations or situations 

case method

not very generalizable, super specific, new ideas

experimental

groups, manipulation of an independent variable to see impact on dependent variable

correlational

predictor and criterion variable

likert scale

using a series of numbers for rating

correlation

linear association between 2 variables: positive/negative, strength/magnitude 

Milgram’s obedience study

how much people can be influenced by authority