essence of Eysenck’s theory
uniting biology and trait theory
temperament
biologically based tendency to behave in particular ways from early life
heritability
extent to which a characteristic is influenced by genetics
meaningless
Esyenck thought factor analysis was _______ unless it could be connected to biology
criteria for identifying factors
psychometric evidence
heritability
theoretical sense
social relevance
psychometric evidence
(criteria for factors)
have to do factor analysis and find it across measurements with reliable results
heritability
(criteria for factors)
fit genetic models
entirely eliminates learned aspects
theoretical sense
(criteria for factors)
start with a theory of what factor is, and then test it
deductive approach
social relevance
(criteria for factors)
cant just be hypothetical
has to be connected to real world phenomenon
hierarchy of behaviour organization
specific acts or cognitions
habitual acts or cognitions
traits
types
specific behaviours
first stage of behaviour organization hierarchy
discrete individual behaviours, may not be characteristic of that person
habitual acts
second stage of behaviour organization hierarchy
responses that have to reoccur under specific conditions
creates reliability
trait
third stage of behaviour organization hierarchy
related habitual responses
need to be extrapolated on basis of a system, factor analysis
defined in terms of significant intercorrelations between different habitual behaviours
Cattell’s source traits
types
fourth stage of behaviour organization hierarchy
superfactors, supertraits
ex., introversion
extraversion
characterized behaviourally by sociability and impulsiveness and physiologically by a low level of cortical arousal
optimism
react less to sensory stimulation, thus can put selves in more stimulating events
introversion
characterized by unsociability and caution and by a high level of cortical arousal
pessimism
react more to sensory stimulation
Lemon drop study
found that introverts have greater sensitivity to stimuli in general, lower pain threshold
a lot of salivation to lemon drops on tongue
neuroticism
higher scores indicate anxiety, hysteria, obsessive-compulsive disorders, or criminality
overreact emotionally
headaches, backaches
low scores indicate emotional stability
over responsive limbic system
diathesis stress-model
some individuals more vulnerable to illness due to genetic predisposition triggered by stress
higher development of neurosis or psychoticism
introvert with high neuroticism
presents with depression
extrovert with high neuroticism
presents with somatic symptoms and outward emotional instability
psychoticism
higher scores indicate hostility, self-centeredness, suspicion, and nonconformity
aggressive, psychopathic, antisocial
low scores indicate proper superego function
altruistic, socialized, empathetic, caring, conforming
independent from other factors
Eysenck’s four personality inventories
Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI)
only assessed E and N
intercorrelation between factors
Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI)
only E and N
independent scales
added faking detection
Junior EPI
developed by his wife
Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ)
added P
evidence for biological basis of personality
researchers found same factors across cultures
individual scores were stable over time
twin studies showed higher concordance for identical twins
antecedents (biological bases of perosnality)
distal
proximal
genetic and biological factors
distal: DNA
proximal: limbic system arousal
consequences (biological bases of perosnality)
proximal
distal
how the psychometric traits combine to different results
proximal: conditioning, sensitivity, perception, memory, etc.
distal: how it appears in the world
sociability, criminality, creativity, psychopathology, sexual behaviour, etc.
extraverted and introverted children and learning
extraverted children do better with active discovery learning
introverted children do better with passive reception learning
biological basis of extraversion
introverts are more reactive than extraverts
Beauducel predicted extraverts less cortically aroused, show worse performance in boring and monotonous tasks
Dobbs found extraverts performed better than introverts on noise and music conditions, but not silent conditions
biological basis of neuroticism
neuroticism resulted from increased activity or responsiveness and lower activation thresholds in limbic system
increased left amygdala activity
reduced neural connections between amygdala and other regions controlling thoughts
inhibits “off-switch” of amygdala, resulting in overactivity
higher degrees of grey brain matter for high N
high N more sensitive to negative emotional experience
low N suppress emotions, lung cancer
Eysenck controversy
he believed race impacted IQ
contributed to discriminatory school practices
studies not easily replicated
cooking his numbers
critique of this theory
biological evidence inconsistent
falsified studies, difficult to replicate
tried to essentialize trait theories are purely biological