Biological and Psychodynamic Perspectives on Personality

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, evolutionary psychology, behavioral genetics, and psychodynamic personality theories.

Prefrontal cortex (PFC)

A brain region involved in executive functioning, decision-making, planning, impulse control, and self-regulation that helps people control their behavior and regulate emotional responses.

Left PFC

A brain area where greater activity is associated with approach motivation and positive emotions.

Right PFC

A brain area where greater activity is associated with withdrawal motivation and negative emotions.

Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)

A brain region that monitors conflicts and detects errors, helping identify when behavior does not match a goal or expectation and signaling that adjustments may be needed.

Error-related negativity (ERN)

A brain response that occurs shortly after someone makes an error, associated with ACC activity and reflecting error detection.

Hippocampus

A brain structure important for learning and memory; the case of H.M. demonstrated its importance in forming new long-term memories.

Amygdala

A brain region involved in processing emotional information, particularly fear and potential threats, helping people recognize and respond to emotionally significant situations.

Insula

A brain area involved in processing internal bodily sensations and emotional experiences, helping connect physical sensations with subjective feelings.

Dopamine

A neurotransmitter involved in reward, motivation, and reinforcement that plays a role in pursuing rewards and experiencing pleasure.

Serotonin

A neurotransmitter involved in mood regulation, emotional functioning, and impulse control, with differences in activity associated with differences in emotional regulation.

Norepinephrine

A neurotransmitter involved in alertness, attention, and responses to stress.

GABA

The primary inhibitory neurotransmitter that reduces neural activity and helps regulate nervous system functioning (hit the breaks)

Glutamate

The primary excitatory neurotransmitter that increases neural activity and is important for learning and memory.

Oxytocin

A hormone associated with social bonding, trust, and attachment that influences social behavior depending on the situation and social context.

Testosterone

A hormone associated with dominance, competition, and status-seeking whose behavioral effects vary depending on the environment and social circumstances.

Cortisol

A stress hormone released through the body's stress response that helps prepare the body to respond to challenges and threats.

Endorphins

Natural chemicals involved in pain regulation and pleasure.

Bidirectional biology-behavior relationships

The concept that biology influences behavior, but behavior also influences biology (e.g., testosterone affects competitiveness, while experiences such as winning or losing a competition change testosterone levels).

Behavioral Activation System (BAS)

A motivational system that responds to rewards and incentives, driving people to approach rewarding situations; associated with positive emotions and impulsivity.

Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)

A motivational system that responds to potential punishment, conflict, and uncertainty, motivating people to stop and evaluate situations; associated with anxiety and cautious behavior.

CT scan

An imaging technique that uses X-rays to create images of brain structures.

MRI

An imaging technique that uses magnetic fields to create detailed images of brain anatomy.

fMRI

A neuroimaging technique that measures changes in blood oxygenation to estimate brain activity.

EEG

A method that measures electrical activity in the brain using electrodes placed on the scalp.

Biochemical assays

Laboratory tests that measure biological substances, such as hormones and neurotransmitters, to study how they relate to behavior and personality.

Psychosurgery

A procedure involving surgically altering parts of the brain to change behavior or treat psychological problems, historically illustrated by Howard Dully undergoing a childhood lobotomy.

Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory

A theory explaining personality through two motivational systems: the BAS (which responds to rewards and motivates approach) and the BIS (which responds to punishment, conflict, and uncertainty, promoting caution).

Evolutionary psychology

A field examining how psychological characteristics and behaviors developed through natural selection because they helped ancestors survive and reproduce.

Evolutionary mismatch

A condition occurring when psychological or behavioral adaptations that developed in ancestral environments do not work as well in modern environments.

Frequency-dependent selection

An evolutionary mechanism in which the success of a particular trait depends on how common or rare it is within a population.

Inclusive fitness

An individual's overall genetic contribution to future generations, encompassing both direct reproduction and helping relatives reproduce.

Kin selection

An evolutionary process in which individuals are more likely to help their genetic relatives because they share genes. Helping relatives survive and reproduce increases the chances that shared genes will be passed on to future generations.

Sociometer theory

A theory proposing that self-esteem functions as an internal indicator of how accepted or rejected a person feels by others, signaling potential threats to social relationships.

Cyberball task (Eisenberger et al., 2003)

An experimental task used to study social exclusion and brain activity, showing that exclusion is associated with activity in brain regions involved in processing distress.

Behavioral genetics

The study of how genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual differences in behavior, personality, and psychological traits.

Heritability

A statistic estimating how much of the variation in a particular trait within a population is associated with genetic differences.

Twin studies

Studies comparing identical twins (who share nearly all their genes) with fraternal twins (who share about half their segregating genes) to estimate genetic influences on traits.

Adoption studies

Studies comparing adopted individuals with their biological and adoptive relatives to help separate genetic influences from environmental influences.

Equal environments assumption

The assumption that identical twins are not more similar than fraternal twins due to experiencing more similar environments that directly influence the trait being studied.

Cloned-plants analogy

An analogy illustrating that genetically identical plants can develop differently under different environmental conditions, demonstrating that genes and environment work together to influence traits.

Epigenetics

The study of changes in gene expression that occur without changing the underlying DNA sequence.

Naturalistic fallacy

The assumption that a behavior is morally acceptable or desirable simply because it is natural or has an evolutionary explanation.

Id

The part of personality driven by instinctual desires and the pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification.

Ego

The component of personality operating according to the reality principle, aiming to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially acceptable ways.

Superego

The moral component of personality representing internalized rules, values, and standards.

Repression

A defense mechanism involving pushing distressing thoughts or memories out of conscious awareness.

Denial

A defense mechanism characterized by refusing to accept an uncomfortable reality.

Projection

A defense mechanism involving attributing one's own unacceptable feelings or thoughts to someone else.

Displacement

A defense mechanism involving redirecting emotions from their original source toward a safer target.

Regression

A defense mechanism involving returning to behaviors associated with an earlier stage of development.

Reaction formation

A defense mechanism in which someone unconsciously expresses the opposite of their true feelings or desires to avoid anxiety or psychological conflict.

Rationalization

A defense mechanism that creates an acceptable explanation for behavior or feelings that may have a different underlying cause.

Sublimation

A defense mechanism that redirects unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable activities.

Free association

A psychoanalytic therapy technique in which the client says whatever comes to mind without filtering thoughts.

Transference

A psychoanalytic occurrence where a client redirects feelings about important people onto the therapist.

Good enough mother (Winnicott)

A concept describing a caregiver who responds to an infant's needs while gradually allowing the child to experience manageable frustration and develop independence.

Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development

A lifespan theory proposing that personality develops through eight stages, each involving a specific psychosocial conflict or challenge that influences growth.

Object relations theory

A psychoanalytic theory emphasizing how early relationships with caregivers shape internal representations of others and influence later relationships, emotions, and personality.

Alfred Adler's compensation

The process by which individuals, motivated by feelings of inferiority stemming from recognized limitations, strive for improvement, achievement, and personal growth.

Collective unconscious (Carl Jung)

A shared, inherited part of the unconscious containing universal patterns and experiences passed down through generations.

Archetypes (Carl Jung)

Universal patterns, symbols, and images found across cultures that influence how people understand and experience the world.

Karen Horney's coping styles

Three ways individuals cope with basic anxiety arising from insecure relationships: moving toward people, moving against people, and moving away from people.

Womb envy

A concept introduced by Karen Horney proposing that men experience envy of women's ability to bear children, motivating them toward achievement in other areas; used to challenge Freud's emphasis on penis envy.

Twenge et al. (2001):

Used an "Alone Feedback" manipulation in which participants were told their personality predicted they would end up alone later in life. This was used to study the effects of threatened belonging and social rejection.

DeWall et al. (2010):

Social Pain Overlap Theory explains that social rejection activates pain-related responses and involves the release of endogenous opioids, which are also involved in physical pain. This helps explain why people conform to group expectations to avoid social rejection.

Berns et al. (2005):

An fMRI study finding that social conformity can change activity in brain regions involved in visual-spatial processing. Disagreeing with the group's incorrect answer was associated with increased amygdala and caudate nucleus activity.

Nelson-Coffey (2017):

A randomized experiment in which participants practiced kindness for four weeks. Only those who practiced kindness toward specific others showed positive changes in their immune system at the genetic level.