PPE3003 Exam 2 (Personality Psychology)

Define genome and describe the hierarchy in the genome

a.Genome refers to the complete set of genes an organism possesses.

i.The human genome contains between 20000- 30000 genes which are all located on 23 pairs of chromosomes.

b. Hierarchy: genome- chromosomes genes DNA

Differentiate genotype and phenotype.

genotype: collection of our genes (AA, Aa, aa)

Phenotype: set of our observable characteristics

Define behavioral genetics. What are the controversies surrounding behavioral genetics?

a.To what degree are individual differences due to genetic and environmental factors

b.Controversy includes eugenics which is the idea that we can design the future human species by fostering the reproduction of persons with traits and by discouraging the reproduction of persons without these traits.

What are the three major questions asked by behavioral geneticists?

a.What causes variability in a trait? (genes vs environment)

b.Which environmental effects are important? (parents, teachers, peers)

c.How do genes and environment interact?

What is heritability? What is environmentality?

a.Heritability is how much an individual difference is explained by genetics

b.Environmentality is the percentage of observed variance in a group of individuals that can be attributed to environmental differences

Discuss three misconceptions about heritability.

a.Heritability cannot be applied to a single individual

b.It is not constant or unchangeable

-Heritability only applies to a population at one point in time

c.It is not a precise statistic, it is only as good as the sample used

List and define the four methods used in behavioral genetics. Discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

a.Selective breeding

b.Family studies

c.Twin studies

d.Adoption studies

Selective Breeding

-Can't be done ethically with humans

-only works if a desired trait is heritable

-if selective breeding for a trait is successful the trait is at least somewhat genetic

Family Studies

-correlates genetic similarity with personality similarity

-if a trait is heritable, more genetic relatedness=more similarity on traits

-problem=families share genes & environment and family studies are never definitive

Twin Studies

Monozygotic twins and dizygotic twins

Differentiate monozygotic and dizygotic twins.

-Monozygotic: share a single fertilized egg and share 100% of genes

-Dizygotic: come from two separately fertilized eggs (two zygotes) and they share 50% of genes

Compute the heritability estimate if I give you the correlations for monozygotic and dizygotic twins.

Heritability = 2 X Difference in correlation

-Heritability= 2(DZ-MZ)

What is the equal environments assumption?

environment experienced by identical twins no more similar than environments shared by fraternal twins

What is representativeness?

What is selective placement?

What is nonadditive genetic variance?

Adoption Studies

-correlations on traits between adopted children and adoptive parents = environmental influence

-correlations between adopted children and genetic parents = genetic influence

Describe the heritability estimates of extraversion, neuroticism, drinking, and alcoholism and know which two traits of the Big Five have been shown to be the most heritable.

-extraversion=40%-60% heritable

-Neuroticism= 30%-54% heritable

-drinking is related to sensation seeking, extraversion, and neuroticism. drinking is 36%-56% heritable, and alcoholism is 50%-71% heritable

Know that any phenotypic variance not accounted for by genetics is accounted for by the environment (e.g. if height is 90% heritable, 10% of the variance is due to the environment)

Differentiate shared and non-shared environments.

-Shared: environment siblings share (parents, home, food etc.)

-Nonshared: environments siblings do not share

(classes, friends, possibly school etc.)

Define and recognize examples of an environment-genetic interaction.

Describe and recognize examples of the three types of genotype-environment correlations

-People with different genes are exposed to different environments

-passive: parents provide both genes and environment, yet children do nothing to obtain that environment

-reactive: parents responses differ depending on child genotype

-active: people with particular genotypes seek out particular environments

Identify positive and negative genotype-environment correlations.

-positive: environment facilitates the genetically influenced behavior

-negative: environment impedes the genetically influenced behavior

Define molecular genetics and understand how D4DR is thought to influence risk-taking and novelty seeking.

-goal is to identify specific genes associated with personality traits

-it is hypothesized that people with long D4DR genes are relatively unresponsive to dopamine. It is still inconclusive and only explains about 4% of variance.

electrodermal activity.

mild electrical current is transferred across skin, and more sweat with arousal leads to more conductance of electricity across skin

-it measures fight or flight nervous system activity

-measures responses to: sudden noises, emotional pictures, anxiety, and fear

cardiovascular activity, brain activity, and chemical analyses of blood and saliva

Describe Eysenck's original and revised theories about individual differences in extraversion-introversion.

-original: thought that introverts had higher baseline levels of activity in the brains ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) than extraverts. and due to low ARAS activity that extraverts seek out stimulation

-revised: introverts are more reactive to stimulation than extraverts (they do NOT differ in baseline arousal)

Describe Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory, including a discussion of how Gray's theory is similar to and different from Eysenck's theory.

-BAS is sensitive to rewards

-BIS is sensitive to punishments

-people differ in how sensitive their BAS and BIS systems are

-stronger BAS can lead to impulsivity, stronger BIS can lead to high levels of anxiety

Discuss recent research and theory on the relationships between neurotransmitters and personality traits including Cloninger's Tridimensional Model of personality.

-low levels of dopamine=novelty seeking

-low levels of norepinephrine= reward dependence

-abnormal serotonin metabolism= harm avoidance( it is not a simple linear relationship)

Describe the personality dimension of morningness-eveningness, and discuss identified relationships of this dimension with circadian rhythms.

-people differ in their circadian rythyms

-people with shorter rythyms tend to be morning people, and people with longer rythyms tend to be evening people

Discuss the identified relationships between brain asymmetry and personality traits.

-eyes drift to right= left side brain activation, more susceptible to positive emotions

-eyes drift to left= right side brain activation, more susceptible to negative emotions

-there is some evidence that right-sided asymmetry can be overcome by mindfulness exercises

What does survival of the fittest mean?

best equipped to survive to reproductive age and reproduce

How does natural selection work? How is sexual selection different from natural selection?

-lots of variety within a species, some survive & reproduce and some don't.

What is the difference between intrasexual competition and intersexual selection?

-intersexual selection: members of one sex choose a mate based on their preferences

-intrasexual competition: members of the same sex compete with rivals for access to mates

What is inclusive fitness? Who would inclusive fitness predict we would save in an emergency?

-inclusive fitness theory: we share genes with others (family) and if we help family to survive and reproduce shared genes will get copied

-it predicts who we same in an emergency

What are the three kinds of products of evolution? Be able to describe and recognize examples of each.

-adaptations: something that impedes survival or reproduction and has some genetic basis

-by-products: side-effects of adaptation (bellybuttons), they're not considered to be adaptations by themselves

-random noise: feature that doesn't affect reproduction (shape of earlobe)

Know the difference between proximate and ultimate explanations for behavior and be able to recognize examples of each.

-proximate: why does it happen here and now?

-ultimate: why does it happen at all?

Be able to recognize an evolutionary explanation for the need to belong, helping, and universal emotions.

-the study of psychological traits as products of natural selection and sexual selection

Know the results of Clark and Hatfield's (1989) study showing differences in willingness to have sex with a stranger.

-confederates approached people of the opposite sex "hi i think you're attractive will you go on a.....

-date with me

-back to my apartment

-will you have sex with me?

-no women said yes to sex

Define sociosexual orientation and describe the difference between unrestricted and restricted sociosexual orientations.

Describe sex differences in jealousy and be able to describe the primary theory that explains these differences.