Fast: the animal reproduces multiple times at a young age but does not devote many or any resources to protecting offspring. Better for reproductive success

Slow: the animal does not reproduce until relatively late in life, has fewer offspring. Safe, predictable environments promote individuals who marry late, have few children, and put extensive resources into raising them.

16. Behavioral observation

When research is based on direct observation instead of self-reports, most traits are influences by shared environment

17. Genome Wide Association Studies

Look for associations between hundreds of thousands of genes or patterns of genes and personality in large samples.

Many and maybe nearly all the results that arise will be due merely to chance
Three studies of more than 100,000 people each found patterns of genetic variation associated with traits related to happiness, depression, and anxiety

18. Changing Personality

Personality can change throughout life, especially during adolescence and young adulthood

19. Personality Stability

the consistency of a person's personality traits over time

20. Plasticity in personality

the ability of a person's personality traits to change and adapt over time

21. Social clock

Places pressure on people to accomplish certain things by certain ages

22. Narrative

the personal story an individual constructs about their life

23. Redemption

the narrative theme where a person constructs a personal story that portrays a significant negative experience as a turning point leading to positive growth and transformation

24. Causes of personality

Some change over time, involving physical development

Increases in intelligence and linguistic abilities

Hormone-level changes

Changing social roles at different stages of life

Conscientiousness also changes over time

25. Person environment transactions

People tend to respond to, seek out, and create environments that are compatible with, and may magnify, their personality traits

- Active: people seek out compatible environments and avoid incompatible ones

- Reactive: people respond differently to the same situation

- Evocative: people change the situation

26. Cohort effects

People of different ages may differ because they grew up in different environments

- May contribute to age differences in cross-sectional studies

- Aspects of personality can be affected by the historical period in which one lives

27. Systematic desensitization

A behavioral therapy that helps people overcome phobias, anxiety, OCD, and PTSD

28. What can accelerate neurological decline

Sedentary behavior, lack of proper sleep, unhealthy diet

29. Part of the brain that grows in response to exercise

Hippocampus

30. How to strengthen your memory

Try new things, emotional resonance, working on your conscious mind, mindful activities, engaging in challenging activities

31. Sleep hygiene

Sleep environment, limit screen time, pre-sleep routine, avoid stimulants, regular exercise, relaxation techniques, healthy habits, dark and quiet, sun exposure, and a consistent schedule

32. Frontal lobes and neocortex system and what they play a role in

Social understanding and self-control, emotions and decision making, and how people respond to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli

34. Research methods to study the brain

Make it possible to observe which parts of the brain are most active

- CT scan, PET, fMRI

Practice Problems:

Ch. 4:

1. The person-situation debate________? was based on a disagreement about whether the personality coefficient had an upper limit of about .30

2. Traits that are easy to judge are referred to as_______? Good traits

3. Those who are consistent and well-adjusted make________? Good targets

Ch. 5:

1. Which of the Big 5 traits is the best predictor of relationship problems, criminal behavior, and mental illness? Neuroticism

2. Focuses on patterns of traits that characterize a person. Typological

3. Which acronym stands for the Big 5 personality assessment? OCEAN

4. Which of the Big 5 Traits is this? One’s willingness to try new things as well as engage in imaginative and intellectual activities. It includes the ability to “think outside of the box. Openness

5. If you are high in this Big 5 trait then you may be soft hearted, trusting, well liked as well as helpful and cooperative. Agreeableness

6. The California Q-set is best used for which approach? Many trait

7. If the California Q set has raters who are acquaintances what type of data is this? Informant-report data (I-data)

8. A researcher who is interested in the construct of cooperativeness and wants to discover what behavior this trait can predict should use which approach? Single trait

9. Looks for traits associated with a particular behavior. Many trait

10. Identifies which traits are the most important. Essential trait

11. High self-monitors are less adaptable, flexible, popular, sensitive, and able to fit in wherever they go. False

12. Important aspects of life will be labeled with words if they are truly important according to the lexical hypothesis. True

Ch. 6:

1. Research has shown that: Longitudinal studies reveal different patterns of development from what have been found in cross-sectional studies

2. Personality stability: increases as people get older

3. Which statement about personality development is true? Rank-order stability tends to be high AND the mean levels of traits change over time.

Ch. 7:

1. The research methods used to study the brain: make it possible to observe which parts of the brain are most active.

2. The frontal lobes and neocortex seem to play a role in: social understanding and self-control, emotions and decision making, and how people respond to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli

3. The chemical that is released in response to stress and prepares the body for fight-or-flight is: epinephrine

Ch. 8:

1. According to evolutionary personality psychology: One way to explain personality and behavior is to look at how behaviors might have been adaptive for our ancestors

2. Genes affect behavior: Genes affect behavior by influencing the propensities or tendencies toward certain behaviors.

3. One criticism of evolutionary personality theory is that it: Does not explain how people living now decide to behave.