PSY 247 Weeks 1-5 Notes PDF

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Week 1

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Personality o Individual differences in behaviour Social psychology o thoughts/feelings/behaviours influenced by presence of others Draw on same theories o Need for belonging Criticism o Just common sense Hindsight bias o Draw on own experience to confirm finding o ‘I knew it all along’ o Either finding given will be accepted so research shows which way it goes Social psychology research o Intuitions are not adequate

Tutorial week 2

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DISC Director Influencer Stabiliser Conscientious Influencer and stabiliser are the 2 most common groups Based on the five factor OCEAN model o Openness o Conscientiousness o Extraversion o Agreeableness o Neuroticism o Varying levels and most personality tests are off this o o o o o

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Reading week 2

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Psychodynamic perspective o Inner forces that conflict with each other  ID/Ego/superego  Unconscious, preconscious, conscious o Unconscious determinants of behaviour o Psychodynamic theories focus on the unconscious determinants of behaviour and look for the causes of behaviour in the dynamic interplay of inner forces that often conflict with one another. Phenomenological-humanistic perspective o Behaviour is not a reaction from unconscious drives/conflicts o Response to immediate conscious experience of self/environment o Known as phenomenology and focus attention on present instead of past The trait perspective

Traits are stable cognitive/emotional/behavioural characteristics which establish identities o The five factor model (OCEAN)  Everyone falls onto this o Attempt to predict behaviour through traits o Expected to be stable but do have some degree of flexibility o Situation is very important for actions o Describe the traits more than understanding underlying psychological process Biological foundations o Nature and nurture contributions differ according to that trait o Genetics - proved to be more about environments and unique experience o Way in which people respond to environments has a biological underpinning o Temperament = emotional/behavioural style that appears early on and assumed to have biological basis Social cognitive theory o combine the behavioural and cognitive perspectives o Stresses interaction of a thinking human with a social environment that provides learning experiences o the person, the person’s behaviour and the environment all influence one another o Internal locus = life outcomes under personal control and depend on own behaviour o External = external factors such as luck, chance and powerful others o Self efficacy = beliefs concerning ability to perform behaviour needed to achieve desired outcomes Culture and Gender and personality o Cultural influences o Social environment/community influences o Family characteristics/child rearing practices o Individualistic self concept = self-concept seen primarily in one's personality identity (traits/abilities) o Collectivistic self concept = self-concept seen primarily in group/relationships with others o

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Week 2 lecture

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Factorial design o Can be both within or between subjects or have one of each o Comparison of treatment and control group o Generally allow us to impute causality Quasi experimental design o Random allocation not possible o IV is usually unable to be randomly allocated (e.g. gender) o Investigates causal impact on population Correlational designs o Have no random allocation or control groups o Difficult to impute causality o Can explore questions that can’t be done with experimental designs Personality theories o Address both human nature (general factors) o Individuality (specific factors)

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Idiographic = focus on individual uniqueness and recognition of this Nomothetic = laws and generalisations about people Psychopathology o Understanding how personalities can break down Personality theories o Helping to understand ‘normal’ and mental functioning o Understanding what is necessary for mental health (needs) o What might go wrong or right Conceptual issues o Nature  Genetics  Biological needs  What we were like prior to environmental influences o Nurture  How environment nurtures us  Social factors  Cultural factors o Is generally 50/50 of both o Some theories emphasise one over the other o The two blur together o Free will vs determinism  Determinism = everything caused by antecedent (prior) conditions  Free will = choices we make are not bound by causal conditions  Choosing between right and wrong  Personality research and science o Discovering o Humans prone to error o Critical appraisal  Detect errors  Subject theories/beliefs to criticism o Two types of criticism  Logical  Empirical (observation) o First approaches of study  Case studies

Week 3 Lecture

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Ego psychology o Accepts ID theory but ego has central role o Emphasis on person (social) environment and relation o Here and now - happening present not past o Emphasises on function and strengths/weaknesses (resilience to events) o Doesn’t just look at what’s wrong but also what’s strong and healthy about the ego o Hartmann’s Ego Psychology  Drive-autonomous ego functions  Emphasis on conscious over unconscious  Focus on normal rather pathological development  Defense mechanisms and coping

Adaptive functioning Freud = ego not present at birth Hartman = born with ‘ego functions’  Reality testing (fantasy vs real), impulse control etc  Adapting person’s internal needs to environment  Therapy = strengthening ego  Healthy ego = conflict free sphere  Acting without conflict  Criticism = not enough attention paid to socialisation  Object relations approaches Object = something you use to satisfy yourself (Freud) Moves away from drives Emphasis on ‘person’ Innate desire for relationships over need for hunger Early relationships shape mind/personality Fairbairn’s approach  Deal with persons not biology  Libido is object seeking; relationship with object not gratification of impulse  Ego at birth  Frustrating object relations lead to repression  Repression causes splits in ego  Schizoid states = people who say they don’t want relationships at all. Fairbairn argued they want them badly but repressed Ogden internal object relation  Internalise relationships  Even when on own, parts of self is in relationships (image of parents)  Theory = personality influenced by people in childhood and take into our own minds  Fantasy about other people also influence actions in world  Mentalisation = capacity to understand self and others as being with o[];wn thoughts/desires  Relationships important for this to be possible Intersubjective origin of self  Learn aboutown minds through interactions with other people  Mirroring = helps child organise and experience feelings  Containment = helps child self-regulate/represents as manageable  Attachment theory  Neuropsychoanalysis Dreams  Give insight into subconscious/repressed desires  Regression to primary process  Dreams fulfillment of wishes  Biological frustrations and dreams  Dehydration causes desire to drink during sleep  Dream is imaginary satisfaction  Psychical conflict = dreamer fighting against own wishes  Paradoxical sleep = highly active brain during REM sleep  Wake during REM sleep up to 95% report having vivid dreams  Wake during other times = impoverished dreams  Activation-synthesis model (hobson and McCarley) = dreams occur due to chaotic brain stem and brain trying to make sense of this  Motivationally neutral (meaningless) Dopamine   

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Related mainly to motivation and reward Damage to dopamine pathway associated with reduction of motivated behaviour Affective neuroscience  Primary emotional systems  Seeking system = dopamine pathway Biological drive frustration paradigm  Colace tested drug addicts undergoing withdrawal  Have dreams of taking substance  Case study of Mrs A - Anosognosia and motivated defence Suicidally depressed due to ‘loss’ of objects Unconsciously aware of paralysis but couldn’t become conscious Retrospective awareness of deficit Can undo it for some periods of times with psychotherapy  Revising psychoanalysis Consciousness associated with deeper sub-cortical processes of brain  Criticisms of neuropsychoanalysis Blass and Carmeli = irrelevant Biologistic/reductionistic runs counter Cannot address meaning and subjectivity  

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Week 4 - Trait Approaches to personality

Gordon Allport o Founded personality at Harvard  Traits = disposition/tendency to act in consistent ways across time/situations  Stable/consistent over life  Nature vs nurture o Nurture has minor role in shaping personality  Nomothetic research o Comparing people o Doesn’t research individual people  Quantitative approach  Identifying traits o Lexical hypothesis = traits identified through language  List of adjectives  Eysenck 3 factor account o extraversion/introversion o neuroticism/normality o Psychoticism o Biological basis of traits o over -aroused/stimulated = introverted people so they don’t want more (ascending reticular activation system) Five factor model/theory o Based on lexical hypothesis o OCEAN o McCrae & Costa most common  Best scale  Traits endring  Highly heritable  Useful in many situations (job selection screening) o Experience shapes expression of traits 

Born with traits Traits should be found in every culture Evidence shows some traits (N,E,O) decreases after 30 and (A,C) increases  Biological maturation theory) o Are they universal  Given to other cultures  Fairly universal  Generally done on educated uni students - confounding variable?  Study done in Tsimane (forager-hunter lifestyle) and not replicated  2 groups - prosocial/industriousness o Personality shapes society and culture o Challenges  Increases of N/E over last 50 years  No dramatic change in genetics to account for this  Acculturation studies  Recent immigrants from HK to Can score similar to Canadians  Selective migration? Dsm 5 personality disorders o Personality disorders  Enduring patterns  Culturally deviant  Pervasive and inflexible  Leads to distress or social impairment o 3 clusters for personality disorders now o Categorical model  Distinct clinical syndromes  Ongoing problems with assessment/heterogeneity within diagnoses o Maladaptive traits are all ‘opposite’ of the OCEAN traits o FFM potentially better for treatment option  Can’t change trait but learn to manage them o Clinical utility still unclear o o o

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Dynamic personality approaches  Person-situation debate o Major determination for behaviour is environment o Criticised trait approach  Only identifies dimensions upon which people vary  Doesn’t address within-person personality  Ignores cross-situation variability o Same actions by different individuals may be down to variety of different underlying dynamics  Beneath the mask metaphor o Personality complex system interacting with environment o Focus is upon within-person systems o Personality architecture  Dynamics = change across time and how elements of personality are part of this o Psychological dynamics o Emotional dynamics  Personality paradox o Generally personality is relatively enduring o Dynamic theory to account for both stability and chance  Aim is to find psychological systems that account for shifting and stable dynamics

 Identifying within-personality structures/process Personality-in-context = connection between dynamics and social context Potentials = personality can change even if relatively stable Idiosyncrasy = both idiographic and nomothetic (FFM only N) o May display patterns that do not correspond to any standard nomothetic trait Bandura  Social cognitive framework o Cognitive-affective systems o Self observation; self-monitoring standards o Judgements; own behaviour relative to others and own standards o Self-reaction; reward/punishment o Self-efficacy = accomplish task in situations  Two dynamic approaches  1; CAPS Cognitive-affective processing o Personality system involving  Encoding strategies  Expectancies and beliefs  Goals and values  Emotional responses  Personal competencies/self regulation processes o How these occur over time o Hard to test o Behavioural signatures  situation=behaviour relationships  Interactions between situations/personality system lead to distinctive behavioural signatures  Consistent ways of responding to particular classes of situations  These are outward manifestation of personality that establish unique identity o Individuality  Person-situation = generates distinctive patterns of behaviour that characterise  stable/unique pattern develops  Behavioural variation = situational features might activate different units  Different features of situation can be processed differently, resulting in different behaviours  Output behaviours can influence situation  2; KAPA Knowledge and appraisal personality architecture o People respond to subjective meaning of events o Construct meaning of pre-existing knowledge systems  Knowledge; situational beliefs/self schemas  Appraisals; judgements concerning meaning of encounters o Units of  Beliefs  Goals  Standards o Traits result of dynamic processes not causes of behaviour o Assessment  Identify personality structures; schemas/regulations/temperament  Identify if-then signatures; situational-appraisal-emotion coping patterns  Map personality structures to if-then signatures; most relevant structures to most problematic situations   

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Both approaches  Emphasis on agency o Exercise control over nature and life o Forethought o Intentionality o Self-reflectiveness

Week 5 Lecture Evolutionary psychology

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Evolution theory o Natural selection  Individual variation within population  Survival of the fittest  Evolutionary fitness/reproduction  Competition for survival New paradigm o Personality seen as conceptual foundation o Want to understand people within evolutionary context o Evolutionary pressures from generations ago and how they manifest now o Looking to past to understand present personality Evolved human nature o Fight or flight example o ‘Preparedness’; fear of heights/snakes/dark/strangers  Born with attributes to develop certain traits o What are these evolved aspects of human nature o Perceptual biases; spotting differences rather than similarities  Being able to identify cheaters example o Preferences  Physical attraction  Mate selection Evolutionary of function of personality o Understanding personality in terms of adaptation ti environment o Products of evolutionary forces o Tends to predict reproduction and life expectancy/quality Problems o Diverse o How does this account for variation o Adaptive in on environment but not for another Extraversion o Associated with

Sociability Positive emotion Adventurous o Higher number of sexual partners o Reproductive success o ‘Extrapair copulations’  Affairs o Evolutionary perspective of  Handing down genes  Social connections to aid in survival  More physically active o Costs  Disease  Greater exposure to dangers Neuroticism o Greater levels of negative emotions o Strong predictor of psychiatric disorders o Impaired physical health o Predictor of relationship failure and social isolation o Benefits  Quicker to detect threats in environment  Positively correlates with competitiveness Openness o Benefits  Correlated with artistic creativity  Higher number of sexual partners  Divergent thinking and problem solving o Costs  Limits of mental flexibility; associated with mind changing constantly  Associated with schizotyp  Connection with things that aren’t there  Failures in reality testing Conscientiousness o Benefits  Long term goals  High achievers and social status  Correlates with life expectancy  Negatively related to delinquency and anti-social behaviour o Costs  Obsessive behaviour (OCD)  Negative perfectionism (worrying about getting it perfect)  Eating disorders  Extreme self control  Missing spontaneous opportunities  Fewer mating episodes Agreeableness o Benefits  Low anti-social  Altruism - cooperation and survival  Correlates with empathy and trust  Knowing others mental states  develop/maintain relationships o Costs  unwarranted/unconditional trust   

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Poor competitors Negatively related to success and status Can be psychopaths/sociopaths Disease avoidance and traits o Less extraversion associated with less disease risk   

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Humanistic and positive psychology  Humanistic o Not just what goes wrong o ‘Higher’ end of human experience o Values unique person o Non-deterministic  Carl rogers o Motivation fundamentally growth-directed and healthy o Environmental conditions important o Born as good people and learn through environments o Need to grow with unconditional positive regard o Most grow up with conditional positive regard (rewarded when do what’s considered right)  Abraham maslow o Self-actualization o Hierarchy of needs

Positive psychology  Positive subjective experience  Focus on strengths not just weaknesses  Focus on increasing wellbeing  Subjective well-being = what people think and feel about lives  Positive psychology tries to distance itself from humanistic psychology o Humanistic doesn’t have much scientific approaches  Hedonic approach o Focus on feeling happy o Pleasure attainment and pain avoidance  Eudaimonic approach o Focus on meaning and fulfilment o Degree to which person is fully functioning  Personality o Focus on character strengths  Optimism  Zest  Courage  perseverance/resilience  Wisdom o Social dimension  Putting these into organisations  Less self-centered approach  Self-determination theory o People have choices -don’t respond to just reward or punishment o Intrinsic motivation = doing activities for sheer pleasure o Development = satisfaction of psychological needs essential for psychological growth o Psychological needs are disputed over what they are; was argued as

Natural rather than acquired Universal rather than culturally specific Not necessarily consciously valued Basic psychological needs from research suggests  Need for competence from various sources  Belongingness; feeling cared for and contributing  Autonomy; behaviour in accord with values/interests How well these needs are met depends on how intrinsically motivated you are Facilitating greater autonomy of behavioural regulations/values  Autonomy support; minimise external pressure  Competence support; optimal challenge/relevant feedback  Relatedness support; involvement/belongingness Meta-analysis shows trends  Intrinsic motivation predicts quality of performance  Extrinsic predicts quantity of performance but poorer quality   

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