Transcript File

Biological Psychology
Notes
Structure
Founded by Dr. Hans Eysenck
 Extroverts:
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normally under aroused so they seek people
to gain arousal
Stimuli hungry
 Introvert:
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normally over aroused so they seek to back
away to get rid of some arousal
Stimuli full (overloaded)
Test the Theory?
 If
true, who gets/should get drunk first?
– Depressant --- helps become
under aroused
 Alcohol
Extrovert: becomes drunk sooner – less
distance to get there
Introvert: need more depressant to get drunk,
because they are already aroused.
Test the Theory?

Who needs more caffeine to get “woken” up?
Caffeine – Stimulant – used to increase arousal,
hyperactivity
Extroverts: need more caffeine to get “hyper,”
because they are under aroused.
Introverts: need less caffeine to get aroused
because they are over stimulated, closer to
arousal level.
Test the Theory?

Who would be better at certain tasks?
Boring Tasks:
- Introverts – don’t need stimuli to help them
focus
Listening to Noises:
- Extrovert – need to feed the lack of
stimuli/arousal
Interactive Job:
- Extrovert (need stimuli)
Cubical Job:
- Introvert (no stimuli needed)
Process
Formed from Dr. Gray, student of
Eysenck
2 Major Brain Processes
1. Behavior Activation System (BAS)
“GO SYSTEM”
- reward seeking system part of the brain
- seeking out pleasure
- attracted to doing things that feel good
- fun seeking
- Location in Brain: Left Frontal Cortex
- Biologically transferred by a neurotransmitter:
Dopamine
People more likely to: act out and/or have substance abuse
2. Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)
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-
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“Withdrawal System”
Stop and go in reverse system
Causes people to pull back
Stops people from doing something
Gives you “warnings”
Responds to cues of Fear and Danger
Location: Right Frontal Cortex
Biologically transmitted by a neurotransmitter:
Serotonin
rd
3
Dimension
(not all agree if it is truly a dimension
of brain)
Student of Eyseck, Dr. Zuckerman
3. Sensation-seeking
Student of Eyseck, Dr. Zuckerman
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Different from BAS
In search of new experiences.
Like things like: faster cars, use drugs, engage
in high risk sports
Thrill seeking
Looking into anti-social behavior (stealing,
wrecking things, gambling, fantasy)
Wants new and unusual experiences
Types:
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Military: more likely to be in combat, special forces
Sexually: try new things, many sexual partners
Mentality: competitive, impulsive, daredevil
Development
2 Factors
1.
Genetic Factors
•
attempt to determine heritability of certain
behaviors/personalities
2. Environmental Factors
•
Unique things that happen to you that were
different from your siblings (friends, family
interactions, activities, pets, etc)
Development
Gene/Environment Correlations
Passive:
1.
•
•
People are exposed to environments that are not
independent of their genes
Example: parents are great at music, you have some genetic
influence & environment because your parents will play music all the
time
Reactive:
2.

Your genes influence how you act & how you act
gets a certain reaction from people. Therefore, you
react to other people due to your genes.
Active/Niche-seeking:
3.

People select certain environments because they
are comfortable to what their genes are. We seek
out / do things based on what our genes are.
Change
 Change
your environment because we
can not change our genes.
 Change
your genes in the future!