Transcript Biological Approaches to Personality

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determination of an individual’s characteristics by
interpreting the various irregularities and folds of
the skin
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When troubled I seek out
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I prefer
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The time of my life I favor is
◦ People
◦ Action
◦ Solitude
◦ physical comfort
◦ physical adventure
◦ Privacy
◦ Childhood
◦ Early adulthood
◦ Later years
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What would bother me most would be
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When in a group I like to
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I prefer to
◦ being cut off from other people
◦ being closed off in small places
◦ being exposed to endless noise
◦ Mingle
◦ take charge
◦ take off
◦ let things take their course
◦ do things
◦ observe what is going on
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The thing I like most is
◦ eating
exercise
time to myself
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The qualities that fit me best are
◦ tolerance and love of people
love of power and leadership
a highly developed self-awareness
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Conduct a frequency count of 1, 2, 3s
1 = Endomorph
2 = Mesomorph
3 = Ectomorph
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soft body
underdeveloped muscles
round shaped
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Associated personality traits:
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hard, muscular body, mature appearance
rectangular shaped, thick skin
upright posture
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Associated personality traits:
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thin, delicate build , young appearance
tall, lightly muscled
stoop-shouldered , large brain
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Associated personality traits:
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Prior to Accident
capable and efficient
foreman
well-balanced mind
shrewd
business man
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After Accident
fitful, irreverent
grossly profane
impatient and
obstinate
lack of emotion
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Chimps (1935)
Easily frustrated, vicious
Frontal lobes operated on…
Chimps became mellow
Egas Moniz was present
Procedure then applied to humans
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Nobel Prize in 1949
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1937 – lobotomy
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thalamus-prefrontal cortex incision
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Francis Farmer (actress)
Rosemary Kennedy (1941)
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Received lobotomy for mood swings
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Implication
◦ less emotional, but not emotionally responsive
and future anticipation becomes erratic and
disorganized
◦ Ability to make decisions falls apart
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Part of limbic system
◦ Reptilian Brain
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Implicated in emotions
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When removed:
◦ less aggressive and less fearful
◦ try to eat inedible things
◦ increased sexual behavior
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University of Texas (summer, 1969)
Killed wife and mother
14 others killed the next day
Autopsy
tumor next to amygdala
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Left
Positive emotions
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Damage to:
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◦ Schizophrenia
◦ Disorganized
◦ Illogical thinking
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Right
Negative emotions
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Damage to:
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◦ Bipolar Disorder
◦ Mood swings
◦ Energy fluctuations
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Hippocrates (460?-377? B.C.)
Galen (A. D. 130 - 200?)
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Somatogenic Hypothesis
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sanguine, melancholic, choleric, phlegmatic
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Primal Qualities:
Dry/Cold
Wet/Warm
Wet/Cold
Dry/Warm
Elements:
Earth
Air
Water
Fire
Seasons:
Autumn
Spring
Winter
Summer
Humors:
Black Bile
Blood
Termperaments:
Melancholic
Sanguine
Phlegmatic
Choleric
Principal Organs:
Spleen
Heart
Brain
Liver
Phlegm
Yellow Bile
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descriptions of the four temperaments
traits cluster together
prototypical model of personality
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reorganized the four types
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two dimensions
◦ degree of emotionality
◦ degree of changeability
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dimensional model of personality
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1916 - 1997
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critical of psychoanalysis
at worst – fictional
at best – untestable
700 neurotically maladjusted patients
Reviewed case histories
Developed a two-factor model
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used factor analysis - two factors
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Neuroticism
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Two groups
◦ Disorganized personality, dependency, narrow interests,
dismissal from military service, parental
psychopathology, unsatisfactory home
◦ Neurotically maladjusted (obsessive, anxiety)
◦ Hysterical (physical problems with no physical basis)
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negative affect, sleepiness, irritability,
feelings of inferiority, sluggish
heightened right hemisphere activity
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use poor coping strategies (i.e., self-blame)
irrational ideas
less able to control their impulses
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Two Types of E-I
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Introversion
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Extraversion
◦ Anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, reactive
depression neuroses, irritability, apathy, self-conscious,
moody, prone to day dreaming
◦ Hysterical neurosis, bad work history, hypochondriacal,
prone to stammer, accident prone, disgruntled, prone to
aches and pains
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introverts prone to:
◦ anxiety-depressive disorders
◦ coined the term “dysthymia”
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extraverts prone to:
◦ hysteria-psychopathic disorders
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Enter Pavlov
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Studies in conditioning
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excitatory and inhibitory processes
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Establishing a CR due to excitatory processes
Extinguishing CRs due to inhibitory processes
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Extraversion
talk more when they meet people
more eye contact
sales, personnel work, nursing and teaching
impulsive
gamble more often
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sexual
permissive in their sexual attitudes
higher sex drive
feel good about life
less responsive to punishment
persist in the face of punishment
don't tend to learn from their mistakes
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when Es are given a stimulant, they behave like Is
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when Is are given an depressant, they tend to act
like Es
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Is are more sensitive to stimulation
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pupil reaction of Es is slower
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nervous system of Is is more sensitive
Excitation
Inhibition
Disorder
Introverts
High (rapid)
Low (slow)
Dysthymia
Extraverts
Low (slow)
High (rapid)
Hysteria
Psychopathology
optimal performance
performance
arousal level
Neurotic Extrovert
performance
arousal level
Easy Task
normal extravert
performance
arousal level
Hard Task
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Eysenck proposed in mid 1970s
dimensional
at extreme, psychotic reactions/antisocial
moderate, unusualness and artistic
Polygenic personality trait
“PEN” captured in EPQ
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High scores PEN
Impulsivity migrates to P factor
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Primary and Secondary Psychopaths
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Primary –higher P relative to N
Secondary – higher N relative to P
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Psychoticism
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Extraversion
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Neuroticism
◦ aggressive, cold, egocentric, impersonal
◦ antisocial, unempathic, creative
◦ social, lively, active, assertive,
◦ carefree, dominant, surgent
◦ anxious, depressed, guilt-prone
◦ irrational, shy, moody emotional
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Neuropsychologist
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Basic theory:
◦ Personality based on the interaction of two systems
 Approach
 Inhibition
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Approach System
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Located in the Septal area and the lateral
hypothalamus
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Causes one to be sensitive to potential
rewards and to be motivated to seek rewards
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Inhibition system
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Controlled by septo-hippocampus
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Causes one to be sensitive to potential
punishments and to be motivated to avoid
those punishments
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Added a third dimension
Flight or Fight system
Controls tendency to be aroused or
aggressive
Controlled by amygdala
Parallel to Eysenck’s “psychoticism”
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Dopamine
Serotonin
Norepinephrine
Feeding, drinking, movement
Imbalanced dopamine activity can cause brain
dysfunction and disease.
Schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease
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Related to Approach behavior
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“Extraversion” and sociability
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Parallel with Gray BAS?
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“Reward deficiency syndrome”
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WWI – patients developed Parkinson’s
Given L-dopa
Catatonic to Normal
Later, to hypomania, restlessness and
grandiosity, to deep depression
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Role in inhibition of impulses
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Parallel with Gray’s BIS?
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Serotonin depletion:
Irrational anger, hypersensitivity to rejection,
pessimism, obsessive worry, fear of risk taking
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Serotonin (5HT), many receptor subtypes
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Hunger
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Aggressive Behavior
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Sleep Onset
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Depression and OCD
◦ Too little 5Ht, increase in hunger (carbohydrates)
◦ Too little 5HT, violence, antisocial and suicidal behavior
◦ Too much 5HT, causes sleep
◦ Warm milk and turkey contain tryptophan (a precursor to Serotonin)
◦ Too little 5HT
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serotonin hypothesis =
used for a variety of disorders
work by raising levels of serotonin by
blocking reuptake
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Prozac
Zoloft
Paxil
Luvox
Celexa
Side Effects
weight loss, activating, increased anxiety, nausea,
headaches, sexual dysfunction
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Eli Lilly
22 million Americans have used
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Cosmetic Psychopharmacology
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hormone and neurotransmitter
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secreted by the medulla of the adrenal gland
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brings about "fight or flight"
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increased metabolism, blood pressure, mental activity,
blood flow to the muscles, and heart rate
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Also Known As: noradrenaline
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High levels
◦ Anger, anxiety, dependent, sociable
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Low levels
◦ Disinhibition, impulsivity
◦ Nonconformist, socially detached
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Robert Cloninger
Novelty seeking Harm avoidance Reward dependence -
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Scan page 21
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backs up the nervous system providing
communication and control
network of glands that secrete hormones
hormones are chemical messengers that use
blood as method of transport
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Hypersecretion = too much hormone
Hyposecretion = too little hormone
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1) solely endocrine (e.g., thyroid)
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2) mixed function (e.g., pancreas, thymus)
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3) function not entirely known (e.g, pineal)
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Regulates metabolism
T3 and T4 are the major thyroid hormones
T4 = thyroxine
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characterized by sped-up metabolism,
elevated body temperature, increased
appetite with weight loss, accelerated heart
rate, nervousness, agitation, fatigue and
insomnia
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including lethargy, impaired memory,
concentration, feeling cold, constipation,
fatigue
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estrogen and testosterone
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Linked (indirectly) to aggressive
Males 10 times greater amount
High male testosterone
◦ “Stable extravert”
◦ Sociable, self-acceptance, dominance
◦ Restless energy, smile less
◦ More sexual
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High Testosterone Females
◦ Unprovoked violent crimes
◦ Increased sexual interest
◦ Increased sociability, lack of inhibitions
◦ “butch” lesbians (Funder, 2001)
Low Testosterone Females
◦ Less sexual interest