Gcse Psychology Development Of Personality

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Personality

(To Be Frank)

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Thoughts, feelings and behaviours that make an individual unique.

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Temperament

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Temperament refers to the inherited aspects of personality. Therefore it describes the way in which the individual responds to the environment. This stays constant throughout life.

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Thomas, Chess and Birch (1977)

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Studied 133 children from infancy to early adulthood. The children s' behaviour was observed and their parents interviewed,asked about the child’s routine and its reaction to change.

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Thomas, Chess and Birch (1977)

3 Types

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easy - happy, flexible and regular

difficult - inflexible and cried a lot

slow to warm up - didn't respond well to change or new experiences to begin with, but once they had adapted they were usually happy.

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Thomas, Chess and Birch (1977)

Conclusion

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These ways of responding to the environment stayed with the children as they developed. Thomas, Chess and Birch therefore concluded that temperament was innate.

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Buss and Plomin (1984)

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Aim – To test the idea that temperament is innate.

They studied 228 pairs of monozygotic twins and 172 pairs of dizygotic twins. They rated the temperament of the twins when they were 5 years old. They looked at 3 dimensions of behaviour.

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Buss and Plomin (1984)

Dimensions

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Emotionality – How strong the child's emotion response was.
Activity – How energetic the child was.
Sociability – How much the child wanted to be with other people.

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Buss and Plomin (1984)

Results & Conclusion

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Results – There was a closer correlation between the score of the monozygotic twins than between the dizygotic twins.
Conclusion – Temperament has a genetic basis.

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Kagan and Snidman (1991)

Aim

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Aim – To see whether temperament is due to biological differences.
Method – Kagan and Snidman studied the reactions of 4 month old babies to new situations. For the first minute the baby was placed in a seat with the caregiver sitting nearby. For the next 3 minutes the caregiver moved out of the baby’s view while the baby was shown different toys by the researcher.

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Kagan and Snidman (1991)

Results

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20% of the babies showed distress by crying, vigorous movement of arms and legs and arching the back. They were classed as high reactive. 40% of the babies showed little movement or emotion. They were classed as low reactive. The remaining infants fell somewhere in between. In a follow up study, 11 yrs later, Kagan and Snidman found there was still differences in the way the 2 groups reacted to new situations; the high reactive were shy while the low reactive were calm.
Conclusion –

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Kagan and Snidman (1991)

Conclusion

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They concluded that these 2 temperaments are due to inherited differences in the way the brain responds.

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Introvert

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Personality type that describes people who are content with their own company.

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Extrovert

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Personality type the describes people who look to the outside world for entertainment.

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Neurotic

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Personality type that describes people who are highly emotional and show a quick, intense reaction to fear.

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Eysenck (1947)

Aim Method

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Aim – To investigate the personality of 700 servicemen.
Method – Each soldier completed a questionnaire. Eysenck analysed the results using a statistical technique known as factor analysis.

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Eysenck (1947)

Results Conclusion

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He identified 2 dimensions of personality: extroversion, introversion and neuroticism-stability.
Conclusion – Everyone can be placed along these 2 dimensions of personality. Most people lie in the middle of the scale.

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Antisocial personality disorder (APD)

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– A condition in which the individual does not use socially acceptable behaviour or consider the rights of others.

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Characteristics of APD

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-Not following norms and laws of society.
-Being deceitful by lying, conning others and using aliases.
-Being irritable and aggressive, often involved in physical fights or assaults.
-Being careless about their own safety or the safety of others.

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Amygdala

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Part of the brain involved in emotion.

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Grey Matter (GM)

Prefrontal Cortex (PC)

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GM– The outer layer of the brain.
PC – The very front of the brain. It’s involved in social and moral behaviour and controls aggression.

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Biological Causes of APD

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Some researchers believe that brain abnormalities are the main cause of APD. The Amygdala and the prefrontal cortex that are associated with APD.

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Raine et al. (2000)

Aim Method

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Aim – To support the theory that abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex cause APD.
Method – Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to study 21 men with APD and a control of 34 healthy men. The subjects were volunteers.

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Raine et al. (2000)

Result Conclusion

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Results – The APD group had 11% reduction in prefrontal grey matter compared with the control group.
Conclusion – APD is caused by a reduction in grey matter.

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Situational causes of APD.

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Socioeconomic factors –low income and poor housing.
Quality of life at home including poor parenting.
Educational factors including low school achievement and leaving school at an early age.

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Farrington (1995)

Aim – To investigate the development of offending and antisocial behaviour in males studied from childhood to age 50.

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Method – Longitudinal study of 411 males. They all lived in deprived, inner city area of London. They were first studied at the age of 8 and were followed up to the age of 50. Their parents and teachers were also interviewed. Searches were carried out at the criminal records office to discover if they, or members of their family, had been convicted of a crime.

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Farrington (1995)

Results

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Results – 41% of the males were convicted of at least 1 offence between the ages of 10 and 50. The most important risk factors for offending were criminals in the family, low school achievement and poverty and poor parenting.
Conclusion – Situational factors lead to antisocial behaviour.

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Elander et al (2000a.)

Aim Method

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Aim – To investigate the childhood risk factors that can be used to predict antisocial behaviour in adulthood.
Method – Researchers investigated 225 twins who were diagnosed with childhood disorders and interviewed them 10-25 years later.

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Elander et al (2000a.)

Result Conclusion

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Results – Childhood hyperactivity, conduct disorders, low IQ and reading problems were strong predictors of AAPD and criminality in adult life.
Conclusion – Disruptive behaviour in childhood can be used to predict APD in adult hood.