PSY246: Personality Psychology
Dr. Len Lecci
What must we know to know a person well?
 Internal, unknown, & uncontrollable processes
(psychodynamic) – See the last slide? Influence on you?
 Overt influences from the environment
 Biological influences (genetics, physiological differences)
 Unique ways of thinking about events (idiosyncratic
cognitive interpretations)
 Social-Cultural influences
 Combinations of the above (e.g., gender, family
structure, evolutionary pressures, individual motivation)
 Multiple perspectives will be represented in this course.
Although each contributes, the important question is the
conditions that cause the amount of contribution to vary
 i.e., it’s not a question of nature or nurture, but rather when and why.
Scientific research methods used in
studying personality
 Opinion vs. science (i.e., How do we know if something is accurate?)
 Science = the accumulation of knowledge
 Knowledge is accrued in the area of personality psychology in a variety
of ways, but not all are equally rigorous
5 common methods:
1. Introspection – one person is both subject and researcher
2. Case study – in depth analysis of a small number of individuals
3. *Survey - broad, cross-sectional analysis of a large number of
individuals
4. Longitudinal survey – surveys administered at different points in time
5. Experiment–manipulation of variables/random assignment
* Description (1 & 2), Explanation (1, 2), Prediction (3 & 4), Control (5)
Why do we need theories?
To establish sound methodology
“Anybody in science, if there are enough
anybodies, can find the answer – it’s an
Easter egg hunt. That isn’t the idea. The
idea is: Can you ask the question in such
a way as to facilitate the answer?”
Gerald Edelman
The tools of science - theories
To provide a rationale for research (i.e., why the
study is being conducted) vs. a series of random
experiments
Allow for different experiments to be considered
in conjunction (how the findings of various
studies relate to one another)
* Allow for a priori & specific predictions (strong
inference). Theories must be falsifiable (do not
rely on post hoc explanations)
Assessment & classification
“There once was an entomologist who
found a bug he couldn’t classify – so he
stepped on it.”
- Ernest R. Hilgard
A means to better understanding a
construct
Assessment
 A wide variety of tests are used to assess personality
(questionnaires completed by the target or others who
know them, behavioral observations, interviews,
biological measures, etc.)
 Properties of a test
There are sources of error in every test (social
desirability bias, acquiescence bias, assuming
additive effects, etc.) minimized with standardization
Reliability (consistency) – over time, between raters,
and within the measure itself
Construct validity (demonstrated through criterion,
convergent & discriminant validity)
Note taking 101
 If you just wrote the above heading down (or this
statement), then you are writing too much.
 Take notes on concepts, and experiments (general
method, findings, and critique)
 Do not write down my questions
 Fill in notes with lecture and/or text material (if you just
copied the last slide, you will struggle on the exams)
Did you define discriminant and convergent validity?)
 What have you written so far in your notes?
Psychology is replete with terminology. Here
are some that didn’t make it.
 Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
 Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of
later getting sex.
 Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease.
 Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these
really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's
like, a serious bummer.
 Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an a--hole.
 Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the
person who doesn't get it.
*******************************
 Personality: a stable pattern (over time and across
situations) of affect, cognitions and behavior.
Thematic Apperception Test-TAT
On a blank piece of paper, write a pseudonym
and the last 4 digits of your ID
After looking at the picture provided on the
overhead, please write a story that:
Indicates what is happening in the picture
Describes the thoughts and feelings of the
character(s)
Describes what led up to the events depicted
Describes what is the most likely outcome
Explaining all behavior (Freud)
Determinism - driven by energy (libido) of
a sexual and aggressive nature
Explain all behavior using these two basic motives?
Conflict – within (id and superego), and
between the individual and society
Unconscious - aspects of ourselves that are
unknown
What information is contained in the
unconscious?
Self-awareness
What did Freud think was contained in the
unconscious?
According to Freud, we are not aware of most
of our motives (these are unconscious)
Conscious – limited aspects of the self that are
known
Preconscious – Information that moves from the
unconscious to the conscious passes through
the preconscious (material you can be made
aware of by directing attention to it)
Now referred to as the “cognitive unconscious”
Evidence for the unconscious?
A large number of studies to address the
issue “Is there an unconscious”
Two key questions:
Do we have the ability to cognitively take-in
information without knowing it?
If so, does this information influence our
subsequent actions?
i.e., Was Freud correct?
Can you remember these numbers
after a 500ms exposure?
6
8
4
9
1
5
2
3
7
0
5
0
9
6
9
0
1
7
8
8
5
3
6
2
4
Recall of visual or auditory information
Short-term memory (also known as “working
memory”) can hold a limited amount of
information, but only if it is rehearsed.
Otherwise, most of the information we are
exposed to stays in the sensory register
Unlimited capacity, but very short duration
Approximately 2-3 seconds for both iconic
(visual) and echoic (auditory) memory
about 5 numbers can be recalled from the 25
Therefore, most info. is lost (this is adaptive)
What if you are asked to recall a specific
number after seeing the list? (500ms expos.)
6
8
4
9
1
5
2
3
7
0
5
0
9
6
9
0
1
7
8
8
5
3
6
2
4
- Recall the number where the “X” appears
X
Summary of visual recall experiment
All of the information is in your sensory
register so you can recall any one of the
25 numbers within 2-3 seconds.
e.g., X = 6
A simple memory experiment
demonstrates we are not fully aware of all
information in memory.
But does this info influence our behavior?
Unconscious priming
Klinger & Greenwald, 1995
 80 college students (40 males & 40 female) recruited
from introductory psychology class
 all participants took part in a computerized task in which
they had to indicate whether pairs of words presented
several seconds apart were associated (yes/no response
with RT recorded)
 Between the presentation of the two words, a picture
was flashed briefly on the screen and in half of the trials
the picture was related to the words while for the
remaining trials the picture was unrelated
e.g.,
Related:
“duck”
Picture of birds
“Sparrow”
Unrelated: “duck”
Picture of cars
“Sparrow”
Unconscious priming - cont
 All pictures were masked (50ms) or legible (500ms)
 Reaction times (RTs) for correct responses were used to
quantify speed of judgments
 Results indicate that RTs were faster for related pictures
vs. unrelated pictures
 RTs were faster for masked (unconscious) vs. legible
(conscious) pictures - Why?
 The priming effect for the pictures only exists if the
prime occurs within a short period of time (approx. 3s)
of the first word, and the second word occurs
immediately after
 Could salience of stimulus increase effect duration?
Some clinical data on long term unconscious effects…
Childhood experiences and adult functioning
 Can childhood trauma serve as the stimulus that later
influences adult behavior?
 Theory for Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID, formerly
MPD) – child is physically or sexually traumatized and
they depersonalize the event and develop other
identities to protect themselves (an unconscious event).
 This example would (in theory) involve a long term
effect of the unconscious
 Clinical data (retrospective accounts) indicate that 96%
have been sexually or physically abused (repressed)
 Research?
Recovery of repressed memories
vs. false memory syndrome
 Prospective research suggests that the incidence of DID
is 1-4% for those children having been abused (no
greater than that observed in the general pop.). Why?
 Memories are inaccurate (more so as time passes and
info. is imputed from other experiences) & the method
of recovery can enhance the inaccuracies (e.g., witness
a car wreck; attack of a professor)
 Iatrogenic effect vs. longitudinal studies
 Loftus – research shows that recovered memories are
very inaccurate; especially details, but also their
occurrence
More on Freud: Theoretical structures
 Id – pleasure principle, initial focus of libido, primary
process thinking, no contact with reality (completely
unconscious)
 Superego – last of these three structures to develop,
internalized morality, no contact with reality (completely
unconscious)
 Given the characteristics of the above two structures,
how can they be satisfied?
 Ego – reality principle, secondary process thinking,
exists at the unconscious, preconscious, and conscious
levels, employs defense mechanisms to mediate
between the id and superego and reality
Some defense mechanisms
 Denial – repression of material into the unconscious (it
is the most basic defense and is at the heart of all other
defenses)
 Projection – attribute to others what is denied in the self
 Reaction formation – expressing the opposite feeling of
what is being experienced
 Displacement – expression towards a safer object
 Intellectualization - rationalizing so as to minimize the
affective experience
 Sublimation – higher level of defense whereby one
redirects anxiety towards something productive
 Research on the defenses?
Adams, Wright, & Lohr, 1996
Much research focuses on defense against
libidinal wishes (sex and/or aggression).
Using the Index of Homophobia (a standardized
measure), they identified male students who
scored either high (n=35) or low (n=29)
All reported a history of exclusive heterosexual
arousal
Exposed everyone to erotic videos depicting
heterosexual, male homosexual and lesbian
interactions
Arousal measured via a self report questionnaire
& plythysmograph (blood volume)
Adams, Wright, & Lohr, ’96 - continued
 Both groups of males were aroused by heterosexual and
lesbian erotic videos (both physiological and self-report)
 Neither group self-reported arousal to homosexual male
video
 There was, however, a physiological response to the
male homosexual video but only for homophobic males
 The two groups of men did not differ on a standardized
measure of aggressiveness
 Individuals could be unaware (denial?) and/or
expressing the opposite feelings (reaction formation?)
ROM 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but
Esau have I hated.
Adams, Wright, & Lohr, ’96 - continued 2
Confounds in the study?
Unknown if this generalizes to females?
Small N, college students only, limited range
of ages, all Caucasians from the U.S.A., etc.
Missing any control groups?
Strengths: both physiological and selfreport measures; manipulated variables
Arousal itself = confound?
A confound with other types of arousal such as
anxiety? See “misattribution of arousal” effect
Dutton & Aron, 1974: Female RA, male Ss
2 bridges over the Capilano River, in BC, Canada
230ft drop, unstable rope, with low hand supports
10ft drop, stable, with high wood hand rails
Ss completed questionnaire, wrote a story about
a female (graded for sexual content), & given
phone # of RA
Note: Ss were NOT randomly assigned to bridge
conditions (Why? Consequence of this?)
Psychosexual stages of development
 Also referred to as “erogenous zones” as they denote the
changing focus of libido throughout the lifespan
 1. Oral – “I want”; experience the world through the
mouth by biting, licking, tasting (most sensitive)
 oral aggressive vs. oral dependent (timing of the weaning)
 2. Anal – “I control”; experience/learn to control
anal expulsive vs anal retentive (extreme approaches re: control)
Article: Character and anal eroticism (gold & feces)
Meaning of expressions: “Brown noser” and “Kiss my ass”
Orderly – clean (why?), conscientious, trustworthy
Parsimony – avarice (greed) – why connect it with money?
Obstinacy – defiance, rage, vengefulness
Psychosexual stages of development - cont
 3. Phallic – Gender identity; incestuous feelings that
should eventually result in identification with same sex
parent
Heterosexual vs. “homosexual impulse”
See complexes (next slide)
 4. Latency – sublimation of development to activities
 5. Genital – mature adult relationships (ideally the
superego is fully developed, and this leads one to
pursue appropriate relationships)
Oedipus/Electra Complex
 Phallic – Gender identity; incestuous feelings that should
eventually result in identification with same sex parent
Heterosexual vs. “homosexual impulse”
 Males
 desire mommy & see daddy as competition/threat
Experience castration anxiety
 identify with daddy to resolve the complex
 Females
 desire mommy, but switch to daddy due to “penis envy”
 How can this complex be resolved?
 Research?
Subliminal Psychodynamic Activation (SPA)
 Research to examine the Oedipus complex
 Assumes: subliminal information activates Oedipal
conflicts
 Subliminal = stimuli detected less than 50% of the time
 Given the results of the previous research on the
unconscious, it is clear that subliminal information exists
 Can it influence our behavior over extended periods of
time?
 Advertisers seem to think so… (overheads & slide)
SPA research – Silverman et al., 1978
 SPA research attempts to activate the Oedipal conflict in
males (e.g., competition between fathers and sons)
 Theory: All adult competition is interpreted as reflecting
a re-experience of this event
 Recruited 90 male college students
 All threw darts to get a baseline score
 Then they were randomly assigned to view one of three
messages using a tachistoscope (flashes messages)
“Beating daddy is wrong”
“Beating daddy is OK”
“People are walking”
Silverman et al., 1978 – continued
 All participants then threw darts a second time
(advantage of having all throw darts twice?)
SCORE
Condition
Pre
Post
“walking”
“ok”
“wrong”
439.0
443.3
443.7
442.3
533.3
349.0
Difference
+ 3.3
+90.0
-94.7
 Problems with the research? Confounds?
Does the Silverman study support Freud’s theory?
 Not directly.
 It does demonstrate that the subliminal message
improved performance, but this does not demonstrate
the role of the Oedipus complex (nor that it exists)
e.g., the messages themselves may differ in their affective tone
(pleasant vs. unpleasant vs. neutral) and that alone may have
influenced performance (e.g., research on sports and colors)
 Research using the phrase “Mommy and I are one.”
Same limitations as above
e.g., patients diagnosed with schizophrenia who are assigned to
this condition are more likely to show some remission of
symptoms; also in females with eating disorders
Concluding remarks on Freud
 No body of research has (or ever will) prove or disprove
all of Freud’s theories (too complex to test)
 All behaviors can be explained by referring to either
conscious motivation or unconscious (undetected)
motivation
 Science requires that a theory be falsifiable (Popper)
 However, specific aspects of Freud’s theories can and
have been tested, and the findings indicate that some of
his work merits consideration.
 Freud’s views are still espoused by approximately 4% of
modern day psychologists
 His theories sparked a variety of responses
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
– Examining “projection”
 Developed by Murray in 1938
 Follows from other projective tests such as the word
association task (Jung) and the Rorschach Ink Blot test,
& all are commonly used in clinical settings
 Assumption that vague stimuli will require you to add
material in order to complete the task (e.g., write a
story)
 This process will require that you draw from your own
personal experiences, biases, etc.
 Projection is also assumed to occur because the context
is safer (appears less self-relevant), thus the client
should be less defensive
Scoring the TAT
 All projective tests assume that you are employing the
defense mechanism of projection
 Identify the main character in each story (write down
who the person is identifying with – usually the most
detail or 1st person)
 Identify the needs/wants of the main character (e.g.,
achievement, affiliation, power, recognition)
 Identify environmental press, (e.g., pos or neg things
affecting the main character) such as demands from
others, responsibilities, stressors, surprises, etc.
 Look for congruence between the 2 stories
 Implications for optimism? socialization? etc.
Scoring of Projective tests
Projective tests allow for a broader range of
responses (e.g., as opposed to a T/F format)
Impossible to anticipate the variety of responses
Subtle (qualitative) differences between responses
are difficult to detect and quantify
Typically results in lower reliability (consistency)
test-retest and inter-rater
Lower reliability limits validity
Tests vs. Techniques?
Tests require standardized administration, scoring,
and interpretation (reliability and validity)
Jung’s personality types
Two attitudes:
1) Introversion – express libido towards inner
experiences (collective unconscious)
2) Extraversion - express libido towards external
experiences
Four functions: sensing, intuiting, feeling, thinking
Results in 8 “types”
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Express our personality in conscious daily
experience and in the collective unconscious
Carl Jung – structures of consciousness
Ego - conscious awareness
Personal Unconscious - small portion of the
unconscious
Collective Unconscious - shared unconscious
represented in recurrent themes (dreams, art,
literature, etc.)
Archetypes – powerful emotional symbols that
reoccur in life (e.g., anima/animus, hero/demon,
mother/wise old man, etc.
Why do we dream?
Jung’s views on dreaming:
 Creative outlet (principle of equivalence)
 Release of unconscious conflicts
 Paranormal experiences accounted for through dreams?
Modern day views on why we dream:
 Cognitive consolidation (creation of or strengthening of neural
pathways)
 Random neural activity of the brain that is reinterpreted (after the
fact) to be more cohesive
 A purely restorative function (REM sleep)
Psychodynamic Interpretation of Dreams
Most commonly occurring dream themes for college
students:
 falling, being chased, sex, and a being late
Psychodynamic interpretations:
 Manifest (Jung) vs. Latent (Freud) content
 running = escape wish (someone/something)
 climbing = attempts to achieve something
 falling = insecurity
 body parts = fixations (e.g., teeth = aggress)
 persons of same sex and demo is you
Significance of Dream Content
Most dreaming occurs during REM sleep
Bizarre dreams are more likely to occur
during REM dreaming
Jung believed that dreaming reflected our
ability to connect with the collective
unconscious.
This would be reflected in traits like
creativity.
Research on dreaming and creativity
 Klueger (1977) collected 2-week dream diaries from 40 college
students. Subjects also completed a standardized measure of
creativity (questionnaire)
 Judges, blind to the creativity scores of the subjects, scored each
dream report for its archetypal content
 The frequency of archetypal images in dreams was shown to
correlate positively with scores on the measure of creativity
 Confounds?
 No control for the dreamers tendency to embellish their dream
content (creative people are more likely to provide a creative recall
of their dream) – when controlled, the relation no longer exists
 How can we explain other paranormal experiences as they relate to
dreams?
e.g., reports of precognition?
 Do such outcomes occur at rate greater than chance?
Paranormal experiences from dreams?
 Numerous studies have tested for the presence of ESP in dreaming
with mixed results (i.e., a small number of researchers have
concluded that there are significant findings, but these are not
replicated by others)
 Blackmore (1995) evaluated the psychic abilities of a well-known
English psychic (Chris Robinson) who claims to have precognitive
dreams.
 An object was placed in a box in the subject’s home for a week.
The subject recorded his dreams and then guessed which object
from a list was in the box based on the dreams
 Hit rate was 2 out of 12 (approx. 17%). Because there were 6
options to choose from, this did not differ significantly from the
“hit” rate expected by chance (1 in 6 = 17%).
 Numerous other studies have likewise failed to show a significant
effect in controlled experimental settings.
Alfred Adler
 Social interest - gemeinschaftsgefuhl
transcending our own needs to identify with the needs and
concerns of others
fundamental need to interact with others
 Used trait terms from humoral theory
 Compensatory strivings to offset “organ inferiority” (a perceived
rather than a real weakness)
 Emphasized perception of reality (recall bias obscures the direction
of causality from childhood events to present)
 Emphasis on conscious awareness, but still highlights the
importance of childhood
 Key is sibling relationships (vs. parental)
 First borns as more likely to achieve (see research on intelligence,
success, etc.), more likely to be conservative & authoritarian.
Born to Rebel: Birth order (Sullaway, 1996)
Can historical events be determined by
intra-familial relationships?
Thesis: Older children (1st borns) are
likely to more closely identify with parents
and adopt a conservative approach while
latter borns will rebel
Examine historical events to conform this
pattern (N = 6,000)
Birth order (cont)
 Analysis of astronauts (a highly creative and dangerous job
or does it represent a conservative model?)
 Analysis of King Henry’s wives (assumes that being sexual
unavailable is a risky strategy and would result in being
beheaded; 2 outspoken later borns were beheaded; Boleyn
& Howard)
 Behead King Louis? (standing with the King meant opposing
the people of France and could cost one their life – risky
choice); 893 members of the National Convention that ruled
France during the French Revolution
 The supreme court of the U.S. (liberal decisions in the
1970s vs. conservative decisions in the 1980s)
Confounds in B.O. research
 What variables may confound the effects of birth order
(i.e., Why might Adler’s or Sulloway’s theories not apply
to you?)
 Difficulties defining which action is “risky”
 age between siblings
 gender of child and his/her siblings (1st born male vs.
1st born female)
 cultural variations
 changes in the family structure (more prominent today)
 * SES and the number of children in a family
 * B.O. can’t be manipulated (NOT CAUSAL)!
Karen Horney: Feminist perspective
 Everyone experiences basic anxiety as an infant and
deals with it in one of three ways
moving against (aggression)
moving towards (affiliation or dependency)
moving away (isolation)
 Continue to deal with anxiety in the same way as adults
 Women differ from men in how they deal with anxiety
 Other fundamental differences between male and
female personality is determined by societal pressures
Anatomical factors were emphasized by Freud whereas Horney
reinterpreted penis envy as “repressed womanhood” (an early
social psychological model). What does the penis represent?
Modern day examples; glass ceiling, presidency, etc.
A new twist on the unconscious: TMT
- last slide for exam 1
 Basic assumption of all the psychodynamic theorists
reviewed, is the presence and importance of the
unconscious
 Terror Management Theory (TMT) suggests that we are
strongly influenced by thoughts of our own mortality
 Mortality can be made more salient either consciously or
unconsciously (theory by Becker, 1973)
 Mortality salience inductions (picture your own death)
vs. subtle thoughts (standing outside a funeral home)
 MS impacts size of financial judgments especially against
foreign entities (e.g., Toyota vs. Chevy), and even
influences judges’ bond amounts for an unrelated case
(see Arndt et al., 2005 for a review).
Gender typing
- first slide for exam 2
 Stereotypical Male traits?
 Stereotypical Female traits?
S. Bem’s Gender types:
1. Masculinity
3. Androgyny
2. Femininity
4. Undifferentiated.
 Most adaptive = Androgynous
 Least adaptive = Undifferentiated
Gender Differences in Personality
 Freud: “Anatomy is destiny!”
 Horney’s reinterpretation of penis envy as “repressed
womanhood” (an early social psychological model)
Modern day social psychological research on gender
 School teachers (Sadker & Sadker, 1986): qualitative
and quantitative differences in interactions by gender
 Differential media pressure - effects on body satisfaction
 Research by Jennings-Walstedt, Geis, & Brown (1980)
on role reversed commercials
Female college students were randomly assigned to
either 4 traditional or 4 role reversed commercials,
then took part in an Asch-type conformity test and
had self-confidence rated when giving a speech.
Hormones and gender differences
23rd chromosome determines gender
 XY (male) - At approx. 6 weeks gestation the testes develop and
begin producing progesterone & estrogen, and larger amounts of
androgen.
 XX (female) – At approx 12 weeks, the gonad buds develop into
ovaries. The absence of the testes results in larger amounts of
progesterone & estrogen production.
 Animal research: Injection of androgens into animal fetuses results
in more aggressive behavior later in life
 Human research: Incidence of XYY inmates, though later
determined that this occurs at the same rate in the general pop.
 Menstrual cycle: Estrogen drops halfway through the cycle and
again at the end. Progesterone increases after ovulation & drops
before menstruation if egg is not fertilized. Changes in hormonal
levels have been related to mood changes (mixed results).
 Note: Complex behaviors are not explained by a single hormone.
Sociobiological theory
 Consider how males and females differ in their
personalities as they are expressed in relationships
 Evolutionary pressures differ by gender
 Females have high investment in children so should be
more selective (they seek resource-related traits)
Why is there a need to ensure paternal certainty?
 Males have relatively short temporal investment so no
need to be selective (they seek fertility/youth), but this
breeds increased competition for the limited resource
 What might “physical attractiveness” represent in
addition to beauty?
 Health (i.e., reproductive potential)
Sociobiological theory - p.2
 Various species demonstrate increased sexual potency
(shorter refractory period) for males when new females
are introduced (vs. repeated copulation with the same
female); quantity
Known as the “Coolidge Effect”
 Females need to have paternal certainty (access to
resources) and must be selective based on parental
investment theory (more time required & less fertile
time across the lifespan)
Sociobiological theory - p.3
 Are there different search criteria employed for short and
long term relationships?
 For males it’s sexual availability and fertility, respectively
 For females, it’s sexual availability and ambition/earning
potential, respectively
 Note: Promiscuity is seen as desirable by both genders
for short-, but not for long-, term relationships
 Men will consider short term relationships with almost
anyone, but women are much less likely to do so.
 Men desire to have sig more sex partners v. women
Schmitt et al, 2003: > 20 vs. 2-3 for women
Research
Over 10,000 individuals from 33 countries (Buss, 1992)
 Among the top traits for both men and women in short term
relationships was promiscuity (sexual availability)
 For long term relationships the top trait for both groups is physical
attractiveness
 For females, earning potential was consistently rated high
(noteworthy, given the population sampled)
Examination of personal ads (Kenrick & Keefe, 1992)
 Females seek males who are older than themselves and are
economically established. Their own ads emphasize their beauty.
 Males emphasize their own economic achievements and seek
younger attractive women (Note: Youth is a proxy for reproductive
potential, as shown by the fact that teen boys prefer older women)
120 Personal Ads
- Baize & Schroeder, 1995
NY Times examples:
 A BEAUTY
SWF in 30s, slim, gym-fit and shapely works in Manhattan.
Sweet, earthy, free-spirited (azure eyes, long locks, leftist
politics) seeks male in 40s, accomplished, passionate,
reliable, gentle genius to adore.
 A KNOCK OUT
Gorgeous blond, 20s, great figure, sensuous, sincere, fun,
looking for love of my life: tall, established, 30s-40s.
 A GOOD MAN
DJM, 60, successful, attractive, professional, seeks
attractive, open, sensitive, caring/sharing, in 50's, Long
Island.
 ARCHITECT/ARTIST
Living in theater district. Latte drinking, Sushi eating, NY
Times addicted, professional in his 30s. Seeks 20-30s,
attractive, fun-loving female. Long hair a plus.
Jealousy by gender
“Would you experience more distress over sexual infidelity
or emotional infidelity?” - Buss et al., 1999
Imagine partner falling in love with someone else vs. Imagine
partner trying different sexual positions with someone else.
 83% of females more jealous of emotional infidelity vs.
40% of males
 Males show greater physiological arousal to imagined sex
of partner with someone else
 Why are females more jealous of emotional infidelity?
Because it threatens access to resources
 Why are males more jealous about sexual infidelity?
Because it threatens paternal certainty
More Recent Research
 Sperm competition following significant absences in
response to female infidelity
Shackelford & Goetz (2007)
 The “Florida Study” (2008) examined response rates to
3 requests by gender
Go on a date, go to my place, have sex
 As seen in other mammals, maternal aggression in
lactating mothers is higher relative to bottle feeding
mothers (competition with the winner administering a
loud unpleasant noise to the loser). Lactating mothers
did a longer noise relative to bottle feeders who did not
differ from women who were never pregnant

Hahn-Holbrook et al., 2011
Critique of sociobiological theory
 Studied almost exclusively in college students
 Do dating and mating involve the same motives?
 Sociobiological theory (like evolutionary theory) does not
predict specific future behavior, it explains events post
hoc
this is a major weakness (recall that Freud could likewise
explain anything after the fact)
e.g., long vs. short-necked giraffes
 Evolutionary drift - some events are a consequence of
adaptive behavior but are not themselves adaptive
The Evolutionary Advantage of Early Attachment
Attachment Styles
 A model that generalizes across species and links the evolutionary &
psychodynamic perspectives
 Based on theories and research forwarded by John Bowlby (1969) on
mammals showing how off-spring separate from parent(s)
 Importance of initial strong attachment in mammals: maximize survival
 During separation: 1. separation protest 2. silence 3. re-attachment
 Ainsworth (1979; Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991) studied infants and their
unique responses to their mothers to classify individual differences in
attachment (see p. 175)
 secure, avoidant, and anxious-ambivalent babies
Confounds: No inter-rater reliability for child behaviors, the stranger
is no longer a stranger after 1st session, small sample, little info.
regarding the nature of the room, the interactions, etc.
Adult attachment types; Hazen & Shaver, 1987
You do not need to know (or write down these three types)
A: I find it relatively easy to get close to others and am comfortable
depending on them and having them depend on me. I don’t often worry
about being abandoned or about someone getting too close to me.
B: I am somewhat uncomfortable being close to others; I find it difficult to
trust them completely, difficult to allow myself to depend on them. I am
nervous when anyone gets too close, and often love partners want me to
be more intimate than I feel comfortable being.
C: I find that others are reluctant to get as close as I would like. I often
worry that my partner doesn’t really love me or won’t want to stay with
me. I want to merge completely with another person, and this desire
sometimes scares people away.
 Distribution in the population: A = 55%, B = 30%, C = 15%
 Attachment styles appear to be stable across the lifespan (25 yr. Studies)
 predicts well-being, health, and mortality also longevity and happiness in
adult romantic relationships
Do attachment styles moderate jealousy?
- Levy & Kelly, 2010, Psychological Science
 Recall that men and women tend to respond to jealousy differently
and this has been attributed to evolution-based differences in
parental involvement (i.e., recall sociobiological theory).
males' need for paternal certainty often results in greater
jealousy over a sexual infidelity
females' need for male investment in offspring.
Above findings are moderated by attachment style.
 Volunteers who reported having a dismissing attachment style
(marked by short-term, low-investment relationships) reported
feeling greater jealousy about sexual infidelity than about emotional
infidelity regardless of gender.
 Volunteers with secure attachment styles were more distressed by
emotional infidelity than by sexual infidelity, regardless of gender.
 See also Geary et al (1995): cultural diffs (Chinese men & women
have greater response to emotional infidelity vs. US subjects
Erikson’s Developmental Stages (lifespan model); p.144
1. Trust vs. mistrust
- infant learns to trust
parents for survival
needs
4. Industry vs.
Inferiority
- trial and error with
mastery, learn which
tasks you can do.
7. Generativity vs.
stagnation
- Have you achieved
anything productive?
2 Autonomy vs shame
- learn to act
independent of
parents
5. Identity vs. Role
confusion
- self identity begins
to form (why now?)
8. Integrity vs. despair
- Happiness with one’s
life, though resigned
to the fact it’s ending
3. Initiative vs. guilt
- learn to initiate
actions, thoughts, and
emotional experiences
6.Intimacy vs isolation
-adult relationships
- “decision” is often
made more than once
Numerous ego crises
occur throughout
(e.g., adolescence,
midlife, late life)
Summary of recent research on stages
 Little support for the idea of a “crisis” marked by stress
and turmoil in either adolescents or adulthood (only
about 20% of individuals experience it) – Erikson
emphasized identity formation
 Difficult to experimentally differentiate early internal
experiences (stages)
 Erikson’s stages represent conflicts of theoretical
interest, not necessary/invariant developmental
milestones
 Recent research has emphasized the last stage due to
the increase in the population of that age
Regrets - predict well being only in the elderly
 Omission – regret not doing something
 Commission – regret doing something
 Which are more salient?
Mr. Paul sells stocks in Co. B to buy stocks in Co. A: - $1200.
Mr. George owns stocks in Co. A and is thinking of changing to
Co. B, but doesn’t: - $1200. Who feels more regret? (Tversky)
 Regrets of commission appear costlier in the present,
but regrets of omission affect us more in the long term
(note: there are more of the latter)
 Number of regrets are not predicted by age
 Regret saliency & whether you had control over the
regret is more relevant to well-being (Lecci et al. 1994)
The self-concept and your spit
 When is your spit no longer your spit? (G. Allport)
 Definition: Mucus and other fluids formed in the air passages and upper
food passages (the mouth), and expelled by coughing
 A permeable boundary that defines what is and is not “ours” has always
been central to the self-concept.
 A sense of one’s personal identity; also referred to as self-awareness
Self recognition = self identity?
When does it develop and how do we know?
Research on self-recognition
Human research
 Darwin (1877): self-awareness achieved when child
recognizes self in the mirror (physical awareness = selfconcept)
 Researchers covertly dabbled rouge on babies’ noses
before placing them in front of a mirror (Gallup &
Suarez, 1986).
15-18 months old children will, upon seeing the red
spot, touch their noses (self-directed behavior)
Research on self-recognition
Animal research
 Self-directed behavior in the mirror (target vs. sham)
Great apes viewing mirror image with object on head
Dolphins touched with marking and non-marking
markers
Asian elephants
 In 2008, researchers documented self-recognition in
Magpies; one of the few non-mammal species to
evidence this ability.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mD8velB83w
The self concept – appearance & voice
Diverging views of the self
 Appearance – we perceive ourselves differently than do
others . (never look quite right in photos)
 Study of incoming freshman at the U. of Wisconsin (Mita
et al., 1977). Participants photographed and they and a
close friend were shown the photos and reverse image
photos.
Friends preferred the actual photo, participants preferred
reverse images. These represent what we are accustomed to
seeing.
 Sound funny on tape? Recordings of subject’s voice is
rated as more familiar by friends when compared to self
ratings (also identified faster).
Expanding the self-concept
 Beginning with simple self-awareness, the self-concept
elaborates to include psychological components.
e.g., we define ourselves in terms of gender, group
membership, traits, etc.
 Self-concept relates to our environment (working self)
AA male with females emphasizes being male vs. with Whites
emphasizes being AA (see also Canadians in Toronto vs. NY).
 Self-concept relates to our actions
e.g., children with a positive self-concept tend to be
more confident, independent, optimistic, & assertive
(Maccoby, 1980)
Self-identity (recognition) allows for empathy to
emerge
 One self concept vs. Multiple selves (“I wasn’t myself.”)
Multiple selves to deal with unfavorable self-discrepancies
Theories on the self (William James, 1890)
The self as “I” (awareness, current knowledge)
The self as “me” (defined in descending order of
importance)
1. spiritual me (values, attitudes)
2. social me (all relationships)
3. material me (all possessions & your body)
Multiple selves compete for a limited resource
(you)
Carl Rogers
Strive in life to reach our “ideal self” and
congruence between actual and ideal self
Cognitive distortions (denial) may be used
Emergence of the true (ideal) self requires
“unconditional positive regard”
unpleasant behavior occurs only when absent
Self assessment using Q-sort technique
card deck sorted as “like me” and “not like me”
Autobiographical statement
Biased to maintain self-concept (look for
congruent info and discount incongruent info)
Self-congruence research (Swann, 1991, 1992)
 Participants (90 college students) do a computer task
and are given the opportunity to compare their
performance to that of novices or experts
Likely outcome of such comparisons?
 Those with low self-esteem were more likely to compare
to experts, whereas those with high self-esteem prefer
comparisons to novices
i.e., Self-congruence bias – we seek out and prefer info that is
consistent with our self-concept
Most individuals show a tendency for positive self-enhancement
in everyday life (downplay failure in favor of success)
 Research on marital couples: Those with negative selfconcepts were more committed to spouses who thought
poorly of them (vs. those who thought well of them)
Possible Selves (Higgins)
Actual - Ideal self discrepancies determine selfesteem and well-being
Writing about your favorite celebrity with whom you’ve
assimilated increased self-esteem (Gabriel et al., 2008)
Possible selves - activated by cues in the
environment (infinite number)
valence - positive or negative
temporal - past, present, or future
Differences between Private & Public self?
greater discrepancies seen in individualistic cultures
(similar in collectivistic cultures)
Research on public-private self (Triandis, 1987)
 What are some reasons why you would not smoke? (private vs.
public)
 Responses differed for collectivistic vs. individualistic cultures
My health, money, etc. vs. bad example for children & 2nd hand
smoke
 Scenario involving a friend who is hospitalized 60 miles from your
home.
Do you visit him/her? (private vs. public)
Would you enjoy doing this or would you simply feel obligated
to do this? (private vs. public)
 Survey of professional athletes
Prefer league MVP (individualistic) vs. league championship
(collectivistic)
Observations of “team” play at the international level
 Note: Limitations of survey research
Eastern View of the Self
 Self as Tao or “no mind”
 All that which cannot be known (unconscious?)
e.g., “I am ____.” Create list. Remove these things,
and you are that which is left. By definition, you are
what you cannot conceive.
 West: Define the self by summing all the known
constituent parts vs. East: defining the self by
eliminating all of the constituent parts
 You cannot know yourself because of your unique
perspective.
paradox - This sentence contains an error.
Both knower and known (see also W. James)
East meets West
 Maslow’s Need Hierarchy
physiological, safety, belongingness/love, esteem (all
of these are deficiency needs)
self-actualization as transcendence of the self (a
sufficiency need)
 Gestalt Psychology (Fritz Perls)
the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (i.e.,
one cannot know the self by merely understanding
the parts)
taking responsibility for ones’ actions (wont vs. can’t)
and living for the moment
East & West: Dealing with desires
"Everybody says I want this and I want that, but nobody
really understands this "I." What is this "I" that wants
everything? Where does it come from? Where does it go?
Why does it live? Why does it die?“
 Zen Master Dae Soen Sa Kim
 “A camel can fit through the eye of a needle more easily
than a rich man can get into the kingdom of heaven.“
 Jesus
Shaped or Inherited?: A behavioral approach
http://vimeo.com/5371237
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, and I
will make them at random…” (Watson)
Do we have free will or are we the slaves
of our environment?
Tabula Raza - John Locke (1672)
Are artists born or made? (see Cohen et
al, 2002)
Read Skinner’s article “Man”
Classical conditioning
reflexive actions/learning by temporal associations
 The story of Pavlov, a dog, & serendipity
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) - a stimulus that produces a
response without learning
Conditioned stimulus (CS) - a stimulus that produces a response
after learning
Unconditioned response (UCR) - a response to a stimulus that
occurs without learning
Conditioned response (CR) - learned response
neutral stimulus - any stimulus that does not produce a
response (all CS were neutral at one time)
 Before conditioning: food = UCS, salivating = UCR,
bell = neutral stimulus
 After conditioning: bell = CS, salivating = CR
What happens if we keep
ringing the bell?
 Extinction - CS no longer
produces the CR
 Spontaneous recovery after a break, the
previously extinct CS
produces the CR
 Higher order conditioning
- a CS is paired with
another CS to get the CR
(see diagram)
 What happens if we
make a sound that is
similar to the bell?
Food
Bell
Tone
Clap
Key concepts - continued
 Generalization - producing the same CR for a similar CS
(e.g., all alcohol; anything that sounds like a bell)
 Discrimination - produces a CR for only a very specific CS
(e.g. only “Mad Dog” wine; high pitched bell)
 Conditioning neurosis? circle (food) vs. ellipse (no food)
 One time conditioning (Garcia effect) - learning occurs
after a single pairing of neutral & unconditioned stimulus
Why would this be adaptive for aversive CRs?
This can occur even for reinforcers and lead to nonproductive behavior (e.g., superstitious behavior)
 In order to explain most of your day-to-day behavior it is
also necessary to consider non-reflexive actions (not just
salivating & fears)
Operant conditioning
 non-reflexive actions
 Law of effect – every behavior has a consequence, and
the consequence determines if the behavior will re-occur
(temporal association is no longer required)
 Reinforcement - anything that increase the incidence of
the behavior to which it is linked
 Punishment - anything that decreases the incidence of
the behavior to which it is linked
 Partial reinforcement – large, unpredictable reward
 Positive Punishment/Reinforcement - to add P or R
 Negative Punishment/Reinforcement - to remove P or R
 Examples?
Possible examples of reinforcers and punishers
Reinforcer
Positive
To give praise, love,
attention, money,
etc.
Punisher
To give a shock, a
spanking, a fine, etc.
To remove an
To remove
aversive stimulus like something valued
Negative pain, noise, etc.
like freedom,
attention, etc.
Delivery (Schedules) of reinforcement & punishment
 Continuous - best way to acquire a new behavior (or
extinguish an existing behavior)
Why not ideal to maintain the new learning?
 Fixed Ratio – set number of responses for the
reinforcement
 Fixed Interval – there is a set interval of time before the
next response is reinforced/punished
 Variable Ratio - changing number of responses needed
 Variable Interval - changing amount of time needed
Example schedules
Fixed
Interval
Ratio
Variable
Pay checks, boss
who “checks in” at
9am and 4pm, etc.
- lengthy breaks until
interval approaches
(bursts of activity)
Real estate agent,
busy phone line, etc.
- slow but steady
rate (busy phone)
Assembly line worker
- substantial
decrease in work
after reinforced
Slot machines
- most productive
schedule with
minimal pausing
Behavioral Applications
 Token economies, Applied BA for treating autism spectrum disorders
 Treatment of simple phobias – Phobias are intense fears (or nonnormative fears) that lead to dysfunction
Systematic desensitization – developed by J. Wolpe
Establish a fear hierarchy – from least feared to most feared
Systematically expose the individual to each stimulus on the
fear hierarchy beginning with the lowest (up to several
months)
Must be in a relaxed state while exposed to the stimulus
Must NOT remove the feared stimulus until fear is diminished
otherwise the fear is reinforced
Fears can be reinforced without ever being exposed to the
stimulus
 If fears are acquired through random pairings, why are some fears
(e.g., spiders, snakes) so common?
Preparedness for phobias, Ohman et al., 1985
 Learning may not occur randomly, rather we may be
predisposed to learn some associations more easily
e.g., Are we prepared to acquire some fears more easily?
Most common fears…(adaptive?)
 70 male and female participants with no known history
of phobias were recruited
 half of the subjects were assigned to a condition pairing
flowers & faces with shocks while others paired shocks
with snakes and spiders
 All participants had arousal (fear) assessed using GSR
and EEG readings
 stimuli were paired with the shocks until a fear response
was acquired. The findings…
Rates of acquisition – GSR & EEG
High
Flowers &
Faces
Guns &
Knives
Physiological
Response
Spiders &
Snakes
Low
Time (number of pairings)
Rates of extinction
High
Physiological
Response
*Guns/
Knives
Flowers/Faces
Low
Time
Spiders/Snakes
Preparedness for phobias, Ohman et al., 1985 (cont.)
Summary
no difference in acquisition times
significant difference in extinction rates (faster
for flowers and faces)
Repeated the study for guns and knives and
found acquisition and extinction curves similar
to those found in flowers and faces
Preparedness for phobias, Ohman et al., 1985
 Evolutionary adaptiveness confirmed?
Confounds/strengths:
 Employed self-report and physiological measures of fear
 Used two physiological measures (GSR and EEG)
 Tested both acquisition and extinction times
 Other qualitative differences between guns/knives and
flowers/faces?
New evidence: Cook, Hodes, & Lang, 1986
Replicated Ohman’s study using cardiac
response instead of GSR and EEG
Also found that acquisition of fear for phobia
relevant stimuli (spiders and snakes) was faster
when relying on cardiac response
extinction curves were equal across conditions
when subjects were told that shocks would stop
Evidence for belongingness
Acquisition and extinction curves appear to be
related to the extent to which the stimuli
belongs with the aversive event (does the
sensory modality for the UCS match that for the
previously neutral, but now conditioned,
stimulus?)
e.g., shock (tactile) for spiders and snakes (tactile)
e.g., aversive odor (olfactory) for a skunk (olfactory)
Skinner’s article “Man”
 Why, according to Skinner, do we resist behaviorism?
 No freedom (Walden Two: Society based on pos reinforcement)
 Radical determinism
 What are the consequences of accepted behaviorism?
 No real “wishes”, “impulses”, “emotions”, & “attitudes”
 A simple act does not mean that someone is brave, virtuous, or loving. People
are just conditioned to act virtuous, brave, or loving.
 Skinner was against the concept of “personality,” as it was used in
the 1940s and earlier, because it implied something internal and
unique to you (rather than emphasizing the environment).
 Of course, non-psychodynamic theorists have also defined
personality as a stable pattern of behavior (more resistant to
variations in the environment)
 No true freedom of choice? (control over environment & genetics?)
Autobiographical statement
 Did the autobiography leave you with any questions?
 Consider: 1) content (emphasis on what is included), 2)
what is omitted, and 3) the form (how it is conveyed)
e.g., Does the statement/person focus on the past, present, or
future? What is the valence (pos/neg)? What aspects of life
appear most salient (family history, accomplishments, current
relationships, goals, etc.)? Definitiveness vs. uncertainty?
 Simplest assessment in terms of administration, but
most difficult in terms of scoring & amount of work by
the the respondent (subjective)
Open-ended so difficult to standardized and compare results
 Provides access to self-perceptions (your view of who
you are) and the factors that you believe influenced you
(strengths/limitations?)
Explaining more complex behavior
- Last slide for Exam 3
 Shaping through successive approximations
e.g., a bear riding a motorcycle
 Approach-approach conflicts
Stimuli that provide two equally desirable consequences
Attraction increases for the stimulus you have not selected and
decreases for the one you have selected. Why?
Examples?
 Avoidance-avoidance conflicts
Stimuli that provide two equally undesirable consequences
Fear increases for the stimulus you have selected and decreases
for the stimulus you have not selected (moving away from).
Examples?
Autobiographical statement
 Did the autobiography leave you with any questions?
 Consider: 1) content (emphasis on what is included), 2)
what is omitted, and 3) the form (how it is conveyed)
e.g., Does the statement/person focus on the past, present, or
future? What is the valence (pos/neg)? What aspects of life
appear most salient (family history, accomplishments, current
relationships, goals, etc.)? Definitiveness vs. uncertainty?
 Simplest assessment in terms of administration, but
most difficult in terms of scoring & amount of work by
the the respondent (subjective)
Open-ended so difficult to standardized and compare results
 Provides access to self-perceptions (your view of who
you are) and the factors that you believe influenced you
(strengths/limitations?)
Conflict from a single stimulus
- First slide for exam 3
 Approach-avoidance conflicts (Dollard & Millar)
The same stimulus provides both reinforcing and
punishing qualities and both increase in intensity as
you move toward it.
Examples?
Semi-starved rat seeking cheese on electrified
grid
The phone call
 The rate at which fear and attraction increase/decrease
is not the same and varies as a function of the distance
to the target.
See diagram
Graph : Arousal by distance
High
Arousal
Fear (avoidance)
Attraction/Pleasure
(approach)
Note: The avoidance gradient
is steeper than the approach
gradient
Low
Arousal
Further
Closer
DISTANCE FROM TARGET
Cognitive Perspective
 Mental representations of objects and their significance
 Each is idiosyncratically defined with a great deal of complexity
 Evolution has moved the environment into the brain (perception vs.
“reality”) – No direct experience of the environment (e.g., eye).
 Mediated by perception of the environment, and this is decidedly a
cognitive event (mediated by expectancies, motivation, etc.)
 This perspective can more easily explain complex behaviors (most
human action) and does not deny the presence of cognitive
processes (thoughts & feelings)
 For example, when considering approach/avoidance conflicts, it is
possible to examine individual differences in how one cognitively
construes the same event (e.g., Is a test as a potential for success
or failure?)
Less variability for the semi-starved rat considering food/shock
Social learning/cognitive theory
 Behavior = Behavioral expectancy (regardless of the
reinforcing or punishing contingencies, do you expect
the consequence?) X reward value (idiosyncratic value
one places on the reinforcer or punisher)
Julian Rotter, 1970s
 Modeling/imitation: learning in the absence of
reinforcement for either the target or the model
 Modeling occurs in other species as well (e.g., fear of
snakes in monkeys reared in captivity after exposure to
monkeys reared in wild)
 Survey research as well as experiments have examined
this process
Effects of violent/aggressive models
 Effects of aggressive models on children? (see Bobo doll
experiment; Bandura, 1973)
Modeling is most effective when it is a similar model
Media coverage as a source of modeling
 Huston & Cofer, 1986, reviewed the literature on violent TV
viewing in childhood (survey research)
Prospectively predicts adult aggression. Confounds?
Findings persist after controlling for SES, level of
supervision, and aggression as a child.
 What are the effects of aggressive models on adults?
Less overt; a readiness for aggressive behavior
Weaker modeling effects for pro-social behavior
 Violent crimes decrease when violent films are showing
(Dahl & Vigna, 2009); Those who like violence are busy!
Self-regulatory theory (Mischel)
 1. Reward value – differential value for certain rewards
& punishers (different between individuals & over time)
 2. Expectancies – typically based on previous experience
 3. Encoding strategies – how information is interpreted
by the individual (exam feedback), framing effects, etc
 Research demonstrates that we tend to see desirable objects
(those that fulfill immediate goals—a drink for the thirsty,
money, favorable feedback) as physically closer than less
desirable objects. Biased distance perception was also revealed
through verbal reports and actions (e.g., under-throwing a
beanbag at a desirable object). Balcetis & Dunning, 2009
 Seeing desirable objects as closer than less desirable objects
serves the self‐regulatory function of energizing the perceiver to
approach objects that fulfill needs/goals.
“wishful seeing” (Dunning & Balcetis, 2013)
Self-regulatory theory - continued
 4. Competencies – actual ability mediates these
processes (self-efficacy beliefs – see also Bandura)
 5. Self-regulation – how goals influence/regulate all of
the previous four factors
research by Kunda (1990) examining motivated reasoning - an
event with a 60% likelihood of occurring can be described as
“not very likely” (get cancer) to “somewhat likely” (get an “A”)
e.g., how goals influence the interpretation of a test grade
George Kelly (1955)
Construct theory
Humans as scientists
Where did your “experiments” begin?
Personal theories = constructs
Used to explain the present and predict the
future
“Ask them, they might just tell you.” (credible
approach that emphasizes the subjective
appraisals of individuals
Fundamental Postulate and Corollaries
 How you represent the environment is affected by the
anticipation of events
 assume replication; oriented to the future
 uniqueness of your construct system
 finite number of dichotomous constructs
 range of convenience for any construct
If events can’t be explained by any construct, this leads to
anxiety
 choice of constructs and their ordinal association (you
can have any theories, but the theories you choose limit
what you’ll find)
Repetory Grid (Kelly)
P. 1: Identify the important people in your life
P.2: Think about the three individuals and how
two are alike on some trait and yet different
from the third person on the same trait.
e.g., 2 of the 3 are really organized while the
third person is really disorganized
Cognitive complexity
 Kelly defined cognitive complexity as having many
superordinate (or core) constructs (initiated the cognitive
movement)
Patient with single core construct of “Army – not Army”
 Greater cognitive complexity is associated with better
adaptiveness as it means you have more ways of
interpreting events (vs. being very limited in how you view
things)
 Tetlock & Suedfeld have studied the cognitive complexity
of communications and how it predicts conflict. Lower
complexity = maladaptive (conflict)
e.g., examined UN communications between countries and could
predict times of conflict
Cognitive perspectives on depression
 Maladaptive cognitions & attributions e.g., learned
helplessness in a dog restrained (failure to acquire new
learning) – Seligman, 1978
 Cognitive triad (Beck, Seligman)
1. negative thoughts about the self (“I suck”)
- internal vs. external attributions
2. neg. thoughts about the everyone else (“no one loves me”)
– general vs. specific conclusions
3. Negative thoughts about the future (“things will never change”)
– stable vs. changing
 A. Ellis: ignoring positive things in life, exaggerating the
negative, and over-generalizing.
 Cognitive interventions are one of the most effective
treatments for depression (equal to medications)
Biological: Humoral theory (Galen, 450BC)
 Influence of early medicine on trait theory
 Body fluids can determine dispositions
Sanguine (blood) - cheerful
Melancholic (black bile) - depressive
Choleric (yellow bile) - irritable
Phlegmatic (phlegm/mucus) - unemotional
 Blood/fluid letting to “treat” personality
 Why would this model persist over time? (primary
targets of intervention?)
Modern-day Versions of Humoral Theory
 Galen’s melancholic temperament has been equated with
low levels of serotonin (Hamer & Copeland, 1998)
 Likewise, low levels of serotonin have been associated with
irritability in animals (Depue, 1995) and depression in
humans (Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil, Effexor, Serzone, etc.)
 *Today we still do not understand the mechanisms affecting
depression (Kirsch et al, 2002 for a critique of SSRIs – no
better than placebo based on all FDA data)
Placebo also getting stronger, so not a constant for comparison (see
link on class webpage). Neurogenesis? Surget et al., 2011
 Blood type and personality (Eysenck)
AB - extraversion; B – neuroticism
Attempts to replicate link for blood type & personality
have been unsuccessful (Cramer & Imaike, 2002)
Hans Eysenck (research from 1967- 1997)
 There are reliable differences in personality observed
around the world
 Suggested biological determinants of personality
Blood type – there are also reliable differences in
blood types observed around the world and these are
the cause of different personality types (often
mistaken for cultural influences)
few findings emerged to support this perspective
Brain activity – activation in certain parts of the brain
predicts different behavioral patterns associated with
traits
more support for this model, especially for the traits of
extraversion/introversion
Introversion/extraversion
 Differences in cortical activity in the ascending reticular
activating system (ARAS) predict different behavior
 Theory (Eysenck, 1967):
Extraverts are chronically under aroused and seek
stimulation for the brain (ARAS)
Introverts are chronically over aroused and seek to
avoid stimulation (ARAS)
 Research:
Performance and exposure to loud/soft music
Preferred and optimal volume of background music
for a dual attention task
No difference at baseline, but response to stimulation
differs (greater for the extravert)
Eysenck’s model for activating the brain
 Proposed that we can stimulate our brains through our interactions
with others
 Extraverts seek out stimulation while introverts avoid it
 Interpersonal interactions result in increased brain activity, and this
can be heightened by minimizing personal distance/personal space
 Differences in preference for personal space have been observed
worldwide (e.g., UK = approximately 6 feet, African nations =
approx. 2 feet, US = approx. 4 feet
 When people interact, they are attempting to reach their preferred
personal space. This is difficult when different people have different
personal space preferences
 Eysenck studied interactions at meetings of the United Nations (“UN
dance”)
Summary of Eysenck’s work
 Differences in cortical activity in the ascending reticular activating
system (ARAS) predict different behavior
 Theory (Eysenck, 1967):
Extraverts are chronically under aroused and seek stimulation
for the brain (ARAS)
Introverts are chronically over aroused and seek to avoid
stimulation (ARAS)
 Research (by Eysenck and colleagues):
Performance and exposure to loud/soft music, optimal volume
of background music for a dual attention task (No difference at
baseline, but response to stimulation differs)
 Use of personal space to regulate level of stimulation
Other factors that effect personal space?
Spacing follows predictable patterns as individuals fill a
room
 What circumstances allow for the violation of personal
space preferences?
 1. Environmental: Crowding conditions allow us to
tolerate personal space violations for short periods of
time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr7q-v7NIRQ
 2. Self determined: Altering eye contact can be used to
either minimize physical closeness or increase it
 3. Intimacy of the relationship (generally only permit
violations of personal space for those emotionally close
to you)
How else do we stimulate our brains?
 Activities that are considered high in sensation seeking
or “need for stimulation” (Zuckerman)
skydiving, driving fast down a tight road, confrontations or other
intense interactions with others that minimize personal distance,
ingesting caffeine, sugar, nicotine, etc.
 Meta-analysis of sensation seeking and behavior
(Roberti, 2004)






SS higher
SS higher
SS higher
SS higher
SS higher
SS higher
medium)
for
for
for
for
for
for
males and younger individuals (strong effect)
those who abuse substances (med to strong)
high risk sports (small to medium) – skill issue
risky sexual behavior (medium to high)
gambling
“exciting” vacations and exciting hobbies (low to
BIS/BAS (J. Grey)
 A broader model that has recently received more
empirical support involves more diffuse brain activation
behavioral activating system (approach motivation)
behavioral inhibition system (avoidance motivation)
 BAS – individuals are focused on reinforcers not
punishers (heightened neuronal sensitivity)
 BIS – individuals are focused on punishers not
reinforcers (heightened neuronal sensitivity)
 Related this to anxiety, depression, and several other
disorders like alcoholism
Overview and critique of bio. perspective
 General support for the fact that such activities alter
brain activity and that there are individual differences in
the brain’s responsiveness
 Some inconsistent findings may be due to how brain
activity is quantified
intensity,
duration,
speed of neuronal response following exposure to the stimulus,
Which is most accurate/correct?
Each may indicate different findings.
Biological evidence for abnormal behavior
 Schizophrenia is one of the disorders with the strongest biological
evidence
48% incidence for those having both parents or an identical
twin (MZ) with the disorder
 Evidence at the neuroanatomical level (enlarged ventricles) and
neurochemical level (dopamine)
 For depression, there is also some neurochemical evidence
(seratonin and epinephrin)
 Questionable research on genes that underlie disorders such as
alcoholism, criminality, sexual identity, etc.
 The exact mechanisms in all cases are not fully understood (recall
Humoral theory!)
Understanding genetics
 Genes are arranged along chromosomes = strands of paired DNA
 Human cells have 46 chromosomes (except sperm cells and egg cells,
each of which have 23 chromosomes)
 The union of the sperm & egg cells creates a 46 chromosome cell
with a somewhat random selection of genetic material from each
parent.
 Children will share 50% of their genetic composition with each
biological parent.
 Full siblings also have a 50% genetic overlap as they .25 chance of
sharing a gene from mother and .25 from father
 Monozygotic twins (identical) – have 100% genetic overlap as they
come from the same sperm and egg
 Dizygotic twins (fraternal) – have 50% genetic overlap as they are
formed from two sperm and two eggs (same as full siblings)
 Examine overlap of personality traits as a function of genetic overlap
Do genetics underlie personality?
 Temperament – stable individual differences in emotional reactivity
Commonly studied in children (i.e., how does one respond to
various stimuli such as a hug, loud noise, etc.)
 Use of twin studies to determine aspects of temperament that are due
to genetics vs. environment (heritability coefficient - .4 to .6 for most
traits)
Dunn & Plomin, 1990 found heritability coefficients of .4 to .6
depending on the trait (e.g., neuroticism is highest, openness to
new experience/creativity is lowest); Consistency is lowest in
childhood highest after age 50 (Roberts & Friend-DelVecchio, 2000)
 Comparison of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins (if there is
twice as much overlap for the MZ twins relative to DZ twins then this
suggests the role of heredity as MZ twins are genetically identical –
twice that of DZ twins)
e.g., genes affect temperament (aggression) and this might
influence if one plays a sport like football (vs. an athletic gene).
Do MZ vs. DZ twins tell the whole story?
 If MZ twins are reared apart, does that mean that all
similarities are due to genetics? (this is assumed)
e.g., DZ twin with schizophrenia – 17-24% incidence MZ twin
has a 48% incidence
 Similarities due to the fact that each person engenders
similar responses from the environment (Phelps et al, ‘97)
 Monochorionic (MC) MZ twins – have a single placenta
and circulation system (about one third of cases)
 Dichorionic (DC) MZ twins - have two separate single
placenta and circulation systems
 Consider the in utero environment (shared = MC)
MZ twins – 48% when MZ is MC (drops to 28% when DC)
 More is due to environment than we thought
Sokol et al., 1995
 Compared MC and DC MZ twins at ages 4 through 6
using the Personality Inventory for Children.
 MC MZ twins were more similar on all 20 of the
personality scales measures by the Personality Inventory
for Children (13 were statistically significant)
 The observed differences can not be due to genetics
since these are MZ twins (genetically identical), so
differences must be due to the effects of the pre-birth
environment.
 Note: Also found differences between MC and DC MZ
twins with regard to intelligence scores, incidence of
schizophrenia, etc. (greater similarity for the MC twins)
Course Outline
 MC MZ twins were more similar on all 20 of the
personality scales measures by the Personality Inventory
for Children (also for IQ, incidence of schizophrenia, etc)
Sokol et al., 1995
Theories – we’re done!
Assessment – measuring personality
Completed the TAT, autobiographical statement, and
Repetory Grid (PPA and NEO-PI still to come).
Personality disorders
An example personality assessment…
Roots of Assessment
 Palm reading
 Astrology - stars as gods vs. planets
shift from religious to scientific explanations
 Biorhythms - physical, mental, emotional
 Barnum effect - broad and slightly positive statements;
Most non-standardized, unreliable, and non-validated
procedures rely on the Barnum effect
Stock statements - true in all circumstances
Fishing statements – general statements that can be interpreted
in many ways (“you’ve experienced a loss”)
Research (Glick, 1985) suggests that people are more likely to
believe Barnum-type false feedback vs. real personality
assessments.
Morphological Assessment
 Criminality (Lombroso) - physical features that predict
criminality
L’uomo delinquente
 Phrenology (Gall) - skull morphology advanced the field
of assessment (see example)
localization
Quantification
standardization
From the head to the body
 Sheldon’s body types (1950)
Based on photographs of all incoming freshmen at Ivy league
schools in the 1930s
Endomorph – jolly/happy, lazy (BMI is inversely corr. with
suicide rates, but only for men; “jolly & fat” Mukamal, 2007)
Mesomorph – dominant, athletic
Ectomorph – smart, shy
Not theoretically derived
Based on physical stereotypes
Can stereotypes affect your personality?
 Pelvic distance (Schlegal, 1982) – provides some theory as it relates
to hormonal (estrogen) release during adolescence
Pelvic distance does correlate with the endorsement of
prototypically masculine and feminine traits on self-report
inventories.
Assessment in the 20th century
 Psychodynamic methods: word association, TAT,
Rorschach, etc.
Minimal standardization (see recent exception for the Rorschach
– Exner’s, 1987, scoring system)
 MMPI - developed in 1940 using an empirical approach,
revised in 1989 (MMPI-2) and has 567 T/F items
Most widely used personality inventory in clinical settings
items generally lack face validity
validity scales (lie, defensiveness, infrequency)
Assesses m/f, Si, D, Hs, Pa, etc. (psychopathology= personality)
T/F answer format requires many items
 Today, Likert (e.g., 0-4) scales allow for fewer items and
items have face validity (for the non-clinical population)
Traits
 Descriptors used to predict behavior
 Locus of Control (LOC; Rotter)
Internal - control over one’s own destiny
External - fatalistic, chance outcomes
 Most individuals are internals in NA culture. This is more
adaptive as well.
 Implications for school/work re: effort
 Relationships
 Health
Control/predictability and stress
 Glass & Singer 1972
 Uncontrollable and aversive noise and its effects on performance
Two conditions: one with “control button” and one without
Assessed persistence with anagrams, and performance in a
follow-up task
 Benefits reflected in sustained effortful behavior and outcomes
 None of the participants ever actually pushed the button, so there
were no differences in exposure to the loud aversive sounds
Emphasis is perceived rather than real control
 Ultimately, the researchers stopped hooking up the button (dummy
switch)
 What if the participants had tried to push the button?
 Higher cost for thinking you have control then realizing you don’t
vs. never thinking you had it (we rarely have the opportunity to
assess control beliefs in everyday life; that’s why perception is key)
Experimental research on control
 Studies in old age homes (Langer, 1983; Rodin, 1986)
to assess the effects of predictability and control
3 conditions (control, predictability, neither)
equal time in all visits, and everyone does so within
regular visiting hours
predicted health and mortality within the next year
implications/applications?
Strengths/limitations of this study relative to Glass &
Singer (1972) and other survey studies?
 Similar research in work settings involving control over
how to do tasks; in prisons involving control over TV
programming, chair locations (Ruback et al., 1986;
Wener et al., 1987)
Effects of control on health perceptions
Lecci & Cohen, 2007
 Can perceptions of control minimize maladaptive
intrusions from health stimuli?
 Will this occur even though health fears have been
activated?
 Will this occur even if the individual exhibits tendencies
to be hypochondriacal (i.e., they perceive themselves to
be unusually vulnerable to health threats)?
 Using a modified health Stroop
 Manipulation of control beliefs (3 things you can do…)
High Control
850
Anthrax
Office
RT 800
(ms)
750
-1.5
-0.5
0.5
1.5
SAMPI (z scores)
Low Control
850
Anthrax
RT 800
(ms)
Office
750
-1.5
-0.5
0.5
SAMPI (z scores)
1.5
Optimism and pessimism
 Perceptions do not reflect actual difference in the experience of life
events (see also NA and PA)
Differ in the interpretation, recall, & experience of real and
hypothetical life events so as to reinforce their initial views
Their affective experience is to be happier and to reconstrue
events in a positive light (i.e., rationalize)
e.g., you get rejected from 1 school & accepted by UNCW. How
do you now evaluate UNCW and the rejecting school?
 Healthier?
Most are survey studies of health and optimism.
Heart patients matched prior to surgery on prognosis and
preoperative health. Optimism (and LOC) predicts mortality and
complications
Hole punch of medical students to assess rate of healing;
related to optimism and LOC (Glaser, 1996)
Other traits linked to health
 Type A vs. Type B personality
Cluster of traits such as competitive, goal oriented, driven, quick
to anger vs. calm and less work oriented
health is better in Type Bs
Short term life satisfaction is higher in Type A
Recent research on other “Types”
 Hardiness and stress
Cluster of traits (e.g., commitment, control) that predict how
well one handles stress (e.g., Kobassa, 1977)
Typically stress results in physical illness (Selye’s General
Adaptation Syndrome), but not for high hardiness individuals
Trait Revolution
 Mischel shock (Personality and Assessment; Mischel, 1968)
1. Traits account for only 9% of behavior
Personality vs. situation debate (data on school children in
different settings – predicting behaviors like lying)
2. Traits are just labels.
 Attempts to address the 1st critique with new measures, but more
difficult to counter the 2nd critique
 Modern personality inventories can go beyond 9% (see NEO-PI)
 * Problematic to predict a single instance of behavior from general
trends (S. Epstein), but we can predict behavioral tendencies
 Traits predict best in situations without clear “situational scripts”
e.g., first date behavior vs. seventh date behavior
 A theoretical model linking individual behaviors to traits & factors
The construction of personality factors from everyday
experiences (higher level factors are the least modifiable)
4. Type/Factor
Extraversion
Sociability
Going out
Impulsivity
Smiling
Smiled at Mary
yesterday
Waving
Smiled at person
seated next to you
Liveliness
3. Trait
2. Habitual
behavior
1. Individual
behavior
Organizing traits
 From 450 B.C. to present
 Organizing structure for personality
 Eysenck’s three personality “factors” to describe all
relevant personality traits
1. extraversion/introversion -ARAS
2. neuroticism/emotional stability -limbic system
3. psychoticism (abnormal personality) /ego
strength (tolerate stress, reality focus)
- Circumplex model (for the normal population)
Other ways of organizing traits
 Allport’s cardinal, central, secondary
 Cattell’s 16 PF
 The Big Five (Costa & McCrae, 1985)
Neuroticism - emotional stability/instability (very stable)
Extraversion - sensation seeking/pos emotions (very stable)
Openness - to new experience (creativity)
Agreeableness - quality of interactions
Conscientiousness – responsibility
 Research suggests that N & E are more related to biological factors
(i.e., highest heritability coefficients – approximately .6)
Scoring the NEO-FFI
Recode items (see last page of handout)
Sum columns to get five total scores
Compare your scores to norm values
See overhead and descriptions
Big Five and Everyday life
– last slide for exam 3
 NEO profile that best predicts school/work performance?
High C, N, and O (adaptive application of N)
 O is related to productivity as a function of the structure of the
setting (high O works best in less structured settings)
 Low C and low A generally predict poor productivity in a variety of
school and work-related settings
 High N is a general predictor for psychological problems
(depression, anxiety, etc.), and the more extreme the score, the
more likely the problems
 Costa & McCrae suggest that psychopathology is defined by
extreme scores on the NEO
Some research suggests that these traits are observed across
species such as dogs, chimps, & hyenas (Gosling & John, 1999)
Responses to Mischel’s critique
- first slide for exam 4
 New trait measures such as the NEO (validated at the
item and scale level, Likert ratings, face valid)
 Act-frequency approach (Buss & Craik, 1983)
Identify actions that reflect the trait of interest
Rate the extent to which each represents the prototype for that
trait (prototypicality ratings)
 Personal goal assessment
The idiosyncratic expression of basic motives (hunger vs.
“truffles for the wedding”)
Traits in context (LOC vs. control over the relevant experiences
in your life; e.g., goal to “get married” or “get a degree”)
Gordon Allport (1930)
 Consider how traits and motivation (goals) each assess different
(unique) aspects of personality
 “Havings” and “Doings” of personality (Allport, 1930; Cantor, 1990)
stable features (traits) and more dynamic features (goals)
 Traits (havings) can reflect biological predispositions that may limit
the opportunities for what one can do.
 Goals can determine how their traits manifest in their actions (goals
are the doings of personality)
 Both predict behavior: Traits predict about 20% of university
grades and goals relating to both school and non-school activities
can account for an additional 10-20% (Little, Lecci, & Wadkinson,
1992)
Goal assessments
- continuing with a 3rd response to Mischel’s critique
 From more fleeting/transient experiences to life long
pursuits
Current Concerns (Klinger, 1977)
Personal Projects Analysis (Little, 1983)
Personal Strivings (Emmons, 1986)
Life Tasks (Cantor, 1987)
Goal Systems Assessment Battery (Karoly &
Ruehlman, 1995)
 Intersection of motivational and cognitive perspectives;
“Hot Cognitions”
Important features of goal construal
 PPA = Personal projects Analysis (Little, 1983)
 Adults average about 14 personal goals
 Content may be significant
e.g., Health goals for hypochondriacs
Most common goal across settings & populations: “lose weight”
5 factors used to interpret the PPA
 Meaningfulness (importance, enjoyment)
 Efficacy (progress, outcome, skills)
 Structure (control, initiation, time adequacy)
 Stress (stress, difficulty, challenge)
 Social Support (visibility, other’s view)
Meaning-Efficacy trade-off
 Molecular goals (time focused & concrete)
high efficacy but low meaningfulness
 Molar goals (broad, life long pursuits)
low efficacy but high meaningfulness
 Anxiety can be predicted from goals with hi meaning & low efficacy
 Research on college students and their goals shows that depression
is marked by low efficacy & low meaningfulness (Lecci et al., 1994)
 Depression can also be marked by the failure to disengage (Kuhl,
1986) from unsuccessful projects - depression as “information”
 Goals also linked to hypochondriasis (more illness prevention goals
with low efficacy and hi stress; Lecci et al., 1996), life satisfaction
(Palys & Little, 1993), health (Emmons & King, 1988)
 Project system coherence comes from a balance of projects or from
“Project spin”
Ipsative scoring for the PPA
 Ipsative scoring refers to comparisons within the individual (no
need for a norm group, though normative scoring can be done)
 Goals can be scored by comparing your own score at one time to
scores from obtained from another time
Only meaningful if scores can change (traits are supposed to be
stable, so any changes on the NEO are considered error in
measurement)
Your goals, however, can change.
 Goals can also be scored by comparing ratings across different
content domains (e.g., social vs. academic) – look at your scores
 Most clinical work and counseling interventions with goals adopt the
ipsative scoring procedures (goal of intervention can be perceived
changes in the goal system)
 Goals can also be scored normatively (see next slide)
Normative scoring for the PPA
e.g., academic vs leisure goals
 Academic goals
Importance:
High = 10
Low = 5 or <
Enjoyment
High = 7 or >
Low = 2 or <
Stress
High = 9 or >
Low = 3 or <
Other’s view of importance
High = 10
Low = 4 or <
 Leisure goals
Importance:
High = 9 or >
Low = 4 or <
Enjoyment
High = 9 or >
Low = 6 or <
Stress
High = 5 or >
Low = 1 or <
Other’s view of importance
High = 8 or >
Low = 1 or <
What is Abnormal Behavior?
 Deviance - from societal norms
If too deviant (rare) then not identified as a disorder.
If too common, then it is no longer non-normative.
 Dysfunction - relationships and work
 Distress - affective discomfort (experienced by the
individual or created in others)
 Danger - to self (e.g., suicidal) or others
 Pervasive - impacting all aspects of life
 Longstanding - at least early adulthood
 Note: Each of the above are neither necessary nor
sufficient
Psychiatric Disorders





Diagnostic criteria defined by the DSM-IV
AXIS I defines clinical syndromes
AXIS II defines the personality & developmental disorders
60% chance of having an AXIS II disorder if one has AXIS I disorder
Those with one personality disorder are 5 times more likely to have a
second PD
 Enduring pattern of inner experience or behavior that deviates from the
individual’s culture in at least 2 of the following 4 areas:
cognition: perception of self, others & events
affect: range, intensity, and appropriateness
interpersonal functioning (occupational)
impulse control
Personality Disorders
 Incidence of 10-15% in the population
Problems diagnosing personality disorders. Why?
 Typically diagnosed secondary to AXIS I disorder(s)
 Extensive symptom overlap among the PDs
 PDs reflect a stable pattern with a long duration that can be
traced back at least to adolescence or early adulthood (i.e.,
PDs should not be diagnosed in children)
e.g., conduct disorder >>>> Antisocial PD
e.g., identity disorder >>>> Borderline PD
Myth of mental illness? (Szasz)
 Criteria used to define “mental illness” change as a function of
shifts in cultural values and normative experiences over time
e.g., earlier version of the DSM considered homosexuality as a
disorder, now consider PMS as a disorder,
Other examples of changing criteria: MPD, Pseudocyesis, etc.
 Mental illness = Disease (medical) model or is it a myth?
“Myth of Mental Illness” (1968)
 Can patterns of behavior, affect, or cognition be an illness?
e.g., conservativism?
e.g., suicide? (“Cruel Compassion”)
AXIS II: Cluster A
 All three involve odd or eccentric behavior
 Paranoid PD – hostile & threatening interpretation of the
actions and intentions of others, suspiciousness, quick to
anger
 Schizoid PD – flat affect with no desire for interactions,
and limited interests, few pleasures, isolative, indifferent
& detached
 Schizotypal PD – some paranoia, unusual perceptions,
odd behaviors/beliefs, inappropriate affect, isolative,
ideas of reference, social anxiety
 More commonly diagnosed in males, typically single,
with jobs resulting in minimal interpersonal contact.
 All cluster A PDs generally result in isolation of the
individual, but for different reasons (cf. Avoidant PD)
Analysis of “Bob”
 Unusual behaviors in the interview?
 Examples
 Has a hard time expressing thoughts in a linear fashion (e.g., Ask
about him, he talks about the planets)
 Doesn’t interact with others - odor is “pervasive and malicious”
 Best friend is college roommate (hasn’t seen him since college)
 “They know what I’m thinking and I know what they’re thinking?”
(thought broadcasting/mind reading?)
 Implied that friend’s death was caused by throwing away his picture?
 Visual hallucination? (the spots on the wall capturing his attention)
 “Uncle has hallucination because uncle drinks, but I don’t drink”
 Personality? (“Constancy is a virtue”)
 Paranoia re: the library?
 Schizotypal Personality disorder
Applying theories to PDs (e.g., Paranoid PD)
 Biological – recall the twin data suggesting the strong genetic link
between those with schizophrenia and those sharing a genetic
history (according to the ICD-10, cluster A personality disorders are
just milder forms of schizophrenia)
 Cognitive – reasoning errors associated with paranoia (e.g.,
paranoid individuals require less information to come to a decision
compared to non-paranoid individuals: Hemsley & Garety, 1986
study on colored balls)
 Psychodynamic – paranoia is an unconscious defense against the
“homosexual impulse” (reaction formation and projection: I love a
man - I hate him - He hates me. i.e., paranoia.)
 Behavioral – a failure to receive positive reinforcers for prosocial
behavior, so one resorts to bizarre behavior to get attention. Also
paranoid explanations may be more appealing than alternative.
AXIS II: Cluster B
 All involve dramatic/emotional presentations
 Borderline PD – instability of affect and relationships, parasuicidal behavior (suicidal gestures with high visibility but low
lethality), frantic attempts to avoid abandonment, intense &
inappropriate emotions, affective extremes are common
 Narcissistic PD – seeks attention, lacks empathy, vulnerable to
criticism, grandiose self view, requires admiration, exploitive
 Histrionic PD – seeks attention, sexualizes all interactions, use of
physical appearance for attention, rapidly shifting shallow emotions,
theatrical, shallow speech, focus on physical symptoms
 Antisocial PD – deceitful, criminality, impulsive and reckless, little
remorse, irritable and aggressive, irresponsible
 Cluster B PDs are typically involved in relationships, but they are
problematic. Diagnosed more in females (except antisocial)
Analysis of Candy Johnson
 Unusual behaviors in the interview or inconsistencies?
 Examples
 Is there a “Billy from Philly”
 Hasn’t eaten in days, yet she has plenty of food
 “Respects” doctors, but puts feet up on the chair
 Very worried about Billy, yet hasn’t spoken with him in days
 Says she has no criminal record, yet she does
 No rationale for what she will do with the money ($50 for medical
services will buy what?)
 Left Billy with several nurses even though he was not sick at the time
 Always changing topics and appears evasive (Billy, police, phone call,
headache, hunger, etc.)
 Manipulating the doctor (controlling the interview)
 Signs of remorse? Drama? (I’ll crawl there on my hands and knees
if I have to!”) Lying? Brought in by police.
 Antisocial Personality Disorder
ASPD: Two theoretical perspectives
 “Sociopath” - refers to the hypothesized social factors
that underlie this disorder
Early problems with learning right/wrong
(behavioral)
“Mani sans deliria” - Mania without delirium
Moral insanity - illustrated by lack of remorse
 “Psychopath” - refers to the presumed physiological
causal factors
research (Lykken,1957) on ASPD’s attenuated
response to positive punishers relative to non-ASPDs
Response to negative punishers and rewards is
similar to that of non-ASPDs (Schmauk, 1970)
AXIS II: Cluster C
 All Cluster Cs involve fear and anxiety
 Avoidant PD – fear of criticism from others, social phobia may
occur, isolative, views self as inept, unlikely to be in a relationship
 Obsessive-compulsive PD – perfectionist, unwilling to
delegate, inability to meet deadlines, preoccupied with details, rigid,
hordes money
 Dependent PD – unable to act alone on any decision, needs
others, subservient and may place themselves in humiliating
circumstances, difficulty expressing disagreement, fear of
abandonment, always in a relationship
*********************************************
 PD NOS – not meeting the criteria for any one PD, but they have
features of several; can refer to more than one PD
Analysis of Julian Robbins
 Unusual behaviors in the interview?
 Examples
Defines all people in terms of their illnesses
Appears to be experiencing physical discomfort (“cramps”)
Dramatic and emotional about helping others
Theatrical presentation
Effeminate qualities (behavior of personal space, tone ,
complimentary nature, symptoms, nurturing/caretaker role, etc.)
 Histrionic personality disorder
 This is atypical as it is more commonly observed in
females (note the effeminate quality of the male client)
Class “cocktail” party – don’t write this down
Please complete the top half of the self
assessment form & print your name on the
bottom
Once finished the assessment, please stand in
line to get drinks (bring your books with you)
You will be assigned to groups of 6-7
You need to be familiar with the names of those
in your group, find out what they are doing this
summer and their long term plans.
Self vs. Peer Ratings – include in class notes
 High degree of consistency between self ratings and the ratings of
others even after only a brief interaction
Almost as accurate as assessments from those who know you
very well
 How does social desirability effect ratings? Social constraints? The
short time period of the assessment?
 Which traits will show the greatest discrepancies?
 Do discrepancies necessarily reflect problems with the self-report?
Real differences between internal and external presentation may
be meaningful
 FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR
When evaluating others, people tend to attribute behavior to
traits
When evaluating our own behavior, we tend to attribute it to
the situation (Why? - baserates)
Comparison of Personality Assessments
 TAT (& Rorschach)- subjective scoring, socially desirable
response sets are less obvious, assumes unconscious
processes
 Rep Grid – perceptions, social networks, socially
desirable response is less obvious
 NEO - objective scoring, representative norms, straight
forward assessment
 Autobiographical statement – most open-ended (broad)
and most consistent with the subjective experience, but
hardest to score and compare
 PPA - straight forward, normative & ipsative scoring,
samples everyday behavior. (see normative scoring)
 How would different PDs do on each test?
The class has ended!
Turn in 5 personality assessments all stapled
together (name on cover sheet)
Final exam has 65 MC
Please feel free to stop by my office any time to
discuss research, important things to know if
you want to get a Ph.D. in psychology, or if you
have a lot of free time and want to wash my
car! (mowing the lawn may be substituted)
Using traits to predict
behavior
Traits predict best in ambiguous situations (i.e.,
situations without clear situational scripts, those
with which you have had little experience, etc.)
Consider setting with clear and less clear situational
scripts (e.g., a 1st date vs. a 10th date)
Personal projects and hypochondriasis
 “I have a tumor in my head the size of a basketball. I can feel it
when I blink.” – Woody Allen, Hannah and her sisters.
 Hypochondriasis is a psychiatric disorder defined as a preoccupation
and fear with illness. Typically involves a lot of doctor shopping and
a willingness to undergo invasive procedures (exploratory surgery)
 Karoly & Lecci (1993) screened almost 2,000 undergrads t and
identified a subset who scored in the clinical range on Hs and
compared them to those scoring in the normal range
 High scorers had more health goals, were more likely to include
these goals among their most important, and consider their health
goals to be less enjoyable, more difficult, and result in less progress
 Also, high scorers were more likely to view their health goals as
illness prevention (“Don’t get sick”) vs. health promotion (“Stay in
shape”) projects
PPA and hypochondriasis - 2
 Lecci et al (1996) extended earlier findings in an adult sample and
demonstrated that goals predict hypochondriacal tendencies and
this relation is distinct from depression and anxiety
 Also suggested that there might be a more automated component
to problematic health goal pursuit
 All goals can and will become automated with rehearsal
 Unconscious motivation (referring to the cognitive unconscious)
 This is true for both adaptive and maladaptive goals
 Taking on health goals can result in automated changes such that
one is then more attentive to health cues
 For example, research (Lecci & Cohen, 2000) suggests that
hypochondriacal individuals show automated biases for healthrelated information (e.g., Stroop task)
 If prime = “Blue”, is following word written in blue? (patient/patent)
 Red Cross Blood Drive
Wednesday, September 12, 2001
10:00AM--6:00PM
Warwick Center Ballroom
- You can donate every 56 days
- You need to be in good health (e.g., not on antibiotics, not
HIV positive, etc.)
 A memorial service will be held for the victims and
their families on Friday, September 14, at 3 p.m.
(Location to be announced by the office of the
Provost)
 Counseling services available UU, Warwick & WE
 What to do (and look for), and what not to do.
Videos on personality
Please note any unusual behaviors or
comments on the part of the individuals
depicted in the two short video segments.
Explaining the character of terrorists:
Bad or Mad?
“evil, coward-like behavior” - implies rational
behavior (legal categorization)
“insanity” - implies non-rational behavior
(psychiatric categorization)
Minimal research on this distinction (Malmquist,
1996)
Suggests that mass murderers and terrorists are not
“mad” in the formal sense of the word (not suffering
from mental illnesses like schizophrenia, or
evidencing psychosis or disordered thought)
Though they are more likely to be diagnosed with
personality disorders