Eysenck's PEN theory ESSAY

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Eysenck, 1991
Many theorists suggested criteria for a good model, among the criteria suggested are evidence of 'temporal stability and cross observer validity, universality, testability, replicability and practicality
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What did Eysenck (1990) suggest a good model of personality must have?
Interlocking aspects: Descriptive or taxonomic and causal or biological
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What super traits did Eysenck look at?
two super traits: neuroticism and extrovertism, then later looked at psychoticism, hence the PEN model
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What did Eyesenck and Eyesenck, 1985 emphasise the use of?
Correlational research such as factor analysis, non animal studies and biological research methods
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Therefore, what are the paragraphs?
Physiological substrate, brain structure, genetic/hereditry factors, non human models and temporal stability when trying to explain personality traits
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What is the point at which this essay concludes?
the personality theory isnt complete or sufficient enough to explain personality completely
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What is paragraph 1?
The model
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Eysenck (1965)
Defined two main supertraits: Neuroticism and extraversion, psychoticism was later introduced when individuals who otherwise had the symptoms of being neurotic did not display any levels of anxiety
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What did Eysenck assume?
Biological basis can be used to explain traits
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Eysenck suggested that people were what?
Either slightly more introverted (prefer to spend time alone, quiet) or extroverted (Prefer excitement and stimulation, the company of others)
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What is the biological basis for extraversion?
The Ascending Reticular Activating System
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What is the ARAS structure?
The brain stem is connected to the thalamus, hypothalamus and cortex; controls cortical arousal, ARAS acts as gate to arousal
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Introverts?
They have higher activity in the ARAS, introverts ARAS allow too much arousal in, introverts seek out contexts with low stimulation
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Extraverts
Lower levels of activity in the ARAS, extraverts ARAS allows too little arousal in, extraverts seek out contexts with high stimulation
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Eyesenck (1965)
Reticulo-cortical and reticulo-limbic circuits. REticulo-cortical circuit controls the cortical arousal by stimuli, retico-limbic system controls response to emotional stimuli
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Under strong emotional stimulation what happens?
limbic system activity may spread to the cortex. Extraversion introversion relates to the arousability of the reticulo-cortical circuit so that introverts are typically more aroused than extraverts
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Gale, 1973
First people actively seek a moderate level of arousal, so that relationships between personality and arousal may reflect individual differences in strategies for seeking or avoiding stimulation
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What do extraverts do in sensory deprivation studies? Furnham, 1981
Raise their arousal by moving around and extraverts generally prefer more arousing activities rather than introverts
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Yerkes - Dodson law
The arousal theory of PEN assumes that 'some intermediate level of arousal is optimal for performance
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What does the law suggest?
Arousal and performance have an inverted U relationship. Task performance is impaired when motivation is either very low or very high and performance is maximised at some intermediate level of optimal motivation
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Geen (1984)
Measures: preferred stimulation levels in introverts and extroverts and effects on arousal and performance, the best performance for both introverts and extraverts occurs when stimulation was appropriate optimal level
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What eysenck suggest people were either
Neurotic (emotionally unstable, fearful, tense) or slightly more emotionally stabel (even tempered, quick to return to equilibrium after stress)
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What did Eysenck suggest about neurotics?
Some people have a more responsive sympathetic nervous system, ANS controls emotional response to emergency, prepares us for fight or flight, high in N = hypersensitivity in ANS, react more to threatening environments
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Empirical support?
Ormel and Wohfarth (1991)
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What did they report?
Neuroticism indeed has a strong influence on psychological distress. they find that 'temperamental dispositions seem more powerful than environmental factors in predicting psychological distress
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What is neuroticism ?
A powerful determint of high psychological distress
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What is psychoticism made up of?
A narrower range of traits: agressive, cold, impulsive and they lack empathy
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What did eysenck suggest was the biological explanation of psychoticism?
Increased testosterone and low MAO
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What is paragraph 2?
Physical substrates
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What is extraversion linked to?
Cortical thickness in lateral prefrontal cortex and fusiform cortex
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Clark and Watson, 2008
Reward processing centres and increased volume in medial OFC, approach behaviours
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Neuroticism has linked to what?
Orbitofrontalcortex, even after controlling for age and sex
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Neuroticism is linked to?
Threat processing and decreased volume in right dorsomedial PFC and posterior hippocampus, portions of basal ganglia and midbrain and mid cingulate cortex, extenidng into the white matter of the cingulate gyrus and caudate, linked to threat detection
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What is paragraph 3?
Hereditry or genetic contribution
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Read et al (2006)
E and N scores over 4 years best explained by dygosity
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What do studies genetic differences account?
50% of variance in E and N and 30% for P, shared environment offers little additional explanation
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What are high levels of explanation from what?
Genetic sources maintain even when peer report from individuals who only know one twin (Wolf et al, 2004)
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However, what was not found?
no genes of major effect found
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What is paragraph 4?
Traits non human
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What supports Eysenck?
Gosling and John (1999) 19 factorial study of 12 different species
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What did he they find?
Chimp - N, E, A, O, C
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What are the problems?
Animals that are extroverted engage in more exploratory behaviours, danger of using same criteria to judge personality trait as is used for criterion
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What is the Jingle, Jangle fallacy?
Animal personality research makes it difficult to evaluate E, N and P are seem
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What is the fear?
The fear of anthromorphism
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What is this?
Humans are too different from animals any personality viewed is projection, judgement of animals of many animals personality across species (Kracher, 2002)
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Kracher 2002
The term itself is not clearly defined and can have multiple meanings, and most importants, multiple implications. For example, by labelling the attribution of jealousy to our dogs as anthromorphic, does this mean that dogs are ot capable of feeling?
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What is paragraph 6?
Cross cultural evidence
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Caruso et al. 2001
Good overall reliability for E ad N, less so for P, reliability affected by standard deviation of scores, as SD increases, reliability can reduce, reliability also affected by Skew
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What is a problem?
- A problem WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialised, rich democratic) All cross cultural evidence for PEN, work on WEIRD sample, if universal we should see the PEN in pre literate, hunter gatherer tribes. Further study?
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What did Eysenck (1990) suggest a good model of personality must have?

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Interlocking aspects: Descriptive or taxonomic and causal or biological

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What super traits did Eysenck look at?

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What did Eyesenck and Eyesenck, 1985 emphasise the use of?

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Therefore, what are the paragraphs?

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