Psychology of Individual Differences Lecture 01 PDF

Psychology of individual differences Lecture 01  Main topics Introduction to individual differences Temperament and personality (Regulative Theory of Temperament, Gigantic Three vs Big Five) Intelligence and abilities Emotional intelligence Cognitive styles...

Psychology of individual differences Lecture 01  Main topics Introduction to individual differences Temperament and personality (Regulative Theory of Temperament, Gigantic Three vs Big Five) Intelligence and abilities Emotional intelligence Cognitive styles Creativity Mood and motivation Biopsychological theory of personality Wellbeing  Introduction to ‘differentiation’ Branch of psychological knowledge about observable differences between individuals Individuals differ among themselves according to interests, values, preferences, physical and psychological characteristics  Types of differences Interindividual differences - the variations between individuals in one or more traits, behaviors, or characteristics Intraindividual differences - differences that are observed within the same person when they are assessed at different times or in different situations  Differential psychology Psychology of individual differences + Psychology of group differences  Important terms Trait – enduring patterns of behavior and thought that are relatively consistent over time and across various situations Factor – the more-or-less enduring psychological characteristic that distinguishes one person from another and thus helps to define each person's individuality Dimension – a term used to describe a continuum from minimum to maximum intensity of a given feature Disposition – a construct used to describe the stability of human behavior over time Type - the dominant quality or qualities distinguishing a person or a group  Trait An internal psychological disposition that remains largely unchanged throughout the lifespan and determines differences between individuals Descriptive traits - the sum of variables that describe the observable consistency of behavior that has occurred in the past Latent traits - features that cannot be directly observed  Trait vs state Trait State Long-term conditions Short-term conditions Revealed in response to a Manifests itself stimulus or in specific continuously situations Specific Abstract Depends on the situation Depends on the person Has the nature of a disposition Has the nature of an event Manifests itself in states Codetermined by the trait Not observed Observed Measured indirectly Measured directly  Behavioral genetics Study of the biological basis of individual differences Phenotype – expression of an individual’s genes in behavioral traits that can be measured Heritability estimate – a statistical indicator of the influence of genetic factors on individual differences in behavioral traits, showing what proportion of the total variance is attributable to genetic variation Family studies (comparing pairs of people with different degrees of relatedness) MZ and DZ twins reared together and MZ twins reared apart  Phenotypic variance VP = VG + VE VP - phenotypic variance VG - genetic variance VE - environmental variance  Heritability estimate the portion of the phenotypic (total) variance that is attributable to genetic variance  The subject of individual differences psychology A historically embedded science – Plato (individual differences and types of citizens) – Aristotle (six distinct classes of people) – Cicero (intelligence as a property of mind that differentiates people) – Hippocrates (four basic humors of blood, bile, black bile, phlegm) – Galen (temperament typology)  The subject of individual differences psychology Empirical studies – Darwin (inheritance) – Galton (genius inheritance) – Binet (research on intelligence) – Stern (intelligence research, IQ)  The subject of individual differences psychology Research on temperament – Wundt (sensory sensitivity) – Heymans and Wiersma (three-factor typology of temperament) – Burt (heritability of intelligence, descriptive method of personality measurement) – Gesel, & Shirley (child's temperament) – Pavlov (four types of nervous system) – Kretschmer (constitutional approach to temperament research) – Sheldon (temperament as a result of three basic dimensions of body structure) – Allport (personality as a unique structure of features)  Nature vs Nurture B = f(GxE) B – behavior G – genetical influences E – environmental influences  Individual differences in action Genie Wiley David Reimer