Psychology: Behaviourist & Trait Theories (PDF)

**[Behaviourist Theory]**          The **behaviourist theory** says personality is the result of learned behavior patterns based on a person's environment -- it's **deterministic**, in that people begin as blank states and the environment completely determines their behavior/personalities.  \-   ...

**[Behaviourist Theory]**          The **behaviourist theory** says personality is the result of learned behavior patterns based on a person's environment -- it's **deterministic**, in that people begin as blank states and the environment completely determines their behavior/personalities.  \-      Focuses on **observable** and measurable **behaviour**, rather than mental/emotional behaviours.  ·       The psychoanalytic theory would be the most opposite of this theory (focuses on mental behaviour).          1. **Skinner** -- strict **behaviourist**, associated with concept of **operant conditioning**. Uses rewards/punishment to increase/decrease a behaviour.           2. **Pavlov** -- associated with **classical conditioning**, ex. the Pavlov dog experiment. Places a neutral stimulus with an unconditional stimulus to trigger an involuntary response. Ex. ringing a bell in presence of food causes dog to start salivating.  ·       People have consistent behaviour patterns because we have specific response tendencies, but these can change, and that's why our personality develops over our entire lifespan.   \-      What connects the observable to mental approach? The **[cognitive theory]**, a bridge between classic behaviourism and other theories like psychoanalytic. Because cognitive theory treats thinking as a behaviour, and has a lot in common with behaviour theory.           **[Trait Theory]**          A **personality** trait is a stable predisposition towards a certain behavior. Straightforward way to describe personality -- puts it in **patterns of behavior**.  \-      **Surface traits** are [evident from a person's behavior], while **source traits** are factors [underlying human personality] (fewer and more abstract).  \-      What is a ***trait***? A relatively **stable characteristic** of a person that causes individuals to **consistently** behave in certain ways. Combination of traits forms the personality.           1) Gordon **Allport** -- all of us have different traits. Came up with list of 4500 different descriptive words for traits. From those he was able to come up with 3 basic categories of traits: **cardinal**, **central,** and **secondary** traits.  \-      **Cardinal** traits are characteristics that direct most of person's activities -- the dominant traits. Influence all of our behaviours, including secondary and central traits. \-      **Central** traits: ex. honesty, sociability, shyness. Less dominant than cardinal. \-      **Secondary** trait is love for modern art, reluctance to eat meat -- more preferences/attitudes.          2) Raymond **Cattell** -- Proposed we all had 16 essential personality traits that represent basic dimensions of personality. Turned this into the 16 personality factor questionnaire, or **16 PF**.           3) Hans **Eysenck** -- We have 3 major dimensions of personality, which encompass all traits we all possess, but the degrees to which we individually express them are different. These 3 are **extroversion**, **neuroticism** (emotional stability), and **psychoticism** (degree to which reality is distorted). However, Eysenck said not all necessarily have psychoticism          4) **5 Factor Model (Big 5)** -- found in all people of all populations.  \-      **Openness** (independent vs. conforming, imagining vs. practical),  \-      **Conscientiousness** (careful vs. careless, disciplined vs. impulse, organized or not),  \-      **Extroversion**,  \-      **Agreeableness** (kind vs. cold, appreciative vs. unfriendly),  \-      **Neuroticism**.  ·       Use acronym OCEAN           Cattell, Eysenck, and Big 5 all use **factor analysis** -- a statistical method that categorizes and determines major categories of traits. [Allport's theory did not], he used different methods.          **[Observational Learning]**: Bobo Doll Experiment and Social Cognitive Theory \-      Observational learning (aka social learning/vicarious learning) is learned through watching and imitating others -- such as **modeling** actions of another.  ·       **Mirror neurons** found that support this.  \-      **Social Cognitive Theory** is theory of behaviour change that emphasizes [***interactions*** between people and their environment]. Unlike **behaviourism** (where [environment controls us entirely]), cognition is also important.  ·       Social factors, observational learning, and environmental factors (ex. opinions/attitudes of friends and family) can influence your beliefs.  \-      **Albert Bandora** studied it -- and did the **Bobo Doll Experiment**. Cited when people debate if they should ban violent video games. It's a blow-up doll you can punch.  ·       Had group of children doing arts and crafts, but in middle of it suddenly man appeared and started hitting this inflatable doll. Also screaming "kick it, hit it, etc". Did for 10 minutes straight. Some children observed it, others weren't fazed. ·       Then man left, and researchers gave kids an impossible puzzle to solve to frustrate them. Researched how the kids reacted to frustration. In the room was a bobo doll. Many children would come up to the doll and hit it, and ones hitting it were yelling kick it, hit it. Revealed that kids can observe and learn from it.  ·       Why people use this to argue to ban violent games and movies. ·       But learning behavior vs. performing it is different. Many of the kids were aggressive to the doll, others weren't. So how come some kids different? ·       Did second experiment, set up TV that showed a bobo doll and someone being aggressive to it. But difference here was video showed afterwards that person was punished. Some of the kids again walked up to bobo doll and hit it. What about kids that didn't?  ¨     Researchers bribed kids, offered them stickers/juice to imitate behavior. Kids were able to imitate. Concept called **learning-performance distinction** -- [learning a behaviour and performing it are 2 different things. ] ¨     Not performing it doesn't mean you didn't learn it! \-      Am I motivated to learn something?   ·       **A**ttention, **M**emory, **I**mitation, **M**otivation ·       Ex. Want to teach you to draw a star. In order to learn it, need a long enough attention span, the memory to remember it, and be able to imitate it. Question is, are you motivated enough to do it? If so, you do it.           **Psychological Disorders**          Mental Disorders \-      Major public health problem, affects the higher functions of the brain including cognition, mood, and **behaviour**. \-      **Biomedical** vs. **biopsychosocial models**.  ·       Bio = biological, physical abnormalities. ·       Psychosocial = psychological and cultural/social factors. \-      Difficult to categorize mental disorders \-      2 classification systems: ICD-10 and DSM-5 ·       **ICD-10** is International Classification of Diseases, 10^th^ revision. System from the WHO. ·       **DSM-5** is Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5^th^ edition, from the American Psychiatric Association (APA). \-      According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), each year in the USA about 25% will meet criteria for 1 mental disorder, and 6% will have a serious mental illness that cause severe disability/distress.  **         Categories of Mental Disorders** \-      Types of mental disorders -- enormous \#, many with overlapping features. \-      Not due to use of medication, drugs, other medical conditions, etc. Also cultural differences.  \-      Usually causes **distress/disability**. Key point because person who's unusual/eccentric does not have psychological disorder.  \-      We'll go through DSM-5          20 top-level categories          1. **Neurodevelopmental Disorders** -- involve distress/disability due to abnormality in development of nervous system. Includes intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorders, and ADHD.            2. **Neurocognitive Disorders** -- Loss of cognitive/other functions of the brain after nervous system has developed. Big categories within this, one is delirium (reversible episode of cognitive/higher brain problems, many causes -- drugs/blood/infections). Dementia and its milder versions are usually irreversible and progressive.           3. **Sleep-wake Disorders** result in distress/disability from sleep-related issues. Include insomnia and breathing-related sleep disorders.           4**[. Anxiety Disorders]** -- abnormal worry/fear. Some are specific to certain stimuli like phobias, while others are not specific to certain stimuli, including generalized anxiety disorder. Panic disorder involves panic attacks.           5. **Depressive Disorders** -- abnormally negative mood. Mood refers to long-term emotional state. Mood is also subjective experience person has of their experience. High risk of suicide.           6. **[Bipolar and Related Disorders]** -- abnormal mood, but these may have periods of abnormally positive mood called mania. Leads to social/legal problems.          7. **[Schizophrenia Spectrum and other Psychotic Disorders]** - involves distress/disability from psychosis. Psychosis involves delusions (not explainable by experiences/culture), hallucinations.           8. **Trauma/Stressor-Related Disorders** - occurs after stressful/traumatic events. Post-traumatic stress disorder, common after wars.           9. **Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders** -- distress/disability form use of substances that affect mental function. Include alcohol, caffeine, cannabis, hallucinogens, opioids, etc.           10. **[Personality Disorders]** -- related to personality. Involves long-term mental and behavioural features characteristic of a person, huge spectrum of personality types considered acceptable. Personality disorders involve ones outside those accepted of societal norms**. ** \-      **Cluster A** odd/eccentric,  \-      **Cluster B** intense emotional/relationship problems,  \-      **Cluster C** is anxious/avoidant/obsessive          11. **Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders** -- inability to control inappropriate behaviours          12. **Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders** -- compulsions are unwelcome thoughts that occur repeatedly. Ex. obsession with hands being dirty, compulsion to wash them many times a day.           13. **Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders** - Distress/disability from symptoms similar to those that may occur to illness unrelated to mental disorder, but of psychological origin. Example is someone that has abdominal pain, caused by stress.          14. **Feeding and Eating Disorders** -- behavioural abnormalities related to food, ex. anorexia, bulimia.          15. **Elimination Disorders** -- urination/defecation at inappropriate times.           16. **Dissociative Disorders** -- abnormalities of identity/memory.  Multiple personalities, or lost memories for part of their lives.           17. **Sexual Dysfunctions** -- abnormalities in performance of sexual activity.           18. **Gender Dysphoria --** caused by person identifying as a different gender          19. **Paraphilic Disorders --** having sexual arousal to unusual stimuli          20. **Other Disorders** -- any person that appears to have a mental disorder causing distress/disability but doesn't fit into other categories. Rare.           **[Biological Basis of Schizophrenia]** \-      Prototype of psychotic category of disorders. Rare disorder with both biological and environmental etiology.  \-      **Abnormal perceptions of reality -- hallucinations, delusions**. \-      3 categories of symptoms:  ·       **cognitive** (attention, organization, planning abilities),  ·       **negative** (blunted emotions),  ·       **positive** (hallucinations, delusions)          Our understanding of the cause is very limited. ·       **[Cerebral cortex] seems to have decreased size**, in frontal and temporal lobes.  ·       Some features of schizophrenia also involve **abnormalities in dopamine (increase)**; medications affect dopamine transmission often improve symptoms ·       The **mesocorticolimbic** pathway. Meso = VTA in the midbrain, cortico = cortical cortex, they project to frontal and temporal lobe, and limbic -- inside of brain involved in ***emotions/motivations***/etc. Abnormal activity here. One way of thinking about schizophrenia is abnormal activity is: ¨     ***Mesocorticolimbic pathway*** leads to dysfunction in parts of frontal cortex that cause [cognitive symptoms] ¨     ***limbic structure*** causes [negative symptoms] ¨     ***temporal cortex*** causes [positive symptoms].          Causes: genes, physical stress during pregnancy, and psychosocial factors (negative family interaction styles affect development of brain).           Biological Basis of **[Depression]** \-      Feelings of hopelessness, loss of interest in activities. Our understanding of cause is limited. No consistent abnormalities in brain tissues, but scans have suggested functional abnormalities. ·       Areas with abnormal activity involve the **frontal lobe** and **limbic structures**. [Decreased activity in frontal lobe] and [increased activity in limbic lobe.] ·       Ex. Stress hormones like cortisol are controlled by the hypothalamus, which communicates with limbic and frontal lobe. Hormones affect the brain themselves too. \-      Abnormal pathways in depression.  ·       One starts in the **raphe nuclei** of the brainstem responsible for **serotonin** release.  ·       Also the **locus coeruleus**, which sends long axons to cerebrum and releases **norepinephrine.** ·       Also the **VTA** sends long axons to different areas of cerebrum, supplies **dopamine**. \-      Medications that affect serotonin, NE, and dopamine often improve symptoms. Ex. monoamine oxidase inhibitors (**increase amount of monoamines in synapse**) ·       Monoamines include adrenaline, norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, and melatonin (involved in onset of darkness).  \-      Another newer idea is may be abnormalities of **neural plasticity** - brain changes in response to behaviour. But unclear if cause or effect.  \-      May include genetics, but psychosocial factors can also be linked to childhood stress, etc. So likely combination of biological and psychosocial factors.           Biological Basis of **[Alzheimer's Disease]** \-      Most common disorder in ***dementia category***, or neurocognitive disorders. [Loss of cognitive functions]. Memory also decreases. But [normal motor functions are fine until later stages] where they lose basic **activities of daily living (ADL)** -- toileting, eating, bathing, etc. Cause of disease is limited. \-      Brain tissue has decreased in size significantly -- shrivelled up, **atrophy**. ·       It's the **cerebrum** that often dramatically decreases in size. Severity of atrophy correlates with severity of dementia.  ·       ***Starts in temporal lobes***, important for memory.  ·       Later, atrophy spreads to parietal and frontal lobes. Many other cognitive functions.          Under microscope, [3 main abnormalities]:  ·       **loss of neurons**,  ·       **plaques** (amyloid, because plaques are made of beta-amyloid. Occur in spaces between cells, outside of neurons in abnormal clumps),  ·       and **tangles** (neurofibrillary tangles, clumps of a protein **tau**. Located inside neurons. Develop proteins normally in the brain, but changed so it's abnormal and causes them to clump together).  ¨     Not clear if they're what's killing neurons, or if they're a by-product.  \-      Group of neurons at base of cerebrum, called the **nucleus basalis** is often lost early in course of Alzheimer's. Important for cognitive functions -- send long axons to cerebral cortex and through cerebrum, and release **acetylcholine**. Contribute to cognitive functions of disease.  \-      Synapses appear to not function clearly long before disease.  ·       Also **genetic mutations**, many involved in processing of amyloid protein. ·       Also **ApoE4** involved in metabolism of fats is strongly related to AD. ·       Also, **high blood pressure** increases risk of disorder too. \-      Things that decrease it -- higher education, challenging jobs with difficult thinking.           Biological Basis of **[Parkinson's Disease]** \-      Progressive neurological disorder involving **motor abnormalities** and neural too. A tremor, increased muscle tone, abnormal walking, and poor balance. Muscles are stiffer and slow with tremor. Later in disease when motor abnormalities are severe, patients may not be able to care for themselves.  \-      Brains of patients have abnormalities visible to naked eye -- in brainstem, the **substantia nigra** is less dark or not dark at all. **Loss of ONLY dopaminergic neurons** observed, suggesting 1 type involved. Motor abnormalities related to this.  ·       Dopaminergic neurons in other areas are lost as well. ·       Substantia nigra is part of the **basal ganglia**, major role in motor functions and some mental functions. Receives info from many places in NS, and basal ganglia processes that info and sends it back to areas of cerebral cortex to influence areas such as motor cortex. ·       SN also projects to area called **striatum**, and loss of DA neurons causes most of neural abnormalities. Can see diseased neurons. Many contain **lewy bodies** in DA neurons, which contain a protein **alpha synuclein**, a normal protein in brain cells but in PD it appears clumped together.  \-      Risk factors: genetic mutations in families with inherited form of disease, agricultural chemicals.  \-      Leading candidate for treatment with stem cells since only 1 type of cell affected