5. Individual differences

Question 1

what is the five-factor model of personality?

Answer 1

OCEAN

• Openness - appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity and variety of experience
• Conscientiousness - tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully and aim for achievement, planned
• Extraversion - energy, positive emotions and tendency to seek stimulation and the company of others
• Agreeableness - tendency to be compassionate and cooperate rather than suspicious and antagonistic
• Neuroticism - tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily e.g. anger, anxiety, depression or vulnerability – sometimes called emotional instability

Question 2

which of the ‘big 5’ personality traits has been most strongly associated with positive health outcomes?

Answer 2

conscientiousness: adds 7.5 years to lifespan - less likely to engage in harmful behaviours - more likely to engage in healthy behaviours - more frequent contact and careful compliance

Conscientiousness

• Longevity: adds 7.5 years to lifespan
• Less likely to engage in harmful behaviours, more likely to engage in healthy behaviours
• Medical engagement and adherence: more frequent contact and careful compliance

Neuroticism

• Increased reporting of somatic symptoms e.g. pain
• Higher rates of mental health disorders
• Higher mortality rates e.g. in cardiovascular disease
• Health behaviour:

–Higher rates of healthcare usage

–Less adherence to healthy behaviours

–Higher rate of health harming behaviours

Question 3

what is the IQ test?

Answer 3

• intelligence quotient score - a score of 100 is average - test-taker’s performance is measured relative to the average performance of other people of the same age - IQ = mental age/chronological age x 100

Question 4

what are the problems with intelligence tests?

Answer 4

• they are quite narrow - the ability to survive in harsh conditions may be more adaptive than useful - how do we decide what ‘intelligence’ is?

•Limitations: averages all domains of intelligence – does not consider each separately

Question 5

what are Garder’s multiple intelligences?

Answer 5

• linguistic intelligence - logical-mathematic intelligence - spatial intelligence - musical intelligence - bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence - intrapersonal intelligence - interpersonal intelligence

Question 6

what is crystallised intelligence?

Answer 6

•Crystallised Intelligence

–Definition: the ability to apply previously acquired knowledge to current problems

–Changes with age: commonly improves

Examples of Crystallised Intelligence: facts and figures (education). Can also be from experience.

Crystallised: acquired knowledge and skills = factual knowledge

Question 7

what is fluid intelligence?

Answer 7

•Fluid Intelligence

–Definition: the ability to deal with novel problem-solving situations for which personal experience does not provide a solution

–Changes with age: pattern of decline

Examples of Fluid Intelligence: solving problems, identifying patterns, thinking outside the box and avoiding mental fixedness.

Fluid: ability to see relationships, as in analogies and letter and number series = primary reasoning ability

Question 8

how do genetic factors influence IQ?

Answer 8

• they can influence the effects produced by the environment - accounts for 1/2 to 2/3 of the variation in IQ - no single ‘intelligence gene’ is identified

Question 9

how do environmental factors influence IQ?

Answer 9

• they can influence how genes express themselves - accounts for 1/3 to 1/2 of the variation in IQ - both shared and unshared environmental factors are involved - educational experiences are very important

Question 10

does gender play a role in intelligence?

Answer 10

• gender differences in performance can be seen on certain types of intellectual tasks, not general intelligence - men outperform women on spatial tasks, tests of target-directed skills and mathematical reasoning - women outperform men on tests of perceptual speed, verbal fluency, mathematical calculation and precise manual tasks

Question 11

what do people with autism have difficulty with?

Answer 11

• social and emotional difficulties - language and communication difficulties - difficulty with flexibility

Question 12

how does Baron-Cohen (2002) explain the social and communication difficulties in autism and asperger’s syndrome?

Answer 12

• delays/deficits in empathising whilst explaining narrow interests with reference to skills in systemising
• Empathising – able to infer thoughts or feelings of others and have an appropriate reaction
• Systematising – (more system orientated) the drive to analyse or construct any kind of system i.e. identifying the rules that govern a system, in order to predict how that system will behave
• Generally speaking, females are more emotional and less systematisingwhereas males are less emotional and more systematising
• Autism/Asperger’s has sometimes been considered as an extremely male brain

Question 13

what is empathising?

Answer 13

being able to infer the thoughts and feelings of others and having an appropriate emotional response

Empathising – the ability to identify and appropriately respond to the emotions and thoughts of others. Empathizers tend to be adept at reading non-verbal communication and judging character.

Question 14

what is systemising?

Answer 14

the drive to analyse or construct any kind of system

Systemising – the ability to analyse how systems work and behave, with a final goal of predicting and controlling system behaviour or building a new system.

Question 15

who scores highest on the empathising quotient?

Answer 15

females, then males, then people with autism

Question 16

whata re the 5 brain types accroding to simon baron cohen?

Answer 16

E-type – Empathising is stronger than systemising (‘female brain’)

S-type – Systemising is stronger than empathising (‘male brain’)

B-type – a balanced brain (equal in both traits)

Extreme E-type – Empathising is very strong, but systemising is weak

Extreme S-type – Systemising is very strong, but empathising is weak (‘autistic brain’)

Question 17

who scores highest on the systemising quotient?

Answer 17

people with autism, then males, then females

Question 18

what do foetal levels of testosterone show?

Answer 18

higher levels of foetal testosterone are associated with higher scores on the autism quotient

Question 19

what does neurosexism suggest?

Answer 19

children and adults are treated differently on the basis of gender which causes them to behave differently and so creates so-called gender differences e.g. boys may be encourage to play with mechanical toys that help develop systemising abilities e.g. girls may be encouraged to play with dolls that help develop empathising abilities

Question 20

what is spearman two factor theory?

Answer 20

Spearman Two-Factor Theory

Charles Spearman (1927) analysed the relations among experimental intelligence tests using ‘factor analysis’. He argued that, as a rule, people who do well on some intelligence tests also do well on a variety of intellectual tasks [vocabulary and mathematical and spatial abilities]. And if people did poorly on an intelligence test, then they also tended to do poorly on other intellectual tests.

Thus, he proposed, a ‘two-factor’ theory of intelligence:

General Ability (g): which was required for performance of mental tests of all kinds; he called this a kind of ‘mental energy’ that underlies the specific factors

Special Abilities (s): which were required for performance on just one kind of mental test.

e.g. Scores on a verbal comprehension test are largely determined by one’s level of general intelligence but they are also affected by one’s specific ability to perform verbal comprehension tasks.

But the main thrust of Spearman’s analysis was this idea of a general intellectual capacity. This formed a major theoretical platform for many subsequent approaches to intelligence