Trait Theory The Big 3 or 5 Trait

Trait Theory: The Big 3 or 5

Trait n A relatively context-independent pattern of behavior, emotion and interpretation

The trait: definition (Gordon Allport) n n Traits have more than nominal existence Traits are more generalized than particular habits Traits are dynamic, and determine behavior Traits may be identified empirically

Trait definition, continued. n n Traits are relatively independent of other traits Traits are not synonymous with moral or social judgements Traits may either be viewed idiographically (in the light of the personality that contains them) or nomothetically (on the basis of their distribution in the population) Acts, and even habits, that are inconsistent with a trait are not proof of the nonexistence of the trait

Measurement techniques n Self-report questionnaires and rating scales

Stages in Test Construction: The construct approach

1. Conceptual definition

Conscientiousness is that disposition governing “persevering, unselfish behavior and impelling the individual to duty as conceived by his [or her] culture. ” A conscientious person is “honest; know what is right and generally does it, even if no one is watching him [or her]; does not tell lies or attempt to deceive others; respects other’s property. An unconscientious person is “somewhat unscrupulous; not too careful about standards of right and wrong where personal desires are concerned; tells lies and is given to little deceits; does not respect others’ property. ” Cattell, R. (1965). The scientific analysis of personality. Baltimore: Penguin. p. 63.

2. Construction of items n n n Do you usually keep emotions under control? Are you a person who is scrupulously correct in manners and social obligations and likes others to be the same? Are you cautious and considerate that you do not hurt people’s feelings by unconsidered conversational remarks? – from Cattell, R. (1965). The scientific analysis of personality. Baltimore: Penguin.

2. 1. General recommendations for item construction n n Cover a broader domain than theoretically optimal Write questions in yes positive and no positive format

3. 0. Administer test to large subject population

4. 0. Complete item analysis n n Correlation of scores on each item with total scores Do the people who score highly on the whole scale also tend to score in the positive direction on a particular theoretically relevant item? (and vice versa)

5. 0. Factor analysis n n Every item is correlated with every other item to produce clusters “clumps” of correlated measures

6. 0. Assess behavior in accordance with scale

7. 0. Assessment of convergent and discriminant validity n n What does the scale measure, that other things (scales, perhaps) measure? What does the scale measure uniquely?

Criteria of a good measure n n Construct validity (Cronbach and Meehl, 1955) (interrelationship of measure and phenomena in question) Reliability – Test/retest – Split half n n Utility, economy, communicability Freedom from social desirability bias

A Lexical/Statistical Approach

Allport and Odbert (1936) n n 18, 000 trait terms in English, mostly adjectives Reduced to 4500 descriptors of stable traits

Cattell (1942) n n Further restriction to 171 by judgement Restriction to 16 by factor analysis

Cattell’s 16 traits (first three most important) n n n Reserved/Outgoing Less/More Intelligent Emotional/Stable Humble/Assertive Sober/Happy-go-lucky Expedient/Conscientious Shy/Venturesome Tough/Tender-minded Trusting/Suspicious Practical/Imaginative Forthright/Shrewd Placid/Apprehensive Conserv/Experiment Group/Self-sufficient Casual/Controlled Relaxed/Tense

A Biological/Statistical Approach

Eysenck’s Type Approach: Extraversion, Neuroticism and Psychoticism n Cattell has too many traits

Extraversion n Sociability, Impulsivity, Activity, Liveliness, Excitability

Characteristics of Extraverts: n n n n More talkative More eye contact on first meeting Drawn to sales, personnel work, nursing, teaching More impulsive; more gambling More sexually active Higher levels of positive affect Less affected by punishment

Characteristics of Introverts n n More likely artists, research scientists, engineers Harder to sedate More aroused at baseline More sensitive to affectively relevant stimuli

Neuroticism (anxiety)

Sample questions: n n n Do you sometimes feel happy, sometimes depressed, without any apparent reason? Does your mind often wander while you are trying to concentrate? Are you inclined to be moody? Are you frequently “lost in thought” even when you are supposed to be taking part in a conversation? Are you sometimes bubbling over with energcy and sometimes very sluggish?

Characteristics of Neuroticism n n n Emotional instability Higher levels of negative affect Increased complaints of poor health Higher levels of divorce More awkward social behavior

Psychoticism n Solitary, troublesome, cruel, insensitive, underaroused, aggressive, likes odd things, foolhardy, upsetting, opposes social custom, impersonal during sex

Normal distribution (at least in case of E and N)

Heritability n n n Rose et al. (1988) studied 14000 twin pairs in Finland: Monozygotic r for extraversion: . 48; Dizygotic: . 15 Monozygotic r for neuroticism: . 40; Dizygotic: . 12

Biological basis

Extraverts “tend to have a level of arousal which is too low much of the time, unless their environment can provide excitement and stimulation; hence they tend to be stimulus hungry and sensation seeking. ” (Brain stem/cortex arousal system) (Eysenck, H. J. (1975). The Inequality of Man. San Diego.

Individuals high in neuroticism tend to have arousable autonomic nervous systems.

The Big Five: Lexical/Statistical, updated

More sophisticated factor analysis reveals five traits

I. Extraversion/Introversion n n n Sociable-Retiring Fun loving-Sober Affectionate-Reserved Friendly-Aloof Spontaneous-Inhibited Talkative-Quiet

II. Neuroticism n n n Worrying-Calm Nervous-At ease Highstrung-Relaxed Insecure-Secure Selfpitying-Selfsatisfied Vulnerable-Hardy

III. Openness to experience n n n Original-Conventional Imaginative-Down to earth Creative-Uncreative Broad interests-Narrow interests Complex-Simple Curious-Incurious

Sample Questions OE n n n I enjoy concentrating on a fantasy or daydream and exploring all its possibilities, letting it grow and develop. I am sometimes completely absorbed in music I am listening too. Without strong emotions, life would be uninteresting. I enjoy trying new and foreign foods. I find philosophical arguments boring (R). The different ideas of right and wrong that people in other societies have may be valid for them.

Characteristics of those Open to Experience n n Imaginative, creative, complex, curious, daring Independent, analytical, untraditional, liberal, broadly interested

Characteristics of those Closed to Experience n n Conventional, down-to-earth, uncreative, simple, incurious, nonadventurous Conforming, nonanalytical, traditional, conservative

IV. Agreeableness/Antagonism n n n Good natured-Irritable Soft hearted-Ruthless Courteous-Rude Forgiving-Vengeful Sympathetic-Callous Agreeable-Disagreeable

V. Conscientiousness/Undirectedness n n n Conscientious-Negligent Careful-Careless Reliable-Undependable Well organized-Disorganized Self disciplined-Weak-willed Persevering-Quitting

Childhood

The Big Five is also applicable in childhood n Agreeableness – negative with conduct disorder – positive with good classroom behavior n Conscientiousness – negative with attention problems n Shiner, R. L. (1998). How Shall We Speak of Children's Personalities in Middle Childhood? A Preliminary Taxonomy. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 308 -332

Childhood Temperament: EASI (Buss and Plomin, 1975) n Buss, A. H. & Plomin, R. (1975). A temperament theory of personality development. New York: Wiley.

Emotionality (Neuroticism? ) n n n Upset easily Cry easily Frightened easily Easy-going or happy (RI) Quick Temper n Manifests as irritability in infants – splits into fear and anger later

Activity n n n Always on the go Off and running on awakening Cannot sit still Prefers quiet games (R) Fidgets at meals

Sociability n n n Likes to be with others Makes friends easily Tends to be shy (reverse) Tends towards independenc (reverse) Plays by himself (reverse)

Impulsivity (revised in 1995) n n n emotional and behavioral control, discipline and persistence mental reflection and planfulness. – Buss, A. H. (1995). Personality: Temperament, social behavior, and the self. Boston: Allyn & Bacon

Rothbart’s Psychobiological Model of Temperament n Three factors – – – Positive Emotionality Negative Emotionality Constraint » Rothbart, M. K. , Ahadi, S. A. , Hershey, K. L. & Fisher, P. (1996). Temperament in children 4 -7 years as assessed in the Children's Behavior Questionnaire. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Positive Emotionality n n n approach high-intensity pleasure smiling activity level impulsivity Gray’s Behavioral Activation System

Negative Emotionality n n n discomfort fear anger sadness shyness soothability (RI) n Gray’s Behavioral Inhibition System

Constraint n n inhibitory control attentional focus low-intensity pleasure perceptual sensitivity n Serotonergic function (? ) – Spoont

Developmental course (Rothbart and Ahadi, 1994) n Newborn infant: general distress – frustration emerges at 2 months – fear several months later n 2 to 3 months, positive affect: 4 to 6 months: stable differences in surgency/extraversion – smiling, laughing (to novelty and to others) and approach behavior/activity level

n 7 to 8 months, fear: 10 months, both fear and caution – “shows the beginnings of the inhibition of approach and emotional expressiveness that will constitute one of two powerful temperamental control mechanisms. Development of fear control is followed by effortful inhibitory control emerging late in the first year and developing across the preschool years and beyond. ” n Effortful control emerges later in development (after two years? ) – sosicalized control (integration of primary affect), correlated with guilt/shame and empathy

Approach behavior vs inhibition n n Inhibited vs uninhibited children: Kagan, J. , Reznick, J. S. , Snidman, N. , Gibbons, J. , and Johnson, M. O. (1988). Childhood derivatives of inhibition and lack of inhibition to the unfamiliar. Child Development, 59, 1580 -1589.

COHORT DERIVATION n n 305 caucasian children (21 months old) whose mothers described their children as shy or sociable 117 children assessed in laboratory for behavioral response to unfamiliar people, rooms and objects

Major signs of inhibition: n n n long latencies to interact with unfamiliar adults, retreat from unfamiliar objects, cessation of play and vocalization, and long periods of proximity to the mother Scores reflecting inhibited behaviors were combined to form a continuous index of inhibited behavior ranging from 1 to 56 Most inhibited children (N=28) and least inhibited children selected (N=30). Former scored mean 35 on continuous index, latter 18.

Assessment of 43 children at 4 years of age revealed n n n preservation of behavioral differences between groups as at 21 months, positive relationship between inhibited behavior and high stable heart rate (during solution of difficult cognitive task) better preservation of behavioral inhibition among inhibited children with high and stable heart-rate than among those with low and variable heart rate

Assessment of 46 children at 5 1/2 years: n n n laboratory testing situation, play with single unfamiliar peer, child’s school setting formerly inhibited children were less talkative and less interactive across all three settings had higher heart rates, lower heart rate variability, more pupillary dilation (during cognitive tasks), higher salivary cortisol levels, more indication of vocal tension, more urinary norepinephrine activity – aggregate index correlated with index of inhibited behavior at all ages

Assessment of 41 children at 7 1/2 years: 22 inhibited; 19 uninhibited n n n exposure to groups of 8 -10 unfamiliar children of same age and sex, evaluation for frequency of vocalization and social interaction exposure to unfamiliar female examiner, evaluation for vocalization and interaction evaluation of psychophysiological response: heartrate and salivary cortisol levels evaluation of memory performance following cognitive stress assessment of relationship between behavioral inhibition and reflection/impulsivity

Group differences n Testing situation – latency to sixth spontaneous comment: inhibited, 27. 1 minutes, uninhibited, 11. 5 – number of spontaneous comments: inhibited, 35. 8; uninhibited, 70. 3 n Peer play – proportion of time distant from peers: inhibited, 38. 0; uninhiibted, 28. 0 – total talking time: inhibited, 19. 2 minutes, uninhibited, 45. 4 minutes

n Heart rate and HR variability – significant differences between the two groups vanished; however, inhibited children reached their highest heart rate earlier in the battery – reclassification of inhibition, based on current behavior, re-established significant differences in mean heart-rate (inhibited higher) n Cortisol – no differences

n Prediction of behavior and physiology at age 7 1/2 from earlier indices – aggregate index of behavioral inhibition at 7 1/2 correlated with aggregate indcx at. 67 (21 months); . 54 (4 years); . 57 (5 1/2 years); all p’s < 0. 001 – aggregate index correlated with mother ratings at all three years (all r >. 63; all p’s < 0. 001 – aggregate index correlated with aggregate physiological index at age 5 1/2 (r=. 64, p < 0. 001)

What does inhibited vs noninhibited mean? n n n unsociable vs sociable? fearful vs nonfearful? noncurious vs curious?

Patterns of brain electrical activity associated with inhibition/noninhibition n Fox, N. , and Davidson, R. J. (1987). Electroencephalogram asymmetry in response to the approach of a stranger and maternal separation in 10 -month old infants. Developmental Psychology, 233 -240.

n “Recent evidence from the adult neuropsychological literature indicates that the cerebral hemispheres are differentially lateralized for the expression of certain positive and negative emotions. . .

n “Evidence both from normal and from brain damaged subjects indicates that it is specifically the frontal region that shows this differential lateralization, with leftsided activation observed during certain positive emotions and right-sided activation associated with certain negative emotions. ” – Fox, N. , and Davidson, R. J. (1988). Patterns of brain electrical activity during facial signs of emotion in 10 momnth old infants. Developmental Psychology, 24, 230236.

n “A number of workers have speculated that the essential continuum along which the hemispheres are lateralized for emotion is approach/withdrawal. ” – Fox, N. A. , and Davidson, R. J. (1986). Taste-elicited changes in facial signs of emotion and the asymmetry of brain electrical activity in human newborns. Neuropsychologia, 24, 417 -422.

n “. . . individual differences in patterns of EEG symmetry have been related to depressive affective style in adults. . . with depressed subjects showing greater relative right-frontal activation during rest when compared with non-depressed subjects. ” – Fox and Davidson, 234.

n “During the fourth quarter of the first year of life, infants display an increased frequency of negative affect in response to certain events. The two most widely investigated stimulus events that elicit this type of emotional response are the approach of an unfamiliar person and the abrupt departure of the mother from the infant’s sight.

n “Although the behavioral and autonomic responses to these events have been investigated previously, no data are available on the central nervous system manifestations of these emotional reactions. n The principal goal of this study was to examine changes in EEG activity and asymmetry associated with responses to these stimulus events.

n “A secondary purpose was to identify related changes in the pattern of brain electrical activity to individual differences in behavioral responses elicited by these situations. – Fox and Davidson, p. 233.

Subjects n 35 ten month old female infants; 19 with usable data

Methodology n Subjects were presented with – – n n stranger approach, with mother present mother approach maternal separation second stranger approach, with mother absent while EEG from left and right frontal/left-right parietal scalp regions was recorded other behavioral responses were videotaped

How do babies (last quarter of first year) respond to stranger approach? n n n wide individual differences common: wariness less common, negative affect, avoidance of the stranger, crying, cardiac acceleration

How do babies (last quarter of first year) respond to maternal separation? n n wide individual differences some protest and cry; many display signs of anger (almost always during crying) – response to punishment: aggression and hurt n more sadness indicates more insecurity of attachment?

Variable construction n n videotaped displays of facial emotion, coded using Izard’s Maximally Discriminative Facial Action Coding System; describes 27 facial-movement units that in specific combinations identify 10 affect expressions. behaviors coded for vocalization, gaze aversion, crying, motor movement, frowning, and avoidance

Results: Facial and behavioral n n high incidence of facial joy to stranger approach, in maternal presence, and mother approach mother absence provoked anger, and decreased incidence of joy – anger as response to punishment n stranger approach in absence of mother provoked sadness and anger – not fear

Results: EEG n n n mother enter produced more left frontal activation than right frontal mother reach produced more left frontal activation than mother entrance vocalization in the mother approach condition correlated positively with left-frontal activation

Results, EEG, continued n n 6/14 infants cried during maternal separation, 8 did not infants who cried in response to maternal separation showed a large increase in relative right -frontal activation during this condition, compared to the condition immediately before

Patterns of brain electrical activity during facial signs of emotion n Fox, N. , and Davidson, R. J. (1988). Patterns of brain electrical activity during facial signs of emotion in 10 -momnth old infants. Developmental Psychology, 24, 230 -236.

Subjects: 35 10 -month old infants

Methodology: EEG analysis and facial coding n n stranger approach, mother present mother approach mother separation stranger approach, mother absent

Results n n joy to mother approach included activation of zygomatic and orbicularis oculi “joy” to stranger did not involve orbicularis oculi former smile was associated with relative left frontal activation; latter with right frontal. Facial expressions of anger and sadness exhibited in the absence of crying were associated with left frontal activation; in presence of crying, with right frontal activation

Taste-elicited changes n Fox, N. A. , and Davidson, R. J. (1986). Taste-elicited changes in facial signs of emotion and the asymettry of brain electrical activity in human newborns. Neuropsychologia, 24, 417 -422.

Methodology and subjects n n application of water, sucrose, and citric acid solutions to 16 newborn infants measurement of facial emotion and EEG

Results: facial emotion n water elicits interest and some disgust sugar elicits more interest, less disgust citric acid elicits as much interest as sugar, and more disgust than water

Results: EEG n sucrose produced left-sided activation

Comments: n consideration of cues of reward, cues of punishment, reward and punishment

Left frontal cortex, exploration, and affect n n dexterity of hands mediation of language by hands localization of language activation of left frontal cortex and pleasure

Right frontal cortex n deactivation of right frontal cortex as satiating or otherwise calming

Left hemisphere: exploration, and the known

Right hemisphere: the unknown n the appearance of the unexpected the comprehension of affect the comprehension of melody and the emotional content of speech – affect emerges where adaptation is the weakest n the comprehension of imagery, metaphor, analogy and humour

n n “Goldberg and Costa conclude that. . . the right hemisphere has a greater capacity for dealing with informational complexity and for processing many modes of representation within a single task, whereas the left hemisphere is superior at tasks requiring detailed fixation on a single, often repetitive, mode of representation or execution. . . there appears to be “a gradient of relative hemispheric involvement in a wide range of cognitive processes, reflecting their degree of routinization. – Springer, S. P. , and Deutsch, G. (1989). Left Brain, Right Brain. New York: W. H. Freeman, p. 311.

Extreme levels of negative affect may predispose to avoidant adaptation (maladaptation) n By contrast, absence of anxiety may impair internalization of moral standards for behavior

n n n “Child temperament and parental socialization practices are again show to interact developmentally. Parents may find that less coercive discipline techniques, such as appeals to the child’s ability to experience distress in response to antisocial behavior, may be required to regulate moral behavior in the more fearful or inhibited child. However, such appeals will be less effective if they are not used by the parent, and may be less effective for less inhibited children. ”

Environmental fit, and intelligence n “Although a child may be behaviorally inhibited, parents may work to minimize separation, to regulate exposure to novel objects, people and situations, and to adapt situations to their child’s distress and objections to such exposure. ” – graduated exposure as cure – the capacity to regulate the environment through creative action (a good definition of intelligence) n Also: Martin (1989) reported (a) negative longitudinal relation betwen temperamental activity and distractibility and subsequent reading and math achievement and (b) positive relations between temperamental persistence and subsequent achievement. ” – the problems with extraversion in school

Constraint

“Kochanska (1991) found that children’s self-regulation, as indicated by their compliance with maternal demands at age two, predicted their performance on measures of conscience at age 8 to 10. ”

Self-imposed delay of gratification n 4 year old child seated at table with bell; offered – one marshmallow or two n “I am leaving. If you wait, you can have two. If you ring bell, I will come back, but you only get one. ” – delay up to 15 -20 min n Shoda, Y. , Mischel, W. , Peake, P. K. (1990). Predicting Adolescent Cognitive and Self-Regulatory Competencies From Preschool Delay of Gratification Identifying Diagnostic Conditions. Developmental Psychology, 26, 978 -986.

Predicts n n In a recent follow-up study, preschool children who delayed gratification longer in the self-imposed delay paradigm were described more than 10 years later by their parents as adolescents who were significantly more competent Specifically, when these children became adolescents, their parents rated them as more academically and socially competent, verbally fluent, rational, attentive, planful, and able to deal well with frustration and stress.

Constraint and Executive Control? n Seguin, Tremblay, Pihl – EF and aggression n Emotional Intelligence – Goleman, 1998 n Serotonergic Function (? )

TITLE Modulatory role of serotonin in neural information processing: Implications for human psychopathology. ABSTRACT Investigation of 5 -hydroxytryptamine (5 -HT), which functions as a modulator in the CNS, across behavioral contexts suggests that a general principle of transmitter function may be derived that is independent of specific behaviors and specific neural loci. A functional principle of 5 -HT action in neural information processing in the CNS is proposed. Extremes deviations in 5 -HT activity result in biases in information processing that may have direct effects on behavior. Such biases may predispose to pathological conditions such as violent suicide and aggression. ((c) 1997 APA/Psyc. INFO, all rights reserved) AUTHOR Spoont, Michele R. AFFILIATION St Paul-Ramsey Medical Ctr, Dept of Psychiatry, St Paul, MN, USA SOURCE Psychological Bulletin. 1992 Sep Vol 112(2) 330 -350