individual differences

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
J “No two persons are born exactly alike; but each differs from the other in natural endowments, one being suited for one occupation and the other for another.”
J That people differ from each other is obvious. How and why they differ is less clear and is the subject of study of INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES.
J Individual Difference is a cornerstone subject area in modern psychology. It examines how people are similar and how they differ in their thinking, feeling, and behavior. No two people are alike, yet no two people are unlike. It understands ways in which people are psychologically similar and particularly what psychological character vary between people.
J Human beings have been aware of individual differences throughout history, ex.:
GENDER DIFFERENCE: hunters=men, forgers=women
INTELLIGENCE DIFFERENCE: caste, class, education
PERSONALITY DIFFERENCE: job specialization
J Franz Gall- invented phrenology in the early 1800’s
J Phrenology- is the study of an individual bump on the skull, which supposedly reveals character traits and mental abilities. Idea that various brain regions have particular functions.
PERSONALITY
J Can be defined as a dynamic and organized set of character possessed by a person that uniquely influences his/her cognitions, motivations, and behaviors in various situations.
J Personality comes from the Greek word “persona” which means mask.
J Gordon Allport (1937) - described two major ways to study personality: nomothetic and idiographic.
Nomothetic Psychology- seeks general laws that can be applied to many different people, such as the principle of self-actualization, or the trait of extraversion.
Idiographic Psychology- is an attempt to understand the unique aspects of a particular individual.
J Psychoanalytic Theory- explain human behavior in terms of the interaction of various components of personality
Ø Sigmund Freud broke the human personality down to three significant components: the ego, superego, and id.
Ø The id is the source of sexual energy that builds up and needs to be released or expressed in some ways. Motivated by the pleasure principle.
Ø The ego is the structure that helps the id expresses itself. It emerges in order to realistically meet the wishes and demands of id in accordance with the outside world. Reality principle.
Ø The superego exercises moral judgment and societal rules in keeping the ego and id in check. Last function of the personality to develop and may be seen as an outcome of interactions with one’s parents during childhood. Dependency.
Ø Freud believed that humans are sexual (all kinds of pleasure feelings) throughout childhood.
Ø Freud’s 5 Psychosexual Stages of Personality Development
1. Oral Stage- birth to approximately age one
2. Anal Stage- 2 years of age.
3. Phallic Stage- between 3 and 6.
4. Latency Period- 7 years old to puberty.
5. Genital Stage- occurs during adolescence.
Ø Freud believed that adult personality is determined by early childhood experiences. Events in the past could influence the present.
Ø ALFRED ADLER: early childhood experiences are important to development and birth order may influence personality development.
Ø Oldest was the one who set high goals to achieve to get attentions back that they lost when the younger siblings were born.
Ø The middle children were competitive and ambitious, so they are able to surpass the first born achievement.
Ø Last born would be more dependent and sociable but be the baby.
Ø Only children love being the center of attention and mature quickly. Fail to become independent.
Ø KAREN HORNEY is credited with the development of the “real self” and the “ideal self”.
Ø “Real self” is what you really are with regards to personality, values, and morals.
Ø “Ideal self” is a construct you apply to yourself to conform to social and personal norms and goals.
J Behaviorist Theory- explains personality in terms of reactions to external stimuli. Developed by B.F. Skinner.
Ø Skinner believed that children do bad things in order to get the attention that they crave.
Ø People’s behavior is formed by processes such as operant conditioning.
Ø “Stimulus-Response-Consequence-Model”
Ø John B. Watson, The Father of American Behaviorism, made 4 major assumptions about Radical Behaviorism:
1. Evolutionary Continuity- laws of behavior are applied equally to all living organisms.
2. Reductionism- all behaviors are linked to physiology.
3. Determinism- animals do not respond freely. Biological organisms respond to outside influences.
4. Empiricism- only our actions are observable evidence of our personality.
Ø All behaviorist focus on observable behaviors.
Ø There is no emphasis on unconscious motives, internal traits, introspection or self-analysis.