Lecture Notes

Chapter 1: People/The Person

Three Layers of Personality

• Dispositional Traits
  • Focus on Big 5 Traits: Extraversion, Openness, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness.
  • Views people as social actors.
• Characteristic Adaptations
  • Focus on motivations, desires, goals, beliefs, and values.
  • Views people as motivated agents.
  • Adaptations change over time and with context.
• Integrative Life Stories
  • Views person as an author of their life story.
  • Focuses on making meaning of life and identity.

Criteria for a Good Scientific Theory of Personality

1. Comprehensiveness: Explains broad scope of human nature.
2. Parsimony: Simple, clear explanations.
3. Coherence: Logical consistency.
4. Testability: Must be testable through hypotheses.
5. Empirical Validity: Supported by data and research.
6. Usefulness: Practical applications.
7. Generativity: Inspires new ideas and research.

Strengths and Limitations of Personality Measures

• Self-report Measures
  • Strength: Quick data collection.
  • Limitation: Bias and lack of self-awareness.
• Informant/Peer Report Measures
  • Strength: External perspectives.
  • Limitation: Possible biases and limited information.
• Naturalistic Observations
  • Strength: Real-world behavior.
  • Limitation: Observer effects, time-consuming.

Correlational vs. Experimental Designs

• Correlational Designs
  • Examine relationships between variables.
  • Limitation: Cannot determine causation.
• Experimental Designs
  • Manipulate variables to determine effects.
  • Limitation: Ethical concerns and practical application.

Chapter 2: Evolution of Human Nature

Six Big Steps in Human Evolution

1. Bipedalism: Ability to stand upright.
2. Tool Use: Creation and use of primitive tools.
3. Meat Consumption: Social cooperation in hunting.
4. Fire Use: Cooking and dietary improvements.
5. Campsites: Organization of domestic activities.
6. Culture: Development of language, art, and agriculture.

Gene-Culture Coevolution

• Biology and culture work together to shape behavior.
• Cultural expertise increases fitness and drives genetic changes.

Altruism from an Evolutionary Perspective

• Kin Selection: Helping relatives to promote genetic success.
• Reciprocal Altruism: Expectation of future help.
• Reputational Benefits: Enhancing social status through altruistic acts.

Dominance vs. Prestige Strategies

• Dominance: Involves intimidation and power.
• Prestige: Involves competence and admiration.

Chapter 3: Social Learning and Culture

Four Steps of Observational Learning

1. Attention: Focus on the model's behavior.
2. Retention: Encode and remember the behavior.
3. Motor Reproduction: Ability to replicate behavior.
4. Motivation: Desire to imitate behavior.

Four Styles of Parenting

• Authoritative: High demand, high responsiveness.
• Authoritarian: High demand, low responsiveness.
• Permissive: Low demand, high responsiveness.
• Neglectful: Low demand, low responsiveness.

Social Class and Behavior

• Higher Social Class: Promotes autonomy and offers enrichment opportunities.
• Lower Social Class: Promotes vigilance and security.

Collectivism vs. Individualism

• Collectivist Cultures: Group-oriented, common in Asian and African societies.
• Individualistic Cultures: Self-oriented, common in Western societies.