Extensive Summary of the course Behavioral Neurosciences at the University of Antwerp.
It contains multiple illustrations and explanations.
For the academic year the name has changed to 'Behavioral and cognitive Neuroscience'
1. Personality, Novelty seeking, Addiction
2. Anxiety, Free will...
I. Methodological approaches
- Neuroanatomical substrates of behaviour
- Microdialysis (+ other techniques to look at neurochemical & behavioural correlates)
- Evaluation of brain activity
- Neurocognitive testing
- Pharmacological modulation behavioural alternations/ neuropsychopharmacology
II. Normal behavioural states
- Ingestive behaviour
- Emotions (facial expression & recognition of emotions and neurobiology of happiness)
- Personality – Novelty seeking behaviour – addiction
- Learning & memory
- Sleep and circadian rhythms
- Cerebellum: motor function and language/communication
- Frontal lobe function
III. Pathological behavioural state
Behavioural aspects and CNS control of
- Aggression, Anxiety , Pain
- BPSD/NPS
- + also included in several seminars of part II. e.g. eating disorders, drug abuse, speech disorders
Temperament
- Inborn form of human nature
- Individual differences in strength of drives underlying basis emotions (like fear, anger, disgust,
surprise)
- Predisposition
- Hardwired in from birth
Character
- Emergent form of human nature
- Individual differences in a person’s goals and values
- Develops through the interaction of temperament and environment !
- Set of habits we acquire over lifetime
- Disposition
1
, Already a long time ago people were interested in personality and wanted to label people
- E.g. Hippocrates: “ 4 humors” & the influence of these humors in the functioning of the body
- E.g. Keirsey’s
o Develop the temperament sorter
o Described 4 temperaments that are linked to the underlying Jungian types (described by
Myer)
o Subcategories in each of the 4 types, described by famous people
o Used in the US by companies to see if the characters of employees matches the job
1.1. Personality: definition
Gordon W. Allport, psychologist
- Founding figures of personality
- Tried different approached throughout his career to describe personality:
1) Omnibus definition
1937 “Personality is everything that makes you an individual. It is the integration and interaction of your
genetic inheritance, your experience, and your ways to relate the two”
+ Combines predisposition (temperament) and experience and how the environment influences your
personality
− Useless definition according to Allport
− No guidance e.g. not defined how to distinguish different personalities
2) Trait or integrative/configurational approach
“A trait is a dynamic trend of behaviour which results from the integration of numerous specific habits of
adjustment, and which expresses a characteristic mode of the individual's reaction to his surroundings”
“A trait is a predisposition to act the same way in a variety of situations. Traits are real, not concepts; they are
as real as height, weight or eye color”
3) System or Hierarchical approach
→How personality is built up
“Personality contains three layers or components: the persona, the self, and the unconscious processes“
• The Persona = external layers = mask for different occasions, what the environment sees
• The self = private ego behind the mask
o dominates conscious experience
o closely tied to personal memories
o controlling mental & executive processes
• The unconscious processes = not normally accessible to conscious awareness, accessible
through meditation for example (cfr. Freud, Jung)
The Trait approach is the best way to examine personalities, to distinguish between a normal
personality functioning and a personality disorder
2
,Revival Trait theory late 20th century (examples that applied the trait approach)
“The Big five”
→ These studies used the trait approach to distinguish different types/aspects of personality, they used
different labels but on average there are 5 main traits:
I. Extraversion: energy, positive emotions, surgency, tendency to seek stimulation and the company of
others I
II. Agreeableness: tendency to be compassionate and cooperative towards others
III. Conscientiousness: tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement
IV. Neuroticism: tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily
V. Openness: appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety
of experience
1.2. Psychobiological model of temperament and character
1.1.1. C.R. Cloninger, M.D., Psychiatrist and geneticist
• Looks at personality from the genetical point of view
• Twin and family studies
• Studies of longitudinal development
• Neuropharmacology studies
• …
Develop Psychobiological model of personality
→ Looked at differences at personality and tried to linked this to underlying neurological, neurobiological
and neurochemical processes
→ Developed different tools to measure personality (o.a.TPQ & TCI)
1.1.2. Tridimensional personality questionnaire (TPQ)
• 3 dimensions/traits of personality → based on trait approach of Allport
1) Novelty seeking
2) Harm avoidance
3) Reward dependence
• 4 subdivisions of each dimension
• Postulated that each of these traits are genetically independent
• Self-report inventory
• 100 true/false questions regarding attitudes, interests, opinions, and other personal feelings
3
, TPQ Disadvantages
− Poor differentiation: personality disorders of poor social judgement vs. well-adapted individuals with
extreme personality profiles
− Neglected some DSM-III-R personality disorders
o e.g. paranoid and schizotypal personality
− Lack explanation: some personality factors explained by other dimensional models
o e.g. Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness personality inventory; aggression scale of MPQ
Temperament and Character Inventory
1.1.3. Temperament and Character inventory (TCI)
• 7-factor personality scale
o 4 factors ~ temperament
▪ Novelty seeking, Harm avoidance & Reward dependence from TPQ
▪ + persistence (was a subdivision of reward dependence)
o 3 factors ~ character
▪ Self-Directedness, Cooperativeness & self-Transcendence
o 240 questions (true/false or on a 5-point Likert scale )
o Self-report, automated scoring
4
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