Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders

Schizophrenia is a disorder of psychosis in which the person’s thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors are out of contact with reality.

Defining Psychosis and Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder characterized by major disturbances in thought, perception, emotion, and behavior. About 1% of the population experiences schizophrenia in their lifetime, and usually the disorder is first diagnosed during early adulthood (early to mid-20s). Most people with schizophrenia experience significant difficulties in many day-to-day activities, such as holding a job, paying bills, caring for oneself (grooming and hygiene), and maintaining relationships with others. Schizophrenia is considered a disorder of psychosis, or one in which the person’s thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors are impaired to the point where they are not able to function normally in life. In informal terms, one who suffers from a psychotic disorder (that is, has a psychosis) is disconnected from the world in which most of us live.

Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia has a wide range of symptoms, and not all symptoms may be present in all forms of schizophrenia. The signs and symptoms of schizophrenia are usually divided into two categories: positive and negative. A third category of cognitive symptoms is also included in some descriptions of the disease. Both positive and negative symptoms are further characterized as motor, behavioral, and mood disturbances.

1. Positive Symptoms

Positive symptoms are disorders of commission, meaning they are something that individuals do or think. Examples include hallucinations, delusions, and bizarre or disorganized behavior. Positive symptoms can also be described as behavior that indicates a loss of contact with the external reality experienced by non-psychotic individuals. An example of a positive motor disturbance would be catatonic excitement, which is uncontrolled and aimless motor activity. Positive symptoms tend to be the easiest to recognize.

Hallucinations, one of the most noted symptoms, involve perceiving a sensory stimuli that no one else is able to perceive. Most frequently, people with schizophrenia hear voices that tell them what to do, warn of danger, or talk to each other about the individual. Delusions are also commonly experienced; they include false beliefs that are not of the culture of the individual and are unchanging even after being proven incorrect.

2. Negative Symptoms
Negative symptoms are disorders of omission, meaning they are things that the individual does not do. Examples include alogia (lack of speech), flat affect (lack of emotional response), anhedonia (inability to experience pleasure), asociality (lack of interest in social contact), avolition (lack of motivation), and apathy (lack of interest). Some individuals will experience a catatonic stupor, or a state in which they are immobile and mute, yet conscious. They may exhibit waxy flexibility, where another person can move the patient’s limbs into postures and the patient will retain these postures, like a wax doll. In some cases, negative symptoms can be misinterpreted as depression or laziness.

3. Cognitive Symptoms
Cognitive symptoms are the most harmful to the livelihood of the individual, as they prevent the individual from participating effectively in the workplace or in society. Cognitive symptoms are subtle differences in cognitive ability that are normally only discovered after neuropsychological tests are given. These include poor ability to absorb and act upon information (executive functioning), lack of attention, and an inability to utilize working memory.

1. Motor Disturbances
Motor disturbances include disorders of mobility, activity, and volition. People with schizophrenia can exhibit too little (negative) or too much (positive) movement. In addition to catatonic stupor and catatonic excitement, examples of motor disturbances include stereotypy (repeated, non-goal directed movement such as rocking), mannerisms (normal, goal-directed activities that appear to have social significance, but are either odd in appearance or out of context, such as repeatedly running one’s hand through one’s hair or grimacing), mitgehen (moving a limb in response to slight pressure, despite being told to resist the pressure), ecopraxia (the imitation of the movements of another person), and automatic obedience (carrying out simple commands in a robot-like fashion).

2. Behavioral Disturbances
Disorders of behavior may involve deterioration of social functioning, such as social withdrawal, self-neglect, or neglect of environment. Behavioral disorders may also involve behaviors that are considered socially inappropriate, such as talking to oneself in public, obscene language, or inappropriate exposure. Substance abuse is another disorder of behavior; patients may abuse cigarettes, alcohol, or other substances. Substance abuse is associated with poor treatment compliance, and may be a form of self-medication.

3. Mood Disturbances
Disorders of mood and affect include affective flattening, which is a reduced intensity of emotional expression and responsiveness that leaves patients indifferent and apathetic. Typically, one sees unchanging facial expression, decreased spontaneous movements, a lack of expressive gestures, poor eye contact, lack of vocal inflections, and slowed speech. Anhedonia, or the inability to experience pleasure, is also common, as is emotional emptiness. Patients may also exhibit inappropriate affect, such as laughing at a funeral.


Treatment
The primary treatment of schizophrenia is antipsychotic medications, often in combination with psychological and social supports. Hospitalization may occur for severe psychotic episodes either voluntarily or (if mental health legislation allows it) involuntarily. Community support services—such as drop-in centers, visits by members of a community mental-health team, supported employment, and support groups—are common. Some evidence indicates that regular exercise has a positive effect on the physical and mental health of those with schizophrenia. A number of psychosocial interventions may be useful in the treatment of schizophrenia, including family therapy, skills training, and psychosocial interventions for substance abuse. Family therapy or education, which addresses the whole family system of an individual, may reduce relapses and hospitalizations.

The Schizophrenia Spectrum
The spectrum of psychotic disorders includes schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder, and catatonia.

1. Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder characterized by major disturbances in thought, perception, emotion, and behavior. In order to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to the DSM-5, a person must exhibit both a psychotic episode and two additional symptoms for most of one month, and their symptoms must have a significant impact on social or occupational functioning for at least six months. The “two additional symptoms” can be delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, or a negative symptom or severely disorganized or catatonic behavior. If delusions or hallucinations or severe, only one symptom may be sufficient for diagnosis.

2. Schizoaffective Disorder
Schizoaffective disorder is characterized by abnormal thought processes and dysregulated emotions. A person with this disorder has features of both schizophrenia and a mood disorder (either bipolar disorder or depression) but does not strictly meet the diagnostic criteria for either. The bipolar subtype is distinguished by symptoms of mania, hypomania, or mixed episodes; the depressive subtype is distinguished by symptoms of depression only. Common symptoms of schizoaffective disorder include hallucinations, paranoid delusions, and disorganized speech and thinking.

The DSM-5 distinguishes schizoaffective disorder from psychotic depression or psychotic bipolar disorder by additionally requiring that a psychotic condition must last for at least two continuous weeks without mood symptoms (although a person may be mildly depressed during this time). Two episodes of psychosis (an increase from one episode in the DSM-IV) must be experienced in order for the person to qualify for this diagnosis.

3. Delusional Disorder
Delusional disorder is a psychiatric condition in which the person presents with delusions but no accompanying hallucinations, thought disorder, mood disorder, or significant flattening of affect. Apart from their delusions, people with delusional disorder may continue to socialize and function normally; their behavior does not stand out as odd or bizarre. However, their preoccupation with delusional ideas can disrupt their lives.

There are 7 subtypes of delusional disorder:
1) Erotomanic type (erotomania): Delusion that another person, often a prominent public figure, is in love with the individual.
2) Grandiose type: Delusion of inflated worth, power, knowledge, or identity.
3) Jealous type: Delusion that the individual’s sexual partner is unfaithful when such is not the case.
4) Persecutory type: Delusion that the person (or someone the person is close to) is being treated badly or malevolently.
5) Somatic type: Delusion that the person has some physical defect or medical condition.
6) Mixed type: Delusions with characteristics of more than one of the above types but with no single predominant theme.
7) Unspecified type: Delusions that cannot be clearly classified into any of the subcategories.

To be diagnosed with a delusional disorder, the individual’s delusions must last for at least one month and cannot be due to the effects of a drug, medication, or general medical condition. Delusional disorder cannot be diagnosed in an individual previously correctly diagnosed with schizophrenia. Auditory and visual hallucinations cannot be prominent, though olfactory or tactile hallucinations related to the content of the delusion may be present.

4. Catatonia
Broadly speaking, catatonia is any condition of abnormal motor activity thought to be caused by a psychiatric disorder. For example, individuals with schizophrenia can demonstrate manic patterns of repetitious movement with no purpose, compulsively mimic the sounds or movements of others, or maintain the same posture for a long period of time without moving. In the DSM-5, catatonia is not recognized as its own disorder but rather is listed as a symptom of other psychiatric conditions, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression.


Definitions:
Delusions - False or irrational beliefs maintained despite clear evidence to the contrary.(2)
Psychotic disorders - Severe mental disorders in which a person experiences impairments in reality testing manifested through thought, emotional, or perceptual difficulties; no longer used as a diagnostic category after DSM-III.(2)

(1) Lumen: Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders

(2) apa.org: Glossary of Psychological Terms

Abnormal Psychology & the DSM

Challenges in Defining “Normal”
A psychological disorder is a condition characterized by abnormal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. However, defining what is “normal” and “abnormal” is a subject of much debate. Definitions of normality vary widely by person, time, place, culture, and situation. “Normal” is, after all, a subjective perception, and also an amorphous one—it is often easier to describe what is not normal than what is normal.

In simple terms, however, society at large often perceives or labels “normal” as “good,” and “abnormal” as “bad.” Being labeled as “normal” or “abnormal” can therefore have profound ramifications for an individual, such as exclusion or stigmatization by society.

Although it is difficult to define “normal,” it is still important to establish guidelines in order to be able to identify and help people who are suffering. To this end, the fields of psychology and psychiatry have developed the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), a standardized hierarchy of diagnostic criteria to help discriminate among normal and abnormal (i.e. “pathological”) behaviors and symptoms. The 5th edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM-5) lays out explicit and specific guidelines for identifying and categorizing symptoms and diagnoses.(1)

Clinical Definitions of Abnormal: The DSM
The DSM is a central element of the debate around defining normality, and it continues to change and evolve. Currently, in the DSM-5 (the fifth edition), abnormal behavior is generally defined as behavior that violates a norm in society, is maladaptive, is rare given the context of the culture and environment, and is causing the person distress in their daily life. Specifically, the goal of the DSM-5 is to identify abnormal behavior that is indicative of some kind of psychological disorder. The DSM identifies the specific criteria used when diagnosing patients; it represents the industry standard for psychologists and psychiatrists, who often work together to diagnose and treat psychological disorders.(1)

What Is the DSM?
Although a number of classification systems have been developed over time for the diagnosis of mental disorders, the one that is used by most mental health professionals in the United States is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published most recently in its 5th edition (known as the “DSM-5”) by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013.

The DSM is the standard classification manual of mental disorders and contains a hierarchy of diagnostic criteria for every mental-health disorder recognized by the American Psychiatric Association.

The DSM is often considered a “necessary evil”—it has many flaws, but it is also the only widely accepted method of diagnosing mental disorders.(1)


History of the DSM
The initial impetus for developing a classification of mental disorders in the United States was the need to collect statistical information. Research and changing cultural norms have contributed to the DSM’s evolution over time.

DSM-I (1952)
The first version of the DSM was created in response to the large-scale involvement of psychiatrists in the treatment, processing, and assessment of World War II soldiers. The DSM-I was 130 pages long and listed 106 mental disorders, many of which have since been abandoned.

DSM-II (1968)
The DSM-I and the DSM-II are clear reflections of the strongly psychodynamic slant the field of psychology had at the time of their publication. Symptoms were not specified in detail for specific disorders, and many were seen as reflections of broad underlying conflicts or maladaptive reactions to life problems, rooted in a distinction between neurosis and psychosis. Sociological and biological knowledge was incorporated in a model that did not emphasize a clear boundary between normality and abnormality.

DSM-III (1980)
Around this time, a controversy emerged regarding the deletion of the concept of neurosis. Faced with enormous political opposition, the DSM-III was in serious danger of not being approved by the American Psychological Association’s (APA’s) board of trustees unless “neurosis” was included in some capacity; a political compromise reinserted the term in parentheses after the word “disorder,” in some cases. The DSM-III included more than twice as many diagnoses (265) as the original DSM-1 and was nearly seven times its size (886 total pages).

DSM-IV (1994)
In this version, a clinical significance criterion was added to almost half of all the categories. This criterion required that symptoms cause “clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.”

A “text revision” of the DSM-IV, known as the DSM-IV-TR, was published in 2000. The DSM-IV-TR was organized into a five-part axial system.
Axis I: Clinical disorders, such as depression and anxiety.
Axis II: Personality disorders and/or developmental disorders (such as intellectual disabilities, formerly called mental retardation).
Axis III: Physical issues that may impact mental health, such as diabetes.
Axis IV: Psychosocial stressors, such as occupational problems.
Axis V: A global assessment of functioning score (GAF), which provides a score of the person’s overall functioning from 1 to 100.

DSM-5 (2013)
Perhaps the most controversial version yet, the DSM-5 contains extensively revised diagnoses; it broadens diagnostic definitions in some cases while narrowing definitions in other cases. Notable changes include the change from autism and Asperger syndrome to a combined autism spectrum disorder; dropping the subtype classifications for variant forms of schizophrenia; dropping the “bereavement exclusion” for depressive disorders; a revised treatment and naming of gender -identity disorder to gender dysphoria; and changes to the criterion for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The DSM-5 has discarded the multiaxial system of diagnosis of the DSM-IV, listing all disorders on a single axis. It has replaced Axis IV with significant psychosocial and contextual features and dropped Axis V (the GAF) entirely. Although DSM-5 is longer than DSM-IV, the volume includes only 237 disorders, a decrease from the 297 disorders that were listed in DSM-IV.(1)

DSM-5 Disorders
The DSM-5 categorizes disorders into the following 20 chapters:(2)

• Neurodevelopmental Disorders 
• Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders 
• Bipolar and Related Disorders 
• Depressive Disorders 
• Anxiety Disorders 
• Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders 
• Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders 
• Dissociative Disorders 
• Somatic Symptom Disorders 
• Feeding and Eating Disorders 
• Elimination Disorders 
• Sleep-Wake Disorders 
• Sexual Dysfunctions 
• Gender Dysphoria 
• Disruptive, Impulse Control and Conduct Disorders 
• Substance Use and Addictive Disorders 
• Neurocognitive Disorders 
• Personality Disorders 
• Paraphilic Disorders 
• Other Disorders

(1) Lumen: Introduction to Abnormal Psychology
(2) American Psychiatric Association: The Organization of DSM-5

Psychopathology and Psychotherapy

Error management theory

Error management theory: Wikipedia

Curvature Blindness Illusion

All the lines crossing the page are the same shape half appear zig-zagged against the grey background.

The Remarkable “Curvature Blindness” Illusion

Humanistic Approaches

Humanistic Approaches
As the “third force” in psychology, humanism is touted as a reaction both to the pessimistic determinism of psychoanalysis, with its emphasis on psychological disturbance, and to the behaviorists’ view of humans passively reacting to the environment, which has been criticized as making people out to be personality-less robots. It does not suggest that psychoanalytic, behaviorist, and other points of view are incorrect but argues that these perspectives do not recognize the depth and meaning of human experience, and fail to recognize the innate capacity for self-directed change and transforming personal experiences. This perspective focuses on how healthy people develop. One pioneering humanist, Abraham Maslow, studied people who he considered to be healthy, creative, and productive, including Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and others. Maslow (1950, 1970) found that such people share similar characteristics, such as being open, creative, loving, spontaneous, compassionate, concerned for others, and accepting of themselves. When you studied motivation, you learned about one of the best-known humanistic theories, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, in which Maslow proposes that human beings have certain needs in common and that these needs must be met in a certain order. The highest need is the need for self-actualization, which is the achievement of our fullest potential.(1)

Another humanistic theorist was Carl Rogers. One of Rogers’s main ideas about personality regards self-concept, our thoughts and feelings about ourselves. How would you respond to the question, “Who am I?” Your answer can show how you see yourself. If your response is primarily positive, then you tend to feel good about who you are, and you see the world as a safe and positive place. If your response is mainly negative, then you may feel unhappy with who you are. Rogers further divided the self into two categories: the ideal self and the real self. The ideal self is the person that you would like to be; the real self is the person you actually are. Rogers focused on the idea that we need to achieve consistency between these two selves. We experience congruence when our thoughts about our real self and ideal self are very similar—in other words, when our self-concept is accurate.(1)

High congruence leads to a greater sense of self-worth and a healthy, productive life. Parents can help their children achieve this by giving them unconditional positive regard, or unconditional love. According to Rogers (1980), “As persons are accepted and prized, they tend to develop a more caring attitude towards themselves” (p. 116). People raised in an environment of unconditional positive regard, in which no preconceived conditions of worth are present, have the opportunity to fully actualize. When people are raised in an environment of conditional positive regard, in which worth and love are only given under certain conditions, they must match or achieve those conditions in order to receive the love or positive regard they yearn for. Their ideal self is thereby determined by others based on these conditions, and they are forced to develop outside of their own true actualizing tendency; this contributes to incongruence and a greater gap between the real self and the ideal self. Both Rogers’s and Maslow’s theories focus on individual choices and do not believe that biology is deterministic.(1)

Unconditional Positive Regard
In the development of the self-concept, Rogers elevated the importance of unconditional positive regard, or unconditional love. Personality Development and the Self-Concept.(1)

Rogers based his theories of personality development on humanistic psychology and theories of subjective experience. He believed that everyone exists in a constantly changing world of experiences that they are at the center of. A person reacts to changes in their phenomenal field, which includes external objects and people as well as internal thoughts and emotions.(1)

Rogers believed that all behavior is motivated by self-actualizing tendencies, which drive a person to achieve at their highest level. As a result of their interactions with the environment and others, an individual forms a structure of the self or self-concept—an organized, fluid, conceptual pattern of concepts and values related to the self. If a person has a positive self-concept, they tend to feel good about who they are and often see the world as a safe and positive place. If they have a negative self-concept, they may feel unhappy with who they are.(1)

“The Good Life”
Rogers described life in terms of principles rather than stages of development. These principles exist in fluid processes rather than static states. He claimed that a fully functioning person would continually aim to fulfill his or her potential in each of these processes, achieving what he called “the good life.” These people would allow personality and self-concept to emanate from experience. He found that fully functioning individuals had several traits or tendencies in common

1. A growing openness to experience–they move away from defensiveness.

2.An increasingly existential lifestyle–living each moment fully, rather than distorting the moment to fit personality or self-concept.
3. Increasing organismic trust–they trust their own judgment and their ability to choose behavior that is appropriate for each moment.
4. Freedom of choice–they are not restricted by incongruence and are able to make a wide range of choices more fluently. They believe that they play a role in determining their own behavior and so feel responsible for their own behavior.
5. Higher levels of creativity–they will be more creative in the way they adapt to their own circumstances without feeling a need to conform.
6. Reliability and constructiveness–they can be trusted to act constructively. Even aggressive needs will be matched and balanced by intrinsic goodness in congruent individuals.
7. A rich full life–they will experience joy and pain, love and heartbreak, fear and courage more intensely.(1)

Criticisms of Humanist Theories
Like Maslow’s theories, Rogers’ were criticized for their lack of empirical evidence used in research. The holistic approach of humanism allows for a great deal of variation but does not identify enough constant variables to be researched with true accuracy. Psychologists also worry that such an extreme focus on the subjective experience of the individual does little to explain or appreciate the impact of society on personality development.(1)

(1) Lumen: Explaining Personality: Learning and Humanistic Approaches

Learning Approaches to Personality

In contrast to the psychodynamic approaches of Freud and the neo-Freudians, which relate personality to inner (and hidden) processes, the learning approaches focus only on observable behavior. This illustrates one significant advantage of the learning approaches to personality over psychodynamics: Because learning approaches involve observable, measurable phenomena, they can be scientifically tested.(1)


The Behavioral Perspective
Behaviorists do not believe in biological determinism: They do not see personality traits as inborn. Instead, they view personality as significantly shaped by the reinforcements and consequences outside of the organism. In other words, people behave in a consistent manner based on prior learning. B. F. Skinner, a strict behaviorist, believed that environment was solely responsible for all behavior, including the enduring, consistent behavior patterns studied by personality theorists.(1)

Skinner proposed that we demonstrate consistent behavior patterns because we have developed certain response tendencies (Skinner, 1953). In other words, we learn to behave in particular ways. We increase the behaviors that lead to positive consequences, and we decrease the behaviors that lead to negative consequences. Skinner disagreed with Freud’s idea that personality is fixed in childhood. He argued that personality develops over our entire life, not only in the first few years. Our responses can change as we come across new situations; therefore, we can expect more variability over time in personality than Freud would anticipate. For example, consider a young woman, Greta, a risk taker. She drives fast and participates in dangerous sports such as hang gliding and kiteboarding. But after she gets married and has children, the system of reinforcements and punishments in her environment changes. Speeding and extreme sports are no longer reinforced, so she no longer engages in those behaviors. In fact, Greta now describes herself as a cautious person.(1)

The Social-Cognitive Perspective
Albert Bandura agreed with Skinner that personality develops through learning. He disagreed, however, with Skinner’s strict behaviorist approach to personality development, because he felt that thinking and reasoning are important components of learning. He presented a social-cognitive theory of personality that emphasizes both learning and cognition as sources of individual differences in personality. In social-cognitive theory, the concepts of reciprocal determinism, observational learning, and self-efficacy all play a part in personality development.(1)

Reciprocal Determinism
In contrast to Skinner’s idea that the environment alone determines behavior, Bandura (1990) proposed the concept of reciprocal determinism, in which cognitive processes, behavior, and context all interact, each factor influencing and being influenced by the others simultaneously (Figure 1). Cognitive processes refer to all characteristics previously learned, including beliefs, expectations, and personality characteristics. Behavior refers to anything that we do that may be rewarded or punished. Finally, the context in which the behavior occurs refers to the environment or situation, which includes rewarding/punishing stimuli.(1)

Consider, for example, that you’re at a festival and one of the attractions is bungee jumping from a bridge. Do you do it? In this example, the behavior is bungee jumping. Cognitive factors that might influence this behavior include your beliefs and values, and your past experiences with similar behaviors. Finally, context refers to the reward structure for the behavior. According to reciprocal determinism, all of these factors are in play.(1)

Observational Learning
Bandura’s key contribution to learning theory was the idea that much learning is vicarious. We learn by observing someone else’s behavior and its consequences, which Bandura called observational learning. He felt that this type of learning also plays a part in the development of our personality. Just as we learn individual behaviors, we learn new behavior patterns when we see them performed by other people or models. Drawing on the behaviorists’ ideas about reinforcement, Bandura suggested that whether we choose to imitate a model’s behavior depends on whether we see the model reinforced or punished. Through observational learning, we come to learn what behaviors are acceptable and rewarded in our culture, and we also learn to inhibit deviant or socially unacceptable behaviors by seeing what behaviors are punished.(1)

We can see the principles of reciprocal determinism at work in observational learning. For example, personal factors determine which behaviors in the environment a person chooses to imitate, and those environmental events in turn are processed cognitively according to other personal factors.


Self-Efficacy
Bandura (1977, 1995) has studied a number of cognitive and personal factors that affect learning and personality development, and most recently has focused on the concept of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is our level of confidence in our own abilities, developed through our social experiences. Self-efficacy affects how we approach challenges and reach goals. In observational learning, self-efficacy is a cognitive factor that affects which behaviors we choose to imitate as well as our success in performing those behaviors.

People who have high self-efficacy believe that their goals are within reach, have a positive view of challenges seeing them as tasks to be mastered, develop a deep interest in and strong commitment to the activities in which they are involved, and quickly recover from setbacks. Conversely, people with low self-efficacy avoid challenging tasks because they doubt their ability to be successful, tend to focus on failure and negative outcomes, and lose confidence in their abilities if they experience setbacks. Feelings of self-efficacy can be specific to certain situations. For instance, a student might feel confident in her ability in English class but much less so in math class.


Julian Rotter and Locus of Control
Julian Rotter (1966) proposed the concept of locus of control, another cognitive factor that affects learning and personality development. Distinct from self-efficacy, which involves our belief in our own abilities, locus of control refers to our beliefs about the power we have over our lives. In Rotter’s view, people possess either an internal or an external locus of control (Figure 2). Those of us with an internal locus of control (“internals”) tend to believe that most of our outcomes are the direct result of our efforts. Those of us with an external locus of control (“externals”) tend to believe that our outcomes are outside of our control. Externals see their lives as being controlled by other people, luck, or chance. For example, say you didn’t spend much time studying for your psychology test and went out to dinner with friends instead. When you receive your test score, you see that you earned a D. If you possess an internal locus of control, you would most likely admit that you failed because you didn’t spend enough time studying and decide to study more for the next test. On the other hand, if you possess an external locus of control, you might conclude that the test was too hard and not bother studying for the next test, because you figure you will fail it anyway. Researchers have found that people with an internal locus of control perform better academically, achieve more in their careers, are more independent, are healthier, are better able to cope, and are less depressed than people who have an external locus of control (Benassi, Sweeney, & Durfour, 1988; Lefcourt, 1982; Maltby, Day, & Macaskill, 2007; Whyte, 1977, 1978, 1980).(1)

Walter Mischel and the Person-Situation Debate
Walter Mischel was a student of Julian Rotter and taught for years at Stanford, where he was a colleague of Albert Bandura. Mischel surveyed several decades of empirical psychological literature regarding trait prediction of behavior, and his conclusion shook the foundations of personality psychology. Mischel found that the data did not support the central principle of the field—that a person’s personality traits are consistent across situations. His report triggered a decades-long period of self-examination, known as the person-situation debate, among personality psychologists.(1)

Mischel suggested that perhaps we were looking for consistency in the wrong places. He found that although behavior was inconsistent across different situations, it was much more consistent within situations—so that a person’s behavior in one situation would likely be repeated in a similar one. And as you will see next regarding his famous “marshmallow test,” Mischel also found that behavior is consistent in equivalent situations across time.(1)

One of Mischel’s most notable contributions to personality psychology was his ideas on self-regulation. According to Lecci & Magnavita (2013), “Self-regulation is the process of identifying a goal or set of goals and, in pursuing these goals, using both internal (e.g., thoughts and affect) and external (e.g., responses of anything or anyone in the environment) feedback to maximize goal attainment” (p. 6.3). Self-regulation is also known as will power. When we talk about will power, we tend to think of it as the ability to delay gratification. For example, Bettina’s teenage daughter made strawberry cupcakes, and they looked delicious. However, Bettina forfeited the pleasure of eating one, because she is training for a 5K race and wants to be fit and do well in the race. Would you be able to resist getting a small reward now in order to get a larger reward later? This is the question Mischel investigated in his now-classic marshmallow test.(1)

Mischel designed a study to assess self-regulation in young children. In the marshmallow study, Mischel and his colleagues placed a preschool child in a room with one marshmallow on the table. The child was told that he could either eat the marshmallow now, or wait until the researcher returned to the room and then he could have two marshmallows (Mischel, Ebbesen & Raskoff, 1972). This was repeated with hundreds of preschoolers. What Mischel and his team found was that young children differ in their degree of self-control. Mischel and his colleagues continued to follow this group of preschoolers through high school, and what do you think they discovered? The children who had more self-control in preschool (the ones who waited for the bigger reward) were more successful in high school. They had higher SAT scores, had positive peer relationships, and were less likely to have substance abuse issues; as adults, they also had more stable marriages (Mischel, Shoda, & Rodriguez, 1989; Mischel et al., 2010). On the other hand, those children who had poor self-control in preschool (the ones who grabbed the one marshmallow) were not as successful in high school, and they were found to have academic and behavioral problems.(1)

(1) Lumens: Explaining Personality: Learning and Humanistic Approaches

Trait Perspective on Personality (Notes)

Personality Traits

Trait theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of traits, which can be defined as habitual patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion.(2)

When we observe people around us, one of the first things that strikes us is how different people are from one another. Some people are very talkative while others are very quiet. Some are active whereas others are couch potatoes. Some worry a lot, others almost never seem anxious. Each time we use one of these words, words like “talkative,” “quiet,” “active,” or “anxious,” to describe those around us, we are talking about a person’s personality—the characteristic ways that people differ from one another. Personality psychologists try to describe and understand these differences.(1)
Personality traits reflect basic dimensions on which people differ . According to trait psychologists, there are a limited number of these dimensions (dimensions like Extraversion, Conscientiousness, or Agreeableness), and each individual falls somewhere on each dimension, meaning that they could be low, medium, or high on any specific trait.(1)

An important feature of personality traits is that they reflect continuous distributions rather than distinct personality types. This means that when personality psychologists talk about Introverts and Extraverts, they are not really talking about two distinct types of people who are completely and qualitatively different from one another. Instead, they are talking about people who score relatively low or relatively high along a continuous distribution. In fact, when personality psychologists measure traits like Extraversion, they typically find that most people score somewhere in the middle, with smaller numbers showing more extreme levels.(1)

There are three assumptions that characterize personality traits: 1) consistency, 2) stability, and 3) individual differences.

1.To have a personality trait, individuals must be somewhat consistent across situations in their behaviors related to the trait. For example, if they are talkative at home, they tend also to be talkative at work.

2. Individuals with a trait are also somewhat stable over time in behaviors related to the trait. If they are talkative, for example, at age 30, they will also tend to be talkative at age 40.

3. People differ from one another on behaviors related to the trait. Using speech is not a personality trait and neither is walking on two feet—virtually all individuals do these activities, and there are almost no individual differences. But people differ on how frequently they talk and how active they are, and thus personality traits such as Talkativeness and Activity Level do exist.(1)

History

In 1936, psychologists Gordon Allport and Henry Odbert extracted approximately 4,500 terms from Webster’s New International Dictionary which described types of behavior or personality traits.(3)

In the 1940s, Raymond Cattell reduced Allport and Odbert's list of traits to 171 words by eliminating synonyms. From there he applied a statistical procedure known as factor analysis to "analyze the correlations among traits and to identify the most important ones. On the basis of his research, he identified what he called “source” (more important) and “surface” (less important) traits, and he developed a measure that assesses 16 dimensions of traits based on personality adjectives taken from everyday language."(4)

"Investigation into the five factor model started in 1949 when D.W. Fiske was unable to find support for Cattell’s expansive 16 factors of personality, but instead found support for only five factors. Research increased in the 1980s and 1990s, offering increasing support for the five factor model. The five factor personality traits show consistency in interviews, self-descriptions, and observations, as well as across a wide range of participants of different ages and from different cultures. It is the most widely accepted structure among trait theorists and in personality psychology today, and the most accurate approximation of the basic trait dimensions."(5)

"Because this model was developed independently by different theorists, the names of each of the five factors—and what each factor measures—differ according to which theorist is referencing it."(5) "At least four sets of researchers have worked independently for decades on this problem and have identified generally the same five factors: Tupes and Christal were first, followed by Goldberg at the Oregon Research Institute, Cattell at the University of Illinois, and Costa and McCrae at the National Institutes of Health."(6)

Lexical Approach

One of the approaches trait theorist employ is referred to as a lexical approach to personality, which assumes that traits can be described using single adjectives or descriptive phrases. If enough people regularly exhibit a form of behavior and no term exists in a given language to describe it, then according to the lexical hypothesis, a term will be created so that the trait may be considered and discussed with others.(3)

Criticism of Trait Perspective

Situational Influences on Personality
The person–situation debate in personality psychology refers to the controversy concerning whether the person or the situation is more influential in determining a person's behavior. Personality trait psychologists believe that people have consistent personalities that guide their behaviors across situations. Situationists, opponents of the trait approach, argue that people are not consistent enough from situation to situation to be characterized by broad personality traits.(7)

In his 1968 book Personality and Assessment, Walter Mischel asserted that personality instruments could not predict behavior with a correlation of more than 0.3. Social psychologists like Mischel argued that attitudes and behavior were not stable, but varied with the situation.(6)

In the years after the publication of Mischel’s (1968) book, debates raged about whether personality truly exists, and if so, how it should be studied. And, as is often the case, it turns out that a more moderate middle ground than what the situationists proposed could be reached. It is certainly true, as Mischel pointed out, that a person’s behavior in one specific situation is not a good guide to how that person will behave in a very different specific situation. Someone who is extremely talkative at one specific party may sometimes be reticent to speak up during class and may even act like a wallflower at a different party. But this does not mean that personality does not exist, nor does it mean that people’s behavior is completely determined by situational factors. Indeed, research conducted after the person-situation debate shows that on average, the effect of the “situation” is about as large as that of personality traits. However, it is also true that if psychologists assess a broad range of behaviors across many different situations, there are general tendencies that emerge. Personality traits give an indication about how people will act on average, but frequently they are not so good at predicting how a person will act in a specific situation at a certain moment in time.(1)



(1) Personality Traits: NOBA
(2)Wikipedia: Trait Theory
(3) Five-Factor Model of Personality: Psychologist World
(4) Introduction to Psychology (Open + Free)
(5) Lumen: Trait Perspective on Personality
(6) Big Five Personality Traits: Wikipedia
(7) Person-situation debate: Wikipedia

The Enemies of Reason

The Enemies of Reason (2007)

Horizon: Homeopathy - The Test

Horizon: Homeopathy: The Test (2002)


Program Summary found here

Biological Approaches to Personality

How much of our personality is in-born and biological, and how much is influenced by the environment and culture we are raised in? Psychologists who favor the biological approach believe that inherited predispositions as well as physiological processes can be used to explain differences in our personalities (Burger, 2008).(1)

The biological perspective on personality emphasizes the internal physiological and genetic factors that influence personality. It focuses on why or how personality traits manifest through biology and investigates the links between personality, DNA, and processes in the brain. This research can include the investigation of anatomical, chemical, or genetic influences and is primarily accomplished through correlating personality traits with scientific data from experimental methods such as brain imaging and molecular genetics.(1)


Temperment
In psychology, “temperament” refers to the personality tendencies that we show at birth (and that are therefore biologically determined). For example, Thomas and Chess (1977) found that babies could be categorized into one of three temperaments: easy, difficult, or slow to warm up. After birth, environmental factors (such as family interactions) and maturation interact with a child’s temperament to shape their personality (Carter et al., 2008).

Research suggests that there are two dimensions of our temperament that are important parts of our adult personality: reactivity and self-regulation (Rothbart, Ahadi, & Evans, 2000). Reactivity refers to how we respond to new or challenging environmental stimuli; self-regulation refers to our ability to control that response (Rothbart & Derryberry, 1981; Rothbart, Sheese, Rueda, & Posner, 2011). For example, one person may immediately respond to a new stimulus with a high level of anxiety while another barely notices it.(2)

Genes and Personality
In the field of behavioral genetics, the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart—a well-known study of the genetic basis for personality—conducted research with twins from 1979 to 1999. In studying 350 pairs of twins, including pairs of identical and fraternal twins reared together and apart, researchers found that identical twins, whether raised together or apart, have very similar personalities (Bouchard, 1994; Bouchard, Lykken, McGue, Segal, & Tellegen, 1990; Segal, 2012).(2)

These findings suggest the heritability of some personality traits, implying that some aspects of our personalities are largely controlled by genetics. Multiple twin studies have found that identical twins do have higher correlations in personality traits than fraternal twins. While identical twins may have some similar personality traits, however, they still have distinct personalities, suggesting that genetics are not the only factor in determining personality. One study measuring genetic influence on twins in five different countries found that correlations for traits between identical twins were 0.50 (i.e., they had 50% of traits in common), while for fraternal twins were about 0.20 (i.e., they had 20% of traits in common). These findings suggest that heredity and environment interact to determine an individual’s personality.(2)

It’s important to point out that traits are determined not by a single gene, but by a combination of many genes, and also by environmental factors that control whether certain genes are expressed. Many personality studies today investigate the activation and expression of genes and how they relate to personality. How DNA interacts with the environment determines what part of the DNA code is actually activated within an individual—in other words, which genes will be expressed. These small changes in individuals’ DNA help determine each person’s uniqueness—their distinct looks, abilities, brain functioning, and other characteristics that all work together to form a cohesive personality.(2)

The Brain and Personality
The biological approach to personality has also identified areas and pathways within the brain that are associated with the development of personality. A number of theorists, such as Hans Eysenck, Gordon Allport, and Raymond Cattell, believe that personality traits can be traced back to brain structures and neural mechanisms, such as dopamine and seratonin pathways. Researchers using a biological perspective will seek to understand how hormones, neurotransmitters, and different areas of the brain all interact to affect personality.(2)

One of the first documented cases that demonstrated the link between personality and the brain was that of Phineas Gage. In 1858, Gage was working as a blasting foreman for a railroad company. Due to a faulty blast, a railroad spike was blown through his head; miraculously, he survived the accident.(2)

The spike pierced Gage’s frontal lobe, and Gage experienced many subsequent changes in aspects of personality that we now know are associated with this area of the brain. The changes in Gage’s personality after his brain injury spurred interest in the biological factors involved in personality and implicated the frontal lobe as an important area associated with higher-order personality functions.(2)

Strengths of the Biological Perspective
One strength of the biological perspective is its strict adherence to scientific methodology. All factors are reduced to quantifiable variables that can be reliably measured by personality trait models and questionnaires. The personality measures are standardized across measurements, and these measures of personality are very compatible with statistical analyses, providing an easily administered and measurable definition of personality.(2)

This method can also be deterministic, meaning that some factors are identified as causal—i.e., certain brain structures or patterns may be identified as causing certain psychological outcomes. Because of this, the biological perspective can be useful in identifying causes of and effective treatments for personality and mood disorders. For example, identifying seratonin imbalance as a cause of depression led to the development of selective seratonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which have been found to be an effective treatment for depression.(2)

Limitations of the Biological Perspective
A limitation of this perspective is that it focuses almost exclusively on the nature side of the nature vs. nurture debate (the debate about whether genetics or environment are more influential in human development). Because of this exclusive focus, other factors that are integral to personality are not included. Hormones, neurotransmitters, and genetics are the key factors in this focus; the effects of environmental and social factors, however, are often overlooked. Twin studies have shown that heritable factors are not the only predictor of personality or even diseases such as schizophrenia; the biological perspective does not fully address non-heritable factors.

(1) Lumen: Explaining Personality: Biological Approaches and Trait Theories

(2) Lumen: Introduction to Personality

The Fakers

The Fakers from briankelley on Vimeo.

(1986) The Fakers. Korem Productions

Psychic Confession

(1982). James Hydrick: Psychic Confession. Korem Productions

Personality Psychology

Personality refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving.(1)

Personality psychology is the study of human personality and how it varies among individuals and populations.(2)

Theoretical Approaches to Personality

There are several different theoretical approaches to studying personality. The major theories include the psychodynamic, neo-Freudian, learning (or behaviorist), humanistic, biological, trait (or dispositional), and cultural perspectives.(2)

Psychodynamic theory, originating with Sigmund Freud, posits that human behavior is the result of the interaction among various components of the mind (the id, ego, and superego) and that personality develops according to a series of psychosexual developmental stages.(2)

Neo-Freudian theorists, such as Adler, Erikson, Jung, and Horney, expanded on Freud’s theories but focused more on the social environment and on the effects of culture on personality.(2)

Learning theories, such as behaviorism, regard an individuals’ actions as ultimately being responses to external stimuli. Social learning theory believes that personality and behavior are determined by an individual’s cognition about the world around them.(2)

Humanistic theory argues that an individual’s subjective free will is the most important determinant of behavior. Humanistic psychologists such as Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers believed that people strive to become self-actualized—the “best version” of themselves.(2)

Biological approaches focus on the role of genetics and the brain in shaping personality. Related to this, evolutionary theories explore how variation in individual personalities variance may be rooted in natural selection.(2)

Trait theorists believe personality can be conceptualized as a set of common traits, or characteristic ways of behaving, that every individual exhibits to some degree. In this view, such personality traits are different from person to person but within an individual are stable over time and place.(2)

(1) American Psychology Association: Personality

(2) Lumen: Introduction to Personality

David Blaine Street Magic: YouTube Edition!

I happened across the old David Blaine parody videos. Still find them to be hilarious.

Psychology: Online Resources

Online Courses and Resources

Boundless Psychology Course
NOBA Psychology Modules
Open Learning Initiative Psychology Course
Clinical Psychology Video Course

Branches of Psychology

Explore Psychology: Main Branches of Psychology
Wikipeida: Subfields of Psychology

Five Factor Model of Personality

The five factor model of personality (FFM), also known as the Big Five personality traits, is a prominent personality model based on five broad trait dimensions: Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN).  It applies a lexical approach which is based on the assumption that the most important personality traits are encoded as words in natural languages and that the analysis of the structure of those words may lead to a scientifically acceptable personality model.

History

In 1936, psychologists Gordon Allport and Henry Odbert extracted approximately 4,500 terms from Webster’s New International Dictionary which described types of behavior or personality traits.(3)

In the 1940s, Raymond Cattell reduced Allport and Odbert's list of traits to 171 words by eliminating synonyms. From there he applied a statistical procedure known as factor analysis to "analyze the correlations among traits and to identify the most important ones. On the basis of his research, he identified what he called “source” (more important) and “surface” (less important) traits, and he developed a measure that assesses 16 dimensions of traits based on personality adjectives taken from everyday language."(4)

"Investigation into the five factor model started in 1949 when D.W. Fiske was unable to find support for Cattell’s expansive 16 factors of personality, but instead found support for only five factors. Research increased in the 1980s and 1990s, offering increasing support for the five factor model. The five factor personality traits show consistency in interviews, self-descriptions, and observations, as well as across a wide range of participants of different ages and from different cultures. It is the most widely accepted structure among trait theorists and in personality psychology today, and the most accurate approximation of the basic trait dimensions."(5)

"Because this model was developed independently by different theorists, the names of each of the five factors—and what each factor measures—differ according to which theorist is referencing it."(5) "At least four sets of researchers have worked independently for decades on this problem and have identified generally the same five factors: Tupes and Christal were first, followed by Goldberg at the Oregon Research Institute, Cattell at the University of Illinois, and Costa and McCrae at the National Institutes of Health."(6)



The Big Five Personality Traits

Openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious).
This trait includes appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, curiosity, and variety of experience. Openness reflects a person’s degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity, and preference for novelty and variety. It is also described as the extent to which a person is imaginative or independent; it describes a personal preference for a variety of activities over a strict routine. Those who score high in openness to experience prefer novelty, while those who score low prefer routine.(5)


Facets:(1)
Fantasy prone
Open to feelings
Open to diverse behaviors
Open to new and different ideas
Open to various values and beliefs

Openness to Experience: Wikipedia

Conscientiousness (efficient/organized vs. easy-going/careless).
This trait refers to one’s tendency toward self-discipline, dutifulness, competence, thoughtfulness, and achievement-striving (such as goal-directed behavior). It is distinct from the moral implications of “having a conscience”; instead, this trait focuses on the amount of deliberate intention and thought a person puts into his or her behavior. Individuals high in conscientiousness prefer planned rather than spontaneous behavior and are often organized, hardworking, and dependable. Individuals who score low in conscientiousness take a more relaxed approach, are spontaneous, and may be disorganized. Numerous studies have found a positive correlation between conscientiousness and academic success.(5)

Facets:(1)
Competent
Orderly
Dutiful
Achievement oriented
Self-disciplined
Deliberate

Conscientiousness: Wikipedia


Extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved).
An individual who scores high on extraversion is characterized by high energy, positive emotions, talkativeness, assertiveness, sociability, and the tendency to seek stimulation in the company of others. Those who score low on extraversion prefer solitude and/or smaller groups, enjoy quiet, prefer activities alone, and avoid large social situations. Not surprisingly, people who score high on both extroversion and openness are more likely to participate in adventure and risky sports due to their curious and excitement-seeking nature(5)

Facets:(1)
Gregarious
Warm
Assertive
Active
Excitement-seeking
Positive emotionality

Extraversion and Introversion: Wikipedia


Agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. challenging/detached).
This trait measures one’s tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others. It is also a measure of a person’s trusting and helpful nature and whether that person is generally well-tempered or not. People who score low on agreeableness tend to be described as rude and uncooperative.(5)


Facets:(1)
Trusting
Straightforward
Altruistic
Compliant
Modest
Tender-minded

Agreeableness: Wikipedia

Neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident).
High neuroticism is characterized by the tendency to experience unpleasant emotions, such as anger, anxiety, depression, or vulnerability. Neuroticism also refers to an individual’s degree of emotional stability and impulse control. People high in neuroticism tend to experience emotional instability and are characterized as angry, impulsive, and hostile. Watson and Clark (1984) found that people reporting high levels of neuroticism also tend to report feeling anxious and unhappy. In contrast, people who score low in neuroticism tend to be calm and even-tempered.(5)

Facets:(1)
Anxious
Angry
Depressed
Self-consciousness
Impulsive
Vulnerable

Neuroticism: Wikipedia


Traits Are Mostly Independent

Scores on the Big Five traits are mostly independent. That means that a person’s standing on one trait tells very little about their standing on the other traits of the Big Five. For example, a person can be extremely high in Extraversion and be either high or low on Neuroticism. Similarly, a person can be low in Agreeableness and be either high or low in Conscientiousness. Thus, in the Five-Factor Model, you need five scores to describe most of an individual’s personality.(1)


Five Factor Personality Assessment Tools

There are a number of personality assessment tools which measure the Big Five. These include:

International Personality Item Pool (IPIP)
NEO-PI-R
The Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) and the Five Item Personality Inventory (FIPI) are very abbreviated rating forms of the Big Five personality traits.
Self-descriptive sentence questionnaires
Lexical questionnaires
Self-report questionnaires
Relative-scored Big 5 measure (6)

Much of the evidence on the measures of the Big 5 relies on self-report questionnaires, which makes self-report bias and falsification of responses difficult to deal with and account for. It has been argued that the Big Five tests do not create an accurate personality profile because the responses given on these tests are not true in all cases. For example, questionnaires are answered by potential employees who might choose answers that paint them in the best light.(6)

(1) Personality Traits: NOBA
(2)Wikipedia: Trait Theory
(3) Five-Factor Model of Personality: Psychologist World
(4) Introduction to Psychology (Open + Free)
(5) Lumen: Trait Perspective on Personality
(6) Big Five Personality Traits: Wikipedia
(7) Person-situation debate: Wikipedia

Measuring the Big Five Personality Domains

The Five-Factor Model: Emergence of a Taxonomic Model for Personality Psychology

Five-Factor Model: SAPA Project

Five-Factor Model of Personality: Article Summaries